8Title: My Dark Angel
My Dark Angel
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He saved me...again. I lost count of how many times he did that after it hit double digits. Whenever I needed saving he was there no matter the event and I didn't even know who he was. Oh, I knew his name alright, but I don't know who he is and why he saves me from everything. For some reason I never asked and he never told, he leaves just as quickly as he comes, there is no signal of either his entrance or departure, just his intense gaze as he looks at me, really looks.. as though my eyes tell him all. I never heard him speak as he never did, to me at least.
He was the school's 'bad boy' everyone knew that and I was the chubby loner, every school has them. It wouldn't be a High School if these stereotypes didn't exist. So there should be no interaction between us right?, but it isn't like that or at least he doesn't seem to think so, he just comes in and stares at the people mocking me with his intense gaze and then they simply leave with last two hurried jibes to show off their weak bravado, but he just glares, as though promising them pain with just his eyes. It feels surreal, i don't understand half the things that happens around me, is this some sort of game, he protects me from them, they come back and return the same way they came.
I wouldn't blame them, his eyes sends shivers down my spine even though his green gaze softens when he glances my way. Them scurrying off is justified, I wouldn't want to be in the receiving end of one of those glares.
Each time after he saves me from them, we just stare quietly at each other, as though passing some secrets and promises through our eyes. He may understand them but I don't. I want to know what they mean or what is being shared between us but I am always too afraid to ask; afraid that I will break some fragile bond shared between us. I don't know what it is myself but all I know is that I don't want it to break. This frustrates me as i want to know, i want to know what's happening, why he is always there for me.
I got used to his quiet yet intimidating presence in my life. As hard it was to resist it, I didn't want the presence gone. I wondered, of course I wondered like any sane person would; why he bothered with me? As unnerving it may seem to some people, I felt oddly content; content that at least someone bothered.
He was truly scary, he wasn't one of those people to pretend. What he is, he is truly. This makes him only more dangerous. He hung out with others his 'type'. But he stood out. He stood out as he was real and others simply were not. Everything about him screamed danger, from his worn leather jacket to his bike and his lean and slender form and of course, his unforgettable green eyes and black hair.
Every time I entered the school parking lot, I could feel his gaze burning hole on my back, but I never turned to look back and greet; my suddenly rigid form must be a greeting enough and I am sure he notices it, because I soon feel the gaze move away. It was his personal acknowledgment to my greeting and I move into the school as though I never felt anything, that our secret, silent greeting never took place.
What he will never know is that this exchange warms my heart and prepares me for another day, complete with my torturous peers. It comforts me as I know that he will be there if I needed him. He gave me courage in his own way and I cherished it in my own.
All this started so strangely that even I never knew when it began or how it did. I guess I don't want to know, don't want to analyze. I don't know how the numbers will add up or if at all I wanted to see the results. Then again I was always the cowardly type. I couldn't ever stand up for myself so I needed him and in some twisted way he knew that, he understood.
Is that what his eyes tell me, that he understood?
Is that what they are saying to me now?
As I stare back at him I try to understand what his eyes are telling me now that I gaze back at him. I try to portray my confusion to him. He just gives me a slight nod. That shocked me, this was the first time I got any reaction from him; a slight movement of his head, but it was there. And I didn't know what to do,this was all so new to me, so different from our usual routine, so I turned away first this time.
As I walked away, I heard people whispering about me, but I ignored them, like I should have done a long while ago. I walked away from the cafeteria and went outside, towards the grassy plain and sat down by the huge oak tree. I leaned against it and closed my eyes and sighed, feeling the air swish out of me and breathed in the clear air.
I always run away from things, I ran away now not because of what people say about me; their jibes got old, but because of what I was feeling. He always had a special place in my heart. But I never let myself go deep into those feelings that I have for him. Because my feelings are irrational and stupid. As I didn't even know him.
As I mentally scolded myself for bringing my feelings to the surface, I felt a presence beside me.
"Why did you run away again?" a husky, rough yet warm voice asked me.
I didn't open my eyes to look at him. I smiled as I heard his voice, it was just as I imagined it to be, but only better, a lot better. His voice caressed me.
"Layra?" as he softly called my name, I opened my eyes finally, to look at him and tell him what he wanted to know.
"Its because I was afraid." I replied softly, afraid that I might break the spell cast upon us as I gazed back into his intense green gaze.
"Of what?" he asked me, even more softly than before.
"Of what I feel, of what I shouldn't feel, of what would happen if you weren't there. Of what would happen if I was alone again." I whispered back as I felt tears threatened to fall.
I heard him move, felt him come closer, sigh and then whisper.
"There is nothing to fear, for I am right beside you, forever...as yours."
I looked up shocked at his words, that's also when i realised how close our faces were, our breath mingled.
I took the leap for the first time, my first act of courage, I leaned and closed the distance between us gently moving my lips over his unmoving ones, as i was about to lean back, he came back from whatever reverie he was in and captured my lips in a possesive kiss, bringing me close to him.
And for the first time I was happy that I was such a coward who couldn't stand up for herself, because I got my very own Dark Angel.