I'll stay by your side

"I...I can't anymore…" She closed her eyes and remembered that guy from 2 months ago. "I can't endure this anymore…" Tears streamed down her eyes. "I'm sorry but I'm breaking the promise...I'm sorry…" She sobbed and begged for forgiveness from the person she didn’t even know. Cause ironically he was the only one who cared for her.

"You're apologizing to me, a step away from death but still crying so much, why?" That guy appeared behind her. She flinched cause as far as she knew there was no one around her. But it wasn’t that much of a big shock as she had doubted his identity already. 

He stepped on the fence standing beside her. He had the same appearance as before, a blue shirt over a white t-shirt paired with jeans. He looked a little faded just as before, one could see through his body as if it was a little transparent.

"Why are you like this?" He wiped away her tears. "Why are you hurting yourself so much…?" 

She sobbed harder and fell on her knees. He bit his lower lip, he was feeling a strange pain seeing her like that.  

"You're not alone…" He hugged her, caressing her back, and wiped away all the tears.  

"I'll keep my promise. I'm sorry I left you alone. I'm so sorry…" He cried with her. “I’ll be here with you from now on…”

“No...I can’t keep going anymore…” She cried harder. “It hurt so much…” She hugged him back, her sobs got louder but it was for the better. All the bottled up feelings that were killing her slowly were finally released. He had saved her life, stopped that darkness from eating her up. 

They stayed like that for a long time, just hugging each other without saying anything. Words were unnecessary in that situation, They knew each other’s feelings and could understand them without saying them. That guy pulled away and got down the fence. Eliana looked confused and also scared that he was going to leave again as he stood with his back towards her.

“Will you accept me?” He turned around and extended his arm towards her. “Will you let me stay by your side and help you get over this pain?” His eyes shone like gems. A soft smile on his face, a sense of calmness as he just stood there waiting for her to take his hand. 

She didn’t say anything, neither had any movement for a few seconds. She was having flashbacks. 

This guy was completely different from all those people she had come across. She felt a sense of familiarity with him. She knew it could be dangerous if she took his hand, but for once, she wanted to take the chance. She didn’t care who he was in real life but she wanted to be with him, even if just for a short period. He gave her a sense of calmness, stillness; as if she didn’t need to run away anymore, she could face all the difficulties. 

She smiled as she realized how much this guy changed her just in a single day and got up. He had a worried look on his face again as he didn’t know what she was going to do next, jump down the bridge or take his hand. 

She stepped down and ran towards him, he embraced her and didn’t ask anything further. Before she even realized it, tears started streaming down her eyes again. She gave up everything for the first time and took the hand of someone she didn’t even know, in a hope that he would help her. Maybe he would be able to help her find happiness. 

“So, what’s been bothering you…?” He asked her, they both were now sitting on the footpath beside the road. 

“He cheated on me...my dad made me realize again that I’m adopted…” She said, staring blankly into some distance. These things, she had gotten numb to them.

That guy was just staring at her, admiring her beauty. Not how she looked but how strong she was, handling all these things for so long. She looked to her side and caught him staring at her, she smiled softly.

“Who are you…?” She asked him as she looked into his eyes as well.

“Oh...I’m sorry I didn’t introduce myself…” He smiled awkwardly. 

“We both didn’t.” She corrected him and looked away as she felt a little guilty. 

“I’m Luan.” He said as he extended his hand towards her.

“Eliana.” She smiled as she shook his hand. His eyes widened on hearing her name. She looked confused.

“It’s a beautiful name; Greek Sun.” He told her. “You deserve that same destiny as the sun, light up everyone’s life and shine alone. I’m just a small moon, showing you the path to reach that destiny.” She kept staring into his eyes. Those words sounded mesmerizing to her. Unbelievable but she wanted to believe them blindly

“That wasn’t actually my question.” She said after a moment. He looked blank.

“Okay, it might be a little unbelievable...but I can listen to people’s thoughts if I look into their eyes. But I can’t with you, no matter how long I look into your eyes. I can’t hear your thoughts. So who are you…?” She explained, There was a fear inside her that he wouldn’t believe her.

“I’m sent here to help you.” He smiled softly. 

“Who are you?” She asked again.

"You'll know soon…" He said and got up. “Let’s go. I don’t have any place to stay so you gotta let me stay with you.” He made a puppy face.

“What if I disagree?” 

“I know you won’t.” He said and she chuckled. 

They both walked for a long time till they reached her apartment. There was an unexpected guest waiting for her. Leo.

“You ain’t falling for him again. Break up!” Luan said as soon as he saw Leo standing in front of her door. She smiled and felt a little special as she never had someone in her life who would say such things to her. It was the first time someone was standing by her side, encouraging her to do something that was actually good for her. 

“Why are you smiling so much?” Leo asked as he saw her walking closer. He looked surprised as he rarely saw her smile.

“Nothing.” She said as she looked at him. 

“Uh...I wanted to talk about something important…” He said and Eli clenched her fists tightly as she realized that it was finally happening. 

“Is this the guy?” Luan asked suddenly as he looked at Leo. “Girl, why the hell did you fall for him?! Even I’m more handsome than him.” He was trying to cheer her up. Eli smiled a little as she saw Luan make faces. Leo on the other hand was taken back after seeing her that way. 

“Uh...I think you already know that Nora is back. You know she was my ex. And uh...I still love her a lot and we both have decided to get back together so… I’m breaking up with you.” Leo explained and was a little hesitant even though he didn’t care how she felt. 

“I’m telling you let’s kill him together. No one will know. We can elope from her.” Luan whispered in her ear in a serious tone as he glared at Leo. Eli burst into laughter on hearing his words. He sounded childish and cute.

“What the hell are you doing?” Leo asked in a serious tone. He sounded frustrated. 

“I’m sorry it’s Luan…” Eli explained and was trying to hold back her laughter.

“Eli, it’s just the two of us here. Who’s Luan? If you don’t want to listen to my explanation, just tell me! Don’t make fun of me like that. I don’t care what you think, either way, never show me your damn face again!” He left the building. Eli looked at Luan shocked. 

“Seriously, who are you…?!” She asked as she looked at Luan with a serious expression.