Colorless Hearts

s e v e n t e e n

  After that night at her house, she stopped coming to the jazz club for a while.

  He understood why she felt the need to because he, too, was shaken up by what happened. It wasn't his first time being treated in such an awful way, but it wasn't something one could get used to.

  It had hurt him. Her father's words had hurt him.

  He didn't feel ashamed to admit that because he was human. He didn't deserve to be looked down upon, be seen as inferior, and spoken to like he didn't have the same value as the next person.

  He had learned that throughout his life, and now he undoubtedly knew that. The issue was how others still refused to believe the truth, to believe in basic human rights, to believe in equality.

  But she wasn't one of those people, he realized.

  As he played his music, it was all he could think about. She had truly stood up for him, despite her parents' objections, because she knew it was right.

  He couldn't imagine what the repercussions of her actions were, but he was grateful she had done it. He only hoped that he hadn't destroyed her relationship with her parents, regardless of their views, because he knew the importance of family. But he also prayed that she didn't blame the situation on herself, when she had done nothing wrong.

  And as the weeks passed, with her nowhere in sight, he began to realize just how much she meant to him. It seemed to affect him so much that it changed the way he played and the way he sounded.

  With his performance at the concert hall nearing, he became inspired as he found the missing piece in his puzzle.

  Whenever she was ready to see him again, he, too, would be prepared.

A/N: a very short chapter as we near the end of this story. it'll probably end with 20 chapters, like the previous two in the series, but with an epilogue afterwards, of course.

thank you for reading. much love to all.