I looked in the mirror and felt insecure. Today at the university, I was in the changing room, changing into the appropriate uniform. Some people in there saw the stretch marks and acne on my shoulders and back. They were talking about it and I knew it was bad. I was always insecure about how I looked and this situation wasn't helping.
I went to the front of the music building and waited for my boyfriend. I swiped on instagram, looking at posts of random people and liking it. I heard the familiar voice of my boyfriend and looked up. He was walking home with his friend Zhongli. He didn't even notice me and I was too tired to call him so I just sat there and watched him walk away. After some time, I walked home and now here I am, feeling even more insecure since the only person I loved, ignored me today.
I wasn't a loner at school nor was I popular. We didn't have the popular or loner kind of thing in our university. I looked away from the mirror and felt a lump in my throat. Oh girl, the water-works have made their way out. Just when it was about to get worse, I heard a knock at the door.
I went to open it and saw Venti. He was panting and sweating. "I was with Zhongli and didn't see you so I talked with him for a while and went back and asked Xinyan and she said you went home and I got worried and ran here." He said hurriedly in one breath. "Calm down, calm down, mister, come inside." I said and we went inside.
"Were you crying?" He asked, worried. Oh shit, I forgot to wipe my tears. "Did something happen? Did I do something? Wait, did anyone say something about you in P.E.?" He flooded me with questions. I looked down and tried not to cry. "Those people talked about my body." I whispered.
I felt a finger under my chin pull my head up. Suddenly I felt a pair of lips on mine. He was kissing me. I felt better. Our tongues were fighting for dominance and he won. He started moving his hands over my sides. We made love many times before, but this time, I had a feeling we weren't going to do it.
"Remove your clothes." He demanded. I obliged and removed my clothes. I tried covering my body because I felt insecure and embarrassed even though we had sex on multiple occasions. He slowly removed my hands and now he had a full view of my body.
"Turn around." He ordered. Now my back was facing him. He put his hands on my waist and came closer. I could feel his breath on my neck. He scattered kisses all over my shoulder. It took me time to realise. He was kissing every stretch mark. "You. Are. Beautiful." He said between each peck.
He started showering my left shoulder with kisses and pecks. He made sure he didn't miss any stretch mark and kissed the marks again. His hands were on my hips, his finger traced the stretch marks over there in a circular motion. I shivered when I felt him mumble against my skin. "Every single stretch mark on your body is gorgeous. I could look at them all day and show you just how much I love the way they compliment your body." He mumbled in a low voice.
"Those people are just jealous because of how good you look. Even if they trash talked about you, that doesn't change the fact that you look absolutely amazing. I love you." He continued. I felt him smile against my skin. The feeling of his warm breath against my neck felt comforting. He smelled like vanilla and cinnamon.
"Venti." I called out in a whisper. "Hm?" He asked while putting his chin on my shoulder blade. "I'm glad you exist." I whispered. "Well, I'm glad I exist because if I didn't, who else will make you the best hot chocolate in the world?" He said in his normal goofy tone. I chuckled and leaned back on him.
He noticed me shiver and went inside and brought an over-sized hoodie. He took my other clothes and hanged them for me to use afterwards. "I'll go prepare hot chocolate for us both and I bought marshmallows too!" He said and went to the kitchen. I sniffed on the hoodie and realized it was one of his. It smelled like him which made me feel better.
He came from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate with marshmallows on top and a tiny fork. I noticed that mine had an extra marshmallow. I grinned at him as he leaned in to kiss my forehead. "Enjoy, mi amour." He said and sat beside me. I watched him wince when he tried drinking the hot chocolate from the mug.
"Are you okay?" I asked while I was trying to hold back from laughing. He noticed this and pouted. I pat his head and watched him smile. "I imagine us sitting in the balcony at 6 am in the morning, drinking hot chocolate peacefully before our grandchildren wake up. Our children and their partners will go to work while our old selves will take care of their kids every week day. We make their favourite food and tell them stories before bed." He said with the brightest smile that could make you blind.
"I like the sound of that." I replied, flashing him a smile. "We'll bake cakes for our children's and grandchildren's birthdays, and we'll send our neighbours some too. We'll buy our kids a nice big meal after every semester/term of exams as a reward for working hard. We'll have ice cream with them every Saturday. We'll slow dance to our favourite songs and we'll have bubble baths with red wine after a long stressful day." He continued while grinning like a lovesick puppy.
"I love the thought of growing old with you. Fuck that, I just love the thought of you, in fact, you're on my mind all the time, I can never stop loving you. It's been 4 years but not even a single day goes by, where I don't think of you. I love you so much, I'm willing to risk it all for you." He said, looking into my eyes seriously.
"I would risk it all for you too. I love the idea of spending the rest of my life with you." I said. This moment was so precious to me. He put his forehead against mine and we closed our eyes. We stayed silent in that position for a while. We drank our hot chocolate while talking about our futures. I'm sure we'll last forever. This was true love.
