Paper Heart ✔️

Chapter 26 | enough to stay

Hero parks behind my Prius and turns to look at me. The drive was silent which was unusual. Hero always had something to say. I avoid any eye contact with him and get out of the car. I almost trip as I close the door behind me, eager to make and escape.

I'm embarrassed because my emotions are getting the best of me and I can't help but cry. Not this again, I thought I was done crying. Why am I crying?

"Ella." Hero steps in front of me and I stumble back. "Where are you going?"

"I just need some water." I breath out, the moonlight is bright enough to see that I'm not completely fine. The tears in my eyes are probably glistening in the light.

"Don't cry, please?"

I try to hold it in as Hero's thumb wipes away my tears with a swipe of his finger. His eyebrows are furrowed like he's thinking or he's angry, I can never tell the difference.

"Let's go inside." He says.

I nod and follow beside him. Everyone's pretty wasted by now so they seem eager to know why I look so sad. Drunk girls are always nicer for some reason?

"Ella you look so pretty." A random girl tells me. "You two are both so pretty!" She shouts looking at Hero.

"Thanks." I give her a weak smile and Hero drags me further into the crowd before the girl can respond again. "I can walk myself."

Hero turns his head and glares at me. "No you can't, you couldn't even make it two steps inside without tripping."

"Where are you taking me?" I ask him. "I wanna go home."

"You need to sober up before you think about driving."

I frown at him. "I am sobered up. I'm just sad." I finally admit.

Hero pulls me into and empty bedroom and closes the door behind him. "Why are you sad?"

"Because Wyatt left me and Jess left and everyone's leaving!" I say in exasperation. "I just thought eventually you'd choose me."

Hero sighs. "It happened okay I finally found a happy place in this horrible town and I hate getting emotional because it means that I actually have feelings that I'm trying to hide." His eyes drop to the floor as he runs his hands through his hair.

"Needing someone isn't beautiful or romantic it's fucking tragic, so fuck all those books you've read, fuck all the movies you've seen. I'd choose you Ella, over and over again but I'm messy, violent, bitter and ugly inside and out so stop putting so much hope in me."

It's ironic how hearts can still get hurt by something they've seen coming. The problem was when I'm lost I look for him and not myself. We were never meant for each other but I'm glad that for a moment it felt like we were.

"You're scared of the way I make you feel because you don't want to feel anything." I say. "I really liked you but you're beginning to let me down just like everyone else."

Hero's fists are clenched. The veins in his arms are bulging out. But it seems something dawns on him so he releases them both.

"I'm not Wyatt and I won't be second best." He huffs and walks passed me, once he reaches the door he stops and stares at the ground.

"When we had to write that essay, I wanted to write down everything I learned about you, but the paper stayed blank, because no words could accurately capture a silver lining of how perfect your life was before I came into the picture and fucked it up."

He leaves me in the vacant room.

I sit on the queen sized bed in the middle of the room and hold myself. He likes to mess with my head and sugarcoat things. One minute he's offering me food and holding my hand and the next minute he's telling me he's a monster who can't love and I'm living in a fantasy.