When We Met

Twenty Eight

|Donovan|

The cold from the marble floor seeps into my skin and allows my body to shiver, despite the warm weather.

I don't know if I should be happy that Leanne hasn't died a horrific death, or angry because she didn't even consider getting in touch with me. The confusion is evident and Dylan takes two steps to stand in front of me and cup my face with his huge, yet soft hands.

"What is it?" He asks gently and I look at his perfect features. Those warm eyes appear as the counterpart to the cold that's possessing my body at the moment, those furrowed eye brows make me believe that he is genuinely concerned and would do anything for the hurt and the pain to decipate into a blur of nothingness.

But then again, there were so many people who made me believe different things, only allowing them to sneak under my nose and leave me alone for ever. What confirmation do I have that Dylan wouldn't do something similar? That he is here to stay?

The doubt makes me take a step back, causing a cloud of confusion to burst upon his head. If he is deeply hurt, he doesn't show it abruptly. I make an eye contact with Madeline and walk towards her, a question at the tip of my tongue.

"Are you serious?" I ask her, my voice nothing more than a silent quiver. She nods her head in affirmation and I take a deep breath in.

"I think that girl is Leanne only. Well, with cropped red hair and disgusting piercings." She makes a face and I glide back to the day I had found Leanne's letter. It had been a devastating experience.

I feel Dylan's close presence behind me and I fight the urge to wrap myself around the comfort he always manages to provide me with. Something about him makes me wanna get all the negative thoughts out of my head and embrace him the way he always does.

"Did... Did s-she enter any location?" I fumble with words.

"None. And there are only two or three pics of hers. The rest are of random things." She mutters. "Wait, I'll show you."

Madeline fetches her phone from the pocket of her jeans and starts typing ferociously. I wait patiently and try not to cry out loud when Dylan's arm coils around my waist from behind, resting his palm on my stomach.

He knows I love it when he does that. He bloody knows how to make me feel at home. Why would he fake something like that?

I feel my resolve breaking and I let my head meet his chest. Dylan releases the breath he had been holding for long and tightens his grip around me, his chin resting on my shoulder. I situate my arms against his and close my eyes, letting him plant gentle kisses along the side of my face. The tension starts to fade away immediately.

He is here to say. I shouldn't think otherwise.

Madeline bobs her head up and hands me her phone. The screen lights up with a very vivid image of a girl with a red pixie cut and lipstick of the same shade. It isn't a perfectly focussed picture, but the jawline and the features of her face are similar to Leanne's. The same tiny nose, crinkled eyes, and perfect teeth. This has to be Leanne.

"How did you find her?" I ask her, remembering the time when I used to look for her on all the social networking sites possible, only to face disappointment.

"Suggestions. I just randomly clicked on the profile and found her."

"How come I never...." I don't complete the sentence and rush inside the bedroom to grab my phone.

I open Instagram and search for the same username and end up getting a list of unrelated people. My eye brows draw together in confusion and I get out of the room.

"She blocked me." I state. "She has blocked me on insta. I wonder why I never was able to find her."

"Why would she block you?" Dylan asks and I look at him. I know he is unable to place one and one together, but never does he point that out.

"I need a break." I mutter and sit down on the sofa, massaging my temples.

"Take your time. I just wanted to tell you everything." She turns around and faces Dylan. "Do me a favor, and take care of her for me? I want to stay with her, but right now? She needs you more than me. I'll come around the evening."

I don't argue.

******

After Madeline left, Dylan and I made ourselves comfortable inside the haven of the bed, with arms wrapped around each other and our legs entangled as one. I told him everything about Leanne and how one fine day, she just up and left with no believable explanations what so ever. Dylan listens to me patiently and doesn't interrupt my rant. This helps me in the form of a catharsis, which was a must for me. He handled me with care, his fingers playing with my hair and his lips murmuring comfort the moment I lost track of the past and the present. I couldn't have asked for something more precious than this.

And as I finish with my narration, he takes about a minute or two to analyse the mess that is also known as my life, and draws circles on my arm with his thumb. It is soothing in some way, but I am dying to know how he felt about all this. Will he help me fight this weird situation, or will he leave me the heck alone, like everyone else? It is a question that is killing me from the inside.

So, when Dylan gently lowers my head on the pillow so that I am well placed underneath his muscular body, I get a feeling that this might end well for us.

I look into his warm eyes, which haven't ever held back secrets from me. They delve into mine with love and concern, something that makes me happy and scares me a little at the same time.

"I know what you're thinking, Cher." He starts, his knuckles brushing away my long bangs. "I know that you're worried about me walking away from you after having you open yourself up to me."

He reads minds, that I know for sure.

"That I'll leave you for good, without any reason and never come back for you." He continues, and I feel my eyes fill up with hot tears. "That you'll be on your own for ever, and no one will give you the love and care you deserve.

"But, let me promise you something today, Cheryl Donovan. Let me tell you that I'm not going anywhere. That I'm here to stay, and no matter what happens, I will never stop caring for you. So, you don't have to worry about us. Don't let the Leannes and Jakes from your past cause hindrance to what we have now. You need to let go a little. Stop being so afraid all the time. I'll make sure that you never feel lonely." He leans down and plants a chaste kiss on my forehead.

My lower lip trembles and two fresh tears roll down from my eyes. Dylan kisses them away and I close my eyes at the touch of his soft lips against my skin. All the doubts that I had about him, about us, stream out of the window and I shut them down for good.

It's us now, and nothing can ever change that. Nothing.

*********