11:00 at night.
Caroline
had eaten and was fast asleep in the car. Nothing could wake the
child. Everything was so dark and the stars were leaving the tiniest
little spots mirrored on the front of the windshield. Anthony
had
decided that he could wait no longer to see his angel again.
So many questions kept running through his mind. Was it just a little
kiss she had given him for saving her or did it mean more? Did she
have feelings for him as he did her? Would she consider him an ally
if they conversed in everyday life or would she always have doubts
because of their first meeting in the
alley? With Knox?
'No.' He reassured himself. 'She wouldn't forget me and pretend that the kiss never happened.'
She
would always remember him. She was an angel. She had too. God, how he
had grown to love this angel yet he barely even knew her. He wanted
to be with her. He wanted so badly to be
with her and to make her
happy even though he barely knew her.
Caroline stirred as the car pulled to the side of the road across the street from Dylan's house. He turned the engine off and looked at her house and thought for a moment. Dylan was truly alone as much as he. She had two other friends, but they had lives. Real lives. They had boyfriends and love and passion. They were beginning to get to a point of settling down and having a family. They were all nearing the age of 30 and he was already 32. She was 28 and that was a perfect time to start a family, but she seemed so reluctant to start one, it seemed. Maybe she didn't want to get hurt again. He'd known of 2 people that had hurt her pretty bad. Knox and Seamus. Damn them for not seeing that she was wonderful. He barely knew her but he still knew this.
He looked back over to Caroline and sighed. The moonlight was making the tiniest little specks of white lights come through the windshield was making her skin look like porcelain. She looked like the most beautiful little thing he had ever seen. She literally looked like an angelic doll.
'Huh.' he thought. 'Ironic.'
He
got out of the car as quietly as he could without waking her and
locked the door behind him. He walked up the stone steps that led to
the front door and assumed that she was asleep because of the lack of
light coming from the windows and went through her unlocked door
without effort and
heard
soft voices. He froze.
She looked so beautiful.
'Dylan.'
He
walked over to her sleeping form and examined her face. She had a
certain peace on her face whilst she slept. He wondered if she was
dreaming of him. He had certainly dreamed of her in the last month.
He carefully pried the remote out of her hand and picked her up ever
so carefully. He pondered towards the hallway assuming there would be
a bedroom and found one easily. He laid her gently on the bed and
covered her up. He wanted her to awake and greet him with a smile. A
kiss. Love. But now
was not the right time. He would get her alone
but not now. He brushed a stray hair away from her face and gave her
a light kiss on the forehead. Oh how he wanted her to see him. And
she would.
and Caroline was gone.
He gasped.
'Where
is she?!' he screamed inside of his mind.
He began to scout up and
down the street in his car looking for her and getting out of his car
occasionally to check dark alleyways. He had scouted 3 blocks before
he came to a local park. He got out of his car to go in search for
her. As he ventured further and further into the park, he began to
hear crying. It was a haunting sound that was frighten most in the
middle of the night in a dark park. He looked at his watch. 11:32.
He looked up again and followed the sound of the crying. Then he saw her sitting on a swing. She was crying so hard. Sobs were racking her body and she looked as if she had lost something dear to her. He quietly walked up behind her and crouched in front of her when he reached her. She had her face buried in her hands and didn't notice he was there. He reached out and touched her face and her face jerked up with surprise. As soon as he came into focus through the blurriness of her tears, her arms immediately wrapped around his neck and she started sobbing again.
Had he scared her? He wondered."I woke up and y-you weren't th-there. I thought-I thought you left me there t-to be alone forever." she sobbed.He felt so stupid leaving her there like that all alone. Oh. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.
He embraced her and she still sobbed. He held her tight and pulled away briefly to look her in the eyes. She looked back at him and suddenly her face turned cold with anger. He was a little surprised and let his arms fall to his sides. As she angrily wiped her tears away, she said, "Don't think that I'll ever cry for you again. I've done it twice already and hate myself for it! Listen. I'm usually not this emotional. I may only be 7, but I may as well be pretty damn mature for my age to know my own feelings. I never ever want you to see me cry again! It's such a sign of weakness. My father always said I was a strong little girl. My father!-My father-"
And she turned her head away in shame of new tears freely falling from her eyes. Anthony was stunned. He had never seen a little child this emotionally challenged since he had seen himself in the mirror at age 7. She reminded him so much of himself when he was a little child. She looked so fragile.........
He stood all the way up and so did she.
"Are we going home now?" she asked quietly. She looked up and saw him nod his head.
"I'm sorry for the way I acted. Ever since my family died, I've just felt so alone. Maybe in time we'll become better friends, but for now, I still feel alone and I'll work on friendship later. Right now, I'm confused. Just.......let's go home OK?"
He grabbed her hand and they walked out of the park and to the car. He opened the door for her and she got in. The engine was started and she didn't utter a single word on the way home. The car pulled into the driveway and they sat in the car in silence for a while. Finally, she got out of the car and went inside to change. He followed her inside and when she was done changing he saw her climb into bed and wait for something. He stood in the doorway for quite a time until she said.
"Ah, will you tuck me in?"
He walked over to the bedside and sat down. "All's you have to do is give me a hug and turn off the light." she said rather ackwardly. He wrapped his arms around her and so did she. They embraced and finally he let go but still held her. It was like she was his own little beautiful sweet girl. He really felt sorry for Caroline and barely noticed when she gave him a little kiss on the cheek.
"Thank you for being with me." she whispered.
He hugged her again in response. He got up and turned the light off and shut the door. What a long day it had been. This morning he had barely known her. Now he felt as if he had known her his whole life. He already understood her and thought that that was a hard thing to do considering the little speech she gave him in the park. He went into his room and began to undress. He had stripped to his boxers and realized that he was not alone. He turned to see Caroline standing in the doorway. She looked afraid. He put on some long black pajama pants and knelt down to her height level. His eyes questioning hers'...... what was wrong?
"I thought I could handle the darkness. I'm afraid of the dark." she said sadly. He put his had to her chin and raised her head so that she was looking his square in the eyes. She was picked up and carried to the bed. He turned out the light and climbed into bed. He didn't really mind her sleeping in the same bed with him. As he made himself comfortable, he felt her snuggle against him and he welcomed her young warmth. He felt her breathing slow and knew she was sleeping. He sniffed her innocent hair and closed his eyes. So this was what it felt like to feel love. To feel somewhat like a father. And then, sleep overtook him.