Chapter 235 Bonus Chapter: The Sun and the Moon
While Nemesis was chasing after the weird black light inside another ruin, Ella, Lily's twin sister was resting when suddenly she started having dreams.
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A beautiful house somewhere.
They were celebrating Christmas at Orpheus' house, a few days before the holiday. Although his place wasn't the grandest, it was a second home to her and their friends. His maid served a feast for them that day. A platter of tender roast beef tantalized their senses. A large bowl of rice and a basket of bread were placed in the middle. On top of the side dishes she prepared, they were given heaps of warm chocolate cookies for dessert. She was sure to have gained ten pounds after that party.
They played games and talked and laughed for hours. It was a blur. But when the sun started to set, they decided to end the day by exchanging gifts.
Everyone had a gift from each friend. Given there were seven of them in the group, each had six gifts, an overwhelming amount of presents in one day. Like impatient children, they ripped off the wrappings around their gifts and reveled in their beauty. Some of them squealed happily and showered everyone with compliments about their gifts. Others seemed distant as they examined their gifts, but their watery eyes were filled with an appreciative gleam. Across the room, she saw that he intentionally saved her gift last. She would do the same for him, but she tore the wrapper of her other gifts slowly to see his reaction to her presents.
His eyes brightened up when he opened her gift. He looked straight at her, full of appreciation and happiness. It was enough to make her heart skip a beat. She felt her chest tightening when started to approach her. Why was she feeling this way?
"Thanks for this," Orpheus said to her.
She smiled when he gently lifted her Christmas card from the box. A few photos peeked out of the card along with some lists of great books and songs that she would recommend to him.
"It means a lot."
"What about the keychain?"
He laughed, shaking his head at the silly-looking alpaca keychain. Only its smile can be seen because everything else is covered in fur.
"I hate it and love it at the same time."
"I hope it reminds you of my existence."
"I think about your existence every day" She wondered what that was supposed to mean.
She doesn't want to overthink it.
He picked up his gift and placed it in her hands.
"Maybe you would like to open it," Orpheus said with a grin.
"What, is this a prank?" She joked.
"You'll see," He teased. She couldn't wait any longer. Tearing off the wrapper, her eyes met a small box, humble and sweet in size.
Opening the lid, a golden necklace sparkled in radiance. A cute sun hung from its thread-like chain.
"It's beautiful," She says breathlessly. She immediately put it on. The necklace didn't feel heavy and it fit just right around her neck.
He didn't say anything, but she noticed he was breathless as well. After a short pause, he nodded to her.
"Let's go to the porch," Orpheus said.
"I want to tell you something."
Without a reason to refuse, she followed him out of the living room. He still held her gift tightly in his hand when they were sitting together on the porch. They both stared at the distance in comfortable silence. Even though it was fairly chilly during this season, the sun's rays warmed their faces with its caress. It shone with colors of farewell and hope to see them for the next day.
Streaks of pink and orange painted the sky with every stroke seeming to come from a masterful painter. The thin clouds laid low as if they were about to rest. The beautiful scene seemed so bittersweet with its beauty and its show of fleeting time.
"I realized something about the sun," Orpheus said. She turned to him. This was not his first time starting a sentence with those four words. But every time, his reflection would provoke a thoughtful discussion between the two, conversations that she truly appreciated.
"The sun is crucial to our lives. We can't live without it. Our earth would be nothing without the sun. Yet the sun continues to shine for the earth, not knowing its importance to our world. Its presence is felt by the planets around it and the closer you are to it, the more you burn."
She simply nodded her head, not knowing where he was going with this.
"Don't you think there are people like that in our lives?" Orpheus asked.
"There are people who don't know how important they are to another person. They don't know how their presence becomes a necessity to the people who have experienced it. And to those who are close to them, the more they need them and want them. The more they burn for them."
He turned to her and leaned towards her. Their eyes interlocked with each other and she saw it. His eyes had a longing in them, like a tortuous wave washing over. For a moment, she saw vulnerability in him and a deeper layer to him that he couldn't identify. He was shaking, a bottle of emotions waiting to erupt.
"Say it," She whispered to him.
"Your whole being is shaking to say it."
He took a deep breath as he tore his eyes away from her. His hands gripped hers as if he was holding on for dear life. He took a look at the sun necklace around her neck and breathed in. Then, a torrent of emotions burst out.
"You are my sun. You are a constant shining presence in my life. Whether you are there or not, I think of your existence every day. I don't want you to get out of my life, because if I did my world would become a dark place. The more I get close to you, the more I burn for you. So much have I burned for you that here I am. I am risking our lifelong friendship for a chance of something deeper." She didn't know what betrayed her thoughts at the moment, but his eyes saddened after his confession.
"I understand if you don't want something deeper," He explained.
"We can still stay friends and forget that this entire thing happened. Just say the word and I'll never raise this subject again."
What he didn't know was that she felt the same thing for him. Her heart longed for him, but her head held me back.
"What if I'm not ready?" She asked.
"I'll wait," She answered.
"What if you get tired of me?"
"I would never."
"What if I can't love you as much as you love me?"
"I would still be here."
"What if we forget each other?"
He smiled at me. "Aside from that being near impossible, I would still fall in love with you every single day."
Her entire being started shaking. She was afraid.
"What if you hurt me?"
He looked at me. "I would make it a point to never hurt you. But if I do, would you forgive me?"
Her lips quivered. "Yes, I will. I don't want a simple mistake to separate us."
Her wave of emotions started pouring out.
"You are my sun. I need you in my life. Every day, I look forward to seeing you because you give so much light in my dreary world. Just like the moon who gets light from the sun, I brighten up because of you."
She rubbed the sun necklace he gave me.
"Can you be the sun to my moon?"
His grin outshone the sun. He planted a soft kiss on her head and whispered to me.
"Yes. Yes, I will."
That was when he unknowingly etched himself into her heart forever.
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