The Sweetest Devotion

With a heavy heart and the gentle patter of raindrops against a nearby chilled window as the only sound accompanying her sorrow, fingers remained poised over delicate ivory keys. An intake of breath followed, before a swift exhaled passed through parted lips soon after and once again, she repeated that perculiar verse. The tips of her fingers fell carefully against the keys, as a duckling may well test the waters of a pond his mother had chosen as home. Not so skilled in the art of pianism, a small smile cracked a well defined sunken expression. It seemed there was, at that very moment, very little to hope or wish for, or to be at all cheerful about. Yet, every false, flat note that sounded throughout the room eased a lighthearted chuckle from the depth of her soul. Her inability to play was of course humorous, if nothing else could conjure up such a response. But all too soon, her features drooped and unable hands flopped back down onto her lap; a mournful sigh gliding over plump lips in the wake of a newfound silence, as a result of her ceasing all contact with the piano, though her vocals remained.

Unable to hit the right notes meant very little to her in that moment and though her singing did not reach anything higher than a forced whisper, it brought tears to her eyes. As pools of ocean shades filled to the brim with every ounce of bitterness the girl had been feeling for several hours, she bit back the urge to spill her woes, not granting them their wish to slide painfully down pale cheeks that seldom glowed pink as of late. It was almost as though she had forgotten what her body and its reactions were capable of. Nothing in life thus far had prepped her enough for the incessant torment of some bonds and how quickly they could dissipate if not given an accurate amount of care and consideration. Too tempting it had been to ignore repetative wrongs and sway them enough that they could be easily replaced with rights; the less complicated route some travel in this complicated thing most call life, though others would just as quickly judge and refer to it as something far from precious or beautiful. The girl had not always been so negative, but time had a way of changing people or their circumstances.

As before, one hand rose above her lap and hovered momentarily over the keys, as she repeated the same verse over and over in minute whispers, voice cracking with every other word that left her mouth. Tears had all but given up on remaining held captive and were flowing freely down her cheeks as she drew her hand back, bunching her dress together as she made a fist and gripped the soft material tightly, searching for some form of relief. The inner turmoil was tormenting on levels she had never before experienced and yet, her methods were doing very little to calm her racing thoughts. It was only when the warmth of anothers breath hit the side of her neck made itself known, that she switched back to reality. As his breath blanketed the sensitive skin beneath her left earlobe, her own hitched in her throat before halting altogether for a few fleeting seconds. She had known he was around, of course, but not known that he may well have been watching her all this time. And when his hands rested atop hers, her heart thumped wildly within the hollow cage that was her chest, until he brought them both up toward the keys once more. A gentle gulp was the only sound from her;  then a soft kiss from him, pressed lightly against her cheek.

“Do yer trust me, Violet?” he asked, voice barely above her own whispers from mere moments ago.

“Of course I trust you,” her reply was smooth, with every intention of sounding almost wounded that he had asked.

“Good girl,” he added, pulling her hands away from the keys once more and turning her fully.

When the girls eyes met his, her ever-present coyness stepped up to the challenge but found itself at a loss and thus, a vibrant pink blush donned her cheeks, as he simply stared back at her. His hands held hers in his own, eyes watching her face so intently, he could almost burn holes through her form. He was absolutely beautiful, just as he always had been and likely, would remain as such for many years to come. And given the way in which he was looking at her, in such a fond manner and with all the approval he could muster, she deduced he was thinking the exact same thing— which again, darkened her cheeks.

“Who was he?” he asked, breaking the silence with a sensitive subject.

“Someone I allowed to walk all over me, time and time again,” she responded, voice shattering with every word.

At this, the male tugged on her hands until she flew forward right into his chest; his arms circling around her petite form as soon as she was close enough for definite contact and he refused to release her. Though, the girl was offering up no amount of struggle as he held her, his heat along with his familiar scent becoming the only focus of her seemingly disconnected mind. The only true crystal clear thought that swam constantly throughout her head was that of him and how he always knew what to do in any given situation. Though, most of all, that he had always been around, when others had so easily walked away.

“Yer worth more than tha',” he broke the silence once more, yet pulled her flush against him just the same.

“I need to keep reminding myself of that every day,” she mumbled, her mouth pressed tightly against his shoulder.

Noticing the odd pronunciation of her speech, the male pulled back slightly wearing a grin after having made note of the fact that he had been all but suffocating her with how close the two had become in a matter of minutes. It seemed, however, she cared very little and deemed it perhaps the most appropriate solution to her current predicament, as she did others. Carefully, one arm remained tight around the girls waist, whilst his free hand tilted her chin upward— her saddened features on full display at she gazed up at him expectantly, resembling almost a puppy-dog in the milliseconds that passed.

“Remind yerself of this instead,” he stated, eyes adjusting to the close proximity between the two of them.

Before the girl was able to offer up a response to such an unusual remark, his lips met hers in what was both an unexpected and astonishingly untame kiss, that left her gasping for breath somewhere in the middle of it. There were no objection on her end, however, nor on his. It was almost as though he was the one she had needed all along.