"Thanks..." he said, his voice quivering.

"And they look so familiar," Val said, brushing off his comment. She was deep in thought at this point.

She started fidgeting with her fingers, and the man noticed how the nails were chipped in such a way that they appeared bitten.

He should've been panicked at the fact that she was thinking, but really- somewhere deep down, he wanted her to realise.

Even if it was just to ease his guilt.

She pushed away a strand of her messy hair from her eyes and the action made his heart flutter. He remembered when it was actually the first beautiful thing he saw. Her short, straight hair which faded from a dark brown to an ashy blondeness.

As he was caught up in the memory, Val too, took a trip down memory lane.

It didn't take her long to realise that those were the eyes that made her nightmares a tolerable, almost pleasant dream. They used belong to a pretty girl, the only person she could trust within her family.

They used to belong to her own elder sister.

The livelier one, the prettier one, the nicer one- whatnot.

Frankie Hoster was better than Valerie in what Valerie considered to be all aspects. Yet, she looked up to Frankie and avoided the jealousy she'd feel whenever people remembered her siblings and completely forgot about her existence.

She prayed for the best, when it came to Frankie- always.

Yet, her prayers weren't enough. Although Valerie shared all her thoughts and feelings with Frankie, Frankie wasn't the same.

Frankie kept secrets from everyone, and underneath all those toothy smiles- there was a constant self-loathing demon present. She especially hated herself for looking like a carved out potato when she smiled because of her chubby face.

One thing led to another and Frankie ended up with an eating disorder, which she of course- kept hidden. All she ever wanted was to be normal.

Things got worse when Val heard her in the middle of one of her outbursts and she told their brother, Vin. Being the caring brother he was, Vin got her an appointment with a therapist.

Frankie then officially became Francesca, the insecure abnormal.

Two years later, when Francesca couldn't cope with what she'd become and the way people treated her, she made her first attempt at ending her life. But she was caught by Val and sent into rehab.

And it is true that people never look at you the same way once you've been to a therapist. Francesca faked happiness to get away from the centre and when no one was expecting it, killed herself after leaving a 'special' note for Val within the four walls of her home.

Val found the body and the note.

'Val, I hate you,' is all it said, and 'u' in 'you' was covered in blotched ink. A small brown splash on the corner of the backside was a painful reminder of how Frankie stabbed herself.

And her eyes, were donated to hospital she was taken to afterwards.

And those eyes, lit up the life of the man in front of Valerie.

"I'm sorry," he whispered, when he was finally sure that she'd remembered.

For some reason, he expected her to have an outburst like she did at the hospital. She'd flung herself over her sister's covered dead body and yelled at the parents for signing up for organ donation.

The thought bought a bitter smile on his face.

"You probably hate me now," he said.

"Why would I?" Val spoke for the first time. "Because you have her eyes? Just so you know, I've always loved her eyes."

Taken aback, the man scoffed. "But at the hospital..." he started.

Valerie froze as she realised her breakdown in the hospital had quite a lot of witnesses. Yet she gathered her thoughts and said, "I was hurt because they didn't let me see her after I... you know..."

Although he didn't understand, the man nodded.

"I'm actually quite happy," she said, out of the blue.

"All her other organs were too damaged for donating, and I'm happy her eyes were saved," she clarified. "You seem to really suit them."

The man finally smiled at her the way he wanted to- genuinely, and with a hint of mischief.

"What are you implying Miss Hoster?"

"What do you mean Mister... what's your name again?.

He smiled teasingly. "Hermosa."

"Right. What do you mean Mister Hermosa?" she asked with a serious expression and the man burst out laughing. Her confused stare made him laugh harder.

"Great, now you just gotta call me papi and I'll happily go to hell," he smiled.

"What?"

"Nothing haha, you just called me handsome in Spanish and I was flattered. Now try calling me papi, I'm sure you know what that means."

Something came over Valerie and she said 'papi' before she could even realise she had opened her mouth. She clasped her hand over her mouth and turned away, embarrassed.

This man was crazy, making her say stuff like that when they were mere strangers.

He doubled over in laughter as he heard her mutter, "Jesus, he's a stranger what am I saying?!?"

When he was done laughing to his heart's content, he straightened up and held out his hand for her to shake.

"I'm Aiden Salvatore and you can call me papi," he joked in an obviously fake business-like tone. Val giggled softly.

"And honestly, everyone's a stranger at some point," he continued.

"So... friends?" Val asked.

"Sure," Aiden smiled.

'After all, love is friendship that has caught fire,' he thought. He could wait until he was sure he wasn't the only one.

Perhaps in a world so judgemental of anyone that wasn't what it considered normal, even the downtrodden had hope.

Perhaps someone like Val could find a diamond amongst rubbish...

Perhaps Val could find true love amongst the fake positivity society had enforced?

Someone who'd actually like 'abnormal'?

Of course.