It felt empty. It felt as if no one had been living in it for 50 years, yet her parents had stayed here long after she moved out. She was confused. She's lived in this house her whole life, she grew up here in this little town. Her first kiss was in the attic of this old two story home, yet it didnt feel anything close to that, didnt feel anything like home anymore. As she slowly walked down the steps she lightly touched every picture hanging there on the wall, even stopping at some to admire them a little closer. They were all of her. Some of her as a small toddler happily smiling up at the man behind the camera, the man she had once called her father. Other picture fames filled with moments captured as she slowly aged. The wall was filled with all different memories and smiles. She reached out to touch one picture frame in particular. As her fingers touched the cold glass she let out a quiet sigh while the images of that day danced in her head. Like all the other pictures she was frozen in time, forever happy in that moment. Yet this moment was different from all the others. She wasnt looking into the camera or smiling for the flash. She was caught gazing in a certain pair of eyes. Eyes that she fell in love with soon after that day. They were deep brown, almost a melted dark chocolate color. Kind of like the color of an otters coat, just like the ones the brain behind those eyes had a soft spot for. Those eyes. They could always see through her and she hated it as much as she loved it. She had grown so fond of those eyes within the time shes known them. She had fell in love with the way they saw her for who she was and wanted to be. Everywhere she went she was always searching for them. And everywhere she went she was never able to find anything like them. There was nothing really spectacular about how they looked. They wouldnt stop anyone in their tracks just to admire them for a little longer, but the way they made her feel could always still her heart for a few beats. Those eyes were everything to her. They had replaced this old house she had grown up in and had welcomed her into a place where she would be able to continue to grow into the person she was meant to be. They were a promise of love and safety. They were always warm and inviting her to stay a little while longer, even when her heart grew cold and uninhabitable. They were a place where she would be held and protected from all that had sought out to destroy her heart. Those eyes were where she was safe, those eyes were where she could uncover her heart without fear of rejection. Those eyes were home. Although her family would never agree if they ever found out, her heart did. She knew she had found her place. It was no longer this house, but the girl waiting outside, ready to take her home with one look.
