Bruised Innocence

Chapter 41

*This one's for urlocalpencilstealer . I really appreciate your comments on the story.*

Arwin was walking back home from the Suwyn bridge. It was a bright sunny day but under the shade of the trees, a slighly cold wind caressed him as it blew past him.It was perfect.

He felt euphoric at the sight of  yellow Cassia flowers carpeting the left side of the road, that greeted him.

Taking care not to step on them, he bent down and picked some of them up. They were so beautiful and fragile.

Gently pocketing some of the unbloomed ones, Arwin admired the green and yellow canopy above him.

Another wind blew in and some of the flowers rained down upon him, raising his spirits like a hot air balloon.

He laughed audibly and shook his head to get them off himself. One of the flowers touched his upper lip as it fell and Arwin's heart raced.

He picked it and looked at the yellow anther over the green filament. He remembered from the biology class that they were the male parts of the flower. Heat rose up on his cheeks.

He couldn't believe it! Matt had kissed him and not only that; Matt had even confessed to loving him. He was positively grinning from inside.

But did he love Matt back?

Did he even know what love was? He wondered.

He knew that Matt cared for him. Arwin also cared for Matt and wanted to be around him, kiss him and hug him. What else was love?

He didn't even know any friends who were in love!

Oh yeah! he had his parents. He was sure that they loved each other, regardless of the current circumstances.

He firmly believed that they would be back with each other soon. That reminded him of his dad. He missed his dad and Lacey too but he didn't want to hurt his mom either.

Suddenly, a brainwave struck him. His mom must have left the factory by now, it meant that he could go see his dad and Lacey at the factory.

He would need to rush though, he was already running late and he didn't want his mom to start worrying about him.

He started walking and then jogged all the way to the factory. His bag bounced off his back, but nothing could dim his enthusiasm today.

He thought about asking his dad about love and wondered if it would be awkward.

Yeah, maybe he should just ask his mom about it.

Only when he reached the place from where he could see the factory premises, did he stop to catch his breath.

He noticed that the guard at the front gate was busy talking to someone in front of him.

He was planning about going and asking the guard about seeing his dad when a horn behind him made him jump to the side.

He was practically standing in the middle of the road and he didn't want to be run over by a vehicle. He placed his hand on his chest to calm his heart that was beating like anything.

As he watched and moved aside to let the vehicle pass, it stopped beside him. He frowned at it.

Did they need directions?

"Get him!" A man inside the vehicle said, in a gruff voice. Arwin barely had any time to react before his world disappeared under a sea of black.

He kicked, shouted and struggled desperately as he was thrown inside and held down by several hands.