Connected

Chapter 7: No!

"Pain bites you.

Pain kisses you.

It masters you,

to keep it close."

A ringing sound filled Leah's head it blocked the noises circulating around her. Her ardent no resonating so affectedly in her that once more her mind was stirred to scour her past when she exclaimed this same kind of passionate no.

Her brain didn't take long to seek. Leah can already feel the thin threads of her memory leading her to that particular moment of her life. That soul shattering event that birthed her nightmares.

Leah had it in mind that this was just an ordinary Friday evening. Finally, after a hard day's work she will be able to stretch out her tired feet on the comfort of her home sofa, watch TV and wait for Adam to bring home dinner. She definitely wasn't expecting this.

At the exact moment she opened her front door the fairy lights hanging on her wall, which weren't there before she left this morning, automatically came to life. Their lights cast a candlelight glow on her living room giving it an alluring warm view.

Leah was caught in awe stepping inside her house which doesn't look like her house at all. She drew closer to inspect the lights and saw that at the head of the line of petite lightbulbs an arrow was placed beneath it pointing to a message that reads, "Follow me please."

It was like her heart's arteries made a sudden release of her heart that now it's falling rapidly way down her stomach. Her overthinking self took to the stage and started formulating wild calculations on what this situation could signify.

There's only one person in her life capable of doing this sort of thing.

A theory appealed to her mind. As she followed it though what she arrived at made her uneasy. For this could perfectly explain why Adam was behaving himself oddly this past couple of days. In fact, there was even that one time when she felt literally avoided by him, he couldn't look her in the eye like he was hiding something from her. Not to mention Frank who started regarding her weirdly acting like he was the proudest man alive.

Her whole body stiffened in the seemingly undeniable. Should she? Is she prepared? Is he?

She asked and there was really only one way to find out. Leah breathed in slowly looking down at her feet. She took a step forward and then another until her feet followed the lights as it ran along the walls. For if there was one thing true to her right now that is, she is head over heels in love with Adam.

When she made her first turn in the hallway, she was immediately welcomed by a row of pictures of Adam and her taped below the lights. The first one she passed was taken after their college graduation ceremony. Both of them wearing their togas and triumphant smiles were on their faces. A small note scribbled in Adam's neat cursive penmanship was captioned beneath it reading, "Your voice gives me wisdom."

From there on there was a sea of pictures of them displayed, hanging on her wall which were evidence of their lives shared together. Leah was beyond impressed that they even have a lot of good photos. She thought her face ruined it all.

The lights eventually led her to the kitchen, to the door that opens to her small backyard. A final picture was taped on top of the knob, and she recognized it as the one taken by Lisa, Adam's grandmother, during her first visit to their house.

Leah was sitting beside Adam on their bench swing and unlike Adam her face wasn't looking at the camera, but it was pressed tightly on his chest. She remembered how extremely embarrassed she was being caught in the moment that she and Adam were sharing a laugh at how terribly awkward they felt.