he's my nicotine

A little past

"It's okay," My brother said wrapping his arms around me as I shook with terror.
"It's over now." I looked up at him and sighed.
"No, no it's not." I whispered.
"It hasn't even begun."
My torso shot up from the bed. My left hand touched my cheeks to reveal I was crying. I let out a shaky sigh, and laid back down. The night that happened I realized why everyone hated silence. It was the most fearful thing I could imagine. My grandma called out my name from the kitchen, so I walked out sleepily. As I walked into the kitchen I heard a deep familiar voice, and then my grandma spotted me. She waddled over, and put her Han don my shoulder. Since I was still half way asleep I wasn't really comprehending what was happening. I had on my thickness glasses, and my hair up up in a messy bun. I had on a pair of grey shorts and a long sleeve black shirt.
"Liz, I'd like you to meet Denis."
My grandmothers sweet voice rang through my ears and I stood there for a minute. Then it hit me. I ran out of the room and slammed my door. I randomly threw on some clothes and put my contacts in. I brushed my hair and pulled it into a pony tail.

There isn't a word to describe how embarrassed I felt.
A stranger, a hot stranger, had just seen me in my most ugliest form. I walked back into the kitchen and cringed at myself.
"Hey Denis." I said grabbing a glass and pouring milk into the glass.
"I'm sorry you had to see me in that state, I'm quite embarrassed." I stated my accent come out. My grandmother chuckled, and handed me a piece of toast with peanut butter on it.
"Denis told me how you two 'ran' into each other yesterday." She remarked.
"How do you know Denis anyways?"
"Oh you know me, I like to take care of everyone."
"Well, I grew up down the street and for as long as i can remember she was like my mother." Denis points out taking a sip from my glass of milk that was in my hand.
"Hey!" I poured sitting down and eating. After awhile I decided I wanted to go for a walk, and Denis decided to join me. After awhile I rolled up the sleeves of the red flannel while talking with Denis. He pointed at my tattoo in awe.
"That's amazing!"
I chuckled at his excitement. I held my arm up so he could see it better, and watched as he traced the lines of ink with his finger.
"How did you come up with that?"
"It has a deep meaning, I don't think you'd like to hear it..."
"Please tell me?"
I nodded and kept walking beside him down the empty streets.
"My childhood best friend had schizophrenia, he got it at the age of 17. One day he had this severe case of paranoia, and kept telling me about these two creatures he kept seeing. Since I was an artist I did a sketch of them based off of his descriptions, and he kept telling me that all they would say was 'never trust the living.' Soon those 'things' caused him not to trust himself unless, he was dead."
I pointed at the tattoo and sighed.
"That's what he said he saw, so when he passed I pulled out all the sketches he had me make about them and found the original. I got it tattooed in remembrance how how f*cked up life is."
Denis seemed blown away by my response. He looked down at his tattoos but shrugged them off.
"That's a beautiful story." He said. We then walked by the caffe, as we walked in I noticed it was a little bit busier. After we got our coffee we sat down and talked more. I suddenly felt sad knowing that in three days. Denis noticed my mood change, and grabbed my hand across the table.
"What's wrong?" He asked cocking his head to the side.
"I'm gonna miss you and nana, I have to go home in three days." I sighed taking a sip of the hot coco.
"Don't worry, I'll take care of nana."
I smiled at him, and blushed as he rubbed his thumb on my hand. I looked outside to see couples holding hands and laughing.
"Have I told you of what I did instead of college?" I asked smiling.
"No." Denis said curiously letting go of my hand making me frown.
"My friend, Lynn and I went backpacking through Norway." I smile remembering that year. I told Denis everything, in great detail. Before I knew it, the sun was setting. We walked back to my grandmothers, ate dinner, and watched movies until we fell asleep together, on the couch.