?WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL?
?EPISODE 82 ?
And then the nextday, he took credit for all your work!”“I don’t care if he took credit for what I did. What I could
not forgive was how he put your life on the line just to scorepoints with you.”
“When I thanked him for saving my life, he didn’t deny it. I assumed… how else could he know about that night if he weren’t there? The only other person with me apart from those lunatics was the boy who saved me.”
“Lucky for him and too bad for me, huh,” Hunter saidand I didn’t miss the tang in his voice.
“I’m sorry, Hunter,” I sobbed. “I was ignoring Chaise fora long time. I only opened up to him because I thought he saved my life.
Because I thought he was my guardian angel.And even then, I made it clear that I could only be his friend.”
“But at least I’m glad that he protected you when I couldn’t be there,” Hunter said. “I’m not glad though, that he took advantage of the situation just to get to you. If hewasn’t in the way… then I could have been with you.”
“All the while, I thought you hated me,” I whispered. “Ordidn’t even remember me.”
He shook his head. “I could never hate you. As if I could ever forget you.
Your voice is a melody I replay in my headevery night before I go to bed. Your scent is engraved in mysoul, I couldn’t escape it even if I wanted to.”
“That day somebody tripped me in the hall and youcaught me, you knew who I was? You were so cold, I thought you saw right through me.”
He sighed and smiled ruefully. “I had to be cold.Because if I weren’t, I would not be able to resist hugging and kissing you senseless—right there, in the middle of the corridor.” He gave me a wistful glance.
“All the time, I wasalways fighting the urge to pull you into my arms and kiss you… beg you to choose me… ask you to leave Andersonand come back to me.”
I looked down my feet and took a moment to absorbwhat he said. All the while, his anger, his frustration, his jealousy… he didn’t know they were for nothing.
He was hurting when in my heart, it had always been him.I looked up and gave him a shy smile. “There’s nothing
stopping you now, is there?”
Hunter looked into my eyes for a moment and then hegave me a crooked smile. “That,” he said. “That smile. I went through he..ll and back just to see that smile.”
Tears welled up in my eyes again and I let out a smalllaugh. Tears of joy ran down my cheeks and Hunter reachedforward and wiped them with his fingers.
“I didn’t tell you how I really feel about you yet,although you already know it,” he said in a voice envelopedwith so many affections I couldn’t even begin to name.
“Now, I can say those words to you and see your face, your reaction.”I bit my lip and waited for him to say what I longed to hear since the day he left for his operation.
“I love you, Allison Harley,” he said. “Before you came, Inever even believed that love like this could exist.
Love thatcould change you, make you do things… make you hope fora miracle, risk everything… make you forget who you are…make you believe that in spite of all the pains you havebeen through and everything you lost, life is still worth living for, still worth smiling about, still worth fighting for.
When Ithought I was thrown to hell… you made me hold on to alittle piece of heaven… and gave me a reason to stand up…breathe again, live again… and be happy again.”
I was smiling and crying at the same time as I took inthe words he said to me. I wanted to freeze that moment foreternity.
I wanted to memorize each word, each line andrepeat them before I slept every night.I struggled to find my voice.
I took a deep breath andthen I said, “My life seemed like… a series of tragedies… afull season of horror series and scary movies.
Apart fromMeredith, my parents left me with nightmares that made me scream at nights… avoid sleep whenever I could.
I was smiling through all the gossips and looks of sympathy. I wastrying to stay calm, grounded and sane…
I was trying tolook okay, to appear strong in front of people who say they
understood but really didn’t.“Then you came… you didn’t try to make me feel okay. You didn’t tell me to be strong and tough.
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