Wingless And Beautiful

Wingless and beautiful episode 19

🕊WINGLESS AND BEAUTIFUL🕊
🍁EPISODE NINETEEN🍁

We sat there for a while, locked in each other’s embrace,smiling to ourselves as we enjoyed the illuminated viewaround us. More than that, we were savoring the momentthat we were finally together again… here in our gardenwhere we first met and fell in love.

We came a long way from the first day we sat on thisbench. I was just waking up from my nightmares then.Hunter couldn’t even see the beauty of the world beforehim. But now… my nightmares were far from haunting me.And Hunter was wh0le again. He could see not just thelights that surrounded us… he could see me… and he loved
me the same way he did when he couldn’t see how I reallylooked like.
“Will your transplant last forever?” I asked, worriedabout what his answer would be.

He sighed. “Nothing lasts forever, angel,” he replied.Then he smiled at me. “Well, maybe except for us.”
“How long then?” I asked again looking into his eyes.
He touched my cheek gently. “Maybe fifteen, twentyyears. Give or take.”
“In twenty years you will only be thirty-eight.” I couldfeel panic creeping through me.
“I can do it again. I will do it again,” he said, squeezingmy hand, giving me reassurance. “I already signed up for it.I wouldn’t want to miss seeing our children grow up, wouldI?”
I smiled at that thought. What he said was not just areply to my question; it was a statement that held so manypromises that I knew he would keep.
He tilted my chin up so I could look at him. “I’m notleaving you anymore, angel.”

I nodded, my chest felt heavy with intense emotions…intense feelings of love for this boy.
“Promise?” I asked in a tearful voice.
He leaned forward and k-ssed my l-ips. “I promise,” hesaid. “Now, you have to make me a promise too.”
I nodded. “Anything.”
He took a deep breath. “Since I’m a little bit short oftime in seeing the beauty of the life we will make together,will you promise to give us an early start?”
I drew my brows together. “What do you mean an earlystart?”
He smiled. “I mean start a life as early as possible. Youknow… get married, make a family, get pregnant… earlierthan the other couples would normally do.”
I looked at him thoughtfully. “It depends. What’s yourtimeline?”
He smiled at me wistfully. “Maybe after college.”

“That early?”
“Earlier if possible,” he said. “I was lucky this operationwas highly successful. I would do it again for sure. But justin case the second one doesn’t work out… then it’s stillokay. I have seen your face and would remember it for aslong as I live. I would like to see and remember the faces ofour kids too. I would be there for them fully, completely…for as long as I could… before my world gets coated in
darkness again.”
“Oh, Hunter…”
Tears welled up in my eyes. My heart felt heavy as Iimagined how that would feel like for him.

He hugged me. “Ssshh…” he whispered. “Cornealtransplant operations are highly successful. During the firstyear and a couple of months after, rejection episodes mightoccur. I didn’t immediately come back for you until I was sosure that this was a success.
“I wanted to be sure I could be with you, be capable oftaking care of you until the next transplant is necessary. Andeven if the second one does not work out the way we wantit to, I wouldn’t care anymore. You would have alreadyshown me the best things in life. And I know even if Icouldn’t see you, I would still get to hold you in my arms,k-ss you… love you. We’ve been there before, angel.Haven’t I made you happy in the past? Back when I was stillblind?”

“Very,” I sobbed against his chest. “It didn’t matter thatyou couldn’t see. You have always made me feel safe, mademe feel happy.” I wrapped my arms around his neck. “Ipromise you… you would have the best memories of yourlife for the next twenty years, Hunter. If it’s God’s will thatthe light switches off in your world again, I would make sureyou would have enough memories to keep you happy. Andeven then, I would never leave you. I would keep giving youhappy memories for as long as I’m alive.”
“Thank you, angel,” he whispered against my ear. “So,is it a yes? Do you agree to start our life together earlythen?”
“Yes, Hunter,” I said. “As soon as you think we’re ready. Iwill say yes as soon as you ask me.”

He hugged me tightly. “Don’t make promises you can’tkeep, angel. Because I am quite tempted to ask you rightnow.”
I laughed. I pulled away from him and stared into hiseyes. “I also said as soon as we’re ready, remember?”“Ah, you said, as soon as I think we’re ready. Who sayswe’re not ready now?”
“Hunter… we’re only eighteen. We have to get jobs. Yes,we’ll be great parents. But we need to find means tosupport the kids, remember? We have to make sure we cangive them a good life.”
He stared at me for a moment and then he chuckled,
“You don’t know me very well, do you?”
I blinked back at him, trying to understand what he wastrying to say. Then I remembered, Hunter Vaughn was a richkid. But that was not really the point, was it?I shook my head. “I know you’re loaded. But money runsout, Hunter.”

“Depends on how you manage it. When I turnedeighteen, I gained access to my trust funds and myinheritance. I already have a house here—the lake house—and I have my mother’s estate in Jacksonville. I haveinvestments here and there that gains very lucrativeinterests.”
“That’s not the point, Hunter,” I argued gently. “How areyou going to teach your kids the value of money if you onlyknow how to spend it and not earn it?”
“Well, we are going to teach our kids how to earn andsave money from an early age. They’ll be just fine.”
“They ought to be,” I said. “I would never hesitate to tellthem how my life had been like, so they’ll know howprivileged they are.”
He smiled at me. “Do that. Make them proud.” Heleaned forward and k-ssed my l-ips again.

Then suddenly, he turned serious and nervous at thesame time.
“Is everything alright?” I asked.
He nodded. Then he pulled away from me and reachedout for the necklace he was wearing. He took it off and tookthe ring pendants out. I remembered seeing him wear thesependant rings when he carried me on the beach. I had beencurious about it but didn’t want to ask.
“I’m not proposing now,” he said nervously. “But I wantto give you this ring. To remind you that someday… Ipromise… I will.”
My mind went blank for a wh0le minute as I stared atthe ring in Hunter’s hand. It had a diamond in the center,surrounded by an intricate carving design that got mecurious the first time I saw it.
Hunter took my hand and slipped the ring on my finger.
It was only then that I recovered from my shock. I finallymade out the design of the ring. The two-carat diamondcenter was surrounded by smaller diamonds that make outthe shape of wings—like angel wings.Then he showed me the matching ring. It had a thicker
band. The pattern revealed a sword with a small rounddiamond on its hilt.
“This ring is mine. A symbol of my promise to alwaysprotect you… take care of you… guard you,” he said in asolemn voice. He placed the ring on his finger and then heraised his eyes to look into mine and added, “Like aguardian angel.”
I bit my lower lip to keep from whimpering. The designon his ring was a sword, and it reminded me of the weaponsthe archangels carried in their hands.

“Say something, angel,” he said nervously.
“Hunter… it’s…”
“Beautiful?” he supplied for me.
I leaned forward to k-ss him. And just when my l-ips werea breath away from his, I whispered, “Empyreal.” And then Ik-ssed him.
He hugged me tighter as he deepened the k-ss. Then he
leaned his forehead against mine as he breathed in thescent of me. “Empyreal. I like that word,” he whispered. “Ilove you.”
“I love you too.”
He gently tore himself from me “Come on,” he said.“You must be hungry. It’s technically our first date since Icame back. I wouldn’t want you to think that I was starvingyou.”
I laughed. “I’m not hungry. But since you asked, I’msuddenly craving for burgers.”

I stood up on my feet and pulled Hunter up. He put anarm around my shoulders and we headed out of the garden.When we reached the parking lot, he led me to theblack Porsche, which I first thought was Chaise’s.
“This is yours?”He nodded.
I looked at the hood again and saw the long dent causedby a sharp army knife.
“You didn’t get it fixed.”
He shook his head. “It reminded me of that night.Figured I may need proof someday that it was me whosaved you.”
“Chaise had the same car, you know? He stoppeddriving it to school after that night. I figured it was becausehe was having it fixed.”
He opened the door of the passenger seat for me. “I’mreally beginning to hate the guy’s luck.”
I laughed. “Well, even with his luck, he didn’t get me tofall for him, did he?”
Hunter grinned at me menacingly. “That wasn’t his luck.That was purely my charm.”

I rolled my eyes and laughed. “Oh, there it is!” Pointinga finger at him.
He stared back at me blankly. “What?”
“Your inflated head. I was beginning to wonder if youlost it along the way.”
He laughed and couldn’t help leaning forward to giveme a smack on the l-ips. “I almost forgot that one of thethings that attracted me to you was your sense of humor.”
“That’s because you spent ninety-nine percent of yourtime being angry at me since you got back.”

“I wasn’t just angry,” he admitted. “I was jealous—crazyjealous!”
“Next time you decide to be jealous, get your factsstraight first, okay?”
He raised a hand to his side, swearing like a boy scout.
“Ma’am, yes, ma’am.”
Hunter drove around the city. It was only when heparked in front of Burger Inn that I realized where we were. Iwas reluctant to get down from the car and he noticed it.
“You said you were craving for burgers,” he pointed out.
“Yes, I did. But half of the population of Leighton High isprobably there,” I argued.

Hunter grinned. “Then there’s no better place to makean announcement, is there?”
He rounded the car and opened the door for me. Thatwas new to me. I realized that I only had been in a car withChaise and he never opened the car door for me. I’m notsaying something’s wrong with that. But I guess Hunter wasmore old-school than Chaise was. And I prefer old-schoolany day.
“What announcement?” I asked as soon as I got downfrom the car.
His eyes gleamed as he gave me a mischievous smile.
“That the prettiest girl in the campus is now officially off-limits.”
“Who me? No, I’m not…” I started but he silenced mewith a k-ss.

“You are,” he said. “Why do you think I punched DonWinston in the first place?”
“Because he poured ketchup all over me?”
“And he didn’t just do that to embarrass you. Guys havedifferent ways of expressing a crush, angel. Winston’s brainwas just tiny. He hadn’t graduated from kindergarten tacticsyet.”
“Seriously?” I asked in shock.
“Seriously. And since you played in that concert, the listof guys I would threaten to stay away from you hasincreased ten-folds.”
“Lie!”
“I wish it was,” he muttered under his breath.
He took my hand in his and intertwined our fingers. Ashe opened the doors to Burger Inn, he raised our hands to his l-ips and gave my fingers a k-ss, deliberately lettingeverybody see.I felt like the world literally stopped spinning. The placewent quiet except for the music that was playing. Apartfrom that, I felt like almost everybody in,side stopped talkingand just stared at us.

I was right. More than half of the diners were from ourschool. I should know. I used to work here and it was afavorite hangout during Friday nights.When I looked up at Hunter, he had a proud grin on his
face that he couldn’t seem to wipe off. He lookedmischievous and carefree as he led me to an empty table inthe corner.I looked up into his eyes. They were dancing, and hewas obviously fighting the urge to laugh.I looked around us and found that many people were
looking at us. Some were trying not to make it obvious thatthey were watching us, others didn’t care if they werecaught staring at all. As expected, many girls were staringat me—with wide, furious glares on their faces.
“What the hell?”
“First, Chaise Anderson. Now, Hunter Vaughn?”

They also didn’t care if we overheard them.I turned to Hunter. “I’m dead. These people are going topeg me as their number one target again on Monday.”
Hunter shook his head. “Let them try. Half of them aredumb anyway, they can’t hurt you.”
I rolled my eyes. “Alone they are harmless. But I’ve beenin Leighton High long enough to learn not to underestimatethe power of stupid people putting their heads together.”
Hunter laughed. “True. But remember, people can’t pullyou down if they weren’t below you in the first place.” Hetook my hand in his, touching his ring on my finger. “Theythought you were with Anderson, that’s why they weren’tscared to try. But now that you’re with me, I doubt any ofthem would even attempt to touch you.”

“How do you know that?”
“In case you didn’t notice, I’m slightly scarier than thelast guy who followed you around, angel.” He pulled myfingers to his l-ips to give it a k-ss. “And unlike Anderson, Iwalk the talk. No signs. No warnings. And I’m never leavingyour side, remember?”
I raised a brow at him. “Are you my boyfriend or mybodyguard?”He held his ring in front of me, my eyes weremagnetized by the intricate carvings on it. “Guardian angel,remember?” He straightened up on his seat, and in a louderthan necessary voice, he said, “And unlike the last one youhad, I have a sword, not a halo. And my wings are black, notwhite. It’s time they realized who they will have a problemwith the next time they hurt even a single hair in yourbody!”

My eyes w¡dened at him. He took my hand in his again,and then he bent down to k-ss my fingers once again. “I loveyou, angel.” He didn’t even whisper that. I was sure manypeople around us heard everything he said.Four… three… two… one.I turned around and everybody stopped staring at us.They turned back to their respective tables and startedminding their own businesses, as if they were afraid to look
at us again.Hunter took me home just before midnight. He walked
me up to the front porch.
“Is Meredith home?” he asked.
“She texted me a while ago. She’s pulling an all-nighteron her job tonight.”
“So, you’ll be here alone?” he asked.
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time,” I replied.
“Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”
I smiled at him. “Don’t worry about me, Hunter. I’m notas fragile as you think I am, you know.”
“I know.”

He leaned forward and k-ssed me on the forehead.
“Good night.”
“Good night.”
He gave a serious smile and then slowly, he leanedforward and brushed his l-ips against mine.I closed my eyes, my heart pounding loudly in,side mychest. I k-ssed him back and wrapped my arms around hisneck. I felt his arms around my wa-ist as he pulled me
against his body.When the k-ss ended, we were both breathless. He
pulled me to him in a hug and I felt him inhale through myhair.
“You smell nice,” he whispered. “As always.”

“I thought I smell like burgers,”
He laughed. “No, you don’t. You smell like strawberries,honeys-ckle and freesia. I will never forget your scent, nomatter where I go.”
I pulled away from him. “It’s getting late.”
He pushed a lock of stray hair away from my face. “Giveme your phone.”
“Why?” I asked, handing it to him.
He punched some numbers on the screen and thenclicked save.
“My number,” he said, handing me back my phone.
I smiled when I saw the name he saved on my screen.My boyfriend.
“Are you not going to get my number?”
He grinned at me. “What makes you think I don’t knowit already?”
“You do?”
He nodded.
“How?”He smiled at me mischievously. “Don’t tell her. ButDenise doesn’t exactly guard her phone like a hawk. Halfthe time, she didn’t even know where she left it around thehouse.”
“She’s gonna kill you if she knew you’re prying aroundher phone.”
“I had to,” he said. “We don’t get along that well, but it’smy duty to look out for her too. I had to make sure shedoesn’t go overboard with her crush with Arthur Buckley.”
My eyes w¡dened. “You knew?”
“Of course.”
“How?”

“I’m observant. And overly suspicious. I trust myinstincts and I investigate if I need to. When she was actingweird—I mean, weirder—I had to check out why.” He heaveda worried sigh. “If she doesn’t come to her senses soon, Iwould have to go up to Buckley, myself. I don’t trust him.Denise can be naïve sometimes. But she’s trust-funded. Idon’t want a sc-mbag like Buckley to take advantage ofher.”
I nodded. “I’m sure she’ll come out of her infatuationsoon.”
“Anyway, go in,side now. I’ll pick you up tomorrow.”
“For what?”
He shrugged. “Picnic in the garden?”
“I’d love that. But I have a shift tomorrow at the libraryin CRC.”
“Good. I’ll take you there and come back after your shift,so we can spend some time in our garden.”
“Can you still go there?”
He nodded. “The grounds are open to anyone. Thefacilities, though, can be used by anybody who used to gothere. CRC doesn’t close their doors for you just becauseyou got better or decided to leave.”

“Wow. That’s really nice.” I tiptoed to k-ss him. “Goodnight, Hunter.”
“Good night, angel.”
I was pretty sure I was smiling like an idiot as I closedthe door behind me. I couldn’t seem to wipe the smile off my face even after I took a shower and got dressed in mypajamas.Before I went to bed, I took a peek at my window, justout of habit. I was shocked to see Hunter’s car still outsidethe house.I picked up my phone and called him. He answered inone ring.
“Hunter?”
“Yes, angel. Is something wrong?” he asked.
“What are you doing outside my house?”
“Ahhh… Meredith isn’t home,” he replied. “I didn’t wantto leave you alone.”
“Seriously?”
“I can never be too sure. This neighborhood isn’t reallywell-guarded.”
“And you’re just gonna sit there in your car untilmorning?”
“Well, it wouldn’t be the first time. Don’t worry aboutme.”
“Hunter…”
“Angel, I’m okay. Go to bed. Good night.”

“I love you,” was all I could say.
“I love you, too.”
When I hung up the phone, I just didn’t feel right,knowing he was out there, guarding me. It must be souncomfortable in the car.So, I wore a robe and got out of the house.Hunter stepped out of his car as soon as I opened thefront door.
I felt the chill of the cold night as I stepped on the frontporch. He started walking towards me.
“Do you realize that your car is probably moreexpensive than the contents of any house in thisneighborhood?” I asked.
“The car’s insured, don’t worry,” he replied. “What areyou doing out?”
“You’re not going to change your mind about leaving,are you?”
“No. What difference does it make? I’ve done this morethan a dozen times. You never complained before.”
I narrowed my eyes at him. “That’s because I didn’tknow you were doing this before.”

He pulled me to him. “I went through an eye transplantso I could watch over you, remember?”
“I know. So, if you’re going to just stand guard, youbetter do it in,side the house where it’s warm.”
He faked a shocked expression on his face. “Goodness,are you inviting me to your bed?”
I gave him a playful jab on the stomach. “No! The couchis perfectly warm and comfortable.”
“Well, I thought you planned to corrupt my innocence soearly in the relationsh¡p,” he teased.
I pulled him towards the house. “Don’t get any ideas inyour head, Hunter. I’m only after your comfort. Our couchisn’t fancy, but it’ll keep you warm just fine.”

He pushed the remote on his car to lock it and then hewent in,side the house with me. He double-barred the doorbehind him.
“Toilet’s over there. Most of the stuff there are mine.Meredith has her own bathroom in her room. There are newtoothbrushes on the cabinet. Feel free to take one.” Ipointed to a corner of the house where the bathroom was.
“I’ll go get you a blanket and pillows.”
He simply nodded.
I took clean sheets, a blanket and pillows from mycabinet. Hunter was in the bathroom when I came back tothe living room. I placed the clean sheets over the couch,then I placed the blanket and pillows on it.I almost jumped when I felt Hunter snake his armsaround my wa-ist.

“Jesus, you really do move like a ninja!”
“Ninja?” he echoed, spinning me around so I could facehim.
I looked up at him. He had removed his jacket. He waswearing a white shirt, different from what he was wearingduring our date.
“Yeah, Denise sometimes say that about you. We don’teven see you coming to class.”

“I take a lot of special classes. It’s necessary if I want tograduate with you. No way, you will go to college withoutme,” he said.
“Good,” I said smiling up at him. I stared back at hisshirt. “This wasn’t the shirt you were wearing before.”
“I changed in the car,” he explained. “I always haveextra clothes there, just in case I won’t be able to comehome. Like tonight.”
I smiled up at him. My heart felt like it will burst withhappiness any minute.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He leaned his forehead against mine. “You didn’t haveto thank me. I love you, you know.”
“I know. Now, more than ever.”
“Is it okay with your aunt, if I stayed?”

“As long as you’re not in my bed, she’ll be fine with it.”
He gro-ned playfully and I laughed, pulling away fromhim.
“Good night, Hunter.”
He pulled me back to him and gave me a gentle k-ss onthe l-ips before releasing me. “Good night, angel.”
I went to my room, closing my bedroom door behindme. I threw myself in bed. And because I couldn’t containthe happiness that I felt in,side, I put my pillow over my headand literally scre-med on it. I didn’t even care if Hunterheard me.

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