In My Hands, Know Suffering

Silence

Six Years Later

There were the olden songs that resonated within the plays of an opera. There were the colors that depicted such scenery of a striking masterpiece. There were the blooms of a season so beautiful, it can make one forget about the troubles in life. One precious thing was not always for the fortunate and the strong.

Abrielle saw a different world six years ago the minute she stepped out of the hospital. She didn't know anyone outside, she had absolutely no one to run to, even if it was just temporary. She didn't recognize anyone either. She could walk, but she didn't know how far her feet could take her. But by given circumstances, Castellone was there, waiting for her.

After that kiss, she didn't know how she should feel. Perhaps they really did have a deeper relationship then? He explained nothing about the past to her, it was a puzzle she was still uncovering, a life where he told her not to go back to or linger on anymore as long as she was safe with him.

The more he worded it that way, the more curious she got, and the more she persisted, nothing was really going to tell her anything. She gave up.

She saw how he wanted to build something new for her, for the relationship they now shared. She wasn't sure at first, but the more he worked hard, she found it thoughtful of him. She was leaning further towards him. She wondered why she never saw that before, or maybe she did before her memories of him got hazy.

He had found them a home, inside the spaces of a condominium complex close to where he was working. He wanted it to be close just in case she needed him when emergencies arose. He had his friend, Genon, design their interior. A touch of contemporary elements that lingered mostly on steel, dark wood, and glass. It appeared hostile, but it was elegantly homey.

Castellone told her that she was better in socializing now than she was before. When she asked what she was like, he exaggerated. He told her that she was a complete weirdo, an introvert who wouldn't live a day if she wasn't with him, chasing him around. And that she was madly in love with him, he even quoted. He was just teasing her, she knew that much.

She didn't believe in that, but little did she know, it actually happened. And, all those things he had told her with a straight face. He never really gave away any emotion when she asked for answers. His humor was so dry, she wanted to at least see him smile whenever he teased her. At least she knew why Castellone brought forth that attachment. They really had something back then.

She wondered to herself what he was like before they got into the relationship, what made her fall for him, and him to her. Through his actions, he was a responsible man. He never left anything undone before proceeding to the next. Whenever he made decisions for something, he would always ask for her input just to make things comfortable for them both.

Although her hands were unstable, she had taken a vocational course on artisan crafts three years ago. Most of her end products were often asymmetrical due to her unstable case, but her instructor said that her designs were exceptional nonetheless. Castellone immediately had one of the rooms renovated to be her workshop. She didn't ask for it, but she was thankful for his thoughtfulness. He cared.

Those were the gist of her 'restart' with him. She realized, if she haven't before, that she like him. If she did like him in the past then she was happy to have fallen for him again. He was such a stoic person, someone she had a hard time reading, but she liked him. Falling in love for the same person twice, that was how it probably felt. Especially if it was the right person.

Like in the usual times, there was a lot of power in words. Especially if one knew how to play it out nicely as if a sweet-talker. But, all those years of building something beautiful for two lives, all the struggles to make it better, and all the new memories were but shaded circumstances that led its way back to what it once knew.