Cold Flames

Trees and Darius.22.

.November.

His back.

Trails of black ink intertwined, tangled together, formed to make a tree on his back. The roots of the tree were being swallowed by the shorts he had on, the bark of the tree, thick and strong decorated his lower back and from there, the leaves and stem shot out, covering his stout back and curling deliciously into his shoulders.

What I had assumed to be a small tattoo earlier was ironically far from that. I moved closer and his back tensed up as he noticed my shift but he didn't turn to look at me. I took that as a go ahead and stopped when I was a few centimeters away from him, my breath close enough to fan his back.

The room was filled with silence and I was itching to trace the tree with my fingers. I took my time to study the tattoo and only when I squinted did I finally notice the long jagged pink scar that ran across the length of his back, symmetrically separating the tree. It was skillfully masked by the tattoo but I somehow managed to notice it.

I cringed at the scar which looked old but painful and used my finger to skim across the line which started from the base of his neck to a little below the middle of his back. He shivered and sucked in a harsh breath and I took my finger off immediately.

"The-the tree."

"It takes the attention of the scar," he told me. His voice low and gruff.

"I-its beautiful." It really was breathtaking. His whole back was a work of art and the scar made it even more beautiful if that was possible.

"What h-happened?"

He sighed, a deep one that had his shoulders going up then down before turning around to face me. I stepped back a bit from how close we were and averted my eyes from his chest which was now fully on display, hiding behind my hair.

"That's a story for another day." He pushed my hair behind my ear, exposing my face to him.

I nodded in understanding, deciding not to prod for answers. Who was I to judge him for keeping something like this to himself when I had a glove over my left hand and kept my necklace inside my shirt? I guess everyone has stories that they aren't ready to share.

"Come, on."

He walked up to his King sized bed, picking up a shirt that was carelessly strewn on the bed and putting it on which I was thankful for. His body on display was too distracting and I doubt I would be able to focus on anything but.

Sometime in the afternoon during our tour, Chloe had shown me his room so seeing my stuff didn't faze me as much as it did earlier. If anything, it made butterflies erupt in my stomach. I sat at the end of the bed, tucking one leg gingerly under my body and nervously twirled at a strand of hair that fell in front of my eyes. Hunter sat opposite me and picked up my hand causing a blush to fan over my features.

"November, before I begin this conversation with you, I'm going to need you to relax okay. It's not something I can just blurt out, do you understand me?"

I gave a nod to assure him even though I was terribly confused. What could be so important that he would be making such a big deal about? If possible, his hold on my hand tightened and that's when I really started to panic. He looked at me carefully as though I might shatter, if only he knew that deep down, like really deep down on the inside, hidden from everyone, I was already broken.

"It's about your parents."

My blood ran cold and I literally felt my breath get stolen away and my heart stop. I definitely was not expecting that. I thought he wanted to maybe reject me easily or something but nothing close to and very, very far away from that. Nobody had talked about my parents in years, not even myself. I could already feel my heart rate quicken and my blood pumping faster than before and I could tell Hunter was noticing it too.