Secrets Of The Heart
Prologue
Summary: After a chance meeting in the summer of 2008, two people discover love in the most unlikely of ways. But as the summer comes to an end and the pair are forced to go their seperate ways, their paths are destined to cross again in the near future. But after their chance meeting, fate takes a shocking turn, causing one of them to finally choose what the other means to them.
The first thing I will tell you is I am nothing important; I haven't done anything special and there are times in my life which I will always regret. But there is one thing I will never forget; the undying love I have for one woman - this is not the love that can be described by words like timid or forever; my feelings for her will never be able to be summed up on a page, my love is eternal. Our story is complicated; our love was never fully fufilled, as soon as we decided to be together fate would tear us apart again. But that summer, the summer I met her; is the memory that never fades, the memory that I cling to when I lie in my hospital bed, waiting for death to overcome me. Waiting to be reunited with my love.
Summer 2008 - The first meeting
It was a hot summer day when they had first met; Ryan had been forced by his best friend, Chase, to join a group of people he had never met by a small, secluded river. Chase claimed it was a great spot to hang out, as nobody had come across it yet; the untamed beauty of the wild, as he seemed to call it. Ryan regretted joining them almost immediately; girls were sat around in their bikinis, soaking up the sun as they swigged from the bottle of vodka that was being passed around and taking deep drags on their cigarettes. The whole scene made him uncomfortable; teenage drinking and wild sex was never his thing, and how could they get away with doing this in broad daylight?
"Guys, this is Ryan. He's new to this so be nice." Chase smirked as the others turned to acknowlege their presence as they came stumbling out of the small opening. Hardly noticeable. "Ryan, this is...everyone." He sat down arkwardly, trying to find an excuse to abandon the whole plan; except the beauty of the surroundings captivated him. They were sat a few feet from the river, where people had already jumped in and were messing about. They were shielded by trees all around, except for the small opening they had come through, which was a few feet away from a small, un-noticeable trail. The sun was high in the sky, and even though he was not enjoying himself, Ryan had to admit it was a beautiful day. Most of the girls had now abandoned the pair and joined the guys in the river, some of them half drunk already.
A girl, about the same age as him, sat opposite him, her hands fiddling with the grass in front of her. Her soft chocolate hair fell in front of her, shielding her face as she hid a blush from his look. She was unlike the other girls; she didn't have blonde highlighted hair, straightened to perfection, she didnt seem to care about makup; not that she needed it, her natural beauty for all to see.
"Hi." He said timidly, a smile touching his face as she looked him in the eye, blushing again. She mumbled a reply, trying to focus harder on the grass in front of her as her vision blurred. "What's your name?"
"Cecilia. You?"
"Ryan. How old are you?" He asked gently.
"Just turned seventeen. Yourself?"
"Seventeen." He smiled; she was the same age, although a few months younger. Nobody else had noticed the small exchange; they were all too preoccupied with the water fight that was taking place in the river. "Don't get annoyed or anything, but...why are you here? You don't...seem like everyone else." He took his time with the sentence, careful not to insult her as a small smile twitched across her lips.
"Alex over there..." She pointed to a well built boy, the same age with smooth, floppy brown hair, who picked up one of the giggling blonde clones and threatened to drop her fully in the water, "He's kind of my best friend, although we both hang in different groups...obviously I don't fit in here." She said, a small, cute laugh escaping her delicate, soft lips.
"Join the club!" He exclaimed, both of them laughing and breaking the arkward tension between them, "Let's agree on something." He said, causing her to look at him with her big, brown eyes, a touch of curiosity glinting in them. "If this doesn't pick up in the next...say half hour? We'll leave. Go get something to eat. Agreed?" He smiled, and she nodded, a laugh escaping her lips as she watched Alex tease most of the girls.
"How long have you known Alex?" Ryan asked, trying to mask the curiosity in his voice. Needless to say, he was failing.
"Since we were kids. He's like my brother..." Her voice trailed off, and it was obvious she was debating over telling him the full story. "At some points...he's been more, I guess. But I've tried to make it clear that it's not what I want." The blush across her cheeks was increasing with every word she forced out, and Ryan decided against pushing the subject. Obviously, Alex was someone to watch. "Enough about me. How about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"
"No. Not yet." He said, a smirk playing across his lips. Cecilia wasn't like any other girl he had met; she was different, intriguing. Yet something about her relationship with Alex told him to back off...She hadn't said they were official, but he didn't want to intervine if there was something between them.
"Do...Do the others know about Alex?" He asked, his voice a whisper. She twitched at his words, praying that he hadn't noticed. How could she explain?
"With me and Alex...It's difficult. Our families want us to be together, but I'm not sure it's what I want..." She looked at him then, a frown shadowing her face as she saw him flirting with the same girl. "In some ways, I love him. But as you can see, he's not always the easiest of guys to be around. I'm pretty sure none of those girls like me; afterall, I have a closeness with Alex that nobody else could dream of. But I don't want to rush into things with him just for our families sake, you know? I want to know true love, the type of love where you can't bare to be apart, where you think about each other 24/7. Where you don't flirt with any bimbo who comes in contact." The last sentence stung as it slipped off her tongue, and for a moment, Ryan saw that she definately wasn't like the others; she was serious about what she wanted in life.
"Hey Cee! You coming in?" Alex's voice broke through his thoughts, and only then did he notice the adoration in Alex's eyes as he sat gracefully next to her; too close for his liking. She shook her head, keeping her eyes trained on Ryan as he pretended to be watching the others. The blonde Alex had been messing with now stood in the shallow area, her arms folded across her chest as she watched Alex flirt with Cecilia. Obviously she wasn't very happy. "Come on Cee, you've been acting weird lately." He said, slinging an arm around her shoulder as he kissed her cheek, lingering against her soft skin.
"No, thanks. Ryan and I were just about to go get something to eat." She said, jumping up and shrugging out of his embrace. Confusion flicked across his face as he finally turned to look at Ryan, taking in his small appearance and wondering what Cecilia could possibly want with such a disgrace for a boy.
"Oh." It was all he could muster; but she was already pulling Ryan along behind her, desperate to leave Alex behind as her feelings for him once again came to the surface.
"Are you okay?" Ryan asked, reaching out to touch her as they paused for breath along the trail. Although it was a hot day, the trees blocked the sun out and a soft breeze tingled her skin, yet when his hand touched her skin a jolt of warmth spread through her skin, unlike anything she had ever felt before. They both stopped breathing, a sudden desire running through both of them. How was this possible?
"I'm fine." It bearly came out above a whisper, but it seemed to echo around them as they stared at each other.
"Ryan, hey!" A soft voice broke through their thoughts, and they both turned to find one of the blonde clones stumbling towards them, wringing her soft hair out as it stuck to her face. "I'm Tiffany. Alex said you guys were going for something to eat, mind if we join you?" We? Alex appeared behind Tiffany, a smirk clear across his perfect features. Cecilia tried to supress a groan as Alex moved closer, slinging an arm across her shoulder and turning her in the direction they were headed. They walked too fast for Ryans liking; he was left with Tiffany, who was shy, but cute. She wore a pink bikini top and denim shorts, which was different to Cecilias beach shorts and black bikini top.
"So Ryan, do you have a girlfriend?" Tiffany asked, playing with her long, caramel hair and batting her eye-lashes. It was hard for him not to look interested; any guy with a brain would be. But he couldn't help that he was attracted to someone else.
"No, not yet." He said seductively, winking in the process and making her giggle. Trying to wipe all thoughts of Cecilia from his brain, he ignored how happy the pair of them looked ahead of them.
"Look at them two, can you believe they're not dating yet? They're prefect for each other." She said, waving a hand in their direction. It was obvious she wasn't one of the others; she wasn't wishing Cecilia into a hole somewhere so she could get her hands on Alex.
"Maybe they don't want to be together." He said, kicking at the ground under him, the thought of them being together too much for him to handle. What was wrong with him? He had known this girl for about an hour, and she was driving him wild. They walked in silence for the rest of the way, Tiffany trying to start a conversation whilst Ryan meerly grunted.
"Guys, I don't actually think I'm that hungry, I think I'm gonna just push off home." He exclaimed, and not waiting for a reply, headed in the direction of his home. He could hear Tiffanys startled voice behind him, and he ignored her as he focused on getting home before he would explode.
"Ryan, wait up!" It wasn't Tiffanys voice anymore, and to his suprise, it was Cecilias; how had she managed to shrug off Alex? "I'm sorry about those guys, they're a real pain in the ass. I told them I was heading home too." A smile spread across her lips and it was hard for him to remain mad at her.
"So why did you leave them?" He asked, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice as he thought about the way Alex had been with her.
"I told them I had a migrane. Plus they were so irritating today! And I wanted to get to know you more." She knocked into him playfully, trying to get him to liven up. He smiled playfully, and slung an arm around her shoulder. Trying to ignore the tingling feeling it sent through her body, she focused on her breathing, hoping he wouldn't notice what his touch did to her.
"Shall we head back to mine? Watch a DVD or something?" He asked, looking into her deep brown eyes. She could meerly nod; she was lost for words. They walked in silence; it wasn't arkward, it was comfortable. Ryan only lived about five minutes walk away from the centre of town, and when they arrived he unlocked the door and ushered her inside. It was stuffy inside, due to all the windows and doors being closed and it being a hot day, but Cecilia felt oddly at home.
"Come on, my rooms upstairs." She held her breath as he lead her upstairs, the house eerily quiet. Expecting it to be like Alex's room, clothes and crap everywhere, she was shocked to see his room was in pristine condition. The walls were painted a plae blue, the curtains a little darker to contrast. As the room was quite large a double bed was pushed against the back wall, bookcases lining the walls next to it and stacked with books upon books. She turned around, to find a flatscreen TV opposite the bed, and let a small gasp escape her lips. "What?" He asked innocently.
"You're room is...amazing. Way better than mine." She said, thinking of her own dull room in contrast to this one. Watching him put a DVD on and tuning the channel, she sat down on one side of the bed arkwardly, hoping he didn't have anything else planned.
Time flew by as she got into the DVD, feeling more comfortable in her surroundings. Half way into the movie, she was aware of Ryans arm around her, pulling her closer. She didn't resist and melted into his figure, the heat radiating off his skin as she placed her head atop his chest. He tried to control his heart, but as she lay her head on him his heartbeat sped up, and he prayed she wouldn't notice. They had spent the entire day together, without bothering to check the time. Darkness spread outside his window, and she sighed at the thought that she would have to go home soon.
"It's been a great day." She said, shuddering at the sudden cold. After all, she was only in her bikini and beach shorts, and it was now dark and the temperature had dropped. They were now stood at his front door, a soft breeze circling them as he opened the door.
"Are you cold?" He asked, and she meely nodded as he dissapeared; was this his way of saying goodbye? A moment later he reappeared, a black Led Zeppelin shirt with him as he handed it to her. She shrugged it on, his scent filling her nose as she smiled gratefully. "I'll see you soon?" He said, his hand hovering at her cheek, aching to touch her.
"Of course." She said, a smile etched across her face. At that moment he couldn't resist her; he stroked her cheek gently, a blush spreading across her cheeks as his lips lowered to hers. It was a soft, gentle goodbye kiss, yet it was something she was yearning for, something she had never experienced before. "Bye." She whispered, reluctantly pulling away from his kiss, and leaving him stood in the doorway to gather his thoughts.
A/N: Well, new story. Please review :) I realise this is short, but its just a prologue to get the ball rolling :) Next chapter will be longer. Reviews appriciated, x