three things cannot be long hidden

by

lovelunarchron

"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth." - Buddha

i. A red wine stain, a broken vase, street lights

The fight escalates quickly tonight.

My words come brash and sarcastic; Kai's silence digs into me like claws. But I see the anger, raw and ready to simmer over. I've memorized the foreshocks.

There.

There it is.

A frustrated hand running through his already disheveled hair. Then another. He throws up both of them suddenly and one connects with the star-patterned vase.

It tumbles,

smashes,

breaks.

We both gape at the shard-filled water at our feet.

He says my name like he wishes he'd never have to say it again, and inside my walls crumple like they always do when they're being battered by his earthquake.

I will not cry. I will not let him see.

I sip my wine with vigor only to pucker my stained lips as he lets loose everything he's bottled up since this argument started.

"You lied to me," he finishes more calmly, when I've returned his silence in favor long enough. He's calculating, realizing he's gone too far. "This isn't you."

I shrug my shoulders more for show than the actual complacency I feel and a drop of wine spills out over the rim. It drips onto the sodden white rose that already rests on the floor, bright like blood against a sheet.

I long for the days when flowers solved problems, when passionate meant heat instead of anger.

"Cinder."

My name is a warning now.

I turn more abruptly than intended and my foot catches.

Another splash.

This time the wine's on me. I groan but continue to my shoes, my jacket, the door. I can't be here.

He follows me only far enough so I'll catch his disappointment.

"You don't trust me," is all I say.

Kai blinks at me.

I leave.

Reality hits me on the front porch at the same time as the chilling wind. I pull my jacket tighter around me, but the street lights still illuminate my shame.