"I FELL IN LOVE WITH YOU BECAUSE MY LOVE AND HATE COLLIDED."
Cassandra Watts was known as the singer who hid her voice away from those she loved, and all of those she didn't.
When a ten year battle between her and her most sacred enemy, Lee Felix (...
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Felix "I know I don't deserve any bit of redemption or forgiveness, but please, hear me out." I didn't back down, I looked into Cassie's eyes and saw how they glassed over, leaving me in guilt.
Seconds passed, which truthfully felt like an eternity, until Cassie spoke for the first time since I got here. "Come in. It's cold outside."
Relief unlike anything I've ever felt before washed over me. They were only five words, but five in which I would forever be grateful for.
Walking into her house, I noticed no one was sitting in the dim lit living room, the house quiet altogether.
Just to make conversation to distract myself, I took off my black winter coat and put it on the rack next to the door before speaking again. "Where is everybody?"
"Thanksgiving shopping for the party in three days and picking up my grandparents in two hours. I wanted to stay here." The last sentence was all the confirmation I needed to know that she was so hurt to the point where she didn't want to go out. What had I done?
"Oh." Was all I could murmur out, me being the idiot that I was.
Sitting down on the grey couch while playing with the material of her red sweater, Cassie sat down with a sigh. I went to take a seat on the couch as well. I sat a little further away than usual, giving enough space to send out the message I didn't want to force anything in any way.
Silence took ahold of the room, relentless. I took to looking at how gorgeous the girl that sat near me was, her dark brown eyelashes meeting with the skin of her pale face as she looked down, hiding those perfect eyes away from me. Her hair was curled, the ringlets of dark brown so long it reached below her shoulders. No words could ever decipher how much my heart contorted when looking at the beauty that was Cassie Watts.
Finally, she spoke again, more on a mind set. "So why are you here again?"
"Ah, yes." I said, remembering why I was here, the whole plan crippling in my head. Now was the time to confess, to begin with something off topic and lead my way through. Here goes nothing.
"I wanted to begin with saying a little story about a little boy who was seven years old with the attention span of nothing." Cassie's eyebrow rose, her curiosity evident.
"Ten years ago, almost eleven now, I was running around on the grounds of Oregon's national park, a bounce in my step. I was conjuring up images of dragons and beautiful princesses waiting to be rescued. Margot Robbie, by the way, was that princess."
Cassie's red lips broke into a smile, and I couldn't help but marvel at how spontaneously beautiful she was. How I loved that smile.
"Finally, my mother called me over for lunch, and I was so clueless and into my fantasies that I at first didn't notice the new residents of Portland dining with us." A familiar glimmer of memory sparked in Cassie's eyes, and I smiled as I regained the lead of the story.
"Out of all four people of those family, my eyes landed on only one. A girl with big brown eyes, her hair in a ponytail. I remembered how fazed I was by that girl. God, my mouth was hanging wide open to the point where a fly nearly flew in it!"
Chuckles escaped Cassie's mouth, a marvelous sound that got me all the more in key to the story.
"The entire lunch, I was so nervous to say something while we ate. I literally was brainstorming these corny ideas of what to say. Instead, my actions spoke for me. I threw a piece of fruit at the girl." Cassie playfully rolled her eyes at that, clearly remembering that piece of pineapple.
Trust me, there were times in my life where I thought I was doing the right thing, although it was humiliatingly stupid, but they still pointed me in the correct direction.
"Saying in my most knightly voice, I yelled to the girl--"
"'Aye! The dragon has captured the princess!'" Cassie said for me, making tears leap to my eyes. I pushed the lump in my throat down enough to nod.
"Then the little boy and girl ran off and played on the playground, eyes ablazing with new reason. It wasn't until the end of the game when," I paused to look straight into her eyes to say,
"that little boy realized his true princess was standing only feet away from him."
Cassie's tears flew down her face, and I walked over to crouch down in front of her. Cassie turned to me, looking down at me as I brought both my hands up to sweep away those tears.
I still wasn't finished with my little speech, not even close. I had so much more I should've said the first go around, and luckily, this was my second chance to do so.
"I know you may not see a playdate prince in front of you, and instead something vile, but I wanted to say something." Nodding, Cassie brought both her hands to rest on mine--the ones that rested on her cheek--as I continued on, eyes solely on me.
"A wise man told me today that we are born with half a heart, waiting for our soulmate to bring us that half we didn't know that we were looking for." I hadn't realized I was crying until a salty tear ran down my face rather quickly.
"I know that I'm only seventeen and a complete moron."
Shaking her head, Cassie said, "No. Just a little idiotic sometimes." She opposed, making me laugh.
"But I realized the minute I laid eyes on you in that park ten years ago, that I wanted you. I wanted you and you alone." Cassie sobbed out, emotion flickering in those beautiful eyes.
"Cassandra Marie Watts, you have owned the other half of my heart since the beginning of time. You have proved time and time again of your love for me, as I you. I want a future with you. I want to hear wedding bells while you walk down the isle. I want to walk the college halls with your hand in mine. I want to see those big brown eyes I love so much on our children. I want you. Today, tommorow, eternally."
The pieces of my heart I thought I lost were suddenly reminding me they were still intact, always there.
Taking her right hand, I placed it atop of my chest while keeping both of my hands over my own, giving her a smile.
"With each beat of my heart I promise to always love you. I love you, my love, my Cassie. Not only are you my world, but you are the best thing that has ever happened to me. And I'd be damned if I let a guy who is clearly a little obstacle in my love for you get in the way."
The relief on her face of me knowing the truth was so easy to read, and I smiled as I realized she was smiling through her tears.
"I know I am only a boy with a heart but so big, but I am so deeply in love with you that it kills me to think someone would try to take you away." I breath again and again, that fear embedded in my head.
"Cass, will you allow me the honor of holding the other half of your heart?"
Her eyes sparkled with love, and she launched at me, wrapping her arms around my neck as she hooked her legs around my waist, making me stand up and hold her as I got the answer I never imagined getting.
"You don't even have to ask, not when it was always yours anyway. I love you, Felix."
Closing my eyes as I held her in my arms, I rested my face in her shoulders as I whispered, "And I love you, for the rest of my life."
