Eternal

Eternal
His vulnerability shattered her emotions to where she was left near the brink of sobriety.

Serena grabbed Paul's hand and lead him into her bedroom.

And he let her.

She sat him down on the bed as she knelt before him while maintaining eye contact with him.

Serena slid her hands down Paul's legs breaking eye contact only long enough to remove his shoes. She looked back at Paul reaching up to stroke his cheek softly. He leaned his face into her hand closing his eyes.

Serena stood without removing her touch from him, pressing her chest against the other side of his face and pulling him against the bed with his head on top of her beating heart. She cradled his head in the nook of her arm and ran her hand through his thick black hair.

"You've never been alone Paul. My spirit has always been by your side," she whispered as she kissed the top of his head. "And it always will be. Whenever you need a hug, you know where to find me."

Paul covered her hand with his, kissing her palm. "I never wanted you to see me like this," he spoke softly. "Not you."

Reaching over to the lamp next to the bed, Serena reached for the inline switch that was near and turned off the lights. "Problem solved."

He released a small chuckle, as we wrapped his arms around her.

"Let's go to sleep," she said. "Things will look better tomorrow."



The next morning, they were scheduled to return home. She had a business to get back to and Paul felt it was time to return to his mom's side.

They held hands the whole ride home. She placed her head on his shoulder. It felt as if they had made up for a lifetime apart overnight.

Their bond was stronger now - from one friend to another, and for the moment at least, it felt as if they had left all of their burdens behind in Las Vegas.

Upon landing at the big city airport, the first stop they made was to the Worthington home. Ellen was wearing a large sun hat and an apron; she was watering the flowerpots on the large veranda.

"Kids! You're back!" Ellen exclaimed as she peeled off the gardening gloves and placed them on the edge of a large circular ceramic pot she was just working on. "How was Las Vegas?" She asked as she began climbing down the short flight of stairs to where Paul and Serena stood.

Ellen framed her son's face, looking into his eyes and smiling. "You look years younger, son. Whatever happened in Las Vegas clearly did you a world of good."

"You went to Las Vegas together?" A feminine voice called from the front door. "And you couldn't bother to tell me?"

Paul and Serena turned to look at the brunette looking at them from the house. Iris stood staring disapprovingly at the scene taking place outside the home.

"It's just-" Serena began.

"Not like this," Iris called back dryly. "Why don't you come inside? I want to talk to you."

Serena felt dread overtake her body. Whatever Iris had on her mind, it was not good. The only other time Iris took this one with her was the tenth-grade Sadie Hawkins dance. Iris asked Brett Robinson to the dance, but he rejected her because he was hoping Serena would ask him.

As if rejecting her hadn't been enough, Brett asked Iris to convince Serena to ask him.

Serena nodded. "Alright," she said. She gave Paul one last look before heading toward the house.

She climbed the concrete steps to the front door. The moment she was inside, Iris immediately rushed towards her.

"Why didn't you tell me you went to Hawaii with Paul?!"