Finding my Wings

~7

        “I knew this would be you favorite part.”

        Tristan’s voice startled me out of my self-pity reverie. For a split second I considered throwing my arms around him and thanking him for showing me this wonderland. The insane thought came and went. But I could still feel the warm feeling spreading into my arms, as if he was already in them.

        “I feel like I this is a fairytale and I’m the poor peasant girl who ended up in the wrong story after all.” I said honestly. A petal of the rose curved more when my finger caressed it.

        “Cinderella was just a peasant. And she got her happy ending.”

        “I guess. But happy ending are for little girls and dreamers. Not for people like me.”

        “People like you? I don’t understand what you mean. Everyone should have their chance at a happy ending. All they need is a little pixie dust, magic, and a prince to come sweep them off their feet.”

        “Well, this is the real world. Fairies and magic don’t exist. And Princes simply don’t exist. No guy is selfless enough to come and sweep a slut off her feet. They don’t deserve it. There are princesses for a reason.”

        He didn’t miss a single beat. “You don’t look or act like a slut.”

        “Well I am!” the bud nearly crumpled in my hand. I released the poor flower and turned away from Tristan. “And sluts don’t get a happy ever after. That’s just reality.”

        He was quiet. I could feel the world shifting under my feet with the realization he was going to put a stop to this. End my fantasy right here and kick me out like any other sensible person would.

        I didn’t hear him walk closer, but when he spoke he only sounded less then a few feet away this time. “Keira. I wish you could see what I see. It makes sense now why you were in that sort of place. But you still didn’t belong.”

        I spun around. He was looking at me. Not just looking but seeing right into me. Tears started again, and all the hatred for myself came flooding back. This guy was a prince and I was the peasant. I didn’t belong here after all.

        “You don’t even know me.” I sobbed quietly into my hands.

        “If I didn’t already know what type of person you seem like to me, I would’ve never picked you up from that alleyway. I hope you’ll find in yourself to trust me. Looking at you from where I am, I see someone who is just as beautiful as that rose. Yet, when you put yourself down like that, I can’t see you the way you might think I would.”

        I didn’t flinch this time when he laid his hand over my arm. It wasn’t meant to be sexual, or even implying much. It was the first time in so long I could tell this hand meant only to soothe and comfort. Friendship maybe.

        In any case, my sobbing gradually stopped and my shoulders slumped exhausted. I didn’t protest when he moved closer to let my head rest against his chest. I could hear his heart again. And for the second time in two days, I felt a sense of safety. The gentle caress of his fingers through hair lulled me. I almost felt happy.

        “So Keira,” he said casually, as if nothing happened. I looked up and he was smiling gently down at me. “would you join me for lunch out here?”

        I laughed for the first time. I wiped away the last tear and smiled at him openly, “I’d really like that.”