Nine
Summary
I never foresaw that the last photograph of me he would ever see
would illustrate for him not only a single pair of eyes but two.
The shaking of the hands that held the envelope
and the kiss planted atop its seal told me I was sorry,
but I never felt even a sliver of regret in my heart.
How could I when I was spared the sight of his pain?
Or was it rather that he was always incapable of feeling?
It was the strength in me. I was selfish when I broke him,
like he broke me, only quicker and with fewer stings.
And I remain selfish as the very words that I will
use to tell this story infect its pages with bias.
Because this time, I need to be selfish.
Lacking that flaw is a flaw itself, and I have
accepted the realization that it’s been alive
for a while. Before that night in Manhattan,
before the swallow pendent,
and before any of the thin
nine letters.
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Warning: Mature content.
Characters
Ava Reed
Ava loses her mother at an early age and ever since, she has struggled with finding herself. She trusts too easily, putting her faith in someone who eventually breaks her in more ways than one.
Carolina Reed
Carolina has the faith in her daughter that Ava herself doesn't have. But when she passes away from cancer, teaching Ava the truth about her name and about life is lost.
Harry Styles
Harry is a free spirit, roaming wherever whenever he chooses, only to be tied down by his own past and the future that he so desperately wants with her.
Logan Ward
Logan's inner demons are taken out on those he can control. He befriends Ava for his own selfish reasons, managing to convince her that she needs him if she wants to survive. When he leaves for college, he asks her to send him a letter for each of the nine months he's away.
Noah Ward
Logan's younger brother.
8/5/13