Sweet Venom [✓]

31

Rebellion was necessary for existence, yet even then, boundaries had to be upheld.

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The last few months had brought storms, thick blankets of snow, blizzards and chaos all around. But that was starting to slip away, as spring made her introduction. The ice disappeared, the evergreens emerged, and the birds also signalled their presence. The sky was magnificent in its azure brilliance, strong against the vanishing grey clouds, and wild flowers flourished, trees grew, and it was warm.

Evalyn lifted her feet off the ground and pushed back, in the wooden Poseidon porch swing, taking in her surroundings. She admired the dahlias blooming before her and the chrysanthemums, that she had planted a while back.

She had been learning lately to focus on the little details and appreciate what she had, what was in her power, and be content with knowing what was real and tangible.

Strong hands massaged her shoulders as she sipped herbal tea with a smile on her lips. Bella was currently back in North Carolina, spending time with her family and was coming back in a few nights, meanwhile someone who had grown to be dear to Evalyn, was spending nights by her side.

Elijah and Evalyn had gotten to know each other as much as they could. They weren't similar in many ways, but they also weren't so different. They could come to middle ground and agree they both had trauma they wanted to learn to deal with. Elijah from his tumultuous and abusive childhood. And Evalyn with what happened to her father and being abandoned by her mother.

Initially, Evalyn thought she was just having fun with Elijah, forgetting all the things that usually kept her up at night since her return, because that way she didn't have to be so paranoid about everything she knew, the weight she held on her shoulders and the notion that someone was out there, watching her, knowing all her secrets.

She was simply exploring things about herself on an open level that she didn't know about herself. But soon she realised she was spending so much time with him, cooking and eating with him, that she was putting her trust in him and sharing burden.

Dating him, even.

While that wasn't what she intended, she wasn't mad about it. Because they liked to make it a point to each other that they enjoyed each other's company and had a mutual interest, a pull too that only dragged them back into the same circle.

The time he'd spent with her so far had been sometimes overwhelming. It was like cameras followed her everywhere, flashing lights and questions thrown at her whenever she went. But she was never rude about it. She'd always ask Elijah if he was okay, and he'd act shocked, because he couldn't fathom that she cared more about him being uncomfortable, than her own sanity.

He did his best to protect her from the attention, knowing she actually didn't like it. That was why it came in hand that she could travel down to Brooklyn with him, spending time where nobody knew her so well.