Dead Flower (Sequel to The Flower Girl Book Two)

Chapter 26: Back At You

                              Trigger Warning

Shot through the heart, without a bullet even penetrating. Sinking down to the floor, she escapes my hold. What have I done? I can't force her to stay, or to listen. There's still a fight left in me. Up off the floor, I pull her back into me.

"The fuck you mean you want a divorce? You won't even listen to me Veronica!"

"I don't want to listen to you! I'm done. Flower and I are leaving tonight." But we just got here.

"Baby..please don't go. Not without me. You can't just take our daughter and leave."

There was once fear in her eyes. When she caught an act that was only that. Now, there's pure hatred. Must be the five grieving states. Her plump lips spill to disgust. "I'm not even sure she's yours."

Pinning her into the wall like putting up a picture frame, "The fuck did you just say?! Who else could be her father then Veronica?!" Gripping my hand around her throat, "Answer me!"

"Logan!" Dainty hands wrap around my wrists. "Please let go..." Her eyes plead with me, until a crystal lake floods past her lids.

Face to face, I press the words through her skin. The sounds seep into her mouth. I want her to swallow them, digest them. Absorb what I'm saying.

"You can't just take her away from me Veronica. She's my Flower too. We helped her grow, and I want to be there for when she's a mature beautiful rose with thorns, because if she's anything like you, that's exactly what she'll be."

Beautiful, but if you cross her, she'll prick you. Draw blood to your skin, matching her red petals. I won't let a boy or man pick them. She loves me, she loves me not.

Fuck that. No one picks my daughter apart. And Veronica sure as hell isn't picking her from the ground she was raised, carrying her away from me to give to some other chump. I won't let my Flower die. Ever.

"After she finds out how you really are, she makes the decision if she wants to be in your life. Not you."

Veronica smacks me right in the face without touching me. Shit, I'm sure she'd love to beat the fuck out of me right now. I know the cliches. All life is is one big cliche. If you love them, let them leave. If they come back, it's meant to be.

                            Veronica

For some, heart break is much easier to overcome. They're right back on the road, picking up new passengers. Me? It takes me a lifetime to get over someone. I'll be traveling on that road for years. Driving past every person, comparing them to him. No one will ever be good enough. To think people are just replaceable is obscene. Depression and obsession don't mix well, like xxxtencion said.

Andrew was my everything. The only person to ever care about me. How do I move on from the only thing that gave me life? While he was sleeping, Flower and I snuck out. I left him a note. We're going home. I packed our things and we're staying at a hotel. I would stay at miss Jane's, but that would be so obvious, and a burden on her.

Poor little Flower has no idea what's going on. Honestly, neither do I. Andrew could have been cheating on me for years, I would have never known. That's the problem with being naive. Only seeing the good in people. Love is blinding, and I can't see a damn thing. Only the rose of the colored glasses.

Blinded with lust more than trust. Following the scent of the rose, and it's bleeding tears from each petal. I took the glasses off. Busted, the shattered pieces litter my naked toes. Trespassing the skin, cutting deep, bleeding like the red roses. Dead, though i'm alive. I can still feel my heart beating for his love. How do I fall but stay standing?