Destined Part I

A Hero

I was drowning.

My tears were choking me, every day, and I couldn’t make them stop. It had been a week since Haiden had broken my heart into pieces, and I still hadn’t been able to put it back together, much less leave my room. I just lay in bed, crying myself in and out of sleep, pausing only to appease Grace or Angelina when they came in my room to check on me.

They kept saying that I would have to pull myself together. And I knew somewhere deep inside that they were right. But somehow I couldn’t escape the throbbing in my heart, and the pain from the hole in my chest was crippling, forcing me to remain here- unmoving. I could tell they were at a loss as to what to do with me. Even I didn’t know what would help. Nothing had ever paralyzed me as much as this, not ever.

As I lay there, staring blankly into the pink morning sky, a light knock sounded on my door, and I assumed that they had come back to try again. After a long pause, and another knock, I could tell that whoever was behind the door wasn’t going to let themselves in, so I dragged myself out of bed, and shuffled over to open it for them, not even caring about my appearance.

I was surprised to see Cain standing there, with a single yellow rose in his hand. The sight nearly brought me to my knees in the doorway.

“Is that for me?” I asked, my voice thin and weary.

“Here,” he said, handing me the rose and wrapping his huge arms around me.

I couldn’t help it. I started bawling right there into his chest. He didn’t seem to mind at all, though, because he held me tightly, pressing me to him to control my trembling. After he let me cry for a while, he lifted me up easily, as he had done the other day in the bathroom, and sat me down on the edge of the bed. He pulled the chair out from under the antique desk and took a seat, directly in front of me. 

“Adi,” he said, gently. The fact that he called me that touched my heart. He was trying so hard.

“Honey, I want you to look at me,” he said, waiting for me raise my head.

When I finally looked up, I’m sure the sight he saw was anything but appealing, but he was such a gentleman that he smiled at me anyway.

“There you are,” he grinned. “We’ve missed you.”

“I’m so sorry,” I mumbled as I placed the rose next to me on the bed. “I’ve been wretched haven’t I?”

He laughed at me and shook his head.

“No way. You are allowed to feel sad.”

His eyes were solemn when he spoke to me, and I could see that he really believed it.

“But you have to pick yourself up now,” he continued. “You have to rise above this. I know that you love Haiden…”

He noticed me wince when he spoke his name, and paused. He laid his hand on mine, comforting me.

“How come everyone in the house knows that but him?” I asked pitifully.

“He knows, Adia,” he said. “But it’s one thing to know, and it’s another to embrace.”

He was right. Haiden had to be stupid not to know what I felt. It was his gift after all. Then again, the fact that he did know it, but didn’t want to embrace it made me think he was stupid anyway.

“He will come around, you know,” Cain declared.

I simply shook my head, not wanting to think about that.

“I know you don’t want to hear that, but I know him, maybe better than he knows himself. And I am sure of it.”

He took his hand from mine, folding them around the arms of the chair.