Betrayal, Secrets & Love

Rekindled, Lost friendship

Everyone has an escape, a reprieve. For Milira, her reprieve at home was a nice long bath and the fields behind the house. At the estate, it was the gardens.

Nature calmed her. The green-flowery and colourful goodness sprouting from the ground managed to set her into a mind-set of relaxation, calm, and tranquillity. She assumed her love of nature stemmed from the small town she lived in. Kelpmonth was surrounded by nature, albeit a more pale brown scenery than the vibrant green in front of her. Yet, with the small population living in Kelpmonth, there was peace and quiet and nature flourished. On the estate, the world fell away, even the bustle of the servants were drowned by nature and her birthplace and her second home became one.

Milira drew a breath, her head at war about the mixture of hate and love that twisted and grew, rose and dive for her uncle. Would she hate him forever for his actions? No one understood how badly she wanted to hate a person, as she wanted to hate Alexander but the moment the hate sizzled to the surface, love stood waiting, as if holding the hate back from consuming her.

Her feet followed the curvy and bulging stone path leading through the gardens. Her eyes focusing only on the walkway and her ears on the sound of critters rummaging in the bushes of untamed flowers while they sang their never-ending songs. Her skin soaked up the fresh air around her.

The path forked and instinctively Milira came to a standstill. A gigantic oak stood at the centre, telling of the years it lived through the thickness of its base and bulging roots. For a moment, she admired it before her eye caught onto a drift of smoke evaporating into the air. A smile tugged at her lips and she knew whom those curly wisps of smoke belonged to.

Keeping her footsteps light she made her way over to the tree before leaning back on it, lifting her head to the canopy of green. The rays of sunlight that managed to filter through danced on her body in peculiar shapes.

"Still smoking that crap, I see." She said, lacing her tone with a bit of harmful banter. Milira knew how to accomplish one thing without over thinking and that was to rile up the person standing on the opposite side of the tree, enjoying his smoke. There was a low, deep chuckle before the creaking of footsteps on dry fallen branches. A nauseating tobacco smell smacked her in the face and before she could react by slapping the wielder silly, he stepped away.

"You have to try it sometimes Mil, it will keep that pretty little head of yours sane." Came the playful tease of her childhood friend Aiden Durant.

Without bothering to hide the first genuine smile that danced on her lips, Milira slumped down on the ground, resting her hands on her knees before looking up into Aiden's pea green eyes. The signs of stress plaguing him, not escaping her as she patted a root next to her indicating for him to sit.

"Hmm, maybe now would be a good time to start. Do you think it would piss my soon to be husband off?"

He lifted a cocky eyebrow, his ash blonde hair tumbling into his eyes as he pushed them away. Compared to Damon, the two men differed day and night. Where Damon oozed hormones and muscles, length and compelling goodness, Aiden was scrawnier, the only signs of the amount of tedious work he did was the slight bumps on his arms.

However, Aiden made sure to make his size work for him. Like a rock band's main singer he wore tight clinging shirts which showcased his leans muscles. Milira always teased him about it but in the end for her, his key features was his dangerous eyes, dimpled smile, and sweeping blonde locks. She watched countless times throughout the years as he ensnared girls with a mere look. She still remembered the summer of his sixteenth birthday. Aiden changed that summer. He turned from shy, braces Aiden to confident Aiden. A pep in each of his steps with a huge confident boost. Gone was the boy and in his place was a man. The summer also happened to be the only moment Aiden ever made a move on her. He had pinned her to the same tree they now sat under, and stole her first kiss. Of course, he shrugged it off and said he wanted his first kiss to be with someone he loved and trusted. It was the same summer the two of them came to a mutual agreement that they would never date one another, despite personal feelings.