Where I Belong

“My mum loved books. She had hundreds and hundreds back when we were living here when I was younger and when we moved, she brought them all! It was mad and my dad always got angry with her. When I was fifteen, my mum had made her own library in our home. My dad got pissed and that was when everything went downhill.” Ellie stopped, and looked at Harry to see if he was still paying attention. He had his face looking up at the ceiling and his hands together on his stomach. He was paying attention.

“Go on…” he said.

“Well, as I was attending high school, my parents were very bipolar towards each other. It was like every time I was out of their sight, they started arguing. There were nights when I stayed in my room and cried because I was scared of what was going to happen. And could you believe that this all happened because of my mum’s books!?”

“So what did your dad do?”

Ellie paused and averted her eyes from Harry. Before she even said the words, she felt her lips tremble. “My d-dad left.”

The ginger sat up and started comforting her.

“My dad just couldn’t handle my mum’s collection. He was jealous because my mum gave more attention to her books than she did to him. And I remember being so angry with the both of them. They were acting so childish…”

Harry’s began rubbing Ellie’s back and saying, “Your dad just never accepted it. You said your mum’s passion was storytelling and since she was a young girl, she wanted a house full of books, right?” Ellie nodded. He said softly, “Your mum gave you the gift of storytelling as well.”

“Yeah, but then she died.” She said bluntly.

“Why do you say it like that?”

She shook her head. “She killed herself because she said there would be no man to accept her love… her passion… her whatever. I told her ‘No, I love you and that’s all that matters!’ but she didn’t listen.”

At that moment, the night sky became visible through Ellie’s bedroom window. She directed her attention to the view of the darkened sky and twinkling stars that shone above. Harry stared at her as she looked towards the window; her body semi-shaking from the frustration of the story telling. He could tell she was angry with her mother’s decision and leaving her alone, having to come back to Cardiff.

“Now… you love books too?” He asked, quietly.

Ellie shook her head again, “Of course. They’re the only things I have left that remind me of my mum since I left everything back in the States. She made me fall in love with them,” She turned to him and continued, “And now, I guess I’m afraid of relationships…”

“Why is that?”

“I’m scared I might fall under the same situation my mum did…”

Then, Harry leaned towards her and pressed his forehead against hers just like he did when they were at the orphanage. Ellie liked being this close to the prince, even though deep down she was scared. His lips curved upward and hers did too, slowly. Without even knowing, her arms traveled up his arms and met behind his neck.

“I,” he whispered, “will never judge you. If you like books, I like books. If you’re scared of being in a relationship, then I must admit I’m scared to death right now.”

“Why are you scared?” she whispered to him.

The two of them stared into each others eyes and didn’t move a muscle. Harry replied, “I’m scared you might not give me a chance…”

Her lips remained in an upward curve. “We’ll see…”