─ True love is also the taciturn one at times. It can manifest itself in many ways: in a touch of hands, with sweet caresses on the face and stolen kisses in the moonlight. Sometimes, the beauty of this feeling was so deep that it had to be hidden from external eyes; the lips would tremble as they rested meekly on the other's mouth, while the breath seemed to dampen Jackson's cold air and the eyes would close to savor the sweetness of that gesture. Words whispered to the wind, tender laughter caused by an adolescent love, destined to die like the petals of a flower that withered more and more. The more you cared for it, the darker its roots became, until they died.

─

Your fingers slowly grazed the pages of an old book. The bustling air of the Tipsy Bison made your heart race, while the loud voices echoed in your ears with the sound of glasses of beer, music and chatter. Sitting with your legs crossed on an old wooden chair in the center of the room, your eyes were too focused on reading the book for you to notice the presence of other irises. Your heart fluttered all the way into your chest. Your fingers dropped to close into fists as they rested on your temples and you raised your eyes. Then, you met her gaze;

Ellie had just entered the place, her backpack on her back and her usual patrol uniform. A woman murmured something in her ear as she placed a hand on her shoulder and she nodded slowly, looking at her warily. Then, she dismissed her without beating around the bush, slowly walking away from her. The last few weeks had been particularly hard for both of you. Your mother, on the other side of the place, had noticed several times some of the glances you exchanged, aware of the fact that they were not comparable to those of an innocent friendship. Her religious upbringing led her to think that a relationship of that kind was an abomination. Something to be ended before it even presented itself in its initial phase. When she noticed with disgust how Ellie was slowly approaching your table, she glanced at you. The irises were cold, almost imperturbable. The breath left your lungs. Preventing Ellie from approaching was the best solution. With a quick gesture then, you had shouldered your backpack and stood up from the chair, bringing the book to your chest. Then, you had walked quickly towards what was the exit, trying to ignore the fussy gaze of your mother that burned your back and the unbearable eyes of Ellie who with a heavy heart, frustrated as she was, was wondering where she had gone wrong. Fingers grabbed your wrist forcefully and a moan escaped your lips as the door of the Tipsy Bison closed with you outside the place. Her hands tightened around your forearm to be able to freeze you in place. The moments that followed were endless; Ellie looked you up and down with her knuckles burning from the cold and her breath missing and rising into the air in a cloud of smoke. Suddenly the voices of the place became absent. The swish of boots on the snow in the distance was all you could hear, along with the birds flitting free in the sky.

Before you could say anything, her voice hit you in the face with the same force with which your mother had intimidated you to stay away from her. A sinful whisper. A look full of guilt. The empty soul of someone who had finally found something to live for in such a cruel world, but that had been taken away from her too quickly. Her fingers released your free wrist and Ellie straightened on her back, with a heartbroken sigh. Her voice became serious, with a tone of sadness veiled in the notes of her language. Ellie was stubborn, so much so. And the fact that you hadn't had the courage to talk to her about it, but had decided to ignore her as if nothing had happened, made her furious. But she spoke to you putting aside her pride, because losing you was not an option.

"You know I don't care, right?"

Oh, you knew. In your heart, you didn't care either, but... you had already given up so many things to get the relationship with your family that you finally had. It was not easy.