Where Stars Fall

Nine

I should have never gone to Matthew's House that day. I should probably never have gone upstairs, too. Maybe I would have found other hobbies, lived a normal life. Maybe I wouldn't have experienced what it means to love someone you can never have at the tender age of nine.

"Mum!" I yelled, my feet jumping high as I tried to see the cake she was decorating for my ninth birthday.

I was the child born of mummy's first love, but he died way before I was even born. I still hear her cry in her room sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night, and I have always wondered what sort of love she had for him to remember him after so long. To still miss him after so long.

"Iris, wait. I will soon be done, and you can take this to Matthew, okay? Make sure to invite them over to dinner and more cake."

My brows furrowed. "I don't want Matthew. He said I have a big forehead."

"Do you?"

I thought about it for a minute. "Maybe. Do I?"

"You don't," she said with a laugh. "He was just teasing you. And today is your birthday. Be a good girl today and let it go."

I gave a dramatic sigh, my long blonde hair falling in front of me. My mum was a brunette, but I had apparently gotten my hair colour from my father. She hated to cut it for some reason.

Soon, she was done with the first batch of cake. My name was written on it, and a few strawberries arranged around it.

"Mum. If I take this to them, can I stay there for just a little bit?"

She nodded. "It will honestly make my work easier."

I jumped a little, then accepted the cake, my hands going under the plate. Slowly, I walked out of the house. I had been to Matthew's House so many times that I knew exactly where it wa, and I didn't need to look up from the cake I was holding.

Aunt Sally, Matthew's mother, always leaves the door open, so she doesn't need to open it every time I run to their home to play.

I walked into the house, my eyes lifting. Aunt Sally was on a ladder, picking something from the high cupboard. She turned and gave me a bright smile.

"What is the birthday girl doing here?" She asked with a laugh.

"I... I brought a cake to eat with Matthew. Mummy said to invite you to dinner too."

She smiled. "Well, guess who got you a gift."

My eyes brightened, but she put a hand on her lips.

"Don't let Matthew know. He will get jealous."

I nodded, holding the cake tight. We shared a laugh, and I walked away towards the wooden stairs. I climbed it carefully, my lips pursed. The room was the second on the left, and I headed to it.

"Matthew!" I yelled. The door was locked, and even if my hands were free, I was short for a nine year old, so I couldn't reach the knob.

"Matthew, open the door. I brought cake and you forgot to wish me happy birthday!" I yelled again, jumping a little anxiously, my brows furrowing.

The door still didn't open, and I sighed, jumping even higher

"Matthew! Open the door! Today is my..."

I trailed off as the door opened slowly, almost blinding me with the lights from the open drapes. I took a step back as the door opened even wider.

It wasn't Matthew. Neither was this person around my height.

My lips parted in surprise as I looked up to his stomach, the height where my eyes could reach. He was tall and towered above me. I took another step back, my eyes blinking slowly.

Slowly, he leaned till he was my height, his hand resting on his leg, his dark blue eyes meeting mine. He gave a small smile as he examined me, one that was even brighter than the window behind him.

I could remember each and every feature in his face like I hadn't seen it through the eyes of a nine year old.

"Happy birthday," he said. His voice was gentle, soft, and I slowly blinked, a small breath escaping my lips. "Matthew did not wish you?"

I swallowed, then slowly shook my head, my grip on the cake loosening. He, however, caught it right on time, then looked up to me again, his smile even bigger.

Matthew was always at least cute in my eyes, but this person... he was beautiful.

"My brother is a bad boy, and I will tell him to wish you. Here. Have a strawberry."

I leaned to him, and he gently fed me one of the strawberries that decorated the cake. He smiled again, then gently patted my hair.

"Matthew is asleep, but I will wake him up and send him downstairs to you, okay?"

I nodded again, unable to speak, my eyes taking him in. He was, at that time, like the princes I read about. The perfection. The gait. Everything they made the princess feel.

He handed me the cake again, this time holding my hand to make sure I was holding it tight.

He started to lean away when I swallowed, gathering all of my courage.

"What is your name?"

He leaned back to me, and his smile returned. "Nikolai. I am Matthew's older brother."

I nodded. "You are... very handsome."

He gave a smile. "You are a cute young lady too. What's your name?"

I swallowed. "Iris."

"Iris. Happy birthday again, Iris."

I remember how warm I felt. How excited I was to have the family over for dinner. I told my mum that when I grew up, I would marry Matthew's older brother. She had laughed it off and insisted on seeing my future husband during dinner.

But he never came, and my ninth birthday was ruined.

That was ten years ago, and I never saw him again. The memory remained evergreen, but I liked to lie to myself that I didn't occasionally think about him.

I swallowed, lifting my eyes off the book I had been doodling on. Matthew had his arms around me as we occupied seats next to each other in the college class.

Ten years was a long time to forget a crush I had as a nine year old, especially since I had accepted to date Matthew on my eighteenth birthday.

I sighed again as he leaned and kissed my cheek, then giggled and moved away.

"Guess who our professor is."

I turned to him, my brows raised. "One of those science geeks you like to follow?"

He chuckled. "I couldn't help it with this one. I had to follow him, or I would be disowned."

"What do you mean?"

I wish he had answered that question. I wish I had been able to prepare myself. But like fate had snatched my heart from me when I was nine, it just as cruelly didn't give me enough time to prepare my heart for what was to come..

"Good morning, class, and nice to meet you. My name is Nikolai Steele, but you can call me Nikolai."