Safe Place

Chapter Ten

Dominic

Lizzy was too hyper because Ollie was spending the night in her bedroom with her that she took an extra half hour to calm down and fall asleep. Ollie was sprawled out on the bed next to her, his head close to her hand that she absentmindedly petted as her eyes fluttered shut. 

Sienna leaned against the door watching her fall asleep with her hand over her heart. She closed the door slowly and stepped back into the living room. She reached for her box of cigarettes and lit one as she came down to sit next to me.

"You don't smoke around Lizzy," I said.

"No, I don't want her seeing me smoke." She spoke with an exhale. "She's a baby and I want to keep her innocent for as long as I can. Do you mind it?" She asked, holding the cigarette between her index and pointer finger.

It was pleasing watching her smoke. The way she held the cigarette, lazily with a slight grip, the way her cheeks hollowed as she inhaled, and how they parted softly when she exhaled. I wonder if this is why girls liked watching guys smoke. It was appealing to the eye, and I enjoyed how her mouth tasted after she smoked.

"No, baby, I don't mind it."

Sienna was a sight to behold. A magnificent sight. Something rare and so utterly beautiful that it felt illegal to look at her, to be with her, to be able to touch and kiss her. I don't know what it was about her. Was it because we both had pain inside of us and we recognized it in each other? 

Sometimes when we held each other at night, I could feel our pain molding together, and the pure heartbreak and heartache were loud as if it was on speaker mode. I wonder if she could hear it. I heard it. 

Sometimes it was the way she forced a smile on her face, or when she cried as she spoke about her sister that had passed away. She didn't speak much, not giving me too many details, and maybe that's what drew me to her.

Pain.

Sometimes I'd catch her staring at nothing, her eyes would get glossy, but she refused to cry. She was determined to ignore the pain that curled and knotted inside of her. I could relate to that. I could relate to those who used their agony and heartache as fuel to be a better person, to move forward, to push, and keep pushing. 

The thought of being still even for a single moment would drive me up the walls and I turned to see her watching me as she leaned forward to flick the cigarette on the ashtray.

"What?" She mumbled. "You're staring at me."

"You're beautiful. I can't help myself."

"Thank you. Are you imagining me as a blonde?" She asked. I shook my head. "Good."

"Did your sister have blonde hair?"

She tensed up, the cigarette halting before she could take a puff. She gave a slight shake of her head. "No, Scarlet was a brunette." 

She cleared her throat. 

"She was even more beautiful than me. I have a picture of her somewhere." She got up, and I watched her rummage through her drawers, and she plopped down next to me. "Don't make fun of my hair." She warned before showing me the photo.

They were maybe twelve, or thirteen in the photo, the both of them sitting on the swings, their hands linked in the chains. Sienna was on the left side, a younger, blonder version of the woman that was sitting next to me. She was smiling widely, grinning, her blue eyes shining, and her blonde hair was curlier than it was now, almost afro like and it hid half her forehead. 

The girl sitting next to her was Scarlet. She had platinum blonde hair with brown twirling and twisting in it, and it was her eyes that made me think of Lizzy. Hazel, light, almost pools of honey, and I swear to God Lizzy had her nose and chin.