"Your mum, she's not too keen on you liking boys, now is she?" he asked, concerned tinting his voice.
"She- she doesn't exactly know yet. She's super religious, and she didn't even want to let me move out or go to university but I told her I was leaving whether she liked it or not," I replied, as this kind of thing was normal in my mind.
"She sounds nutty. You don't need her, though, love. You have me. You'll gt your education and we'll be all the family you need," he smiles that famous smile.
He hugs me. He smells like sweetness. Nothing in particular, just sweetness.
What if I lose him? What if they come and bring me back to that horrid place? If only I could tell him. But it isn't safe yet.
He grasped my hand; our fingers intertwined like newly grown tree branches in spring, awkward and yet so beautiful and new.
"Let's go catch our movie now, love," he says with a smile.
"I have a better idea," I match his smile as we walk out the door, still hand in hand, and it still feels like spring to me.
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We arrived at the park at the best time. It was just after school had let out, and there were a few children on the playground. A woman was walking a dog around the block. Everything was so alive and it was beautiful.
"This is my favorite place," I told him, blushing slightly as we sat on a bench in front of a gorgeous fountain.
The fountain was a depiction of a princess, dressed in frills and lace, carrying a bow and arrows.
"I call her Lady Bellatrix. Bellatrix means 'female warrior' in Latin. She seems so courageous to me. I wish I had her courage," I rambled.
Phil placed his hand lightly on my thigh and I shivered. I don't know if the October wind was chilling me, or if his hand being in such an intimate place was strange and new, but I felt happy.
I've never experienced such a love. My mum always told me, everyone hates me and I have to earn love. Even from her, even from God. I didn't have to earn Phil's love. Take that, God.
