How we meet

Chapter 11

    N didn't expect to hear those pleas. To hear the sound of a heart shatter upon the floor, dropped from the highest window one could find. To hear tears of a bleeding heart. His knees nearly buckled. He nearly collapsed when he heard those words from Venipede.
    "Please not again," He begged, his head buried into your stomach, "Please don't look at me like that again." His small body shook with sobs only N could see. His voice was one only N could understand.
    He seeked your validation, he wanted to assist you. Any command you could ever wish, he would have granted. He would give anything for you to never have that look; to have your hollow eyes look at him ever again.
    N didn't know what that look was. The look on your face. The blank one that he couldn't read, the same face that had been worthy of such a reaction from venipede.
    Burgh didn't notice what N did. How could he really? He couldn't hear Venipede's tears. He couldn't feel the tears on your cheeks. He never felt the feeling of a heart falling through his fingers. He couldn't comfort you when he never saw or heard what the other's did.
    When your fingers grazed Venipede's back and a choked gasp of air escaped your lungs did they relax. Venipede cried with joy, you turned away, looking only at your closest companion. N continued on as if he never felt the way Venipede felt for the briefest of moments that he had lost all worth and purpose. N never reacted visibly. Perhaps you would have noticed. The way his shoulder's stiffened ever so slightly. The way his eyes glanced over his shoulder for a fraction of a second. The way his heart sped up as well, only an audino would have known.
When the dust settled and Burgh said his goodbyes, turning to see you gone did you speak to N. You were hidden in the crowded hallways. Your arms wrapped around venipede, whose face was hidden in your hair. You held him close, you feared your mind. Your shaking hands, your panicked heart, you were horrified.
"Are you okay?" N asked you. He never touched you. He stood besides you, so you could see him.
You nodded, simple, quiet, and more than what you wanted.
"Head home," he spoke, softly, gently. His words were a command but they felt so comforting, they seemed to hold you with warmth. They made you feel relaxed and safe, everything you ever wanted.
You nodded, yet made no sign of moving. Even if you wanted to, you seemed frozen in place. Your legs weren't made of lead yet you found yourself glued in place, sinking into the depths of your own mind once again.
"Should I walk you home?" He asked once more.
You nodded. You didn't want to be alone, you wanted to hear another person's voice. You wanted to hear his voice. You wanted the warmth of his voice to hold you once more to comfort you all over again. If you couldn't help but be upset you wanted to feel the same comfort that his voice made you feel.
His hand intertwined with yours. A beautiful crimson string tied the two of you together. Your fates were connected, woven together to make a tapestry of perfection. Neither of you knew about the tread tying you together. You weren't sure what was causing you to run into each other. You kept believing it was a coincidence, but after this many times, you were fooling yourself. Twice is a coincidence, a third is a pattern.
Perhaps you were naive. Maybe you simply didn't want to risk saying goodbye. With the few conversations you shared, you knew that each other had something. Each of you had things the other couldn't understand being entranced by. To find the mildest things about people utterly intriguing is the purest form of honor one could ask for. If watching someone do mundane things could satisfy someone, maybe they were absurd, maybe they had reached a point in enlightenment to understand how complex they truly are.
So walking together didn't feel awkward. Having your hands intertwined, to feel the comfort of each other radiate between you. It was the serene calm that made you feel warm. To be caressed by love and to melt in each other's company. Perhaps you have both blessed each other within a very short time of knowing each other a month of strange run-ins you already started to form that bond of understanding between the two of you.
The canopy of leaves welcomed you home. The branches reached down stroking your head. They comforted you as best they could. You seemed clamer when you walked through the ivy and moss laced trees. Into the makeshift garden of your home. Rusty hinges kissed by time screamed welcoming you home. A thin layer of dust covered the house still that you had yet to finish washing away. You treated the cottage as you would an injured child. Kissing away the pain and bandaging the cuts after having washed away the dirt.
You and N sat outside quietly. Both of you had a mutual understanding of each other in such a short period of time. You could sit in silence for hours, or spend a night talking about how you had favorite constellations instead of sleeping. You sat beside each other in the same quiet understanding.
"I don't know your name." you spoke first. The fear, the nerves. The overwhelming sense of dread had subsided. You looked up at him expectantly.
"N." he knew it was a strange name all things considered. Though there were weirder answers.
"Y/N. '' You traded names. Your string of scarlet red now drew you closer together. Your fates had grown closer together, connected you to your destinies no matter the outcome they may have.
"It's nice to meet you probably." you shook his hand.
At this action the flowers that took seed when you first met him sprouted. Green stems took root in your heart and you were blind to it. You wouldn't see yourself falling until it was too late. You'd never realize the words you wanted to say until they were spoken. It may not be the time now for the flower words to bloom but in time they would.