After Henry (Once Upon a Time)

Chapter Four: Malibu

  Next Update: Saturday, 8th June

Ivy: The wind blowing in my face, singing sweet melodies of the stories that would happen on that trip. The stories I imagined playing out, endless as the field the ocean seemed to be. Endless as the bottom of Malibu's waters, where Henry sailed our rented yacht and smiled at me, from the steering wheel.

I smiled back and focused on the high sea before I'd get many ideas upon studying Henry's beauty features. From his outstanding forest green eyes that could take anyone out of breath to the little frown in his mouth, that always suited him well.

I closed my eyes, feeling the wind's touch on my marble skin, it kind of tickled, made me feel cherished like I never was before.

I opened my eyes and took the first gasps of the melting sun. It looked like a bittersweet orange crashing the wrinkled waves as it blurred itself, transforming into a sweet inferno that did not burn the waters, rather took solace, embrace and final rest beneath its blue wrinkled dress.

Above, a few minutes after sun's death, I was caught by the beauty of stars. A whole field of them, and the air still sweet, still caring and warm. Malibu was always hot, it stole the heat from the sun and even took it to the moon, allowing her to remember her beloved sun, and shine bright amongst the stars, pale in comparison to the loving sea of light that was the moon.

Henry left the steering wheel and came closer to me, he left the yacht almost swimming by itself, as he tenderly but extremely shyly placed his hands above my hips and tried to playfully mimic Titanic's romantic scene. But what he intended to be a joke, turned out to be quite real, gasped by the feeling we started to grow for each other from the moment we lied eyes on one another.

My head fell flat on his shoulder. Just like that. The chemistry between us was so tangible that sometimes I was afraid it would explode everything around us. We just fell for one another so easily. Like a true ivy, that plant that seems to cling to everything, always looking for someone to be attached to, to grow, I found Henry Mills to be the perfect home. I grew with him, just as my feelings, as his gentle touch inspired me to be better than I ever was. Forgetting the broken girl who always did mother's bidding even when it involved hurting others, or the innocent girl who lost her angelic wings, once she drank from the seductive cup of darkness, for the first time. I still remember the taste in my mouth, as I am still the only one who knows my first true dark deed. I recon the metallic bittersweet taste darkness held, how it felt like poison and honey all at once. I wonder how Henry's lips would taste! Could light be just as addictive as darkness? Could those little red cherries catch me disarmed, just like shadows did? It got me thinking, biting my lip like a fourteen-year-old girl with a crush on her favorite superstar.

"I've been thinking..." He whispered, allowing me to shake my head from the thoughts that found breath inside. "What if we rented a little wooden bungalow here, in Malibu? We could always wake up staring at the beach. I'm thinking about staying here for like a week before we move on to the other destination on the map." He explained his plan, while my head found solace on his shoulder, eyes blinked staring at the high sky filled with stars, the sea scratched by the wind.

"It sounds lovely. I just hope your money doesn't die out because of me." I said, looking concerned, but still holding my bright smirk.

"Don't worry about that." He whispered in my ear, and I could already feel his shyness building up, screaming for him not to be so close, to keep his walls high because it was still too soon for us to engage like that. We were still learning each other. Alas, a cosmic force attracted us to one another, pulling each other into a warm embrace, just like magnets.