Here's the next chapter! Sorry if it took a while :) I hope you've liked it so far! Another chapter will be up soon enough!
Reading on
x. (after)
I can't decide if it's a choice
He doesn't forget what he did. Before he could even think about it, his fingers reach out for a nearby bush and plucks out a full-grown red rose.
Blood spills from the prick of a thorn on his thumb. He ignores the dripping, and clutches the stem of the rose as if it's dear life. It practically is. The thorns continue to prick him, but no amount of blood could equal to the stained glasses of his heart.
The words roam around his head like traffic lights.
"Invincible." "Long-lasting." "Longer than forever."
He wasn't going to throw those words away.
xi. (after)
Getting swept away
She believed him. She believed their forevers and long-lastings and invincibles. These were words she put her heart into, until it was branded into her.
We are forever, she once told herself.
We are invincible, she once believed.
We are roses hanging upside down, she trusted.
xii. (after)
I hear the sound of my own voice
"Stevie!" He screams with all that's left of him. He doesn't care how many people he wakes up. All he cares about is seeing Stevie. He's surprised by how loud and definite his voice is. It was hoarse, but still strong. He beats on her door with all the strength he could muster.
"Stevanna Baskara!" He yells. The sound of her name already brought him to inevitable tears. "Please."
He's surprised when the door clicks open.
xiii. (before)
Asking you to stay
"Zander, don't leave me." She whispers softly as the tears of the memory flood her.
He pulls her closer to him until their faces are inches away. "Never."
She leans her head on his shoulder as he kisses her forehead. "Stay." She speaks and all her walls started to crumble. She was as vulnerable as ever.
"Invincible, Stevie." He reminds her.
A tiny smile crosses her lips. "Long-lasting."
"Longer than forever."
xiv. (before)
And all we are is skin and bone trained to get along
"No, Zander. The cymbals are supposed to be for the drums, not your face." She says sarcastically.
He gives a fake smile. "Nice try, Stevie. But I wasn't checking myself out."
"Who said I was?"
He rolls his eyes. "I don't even know why we're doing this bet all over again." His eyes set straight on Stevie. "Stevie's not doing a very good job at it."
"Oh, I thought Mr. Handsome would be having a rather pleasant time without gazing at the reflection of his oh-so wondrous face."
He points an accusing finger at her. "That was offensive, Stevie! You were being sarcastic!"
"Oh, really? I thought it was pretty nice of me to call you handsome and wondrous." She gives a taunting smile.
He pouts and stomps his feet like a little kid. "Guys, Stevie's cheating!"
"I am not!" She argues. "You're the one trying to look at your face at every reflective surface!"
"But you're still being sarcastic! Doesn't that include at slamming?"
"How would you know if I was being sarcastic?!"
"Because you streeetch your words and you crinkle that evil nose of yours!"
"Noses can't be evil, you idi—" She stops in her tracks realizing it before it's too late.
"Idi—what?" He teases, leaning towards her.
"Idi…omatic expression!" She fixes. "Yah. You idiomatic expression."
"What is that supposed to mean?" He yells, outraged.
"No one knows." She answers. "Therefore, it's not slamming."
"Stevanna Baskara!" He scolds. "You are a very stubborn girl."
"Aw. I love you too, baby." She teases, then gives him a kiss on the cheek.
"Just because you're my girlfriend doesn't mean that that's going to work!" He screams after her as she walks away.
"Don't get mad, Z." She says, turning back. "It causes wrinkles."
He stomps his feet and gives a frustrated cry.
"Bless your honeysuckle heart, darling." Then she walks away.
Zander turns to Kevin and Nelson who have been watching them intently the whole time. "She infuriates me." He mumbles, scowling.
Kevin fans himself with his hand. "Whew. That was intense." He says. "It was like a dragon trying to feast on an evil pixie."
"That's what she is." Zander nods his head. "An evil, irresistible pixie that puts you under her cruel but pleasurable curse."
Nelson stares at him then laughs. "You would think that dating would fix their bickering problem, but no. An exploding battlefield of Civil War wouldn't stop them from arguing over something silly."
Zander smiles mischievously. "We're invincible." He shrugs.
xv. (after)
Forever going with the flow but you're friction
She doesn't know what force brings herself to rush to the door and open it without a moment's hesitance when she hears his voice call her name. She guesses it has something to do with that deep, dark hole of desperation at the pit of her soul.
When she opens the door to see Zander standing there, looking as bad as she does, she almost breaks down into his arms and begs for him to take her back. The sight of his crazed, distraught eyes turning to a lighter shade when he sees her, his heaving shoulders and his unsteady breathing, the stains of dried tears on his cheeks, his wrinkled clothes and dark eyebags, his trembling, bloody fingers and ghastly pale skin. It was all too much for her.
"Stevie." He gazes at her as if she were some angel, but she knew too well that she was just a replica of the state he's in right now.
They stare at each other's cracked eyes for a moment. No words said, just the soft hum of the wind and their hearts beating. They communicated with the flashes in their eyes, all as longing as the others.
This slope is Treacherous
"I love you." He whispers.
The words flew in the wind and ricocheted towards her, stinging her where it hurts the most. He had to speak those words in such a sudden burst and without explanation when she's been waiting for him to have a decent explanation to why and how they fought, because she was blind to all the questions already.
"What?" She asks, dumbfounded.
xvi. (before)
This path is reckless
"Happy three week-aversary!" He cheers, holding her hand.
"Are you really counting?" She asks, but smiles eitherway.
"Yes." He answers. "And that is why I am taking you out on this lovely night with all the stars up and constellations obvious."
She looks up to the twinkly sky. "It's beautiful."
He sits down on a patch of grass and pulls her down with him. She lays her head on his chest as he fiddles with her hair. She points to the sky after a silent moment. "See, those 5 stars over there."
He follows her finger and squints his eyes. "Kinda."
"The star at the top then the two right beside each other and then the farther two at left and right of it. Connect those." She says, as if she's memorized the words.
He narrows his eyes. "I can't figure it out."
"Of course, you don't. Your imagination isn't as wild as mines is." She laughs.
"What is it?"
"A dove." She answers. "And it reminds me of you."
He smiles lovingly at his girlfriend. "You're amazing." He whispers.
She giggles. "No chiz."
The silence that follows is comfortable and secure. The soft hum of the wind and the chirping of the crickets mask their rhythmic breathing. As the night grew by the minute, they felt themselves fall for each other even more just with words unspoken.
"Stevie," He whispers into her ear.
"Hmmm?" She closes her eyes and snuggles deeper into him.
"I love you."
When he says it, he feels a tingle in his stomach that makes him smile. All of the sudden, he feels complete. It takes another moment of silence for Stevie to understand the meaning behind the words. The words seem to travel from his lips and into her mind, then finds its way to the beating of her heart.
"What?" She says, a cheerful smile crossing her lips.
He moves closer to her ear, until his lips are almost touching the soft skin of her ear. "I love you." He whispers and she could almost see the smile on his lips even with her eyes closed.
She opens her eyes and leans her body on her elbow, so that her face was just inches above his. She bites her lip as she stares into his beautiful, brown eyes and starts to think that there will always be so much more constellations in his eyes than in the sky.
"I love you too." She says in a voice as soft as the leaves falling.
Their lips finally touch and the stars in their eyes explode to sparks.
The night of their first 'I-love-you'
xvii. (after)
This slope is Treacherous
"I love you." He repeats just like the first time, except now he's begging and afraid.
She wants so much to tell him those three words back. All she wants is for it to be all okay again, as if nothing wrong ever happened. She wants to feel their invincibility again. But she couldn't deny the broken thread between them. The scratched glass in their hearts was pushing them apart.
"Please." He begs. His voice sounds as cracked as his heart and the tears from his eyes are falling rapidly. The frown on his face and his clenched hands asking for forgiveness and it almost looked like he was going to fall on his knees and lose his voice over her.
That's exactly what he does.
xviii. (before)
I I I like it
"Will you, Stevanna Baskara," He whispers into her ear after their hour-long argument over which color best symbolizes love. "Be my one and only girlfriend?"
"Remember me as yours."
okay okay next chapter will be up soon! :) and making a Zolly fic based on Pretty/Unpretty (Molly's POV) love you guys REVIEWS ARE GREATLY APPRECIATED DFJSKDGNJKASD
stay white lights :P
