It's the Mess That Feels So Right...

It was the eyes. It had to be her eyes. Such an intense and deep blue that caught your eye and held it, the type of eyes that seemed to be able to read you in an instant, and see right through you. Gabe knew that as soon as he saw her, her sapphire eyes dark with emotion and gleaming with tears, that he owed her as much as a home, after being the blame for most of this. As soon as Gabe noticed her small fourteen year old frame, shuddering violently on the cold steps outside the police station, her face wet with tears, Gabe knew that he had to make things right, before guilt consumed him completely.

He knelt down beside the tear stricken girl, and tried to look her in the eye, hoping desperately that she couldn’t see the remorse that ate away below the surface. His jaw flexed a few times, wishing that the words he needed to say would fall out. The girl shook her blonde bangs out of her face and stared at him curiously, she knew who he was, she just didn’t know why he was taking an interest in her.

“I uh, I’m going to um, you see, the thing is, well, look…” Gabe sighed loudly before trying once more. “How would you like it if you come live with me for a bit?” Gabe finally managed to whisper out, as the young girl searched his face, wondering if this could be a joke.

“You could come stay for a while, and if you don’t like it, you can go… I mean, only if you want,” Gabe mumbled, staring at the ground beneath his knees with slight anger, anger at himself for putting her in this situation. The girl looked at Gabe again, taking in every single detail about him. The way that his dark curls nestled against his tanned neck, the way that he bit his lip after every sentence and how he blinked often, like he was surprised by everything around him.

The little girl knew that this man was in fact one of her brothers best friends, but she had never really paid much attention to the older guy, he just seemed like a bit of an immature jerk to her. She looked into his eyes, seeing something she couldn’t quite understand, something so severe it scared her. But now that she was all alone in the world, with the chance to be sent off to live with some stranger, she decided her safest bet was with the boy in front of her. Despite the pain penetrating her mind, she forced a smile, her throat to dry to speak and nodded her head once. Neither of them knew that in that split second, everything was going to change for the both of them.