Lucas was looking out from his room's window, he wasn't able to forget the image of Crystal's cold eyes, as she wasn't the Crystal he always knew, the meek and timid girl with that shy smile.
He took out that half burned painting and stared at it as he recalled an incident of their childhood days.
At the tree house, 7 years old Crystal was painting with 10 years old Lucas, who was doing his homework.
"How could I forget this?" She facepalmed her then said to Lucas "I'm leaving!"
Hearing that Crystal was leaving, Lucas stopped his work and asked "Where are you leaving?"
"I promised Austin that I'll help him with his homework then play with him for sometime."
Before Crystal could leave, Lucas held her hand "You are not going anywhere."
"Why?" His sudden reaction made her confused
Her question made him feel that she wanted to run away from him, which he didn't like at all so he frowned and asked "Why is Austin more important than me?"
Crystal tilted her head and blinked "What kind of question is that, you are you and he is he."
She used her other hand and tried to remove Lucas's frown, as Crystal's hand touched Lucas's eyebrows his tensed muscles relaxed and he eased as he heard her mumbling "Why you always frown, I never liked it!"
"Moreover James wanted me to take care of him so that he can get comfortable in your house."
Hearing the reason he didn't say for a while but also didn't leave her hand. She realized that Lucas has no mood in leaving her, she sighed and compelled to his wish by sitting beside him
Looking at an obedient Crystal Lucas shook his head helplessly "Fine, you can go to him"
Crystal stood up immediately but Lucas made her sit again saying "but not now."
"Then?" She looked puzzled
Lucas remarked "You can go to him only when you're not with me."
Lucas couldn't help but mumble "Whenever you leave me, it gives me a feeling of abandonment which I don't like at all."
He doesn't know why but he always has that uneasiness that one day Crystal might leave and this feeling always gives him a scare
Crystal heard his words "I… and abandon you?"
Lucas nodded his head, however the next moment he froze as Crystal hugged him "You could leave me but I can't do that, because you know very well that I never abandon the people I care about?"
"I will never abandon you" She said these words on her shoulder in a muffled voice but Lucas heard her every word clearly
After some hesitation, he hugged her back "Promise me?"
"I promise you."
Lucas came out from his thoughts and stared at the burned photo while mumbling "You said that you never abandon the people you love, so does it mean that you don't love me anymore?"
Meanwhile, Crystal was also at her balcony and her eyes seems to looking at somewhere but still nowhere
She curled her lip "Love!" the disgust and contempt in her tone was clear
She took a cigarette between her lips and lit it but without taking any puff she took it out and watched it burn slowly
"You left me with no love Lucas, all the love that I had, I offered it to you like a devotee and now I'm standing here burning in pain, hurt, anguish and moreover hatred."
She reminisces the her past life events making her hands curled into fists and with every sentence her voice turned cold and resentful
"I hate you for abandoning me!"
"I hate you for distrusting me!"
"Moreover, I hate you for making me lose my daughter."
With that, she felt a sudden head splitting headache, she held her head "Damm, this addiction!"
She came to her room and started to search for something in her drawer but instead of that thing she found a bottle of medicine.
"This bottle?"
She remembered how her dear cousin Lisa was always insisted on taking medicine from this bottle
"Crystal, have you taken your medicine?"
Saying that, these were some vitamins for her health and her fool self used to believe her blindly that she never thought to check what medicine she's giving her
Even with the vitamins label on the bottle, her past life betrayal made her suspicious "It must not be that simple as it seems."
But that headache was distracting her to think "Now what should I do with this headache?"
She closed the drawer and went to her canvas, she held the brush and removed the paper that was hiding the picture below it.