Ellinel
1131 Words
I watched Florian as he got out of the car, my mind going back to that one incident that year. I remember just how pissed florian had looked the night I had announced that I had a crush in Matt, who was the geeky science genius I was paired with for group work in high school, and how I wanted to go on what could have passed as a beach date with him and a few others.
It felt crazy to me now how I could have missed Florian's possessiveness then, but I was genuinely curious and far too afraid to let myself build castles in the air.
When I had brought that dark red bikini with blooming roses all over the bikini, Florian had been just as silent, his brows drawn. I remember it was mum, Ronan, and Florian that night, and mum had said it highlighted the stretch marks on my thighs, and Ronan had plainly said I looked fat in it.
Florian, on the other hand, had kept completely silent. It made me laugh now, just remembering him back then, his eyes dark, his lips set in a defiant, straight line.
The door opened, and I turned to Florian. His head slowly tilted to the side, his eyes meeting mine. I broke into a smile again as I took his hand, then shook my head as he helped me out of the car.
"What's funny?"
"You are," I said, laughing again as he led me towards the entrance.
He raised a brow, and I laughed again, pushing my hair back. "I just can't get my mind around the fact that you felt like you were competing with Matt."
He rolled his eyes and turned away, causing me to laugh even more.
"I was in a competition with no one."
"Exactly!" I said, entering the cafe with my back while I was holding his hand and facing him. "You are... Florian Hunt. You always were. Men couldn't even be in competition with you. Talk more of you feeling like you have to one up, Matt."
He met my eyes briefly, his brow slightly raised. "He had the courage to ask you out. That was worth competing for."
"I don't think..." The words stopped in my throat as my foot caught against something, and I suddenly fell back, my hand instructively tightening around his fingers, a yelp leaving my lips.
He suddenly pulled me back up to him, his hand wrapping around my waist tight, his eyes wide with a mix of surprise and shock from the abrupt fall, his grip around my waist tight.
I found myself sinking slowly into the dark pools of his differently coloured eyes, his heartbeat syncing mine into a melody of slow descent.
We stayed like that for what felt like years, the world falling away with each second that we took, my hand that was resting on his shoulder slowly pressing into his skin, my lips slowly parting.
He swallowed, his eyes breaking the eye contact with mine to look down to my lips. It immediately prompted me to do the dame, and my eyes fell on his beautiful cupids' bow lips, and my heart skipped a beat.
I looked up to him again, and I started to lean into him slowly. He didn't move or stop me, and I moved my hand from his shoulder to his neck to gently rest my fingers on his skin.
I heard him suck in a sharp breath, but he said nothing still, and I leaned in closer, my eyes slowly closing as my lips gently brushed his.
"Florian!"
My eyes flew open, and my entire body and mind immediately went into panic mode. My eyes widened, the room suddenly felt too suffocating and too full.
My fingers started to tremble, my lips quivering.
I knew that voice. It was Ronan. I turned slowly, in a rather stupid form of self sabotage, and my eyes met Ronan's.
He was holding a crutch, had a bandage to his forehead and a cast on his arm, but all I could see was the man who almost got me violated. The man who abused me in his car, abused me to submission, manipulated me to compliance, and forced me to accept.
I gasped, but Florian held unto me tight, pushing me behind him and holding my hand so tight that if anything or anyone was to grab me from any angle at all, they might have to sever that hand first.
The tightness of his grip did help me calm down a bit, but knowing I was in the same room as Ronan was messing with my mind, and I closed my eyes, trying to think of hell, anything, but him in this moment.
"Get as far away as you can, Ronan."
"We need to talk," he replied Florian, his voice low. "I bet you don't want me to say it in front of her."
"I bet I want you to," Florian said, taking a step forward, yet leaving me in the exact position I had been in before.
"I know what you are doing. I know what you dod to Damien and..."
"Is that why you want to run?" Florian asked, his voice cold. "Did you get scared?"
"You know what happened to Damien, right? He has sever burns and..."
"Why are you recounting the things I did to me?"
Ronan gave a laugh. "She still wants a monster like you? She still wants to live with a twisted bastard who is hanging something that happened years ago over my face and using my..."
"You are quite bold to assume that she does not know what I did to Damien. I punished him based on the gravity of the sins he would have committed had I not been there, and... I haven't done enough just yet."
"You know that is not just it. You know you are not doing all of this just because of what just happened. Admit it."
I turned slowly to Florian, who looked completely unfazed, his eyes downturned.
"You are probably getting at something, and I definitely don't care what it is. Stay the f**k away from Roxanne. Yesterday. That... it won't be the only thing I have in store for you."
Ronan went silent, and Florian turned, pulling me with him to the door.
"Ellinel," Ronan said behind us, causing Florian to stop, his eyes slightly wide. I could feel just how tense he got, and there was something more than just anger in his expression.
"Does your sweet little Roxanne know of Ellinel... and how you transfered your disgusting obsession of Ellinel to Roxanne because you failed to get her?"
Florian swallowed and, without another word, pulled me out of the cafe.
- Writer
