Before they broke

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝟐: 𝖘𝖙𝖔𝖗𝖒𝖘 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖘

Looking back, it was the calm before the storm.

A thunderstorm hung just above their heads. A violent momentary weather disturbance. The air cried with the biggest tears. The air screamed at them with every blow it gave. It was a thunderstorm, more violent than either of them had ever seen.

And yet, it was the calm before the storm. A storm that was approaching too fast and would not go unforgotten.

But before the pair could counter the storm, they had to survive the gale. One that would arise in that one room that was supposed to protect them from the storm. They could keep one storm out, but locked the other one up in the same room as themself. 

That one room with nothing but an old, worn-out couch, a big brown closet filled with books, and a window frame. The window frame where everything started and everything would end with.

They had been talking for hours, even though it didn't feel like it. It was the kind of conversation they would never tire of. Where you could keep talking even when everything seemed to have been said.

~~

It was pure irony to her. How it were the books she read that taught her to open up to people she would never dare to speak to. How the books had taught her that your heart should guide you, not your head. The message was always there for her, and yet she ignored it.

That night was different. She listened. She really listened.

For a moment she felt like a character from a book. A character who finds out that sometimes a stranger doesn't just have to be a passer-by. Sometimes a stranger is that one person who will understand you, not knowing anything about you.

And so she listened with an open heart and an open mind. She wanted to listen to what she was told. She listened to Jonathan talk about everything that interested him. It pleased her to see how someone was not afraid to express their passion. Someone who did what she was taught to be a sin.

For a second her smile faded, realizing she needs to go back to reality soon. She had pushed her real self away to many times. She only ever spoke the words that were expected from her.

Her smile had disappeared. It faded like cotton candy when it hits the water. Suddenly there seemed to be nothing to laugh about because reality returned and had slapped her in the face. Life was not as good as it felt at the time.

Her gloomy thoughts were brought to an end. "You don't have enough of me already, I hope?" He asked, tapping her gently.

She smiled reassuringly as she responded. "Not at all! I really enjoy your stories. They are so passionate and real. It makes me feel like I'm in the middle of it. " There was a smile on his face as she said this, but it disappeared immediately as she resumed her sentence.

"You don't have to worry about me. I will not judge. "

There he saw her again, the girl he looked at every day at school. The girl who put herself above the rest. Just when he thought he had broken through her shield, another layer pushed him away.

But as much as he was disappointed with her response, he didn't let it show. "A passion is a passion. Nobody should have to be ashamed of that."

"You have such a way with words. It just sounds so calm, yet I am drawn to it. It's like I want to turn my attention away, yet I want to keep listening to you. Because before you know it the moment will be over. And you are back to where you once were. Your words are like... an escape", she said with an unsure look planted onto her face. What she said would probably sound like complete, incomprehensible gibberish.