My eyes flutter open upon feeling someone gently shaking me.

Hovering over me is Holly with the widest smile ever on her face, peering down at me. "Hey there, beautiful! Guess what?"

I tilt my head at her sleepily, still groggy. 

"A certain someone wants to take you out today," she chirps, clapping her hands excitedly.

What?

She giggles seeing my confused look.

"Isaac came over early this morning, pounding on my window. He wants to take you out somewhere, but it's a surprise. We have to get you ready, though. He'll be here in an hour."

I glance over at my clock. 7:00 A.M.

Holly eagerly pulls me out of bed, dragging me around my room and into the bathroom where I shower and brush my teeth. Then, she pushes me down on the bed and goes over to my closet, shuffling through the clothes. I yawn as I watch her. However excited I am, I'm still extremely tired for some reason. 

Physically and mentally.

"He said something pretty so you must be going somewhere fancy, yeah? So, this dress might do it... no, no, no, this dress. Or, wait, this dress is nice, too..." Holly mutters to herself, slinging multiple dresses over her arm. Sometimes, she glances over her shoulder at me, looking me up and down then pulling something else out of my closet.

Finally, she comes over to me and lies a pile of clothes on the bed beside me.

"Alright, I have a lot of options here, and we have so little time so we must hurry!"

Holly ushers me through a plethora of clothing, flinging this and that on me, hemming and humming, muttering here and there. She twirls me around and pokes me multiple times, saying its 'too tight here' or 'too baggy there'. Honestly, I think I look fine in it all, but apparently, it doesn't meet the expectations she's holding me under.

After what seems like hours upon hours of dress-up, she finally picks something. It's a simple blue noodle-strap dress that stops just over the knees. It has dainty, little flowers painted on it and when I twirl for her, the skirt flies out around me. Holly pairs it with a set of light blue flats.

It's quite beautiful. 

After, Holly dolls me up, adding makeup yet making sure not to over-do it. That's something she always fears: over-doing makeup and looking slutty.

But, when she's done, it looks absolutely amazing.

Smiling at myself in the mirror, I hug her tightly and she hugs back.

"Gah, I'm so excited for you, hun! Dang, someday I want my Prince Charming to come for me and make me smile and laugh the way Isaac does for you. It's so romantic," Holly whispers, patting my cheeks.

I smile and shake my head. She's quite a character.

I'm not sure what Isaac has planned or that he is any kind of charming prince, but he does make me smile and laugh and, for now, that's enough. It feels good to have fun and forget the past for a while. 

I wait patiently in the living room until 8:00 strikes. A few minutes later and I hear the horn of a car outside the apartment. Holly frantically pushes me towards the door, waving me outside where I spot Isaac's car we took to the field and hills.

Isaac's sitting in the car, one hand on the steering wheel and the other lied lazily on the back of the passenger seat. He smiles when he sees me, waving.

"Have fun!"

I hug and say goodbye to Holly then hop into Isaac's car.

"My, you look mighty fancy, ma'am," Isaac teases.

I swat his shoulder and stick out my tongue.

He laughs then starts up the car, driving us to yet another unknown destination to me. He knows where he's going, though, as he expertly turns down different roads and alleys. 

"This is going to be a lot of fun. I'd say somewhere up there with the night sky. Are you excited?"

I nod my head, looking around and letting the wind course through my hair.

"Me too."

We drive silently the rest of the way, though it's a comfortable silence, each of us caught up in our own thoughts for the time being. 

A few times, I find myself glancing at Isaac out of the corner of my eye, and I have to suppress a smile. I find it odd how this person who was once a stranger can make me smile by just the mere thought of him. At the same time, he's incredibly funny and caring and a true gentleman. His kind is so rare in the world now and, so, I must do all I can to keep him although I know that'll be hard. For both him and myself.

With both of our pasts haunting us still, letting go of it all will be very hard. It's been almost a year for both of us and we still remember what happened and the pain we went through. We still remember the good times and the better sides of the person we knew. And we both hope that someday we'll meet them again, just on better conditions and as friends once again. 

But I know that may never happen for me. 

After a few minutes, Isaac stops at a treeline, parking the car in the grass. It's light out, and I can see the sunlight shining through the treetops, illuminating the forest for all its beauty and grace. 

"Come on, you'll love it." Isaac hops out then helps me out. His hands hover on my waist for a second longer before he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the trail. We walk silently through the forest. It's beautiful. The treetops are a light green, the leaves shivering in the wind a little, and the branches swaying. A few bushes dot the ground but it's mostly covered by taller grass moving swiftly along the low wind currents. In the distance, I can hear the sweet songs of different birds calling out to each other. As we walk under the canopy of trees, I can feel the warmth of the sun on my skin as well as the warmth coming from Isaac's hand that's still gripped tightly in mine. 

I don't want to let him go. I don't want to see this light in my life of darkness leave. I want him to stay; I need him to stay. Before him, it had been just Holly and Dave and, while they were my closest friends, they knew me in a deeper way and knew most of my flaws. But when I had met Isaac, he knew none of them. I know he's slowly learning them, but he's accepted them; he's accepted me.

Finally, he stops in front of a wall of vines, their twisting stems and leaves covering something. Isaac looks at me with a smile before he swings his arm out and sweeps back the curtain of vines, revealing a sun-bathed spot covered in a beautiful garden. My eyes widen as I stand there, staring at it. 

Isaac coaxes me past the drape and under a short rock ridge. As soon as I step into the garden, I feel as if I've entered a whole other world. If I thought the trail here was beautiful, this was absolutely breathtaking. The trees grow high and tall like mighty soldiers surrounding and protecting this precious garden. A line of bushes outlines the garden, creating a square and, within it, a sort of swirl. There's a cobblestone path that paces through the entire garden and around it, sketched by equally-distanced rocks. I'm struck by a surplus of flowers with colours I've never even imagined before. The colours re bright, vibrant hues that are almost blinding: neon pinks and greens, bright purples and blues, shining silvers and bronzes. Each flower tells its own story with its unique petals and the way they branch around each other and through the garden. Along with them ride vines carrying beautifully blooming flowers the size of my hand. An amazing scent wafts softly through the air. A mixture of fresh morning dew and a medley of smells from the flowers, only adding onto the magical feeling of this place.

Isaac bumps me gently with his shoulder. I look up at him to see him grinning widely, his eyes bright. "I take it you like it."

I nod my head eagerly, looking around. A rock wall that juts up to the sky surrounds the whole garden and its trees, a sharp contrast from the softness of the garden. 

"I found this place when I was a kid. Sometimes, I had to get away, ya' know?"

I give him a sad smile and nod. I know that all too well. 

"Walk with me, m'lady?" Isaac bends his arm and holds it out to me as if he was a gentleman asking a court lady to escort him to the dance floor.

Happily, I loop my arm through his and let him lead me down the path. We walk slowly as I admire the flowers and examine each, wishing I could take some home. 

"This could be our place to get away. Whenever we're not feeling right, we could just come here, yeah?" Isaac whispers, looking at me then up at the blue sky.

I nod as I continue to look around. Each flower is different and beautiful in its own way and it strikes me how even the less pretty ones I still find beautiful. 

Finally, we reach the very middle where we're surrounded by a small square of bright red roses, fully bloomed and leaning up towards the sky. 

Isaac pulls me close to him, and I stare up into those deep eyes. His eyes search my face, glimpsing down at my lips then flitting back up to my eyes. My breath hitches as he lowers his face slowly and brings his lips softly to mine, kissing me. I feel my arms instinctively wrap around his neck, bringing him closer. His arms wind around my waist, pulling me to his chest. Our lips lock and my eyes close, I feel as if I'm in heaven. This is complete bliss. To be in the most beautiful garden in the world, surrounded by an air of happiness and lightness, and kissing the person I care the most for. My light. My lifeline. My hope in all this darkness surrounding me.

I know if we keep going like this, I'm sure to fall so deeply in love I could never return to the surface. And I don't think I'm going to stop myself from doing so. Perhaps I already love him. 

But I still don't truly know what love is. 

Maybe it's this. Kissing the single most important person in the world. Standing close to them, my heart beating rapidly and those butterflies fluttering chaotically in my stomach. A wide smile growing on my lips just thinking about them. 

Willing to do anything for them. Wishing to be theirs forever. Wanting them to be by your side for the rest of eternity. The love ever burning, never ceasing, never leaving. 

Isaac slowly pulls away and my eyes flutter open. He leans his forehead gently on mine as he stares into my eyes, smiling. 

"Angie, I..."

I look at him hopefully. 

He smiles and dips his head. "Did I tell you how beautiful you look?"

I tilt my head to the side, smiling sheepishly.

"You must be the most beautiful girl in the world."

I blush and cast my eyes to the ground. 

Isaac lifts up my chin and kisses me gently on the lips. "You are, at least, in my eyes," he whispers. "Whoever called you ugly was dead wrong. You can scratch that off your list. And might as well scratch another because I'm going to tell you that right now, besides Bella, you are the most important thing in my life. I know we just met but... well, I don't quite know how to tell you. It's all these bubbly, happy feelings inside of me whenever I see you. Or thinking about you, for that matter. You mean so much to me. Whoever called you trash obviously couldn't see beauty if it bitch-slapped them in the face." 

I couldn't help but laugh at that.

Isaac's whole face lights up, his eyes shining brightly and a large grin on his face. "And whoever said you weren't going to go anywhere was wrong because you're here with me now. I'm standing in the most beautiful garden in front of the most beautiful girl." Isaac cups my face with his hands and he leans down to kiss me again. 

His lips are soft and sweet, gentle and kind. I lose myself in his kiss, and I shiver whenever he touches me. 

This must be heaven. This is pure bliss. Standing here with him kissing me. When he was talking, I could've sworn I saw a raw emotion in his eyes that I could only describe as one thing... love. Did he see it in my eyes? He should've.

This must be love.

~~~

❝Willing to do anything for them. Wishing to be theirs forever. Wanting them to be by your side for the rest of eternity. The love ever burning, never ceasing, never leaving.❞