Love Makes Blind

Elia turned to walk into the living room. She kicked her toe in to something hard.
“Who moved the table?” she asked.
“It’s my suitcase.” Darin said and took his sister’s hand.
Elia felt tears well up in her eyes. Darin saw it and pulled his baby sister hard against his chest in a bone crushing hug. Elia let her salty tears run down her cheek and ruin her brother’s t-shirt.

“Elia…” Darin whispered and took her face between his hands and looked her in the eyes. He knew she didn’t see him, but it always helped her focus. “Elia, it’s going to be okay. I’ll only be gone for a week.”
“It feels like an eternity.” Elia frowned. “I’m going to miss you, fratello.”
Darin chuckled and hugged his sister again. “I’ll miss you too sorella. But I’m sure you and Paul are going to have lads of fun, you won’t even get time to miss you.”
“We’ll see…” Elia muttered.

“We have to leave now Darin.” Mirella said to her son. It pained her when she saw the upset face of her daughter.
“Bye bambina.” Darin kissed the top of Elia’s head.
“Go!” Elia urged her brother. “Don’t miss your flight. And have fun for me!”
He walked outside.
Mirella put an arm around Elia’s shoulders and kissed her forehead. “It’s okay to be upset Elia.”
Mirella walked out and drove her son to Port Angeles airport.

Elia got a grip of herself before she walked into the living room where Elia could hear her aunt sing a song in Italian. It was a song Valeria always sung to her niece when she knew she was upset.
“Thank you.” Elia smiled.
“No problem, bambina. But I think I’ll hit the sack. The jetlag is catching up.” Valeria got up and hugged Elia.
“I’m so happy you’re here Val, really. Get some sleep.” Elia was so happy her aunt was here. She hadn’t seen her – well, not ‘seen’ her – since she had her breakdown two years ago.
Valeria disappeared upstairs and Elia sat alone in the living room, already missing her brother.

She decided to just go to bed before she broke down in tears completely. Elia walked up to her room and tried to find her pajamas. She didn’t and just fell on her bed and started crying. Elia curled up in a ball and cried. Valeria was passed out in sleep and her mother would be going back to the hospital. Usually Darin would be there to comfort her, but he was on his way to New York City. Suddenly Elia longed for Paul’s arms, for him to comfort her and make her happy again.
“Paul…” she whispered from the cold floor.

Paul jolted up from his bed. It was like someone had yelled his name right in his ear. His heart ached for Elia, and he needed to make sure she was all right. It was a dark night when he jumped out of his bedroom window. The rain was pouring and he was only wearing some jeans he threw on. All the windows in Elia’s house where dark when he got there. Paul knew it was only Elia’s aunt and Elia home, since her mother would go back to work after she had driven Darin to the airport. He could here soft sobs from Elia’s room; it was right above the porch.

There was a sharp knocking on Elia’s window. She got up slowly and walked over to the closed window. She opened it and was hit by small rain drops. An arm stretched into the room and pushed her aside, then someone landed with a soft thud on her bedroom floor.
“Elia, what’s wrong?” Paul asked Elia and pulled her against his wet chest.
Elia just shook her head. “I can’t do anything on my own… my nightwear have disappeared and I’m tired and I don’t know what to do. Please help me Paul!”
“It’s okay.” Paul said and pulled her down to the bed.

He took of her sweater before he opened and pulled of her grey jeans. He slid his hands under her top and removed her bra without removing her top. Elia was left in her tank top and hipster. He couldn’t help but marvel over her perfect body, but it wasn’t anything sexual over it. Paul removed his pants before he crawled into bed with Elia.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Paul asked her.
“No…” she mumbled and pressed her face against his damp chest.
Paul stroked his hand over her hair. “Do you want me to tell you a good-night story then?” he wanted to take her minds over to other things.
Elia nodded and Paul sat up a bit straighter, Elia rested her head on his stomach and moved her hand up and down his side.
Paul smiled while he thought about what story he should tell. He didn’t practically like all the Disney stories, so he decided to make up his own story.

“Once upon a time, in a foreign country there lived a princess. She was bright and happy, until the day she lost her hearing. She became very dependent on her maid and servants, and she refused to go anywhere without them. The Princess didn’t have any siblings, and she rarely saw the king and queen, because they were out travelling their country. The Princess became very unhappy, and one day she decided to run away from the castle she felt like she was a prisoner in. She took on her everyday dress and walked to the gate. The guards tried to stop her; she didn’t hear them, of course.

“The Princess had walked long and far and longer than far when she met a big pack of wolves, ten in total. She noticed first the two big ones, a russet colored on and a pitch black, then a very small one that barred her teeth. But the wolf that captured her attention was a grey one, with warm and desperate eyes. The grey wolf knew that the Princess could save them all from their misery. The grey wolf wanted to tell the Princess to kiss him, because if she did, all the wolves would turn back to the young humans they really were. The wolves were from a village on the other side of the mountains, but had been banished when they changed. They were told to go seek a Princess wandering by herself, she was the only one that could save them and stop other young humans to change into wolves.

“The young Princess stayed with the wolves. She rode the grey wolf when they were moving and slept by his side when they were sleeping. They became very close friends. The Princess had no idea that the wolves were humans; she only thought they were kind or tamed.

“One day, when the grey wolf had almost given up getting the princess to kiss him, the little angry wolf got an idea. She walked up to the Princess and scratched a message in the ground.‘Kiss him.’ The Princess stared at the little wolf in awe for a second, until the wolf nodded its head towards the grey one. The Princess thought it wouldn’t hurt to try; obviously, the wolves were a lot smarter than the Princess had thought.

"So the Princess walked over to her friend, the grey wolf and placed a kiss on its muzzle. All the wolves around her started trembling, they shook violently for a second before something magic made them stand up on two feet. They were humans. The boy nearest the Princess was the grey wolf ‘Thank you for saving us.’ he said and kissed the Princess. She stared at him with shocked eyes.‘I can hear you’ the Princess could hear again. The Princess wandered with the pack back to their village, she married the grey wolf and was treated like a queen. And then they lived happily ever after.

The end.”

Elia got pulled out of the mind when Paul said the end. She had been very caught up in the story. “Did you just come up with that?” she asked him.
“Most of it.” Paul shrugged. “I took the main idea from some tribe legends.”
“You’re a very good story teller.” Elia smiled.
“There are going to be a bonfire next week, the elders tell the legends better.” Paul lay down again and pulled Elia against his chest. “How do you feel?”
“Much better.” She said and kissed his chest.
Elia then realized she was almost naked, and Paul was only in his boxers. She was about to back out and tell him to leave, but then she changed her mind and only snuggled closer to his chest.

Paul lifted her head and kissed her lips softly. “Is it okay if I stay the night?” he asked her. “I’m very tired.”
“Of course it is. The weather is terrible.”

Elia lay across Paul’s chest with his arms securely around her small frame. Their feet were tangled in each other and their breathing was matched.
When Paul started snoring, Elia whispered very quietly; “I think I love you…”
She then fell asleep listening to his heart.