Lauren + Marcus: Happy Valentine’s Day
The dawn was breaking, a light pierced through the clouds. Lauren’s small frame shivered in her light jacket as she sat on top of the hood of her car. From way up high, the city street lights were just flickering off as the sun rose proud in it’s golden hue. To face the life she left a couple months back in search for something better…well, something better never came. Because something better was always there. She was just too proud to acknowledge it. Her friends might think she’s wrong. That she deserves better. But life in the real-world definitely opened her eyes more than the sheltered, secure one she was living before. Marcus wasn’t perfect. He showed her that neither was she. And when she moved out that day, she ran straight back into the arms she fought so hard to free herself from because life with Marcus scared her. Scared her because she didn’t like their circumstances and she didn’t know how to fix it. But at least they were in it together and there was always someone there. For the past 4 months she moved back into her parents magnificent house, but it was so big and so empty that the silence scared her more than the uncertainty with Marcus.
And so she was here, in her car, running back. It seemed like her life was a constant running back and forth. She wouldn’t even take note of what day this whole decision was falling on, not until later. Not until things were sorted out. Would she realized that today was Valentine’s day. A day to be with the ones you love and to show them how much you love them. Love comes in various forms and it is so complicated but it is so powerful that in every tragic story there’s a string of happiness that pulls people together through all the muck.
With a sigh, Lauren peeled herself off her car and got back inside. She hadn’t been able to get him or their life off her mind. There was no certainty he would take her back or be with someone else. But if she never tried, she’d never know. Turning the ignition on, she pressed the gas and got back onto the main road that led down to the city. She planned as she drove. But when she got there. She didn’t think she could go through with it anymore. The fear of rejection weighed much heavier now that she was physically acting out her plan. Who was she to expect to just show up and have things magically turn out alright?
Right now wasn’t the moment to have those thoughts. She needed to encourage herself to do it and deal with the consequences later. As she was walking up the familiar flights of steps to her old apartment that she shared with Marcus, he was coming down them. This wasn’t how she expected things to go. She was going to go up to the door, knock, and then talk. Not out here, not in the middle of the stairway. It would seem that fate would play out differently. With her hand locked on the railing, she didn’t allow her gaze to fall again. “H-hi,” she let the greeting break out, but she didn’t know what else to say except for the one thing she did know she came here for. “I miss you.”
