: Chapter 28

The flowers’ stem was going to snap. I was clutching onto the bouquet tightly as I exited my apartment building. The look of the white flowers made me feel a little nauseous.

Every year on my mother’s birthday, we would sit and watch old reruns of random shows and eat junk. I had inhibited my bad habit from her.

I would do anything to go back to the time where I could do that with her. A time with her.

The fresh air hit me like a ton of bricks as I stepped out into the street. The air came with the realisation that I was about to visit her grave and I would have to do it completely alone.

My black and white patterned summer dress flew a little in the wind as I turned to head towards my car.

I took three steps down the sidewalk before I realised who was stood there.

The well-built giant leant against his black truck as he waited for me to near him.

Stone eyed me with the same expression I imagined Lana had on her face last night as she called me. It was concern. I could tell from the way his jaw was ticking in a steady rhythm.

Taking another small quick step towards him, I motioned at our surroundings with the blooming buds in my hand ‘What are you doing here?’

His head tilted slightly as his dark eyebrow arched. His expression gave away that he thought what I was saying was a rhetorical question and it did not require an explanation from him.

The leather jacket was nowhere to be seen. The hot weather meant that Stone was wearing a short-sleeved black shirt that showed off his muscled tattoo arms.

I made the point of asking again ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I am here for you.’

‘This is not Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.’ I tried to add humour to the conversation before I informed him ‘I am visiting my mom’s grave.’

The obsidians eyes softened, and he even tried to lessen the deepness of his voice as he spoke ‘I know.’

‘How?’ I asked, shocked.

‘Lana was telling Brennan last night about how she was worried about you.’ He explained before adding ‘For once I was grateful for them speaking so fucking loud.’

‘That still does not answer my question.’ I pointed out as straightened out the skirt part of my dress ‘What are you doing here, Stone?’

He opened the door to the passenger side of the truck as he kept his attention on me ‘I thought you might need someone.’

The words were enough to put a small smile on my face. I could feel the side of my lip tug up at the fact that he was worried enough to drive here and offer me a ride.

I walked the remainder of the space between myself and him. Before I could get into his truck, he stopped me by offering his hand out.

‘I am not that small.’ I mentioned but I took his hand anyway and let him help me up onto the seat.

My skin felt a surge of electricity before he let go of my hand and rounded the car so he could join me inside.

Staring at the side of his head, I shyly let out ‘Thank you.’

He pulled out of the parking space and quickly glanced at me before reversing ‘What for?’

‘For being here.’ I elaborated ‘I would have been fine on my own, but I guess your company is appreciated.’

Stone let his head fall back for a second to let out a deep laugh ‘That sounded like it caused you pain to say.’

Joining with his laughter, I shrugged ‘I guess I’m not used to all of this niceness between us.’

He glanced at me as he chuckled before shifting the gearstick.

‘It is kind of nice.’ I admitted before I joked ‘Although, I really do not want to stop insulting you. I still have a few good comebacks in me.’

‘I do not doubt it.’

The sun shone down on both of us, and I felt the warmth start to crawl to my face. I felt like I could not breathe. I was starting to think that going to the graveyard was not such a good idea.

Even the thought was enough to make me panic. I did not like to confront things that made me feel too deeply.

Hence, my denial of the dark enigma that was seated beside me. I knew something was there but I was still unsure what. I thought that ignoring the feeling I had with him meant that it would eventually go away.

That was still my philosophy for going forward with him.

‘Medusa.’ Stone called gently to break me out of my daydream ‘Where about is the cemetery?’

It took me a minute to realise what he was saying and when I did, I muttered ‘It is Willow Cemetery. Just off the road that is near that big gas station.’

He nodded before his concerned eyes wandered down to my leg. I followed his gaze and found that I had not realised that my own leg was shaking violently.

I put my hand down on my knee and tried to calm down the tremors as I took a deep breath in and out.

Stone did not mention it but it looked like my uneasiness bothered him. His attention switched between the road and my shaking leg as he clenched and unclenched his jaw.

‘So why green, Medusa?’ He asked, obviously changing the subject.

I let out a breath ‘What do you mean?’

‘Your hair.’ He said before questioning ‘Why did you choose to dye it green?’

‘I don’t really know. I have always been fascinated by the colour. I guess the colour green symbolises nature and energy. “I tried to come up with a reason better than telling him that just liking the colour.

My eyes widened when I realised that energy and nature had no correlations to me at all.

‘Oh my god. Green is not even my colour.’ I shared with him ‘None of those things represent me. I don’t leave my house to enjoy nature and the only kind of energy I require is to change the channel on the remote or turn over a page in a book.’

Stone found my little outburst amusing because he rubbed his jaw as a small smile graced his features.

‘Green is definitely your colour.’ He stated before explaining ‘It is not just your hair. It is your whole aura. You shine green.’

The rest of the drive went by quickly with traded insults and a few backward compliments. His company almost erased the building up of dread in my stomach.

He also stopped my leg from shaking by putting a hand on top of my thigh. His generously sized hand squeezed the skin on my thigh in reassurance.

I laid my hand on top of his that rested on my leg for a short second before he had to pull away and drive with both hands.

The truck pulled up at the start of the dirt trail pathway leading up to the cemetery. I took my seatbelt off and avoided the penetrating gaze as I focused on the forest of tombstones.

As I clutched the door handle to get out, he stopped me in my tracks by putting an arm on my shoulder to make me face him.

His voice was low and gravelly ‘Do you want me to come with you?’

I shook my head once and I gave him a small smile ‘I will be fine.’

Stone had already gone out of his way to drive me to the cemetery. I was not going to make him sit with me as I sulked. That would be weird, no matter how much I wanted him there.

He nodded once and looked anywhere but me as I climbed out of the truck.

Willow Cemetery was a large graveyard outside of the city with a number of about fifty thousand people buried there. Sometimes you would see relatives of the deceased scurry the rows of graves just to find their loved ones in the vast space.

Fortunately, I did not have that problem. My mother’s grave was under the very namesake of this whole place which was the willow tree at the very start of the green land.

A shadow was cast over me as I walked under the great leaves of the tree. I kneeled down on the damp grass and placed the flowers next to the headstone.

They managed to brighten up the small space and I admired the beauty of them as I ran my finger along the engrained words.

Lauren Miller.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.

Beloved Wife, Mother and Friend.

A lone tear made its way down my cheek. I wiped it away quickly because something behind the memorial caught my eye.

An empty bottle of alcohol. More specifically whisky. The kind that my Dad drunk.

He came and visited her at least. Just not in his normal state of my mind. I told myself that bad company was worse than no company at all to remind myself to not to be too disheartened at his absence.

The trees rustled and the birds sang a sad song as I sat there for a while watching the leaves sway back and forward.

Then the sounds of nature were not the only thing I heard.

A person’s faint footsteps became louder and louder until a body sat down next to me. A large bulky body.

Stone never said anything. He did not have to. My fingers that were resting on the ground, interlinked with his as he reached for me. Warmth spread through me and travelled from the tips of my fingers to the bottom of my toes.

He finally spoke after a while. His voice was soft. As soft as his deep scary voice could go as he read her gravestone To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all ‘Your mother liked Oscar Wilde?’ He asked after recognising the quotes.

If the circumstances were different, then I would tease him for being a nerd.

‘No. She didn’t.’ I replied with a laugh ‘We had this joke between us. She always said that when she died, she wanted something written by a famous writer on her gravestone. She wanted to appear smart, sophisticated and well read.’

‘That sounds like something you would do.’

‘Excuse me. I am well read.’ I feigned a gasp before I mentioned ‘Although, I didn’t think I would want a quote from someone else on my grave. I would want to write my own words.’

He offered me a small smile ‘Like what?’

‘I don’t know.’ I said before thinking about it ‘Something funny like Dear Ghosts, you are not ready for the mean green machine.’

‘It is original anyway.’ He replied like he was holding back another chuckle, but his slight smile dipped when he noticed the empty glass bottle behind the gravestone.

Any hint of playfulness from him was completely gone and now replaced with worry.

‘It is my dad’s.’ I stated the obvious ‘I guess he was not drunk enough to forget her birthday.’

My hand dwarfed his as he held on tighter. He applied more pressure to my fingers.

‘Everything has just fallen apart,’ I voiced ‘And I do not know how to fix it.’

The soft tone disappeared from the giant’s voice as he demanded to know roughly ‘Did he ever hurt you?’

Quickly shaking my head, I answered him ‘He has never hurt me.’

‘That night at your house you were crying…’

The truth about the bottle being thrown was on my tongue but I swallowed it back. Stone appeared murderous and as if he was about to start a riot if he found out something did happen to me.

I did not want to make him angry, so I told him part of the truth.

‘My dad would not hurt me. Even if he wanted to.’ I spoke and avoided his eye as I did so ‘The night that you came around was when I kicked him out. He said that I was the one that killed my mother. It was the same words he said to me at her funeral, and it was all a painful reminder.’

Stone closed his eyes and exhaled before he gently pulled me closer to him, so my side was pressed against his.

‘It was not your fault, Ella.’

‘What if it was?’ I asked as I tilted my head upwards to look at him ‘The worst thing about her death was the not knowing. I hate being kept in the dark.’

He put his arm around me and made sure I was leaning against his sturdy frame as he kissed the top of my head.

I looked up at him in shock.

‘It was not your fault.’ He repeated, ‘I promise, Baby.’

‘How do you know that?’ I said more to myself, knowing that there was no answer he could give me.

He did answer and his voice went hoarse as he did so. The words felt direct and like an uncovered veracity.

‘I know because I can’t imagine someone ever wanting to get away from you.’ He said lowly against my hair.

The rest of the visit went by silently. He never said anything more. He just held my hand.

Even his presence brought a sensation of security. Just by him being there was enough for me to feel less alone.

He never let go of me until we got back to the truck.

We decided to stop off at a diner not far from the cemetery on the way back.

Stone mentioned that he was hungry. It led to my train of thought turning to how much he ate. He always seemed to be eating but I guess one did not get to his humongous size without eating a lot.

The small rectangular building was empty. It was an abandoned diner in the middle of nowhere and had the same vibe as the ice cream place but with fewer neon features.

The small booth at the back of the restaurant was where we both sat opposite each other. Our position face to face meant that there was no way to hide from his questions.

‘You should tell Lana about your dad.’ He insisted ‘She would want to be there for you.’

I took a long sip of my cola and then answered him ‘I don’t need help. There is nothing to help. Everything is fine.’

All he said in the form of a harsh breath was ‘Medusa.’

Turning the conversation to him, I spoke ‘Tell me more about you and your parents. I doubt they were as eccentric drinkers as my father.’

‘My dad never drank.’ Stone replied, ‘He was a boxer back in the day.’

‘Really?’ I said, wanting to know more about him.

‘He would take me to his gym every Saturday. He was the one to try and help me control my anger.’

‘You are intimidating, and I have seen grown men look like they are about to pee themselves when speaking to you, but I have never seen you unleash your anger.’ I told him.

He nodded ‘It is not something I plan to ever let you see. I do not want you to see that side of me.’

‘Did your dad’s teaching not work?’

‘I learned how to control it after years of training as a kid but then they died, and it went to shit.’ He replied bluntly.

Studying him, I tried to think back to a time that he acted violently. I could not think of any. Sure, he was threatening at times, but he never acted on it.

That reminded me that I still had not gotten to the bottom of how he got his black eye so I asked him ‘How do you control your anger now?’

Stone did not answer. He avoided my eye and looked out the window with a clenched jaw.

I took the hint and chose to change the subject “What about your mom? What was she like?’

‘She was passionate about everything. She was a librarian.’ He mentioned before explaining ‘That is how I make sense of your nerdy references.’

‘Yeah right.’ I scoffed ‘You are so a nerd. You are the only person that does not look at me like I have grown a second head when I speak about books. You are just as big as a reader as I am.’

He sat back in his chair with a small smirk as he nonchalantly rebutted ‘I am just interested in what you have to say.’

I hummed to show my disbelief.

Then I suddenly remembered the previous conversation and I felt the need to reassure him ‘You know that if I had to name the top ten-character traits of you, aggressive would not be one of them.’

His expression showed genuine disbelief and he almost appeared happy at my confession.

‘However,’ I began with a sweet smile ‘Annoying ass would definitely make the list.’

Shaking his head, he let out a deep laugh from his chest.

‘I do not see you as violent.’ I revealed to make sure he knew that I did not feel scared of him ‘Even with the whole scary yet hot thing you have going on.’

His taunting smirk grew, and my eyes widened when I realised what I had said.

I looked down at the table and wished that I had the ability to teleport.

Once I noticed a young guy was approach us, I pointed to him and blurted out ‘Food!’

The waiter put the two plates of food that we ordered in front of us but lingered at the edge of the table after he was finished serving them.

My attention went to him, and I noticed he seemed oddly fascinated by me.

He looked to be around about the same age as me with a boyish face and naturally bright blonde hair. He had on an apron and under that a Harry Potter t-shirt with the Hogwarts house Hufflepuff.

‘Thank you.’ I spoke out of genuine gratitude and to fill the awkward silence as he continued to stare at me.

The waiter shook his head and smiled ‘I’m sorry for staring. It is just that… you are very pretty.’

Instantaneously for some reason, I looked to Stone and not the flatterer.

He was gritting his teeth and I could see from the other side of the table that his jawbone was clenched tightly. He was not looking at me, however. He was glaring at the waiter darkly like somehow the poor boy would disintegrate under his hateful watch.

I believed that Stone could get rid of the boy in one snap of his fingers. The waiter looked like a twig compared to the muscled man across from me.

Finally, I dragged my attention back to the waiter and smiled with flushed cheeks at the random compliment ‘Thanks. I am not—’

The intruder cut me off just as I was about to shut down his attempts at flirting.

Waiter boy directed his entrance to the trenching looking guy who had arms crossed like a bodyguard ‘I am sorry. I did not know she was taken.’

‘She is.’ Stone growled.

The waiter was a fine example of someone that looked like they had peed their pants from the darkened gaze of the giant. He sprinted away but not before he sent me a small apologetic smile.

Stone did not look happy. He looked vicious as he watched the waiter run back into the kitchen.

‘Hey!’ I said, ‘What if I wanted to make friends with him?’

‘Fuck that.’ He growled.

‘He had a Harry Potter shirt on.’ I mentioned, ‘He is a nerd and I like nerds.’

He looked like wanted to say something, but he kept quiet.

I took a bite of my pizza and then noticed that the giant had not turned back to friendly so I asked, ‘What has got your underwear in a twist, Lurch?’

‘You smiled at him.’ He gritted out.

‘You are mad because I smiled at him?’

His exposed tattoo arms crossed as he nodded.

‘I was just trying to be nice because he paid me a compliment.’ I told him before adding ‘You did not have to scare him away like that.’

The huge shoulders did not relax, and he shook his head in disgust ‘He is an idiot.’

I took another bite of food and shot him a confused look.

At my confused expression, he elaborated ‘He called you pretty.’

‘He is an idiot for calling me pretty?’ I asked, trying not to feel bad about myself.

‘Pretty is such a weak word. People think that the view from the pier is pretty or the reflection from the sun on the sea is pretty.’ Stone scoffed ‘You…You are fucking enchanting.’

The waiter’s complement felt like nothing. Not compared to that. His was everything.

Once I could say for certain that my face had lost its redness, I teased ‘Do you want me to call over the waiter again and you can explain that to him?’

‘Fuck no.’ He snarled.

I got back to trying to eat the content on my plate. The portion was large, but I was going to give it my best shot. Just because I was small did not mean that I could not eat a lot.

Stone was smirking at my determined face and the size of my pizza.

‘What are you so smug about, Lurch?’ I asked ‘Medusa, there is no way you are finishing that.’

‘I can handle a twelve inch.’ I defended.

He rose a brow as his lip moved up infinitesimally.

‘Oh no.’ I covered my face in embarrassment ‘That sounded so bad.’

A deep chuckle was heard from him.

‘Shut up!’ I replied and pouted ‘I was talking about my ability to eat the pizza which on second thought, I might not be able to.’

Chuckling was heard again from the other side of the table.

‘Just because I am not a massive giant with a massive appetite.’ I said back lamely while pointing to his own banquet on his plate ‘I hope you lose all your muscle and let yourself go when you are older.’

‘You would think you would be nicer on our first date.’

‘This is not a date.’ I scoffed and crossed my arms ‘This is like an anti-date. If this was a date between us, which I am not saying that it is, I would have ordered garlic bread with garlic sauce just so my breath was so bad that you would not attempt to kiss me.’

Shrugging, his face was full of amusement ‘I would just order it too so we would not have anything stopping us.’

‘How charming,’ I remarked while holding back a laugh ‘Speaking of charming. If this was a date, I would be expecting to be wooed with some great pick-up lines.’

Stone had nothing to say to that I waved him off before assuring ‘It is fine, Lurch. I have some amazing nerdy pick-up lines and lucky for me, you are a book nerd.’

He gave me his undivided attention as I cleared my throat and smiled at him.

‘Are you a library book?’ I asked before adding ‘Because I can’t stop checking you out.’

Silence filled the air.

‘It is fine. I have got more.’ I finished a bit of pizza before saying another ‘My favourite place to be is between the covers. Join me?’

He looked to be containing a laugh ‘These are getting worse.’

I frowned before saying my ultimate nerdy pick-up line ‘Boy, you like a best seller, and I am like a book. I could be on you for weeks.’

‘Consider me seduced.’ He deadpanned, obviously not meaning it.

‘Fine then.’ I resulted to before smiling sweetly ‘I will get the waiter back and see if he likes my pickup lines.’

‘No.’ Stone growled ‘You will not.’

‘Did you like them then?’ I asked, my smile turning triumphant.

‘Yes.’

‘I knew those lines would do it for you, nerd’ I asserted ‘Now if this was a date, this would be the time that if I did not feel it between us, I would go to the bathroom. As you tell me every day, I am small. I would fit right through the bathroom window and make my escape.’

‘And if you are feeling it?’ He questioned.

‘Then I would stay.’

We had continued our smart remarks back and forward like a tennis match until I was trying to devour my way through the last bit of pizza.

I decided to ask him more about himself because I wanted to know, and it because it was an anti-data ‘So do you think you will run a mechanics shop after school?’

‘I doubt I will leave Mike’s.’ Stone replied, ‘The old man is good company.’

‘Yeah, he seems pretty cool. Cool and meddling.’ I said as I recalled the whole plot against me to reveal my name ‘How long have you known him?’

‘Five years.’

‘Five years?’ I repeated, ‘That means you have been working with him since you were barely a teenager.’

He nodded ‘I have always been a damn good mechanic.’

‘I will give you that.’ I begrudgingly admitted, ‘Kermit is running smoother than ever.’

‘So, what about you?’

‘What about me?’ I asked, confused.

He smirks ‘What does Drizella Miller, The Mean Green Machine, plan for herself?’

I find myself rolling my eyes at him quoting me on from earlier that day.

‘I would love to teach literature. So, I will probably go to college and study English.’ I answered ‘I want to meet someone and settle down. Start a family. The whole nine yards.’

Stone smiled but it seemed more to himself. The smile felt secretive.

‘Did you not say you wanted to write a book?’ He remembered.

‘Maybe in the future.’ I replied, ‘I am struggling to find inspiration.’

‘Surely you have something, Medusa.’

‘I could always write about an evil dictator called Balentine Bone.’ I suggested while giggling.

He pretended to scowl at my remark and the weird twist on his name.

‘Is he the love interest in the story?’ Stone asked after a few seconds of silence.

I breathed out ‘He was meant to be the heroine’s antagonist. Her acqenemy.’

His head cocked to the side and his rough sounding voice spoke up ‘I can’t see why he can’t be both.’

‘Neither can I.’ I admitted quietly so that he could not hear it.