Felix Opens Up

Samia rushed towards Felix and hugged him tightly.

She was blaming herself.

Samia scolded herself as to why she didn't come early. She should have been with him. He must have been feeling bad.

Felix opened his eyes slowly. He knew who was there but couldn't see her as his eyes were blurry.

"Why are you here?" Felix asked in a choked voice.

"Shh.." Instead of answering him she just hugged him tightly.

Samia patted his back and remained in that position for a few minutes.

After calming down for a while Felix finally decided to speak.

"My father, he doesn't deserve to be called a father though. He raped my mother, hit her whenever he felt like it and treated her worse than a maid, heck you would even respect a maid more."

"She never said a word because of me. She thought they were the perfect couple in my eyes. She would hide those bruises and cuts. And he would act like he was very sorry for his actions and he won't repeat them again. He would do that every time."

Felix suppressed a sob and continued " She would always try her best to spend time with me and teach me, she was a perfect mother. When I was 8, on her birthday my father came home drunk and hit her again. Since he always showed everyone that they were a happy couple he forced my mother to attend the party."

"At night when he thought that my mother wasn't behaving according to him, he pushed her down the 11th floor. I tried to stop it. I held her hand, I felt that I would also fall with her, that would have been much better. I tried to hold her hand more tightly but she loosened the grip around me and fell alone. Every time I think about it I feel I could have saved her just like everyone said."

Felix became silent after saying that. He sure did feel light after telling her so, but he looked at her very timidly as if he was afraid that she would leave him.

Samia's heart ached for him. Just how much did he go through, all alone?

"It was not your fault, you were just a child back then. You must have suffered a lot back then along with your mother. I trust you. They were just saying nonsense, if they cared that much they would have tried to save her. You should not feel guilty for something which was not your fault. You did nothing wrong." Samia said.

Felix who had just stopped crying felt his eyes tear up again. No one said that it wasn't his fault. Though he knew that he was young and couldn't have been of any help the young Felix was not aware of it.

The words which he needed to hear at that time were spoken by someone years later.

Though they could not undo the harm but they still mattered.

It was nice, the feeling of being understood by someone.

For the first time that night, Felix hugged her back. Even more tightly than she was holding him.

"Now, Can I ask you a serious question?" Samia asked.

"Yes?" Felix replied.

"Did you eat anything?"

Felix shook his head lightly.

"Get up," Samia commanded.

"What," Felix asked in a daze. He was not ready to leave her to embrace yet.

"I was just saying that there is a large bed over here which is asking to be used because if we are going to sit on this floor all night either one of us would catch a cold," Samia explained.

Felix did as he was instructed. Samia helped him lie on the bed and went to fetch some water. She ordered takeout on her way back to his room. She was not having any energy to cook something and Felix needed her. She saw it in his eyes. She doesn't want to make him feel any sadder than he already was. He might overthink if she was not by his side.

Samia helped Felix in drinking some water. Felix held her hand just as she finished keeping the glass on the bedside.

"Can you please not go?" Felix asked vulnerably. He was not like this usually but today he was feeling very clingy. Like in a completely dark room a ray of light was coming in. He was holding onto her as if she was his only ray of sunshine.

Samia gave him a smile and said "I am not going anywhere."

She hopped on the bed from the other side and snuggled beside Felix.

"You are not allowed to sleep before eating something. I have ordered some noodles." Samia said sternly.

Felix nodded. He made an attempt to smile but failed.

"You don't need to force yourself. You will be fine." Samia closed Felix's eyes with her hands.

"I will wake you up if you sleep," Samia said.

Fortunately, the food came in 15 minutes.

Samia helped Felix in eating before she urged him to go to sleep.

She quickly packed up and slid next to him.

"Sleep. We will talk about everything tomorrow." With Samia's constant urging Felix finally drifted to sleep.

After Felix was asleep, Samia thought for a while and decided to ask Eric about his mother's grave address. Felix should do something to free himself from his guilt. If he still doesn't want to take a step, she would help him with taking it together.

Eric replied after a few minutes with the address of the graveyard and Felix's mother's details.

Samia looked at Felix's sleeping face in silence. It must have been very hard for him to open up about his past. Everyone saw him as a powerful existence but she could only see how vulnerable he was. She wanted to protect him at all costs so that no one could harm him anymore. She doesn't want to see him sad.

Without her knowing the sprouts of love had already started taking place in her heart.