Flowers, Fame and Unforeseen Facades

Chapter 31

                                                          Clematis:Mental Beauty
                                                          ❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁❁
Zoe's POV

The next morning was pretty terrible. I had a humongous headache, and had to call one of my friend's to ask if she could take the shop over for a day, if I would pay her. She was a high-schooler on the look out for a part-time job to make some ends meet, since her father had passed away, and mother was too busy getting drunk to do anything else. I liked to help her from time to time, and she was always willing to do anything I asked her to.

After making the call, I got out of bed, scratching my cheek, and going straight to the bathroom. As I took a shower, all I wanted to do was slam my head on a wall. The pounding was unbearable, and I wanted nothing more than to have a nice, hot cup of coffee to try to soothe it. I walked out of the shower, drying my hair with a towel.

Quickly dressing myself in some shorts and a t-shirt, I opened the door to the living room, completely forgetting about... the human being occupying the space. Like I had not too long ago, I came face to face with Levi, his eyes showing worry, and concern. My heart started beating faster.

"Yes? Did you need something?", I said, my voice soft, as always.

"Zoe, I... I understand. I'll do it. Just please forgive me." I could hear the desperation in Levi's voice as he asked me the question.

His eyes showed resignation. He was not wearing a shirt, but I didn't look at his chest, as always. I had never payed close attention to his chest before. My head was swimming, the weight of the past events making me want to droop. Why did everyone have to drop these random bombs on me? Nonetheless, I nodded. This was exactly what I wanted him to do, and I was so glad that he understood.

Before I could say or do anything else, Levi crushed me in a hug, making me walk backwards onto the bed. At first, my arms were stiff, but they soon wound themselves around his torso. I felt myself relaxing, and a huge mental weight lifted off of my shoulders, making me able to experience some peace.

He moved back a little, smiling at me. I smiled back, but saw a tattoo on his chest. One that I had not seen before. I had never asked him about his tattoos. Not the one's covering his forearm, and not this one either. Well, it was the first time that I had seen it.

I traced my finger over it, reading the cursive writing. The tattoo said "The beauty of pain is that it can't be seen." What? That was the most heartbreaking line I had ever read!

I looked up at Levi, and said, "What's this Levi? I haven't seen it before."

He looked away from me, and murmured, "Sh*t! The makeup got off!"

Makeup? What makeup? He covered the tattoo with makeup? But why?

"Uh... it's just a tattoo. It means that the only thing that's good about pain is that it can't be seen by others. People who want it to stay hidden can easily keep it away from people. Most human's never notice if someone is experiencing pain, because we're all too busy hiding it behind our facades.", he whispered, his eyebrows furrowed, making him look like he was thinking deeply.

I had never thought about that. But he wasn't right. The people who loved someone could easily see past one's facade, and deduce their real pain. Yes, it took some work, but it was true. Did that mean that I... loved Levi?

I quickly shook that thought out of my head, telling myself that it was too early to think like that. And if he was leaving... I didn't even want to think about it.

Once again, my fingers lightly swept across the lettering, and I said, "Maybe that isn't true. Maybe pain is beautiful because it can only be seen by people who love you."

He looked down at me, his blue eyes piercing. I could smell his fresh, minty breath, which meant that he had just brushed his teeth. His eyes showed surprise, and admiration, as if he had never thought about what I had just said.

I had never before noticed just how expressive Levi's eyes were. I could always tell what he was feeling with a simple glance at his beautiful, blue orbs.

"You think so beautifully. No matter how hard life hits you, you always manage to get back up. How do you do it?" His calm, soothing voice was questioning.

Before I could answer, his lips had swooped down to meet mine. He held my own in a gentle kiss, soft, light motions making light shivers run down my spine. My eyes closed, my brain wanting to forget everything else, and feel as much of the wonderful sensation as possible.

One of his arms stayed on my torso, and the other moved up, his hand lightly cupping my cheek. My own went behind his neck, entwining itself in his hair.

Soon, his lips had moved away from mine, and I found myself keeping my eyes closed for a second longer, trying to take everything in. Why did he make me feel this way? His every touch, word, smile, heartbroken expression and cry awoke some kind of deep emotion within me. One that I couldn't pin point. But I was intent on finding it out. I wanted to see what it was, before Levi left.

I knew that leaving him, and letting him go was going to be hard, but I had to. For his sake, and my own. He meant a lot to me, but loving someone was all about sacrifices. Truly loving someone was when you could think of their benefit, and let them be away from you, without selfishly keeping them close to yourself. Both of us just had to accept it.

Finished! One again, I'm really sorry for not updating. But, to make it up to you guys, I'll upload another chapter today. That's why this one is uploaded so early. Anywho, hope you enjoyed it! Let me know if you liked it, and if you have any tips on improving my writing. Until next chapter, love you guys, and peace out!