Beyond The Fury

Chapter Thirty-Three

(Song- Afraid By The Neighbourhood)
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Ivory's POV
My words tumble through my mind.

Love..
Love..
Love..

What does love really mean? True love. Love is a quiet emotion that in time becomes part of the oxygen we need to breathe, and even though it may feel invisible and tiny, as soon as that emotion- that need to breathe, is removed... we choke. We choke because love is what we need. It is what we all need.

There is no such thing as 'a perfect lover' but flawed lovers do exist. They are everywhere, and as soon as you are able to overlook those imperfections, that is when perfect love is born. Two (or three or four..) flawed people coming together to create something beautiful... something magical.

There is a reason love is invisible, undetectable with anything but our own minds. It is marvellous and terrifying and completely random. Us as humans aren't evolved enough to be trusted with it, we would try to alter it, use it, engineer it- weaponise it. Imagine that... being held at gunpoint with the threat of love.

Love should be wonderful and awful, it should be sweet and kind but also challenging. Love is far from ordinary- it is everything but ordinary. There is nothing normal about it.

But when you feel that sensation occur... that small smile that creeps onto your face when they text you, or that shiver you get racing down your spin when their proximity is dangerously close to yours. Or when they laugh... and it is one of the most beautiful things you have ever heard- you just find yourself wishing you could bottle up the sound and listen to it over and over and over again. You'll never want them to be sad ever again. But that's the thing.. because when they cry their eyes light up like fireworks and even then, in that devastating moment, you are still utterly bewitched by them. Body and soul.

This could just be me that associates these things with love, but is that such a bad thing?

I love Hardin, I do, I know that now... and after last night so does he. I woke up to five missed calls from him this morning and I didn't bother to call him back. I want him to come and find me.

Maybe he loves me back... maybe we can be together? I just want to hear him say it. I'm not expecting Hardin to call up to Tina's window in a sloppy unbuttoned suit jacket with a bouquet of flowers, holding a boombox, and confess his love for me. No. He could whisper it in my ear and I'd be happy- fulfilled.

Suddenly I jolt, hearing a knock at the front door. Tina didn't arrive home last night but I'm not worried, she is safe with Liam and I know he is a gentleman. Tina is a tough cookie and can definitely handle herself... I know she'll be home soon.

Adjusting my fluffy penguin pyjama bottoms I shuffle towards the door, peeping through the spy hole I notice it is a dark figure but then I see his face- it's Hardin and he is here.

I don't think I have ever unlocked a door so fast in my life because when I throw the door open it nearly flies off of its hinges. Hardin grins and I melt.

"Hey, nice pj's." His smile is teasing as he glances down to my legs and then back up to my face. I roll my eyes, keeping my face as neutral as I possibly can. I cross my arms over my chest to hide my breasts, I'm not wearing a bra and there is definitely a chill in the air.

"They are warm... Can I help you?" My words aren't harsh, but they aren't sweet either. I want him to know that I will talk to him, but not happily. I want him to say something meaningful to me- right now.