“Why did death take him and not me?” he roars. “Every fucking day, I take risks on the track. I don’t care if I die, but death keeps saving me. I should have died, not him!” There is only pain left in Wolf’s soul. Just like his tattoo. The skull represents his brother’s death, and the wolf… it’s him. He is the lone wolf. An alpha wolf without a pack.
“We can’t control death, Aaron.” I can’t imagine what he experienced. Seeing the person you love the most die in front of you is the most horrible thing. That’s why Wolf never went to his brother’s funeral. The shame. The guilt you must carry for destroying what was so precious to you.
“He was the good one. The one who should have survived. I’m just a—” He stops, furrowing his face in repulsion. “—A fucking mistake! His love for me was a mistake.”
“Don’t say that.” I can’t endure his pain. I can’t let him destroy himself. For an inexplicable reason, everything he’s inflicting on himself, he’s inflicting on me, too. “The light was green, Aaron, you did nothing wrong!”
“I was the one driving, Elle. Recklessly. I could have avoided it,” he erupts with rage. “What if I was wrong? What if the light was red and I—”
“Blaming yourself won’t give you your brother back. It will just destroy you.” My words are harsh, but I owe him honesty. There is no place for lies between us. “Henry would never have wanted this for you.”
“I. Killed. Him.” He stares at the pool as if it were his brother’s blood.
I don’t leave him another choice—I pull myself into his arms. “You are a good person. No matter what happened, you don’t deserve this.” I take his face into my palms. “You’re not a mistake.” I lean to find his lips, hoping to comfort him with a tender kiss.
“How can you not be repulsed by me? By what I did?”
“Because you’re human. We make mistakes.” I kiss him again, his eyes filled with darkness boring into me. “That the light was green or red, that you were mad that day or not, it doesn’t change who you are. And you are the opposite of a bad person.”
He strokes my cheeks. “You don’t know everything about me.”
“It won’t change what I think of you.” I manage a smile, knowing Aaron’s brother’s death isn’t the only darkness in his life. He has other demons, but I’m not scared of ghosts.Only of mine.“Let’s do this. A new beginning.” I glance at the lanterns.
“New beginning.” He swims toward the table to grab them and hands me one.
We stand in front of our lanterns. Even Aaron, who acts like he isn’t a believer, takes this seriously and stares at his lantern, feeling torn. We are lost in the heartbreaking moment, that feels like a cleansing ritual to save our broken selves. I close my eyes, inhaling the fresh air, thinking about my biggest dream…
And I have one. The biggest and deepest of all.
I wish for Aaron to be free of his demons.
I wish we could heal together.
I wish for love and everything with him. I wish for the fairy tale I, once upon a time, dreamed about.
We light up our lanterns and throw them together in the sky. Aaron positions himself behind my back, his arms encircling my waist, making this moment even more magical. The lanterns fly deeper and higher in the sky, their light warming my soul. They dance together in circles, always finding their way back to each other—like they’re magnetically attracted. I smile like a naive child amazed by the spectacle in front of her. I feel all of my emotions taking me at full speed, roaming into my whole body, making me feel alive. Living a romance I’ve never experienced before. This spellbinding moment will be engraved in my heart. This is a fairy tale scene symbolizing a new beginning. A tear slides down my cheek. How come releasing a simple light creates in me such deep emotions? I feel like I’m letting go of something in me. I know Aaron is watching me, but I couldn’t look away or hide my emotions. I don’t care if I’m being weak.
In the darkness, there are only two floating lanterns going higher and higher in the sky. Us in the middle of our darkness. Together.
“Thank you, Aaron. This means a lot.” I turn to face him, tears of happiness on my cheek.
He erases with his thumb my tears, a protective look on his face. “What did you wish for?”
“I can’t tell you or it won’t come true,” I say in a playful tone, even though—I wished for you.
“I wished for something I probably shouldn’t.” He shakes his head in disbelief, looking at our lights.
His lips captured mine, enhancing the exquisite torture as he switches sides and his back hits the border of the pool. I sit on his lap, needy of the proximity. I grab the edge as I let his hands caress each part of my aching body. I’m not afraid to be close to the edge. To fall down. Because I know. I know he’ll be there. Not all men are the same. Not all the stories end up the same way. Ours is yet to be written.
Our kisses grow intense and my need for him becomes vital. He tastes like heaven while sending me into oblivion. He is my Elysian Fields rescuing me from the limbo. I’m trembling beneath his touch, our kisses growing more powerful, more celestial, until he breaks our contact and we catch our breath, regain our spirits. This is a moment for fondness, and when I look into Aaron’s dismayed eyes, I know he reached his limit for tonight. Aaron isn’t ready to make love to me. I throw my head up to watch the sky and our lanterns beautifully floating together as Aaron pulls me into a caring hug.
The light of our lantern fades slowly and eventually fall, while our bodies lighten up together on top of the world.
Beautifully damaged
“Are you kidding me? It’s just the entr’acte?”
I burst into laughter when Aaron sighs while passing both of his hands across his face and throwing his head backward. He attacks me with my pillow, and I giggle harder, lying on his lap trying to get back at him by throwing another cushion at him. He smirks, despite himself.
