There's a Place For Us (Complete)

Part 18

I. An Exquisitely Tragic Love Affair

(Part 18)

Isabella sighed. "Did you finish the surprise?" she asked, except this time she wasn't excited about it. She had lost her enthusiasm.

"Not yet..." Adam replied. He put his hands over her eyes as to cover them and lead her back to the house. Isabella flinched and took a quick, impulsive step back. Her breathing increased for just a second, but that second was obvious to an onlooker.

Adam had become used to these random outbursts and realized she needed her space. Something had triggered a memory. Isabella squeezed her eyes tightly and turned around, facing Adam with her closed eyes blinding her.

After a minute, she gingerly held out her hands. He hesitantly took them, but even when he did, he held them gently. He led Isabella into her house, guiding her with his judgment. Before entering her house though, Adam noticed something. Another thing he had become accustomed to associating with Isabella.

A single tear.

A tear not of sadness or happiness; but of pain. Adam paused outside the house, wondering if he should go inside and see if Isabella was ok, but he thought better of it, and let her be by herself.

If Adam had gone inside, he would have found Isabella screaming in a pillow. She didn't want to flinch at Adam's gentle touch. A touch that lingered even after his fingers left her skin, the touch that made her feel safe from her past, a touch that made her secretly smile inside. But Isabella's heart was no longer whole. It wasn't even broken equally in two. It was shattered into millions of tiny little shards, and even if someone tried to mend it, they wouldn't succeed. It was impossible. It would never be fixed perfectly, ever again.

She was hopeless... Too many years of abuse, and neglect, and heartbreak, and trauma will do that too you. She fell asleep on the couch after a period of intense sobbing.

Sleep was the best medicine, she had come to realize. Some people drank to get rid of their problems, some gambled and some did drugs, but Isabella slept. It didn't leave disaster in her path once the pain piled back on.

Adam finally finished the outside, and it was time for the inside to be fixed up. He knocked on the door, but Isabella didn't answer. He knew she was in there...

"Isabella..." he singsonged softy, poking his head in the house. Still she didn't answer. He walked inside and found her sleeping on the couch. She looked peaceful, even though Adam could tell she had cried herself to sleep. She looked innocent, like a child who had never experienced pain. Her cheeks glowed and her breathing kept a slow, steady pace.

Adam looked around the house, noticing for the first time just how shabby it was. It was almost dreary. And here she was; simply put, a beautiful girl in the middle of a place she didn't belong. And he wondered once again, where her parents were. He shrugged it off, and assuming he was welcome in her house, and redesigned the interior of a house that was in desperate need of life.

Isabella stirred in her sleep, but Adam thought nothing of it. He didn't realize that Isabella was having a nightmare. Only, it wasn't fictional, it was her past life...

She remembered laying in her uncomfortable bed and hearing screams coming from downstairs. She had always thought that her Uncle Denny was hitting Aunt Lisa. She would close her eyes shut and try to block out the noises. Living in that house, it had reminded her of the accident. The screams were similar, as were the ways she would try to protect herself. She remembered her eleventh birthday. Aunt Lisa had come into her tiny room and grabbed at her arm. She dug her long, unclipped fingernails into her fair skin. "You disgust me. You are a failure. Your parents are lucky they aren't here to raise you..." she would say nastily. She would say it all the time. Sadly, it was something Isabella was used to hearing. Then, Aunt Lisa would remove her cigaret from her mouth, but not only to exhale the disgusting smoke in Isabella's face. Isabella felt her stomach tighten in fear. Then, another scorch mark was added to her skin. Another scream escaped Isabella's mouth. Uncle Denny would come running in, and pull Aunt Lisa away from her. And at that point, it was when Isabella realized, Uncle Denny didn't hit Aunt Lisa. Aunt Lisa hit Uncle Denny. Her slap left a brief handprint on his cheek, and Isabella could tell it stung. Then Uncle Denny would run over to Isabella, who had sunk to the floor, and hold her in his arms. "You always were one to pity the retarded..." her cruel aunt would say to her uncle before leaving the room. Isabella would bury her face in the crook of Uncle Denny's neck, and even when she was eleven years old, she wondered how her life was so miserable. A thought no child should ever think...

Isabella inhaled deeply in her sleep. The kind of inhale that occurs right before sleep and grogginess leave. Her eyes opened and the first thing she saw were lights. Colorful Lights. Lights and colors were things that this house had never had.

"Ayy!" Isabella looked up from the couch. Adam's cheesy smile awaited her. "You're awake!" Isabella nodded her head, and for the first time in a while, awake was exactly what she wanted to be.

"I ordered some pizza for us," Adam said. "I hope you like pizza." Isabella nodded her head. In truth, she had never had pizza. Her meals consisted of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and sometimes if she was lucky, Greek yogurt.

"Does that mean you're done with your surprise?" she inquired with a smile. Adam's face broke out into a huge grin. "It does!" Isabella got up from the couch and looked at Adam. "You have to close your eyes," he told her. She giggled a little, trying to contain her excitement. No one had ever really surprised her with anything good.

She closed her eyes and Adam led her outside, once again only touching her hand gingerly. After a minute or two, Adam finally said, "ok. You can open." The sight before her, made Isabella gasp.

Lights covered the outside of her house. A variety of rainbow lights bordered the roof. A sheet of lights literally covered every square inch of the house. Light up reindeer stood on top of the roof, and a wreath was lain above the front door. Neighbors came over to her house to gape at Adam's work, but both Adam and Isabella ignored them. Isabella stared up at her house for more time than a usual person would. As Adam watched her, he saw tears form in her eyes. Isabella quickly wiped them away, hoping no one had noticed. Finally, she looked at Adam.

"Oh Adam..." she swooned. "This is the nicest surprise I have ever received." She smiled up at him, and he down at her. They held their stares, but Isabella looked away in fear that something else would occur.

A young woman came up to her, touching Isabella's arm. Isabella startled, but relaxed once she saw the little boy wearing his Spiderman pajamas, wrapped around his mother's leg. "You've got a fine young man," the woman said smiling. "Oh! Um! He's not fine!" she said quickly, but realizing what she said, wished to revise it. "I mean- he is fine!" she stuttered. "He's just not mine!" she laughed awkwardly, but by that point, her neighbor had already walked away. The woman rolled her eyes and picked up her small son. She laughed quietly and said, "that girl doesn't know how hard she's fallen... Or how hard he's fallen for that matter." "Never mind!" she heard Isabella call out to her. The woman laughed and shook her head. "But she'll see..."

After Isabella hoped the awkwardness had died down, since she wasn't really sure how to judge situations like that, she turned to Adam. "Thank you. This is amazing!" He smiled slyly. "There's more..."