"El," He would say, and she always looked up, he was the only one who called her that.
"How many of them love you whenyou don't turn it on El?"
She shrugged, this was a new question.
"Doesn't it bother you?"
"Not really. Why, does it bother you?"
"Yes! How many of them would love you if they knew you?"
Again she doesnt know the answer and is still surprised by his words and the strange sad expressionhe wore.
"Do you pity me?" She asked, her voice was cutting venom.
"No. I don't pity you."
"You know me."
He nods, turns away suddenly.
"Why is this so important to you?"
"El, I love you."
"I know."
When he turns back, he is hollow. Tears stream down his face. He isn't able to say anything.
The stirring in her deepens. "I love you too."
"Are you sure? It's so hard to tell. It could just be your desires."
He is self deprecating now, as he often does when around her. She has never contradicted his self destruction, and it hurt worse.
"Do you think I would say something like that lightly?"
He knows she wouldnt. She will toy with them but never tell them she loves them.
His self pity is drowning him.
She leans down, her head in his lap. It is the only way she knows how to prove it as love.
They stay like that for hours.
"Guess what El?"
She
smiles. "What, Poison hearts never change?"
It's his
turn to grin now. "No, I meant I love you."
He climbs the large rock and lifts his arms up.
"I LOVE YOU LUST!"
She laughs, joining him atop the boulder.
"I LOVE YOU ENVY!"
They couldn't care less who hears.