Hide Your Heart

Jacob and Mae walked into The Camel, an underground coffee shop that played great music, together. Jacob took her hand and smiled down at Mae as she blushed.

A girl and a guy immediately walked up to them. "Hey Jacob!" The boy said. He had blonde hair and a beard but somehow it looked good on him. The girl had long bleach blonde hair, green eyes, and a natural tan.

"Hey Cody, this is my friend Mae. Mae this is Cody Carter and Starr Jenks." They both smiled at her as she waved.

"Hey." Mae said.

"You guys here to watch Danny play?" Cody asked.

"Yeah, he hasn't gone on yet right?" Jacob said as they followed Cody and Starr to a table.

"Nope, your just in time." Starr giggled. Mae smiled at them both, happy that Jacob introduced her to such cool people.

The night went on, listening to great music and having lots of laughs. Mae was having the best time.

Until Danny Gearheart, the singer, covered an Avett Brothers song called Through My Prayers.

The song was what helped Mae through Eran's death. She hadn't listened to it for weeks and as she heard it come from someone's actual lips, her heart broke a little more.

Feels like no one understands. And now my only chance to talk to you is, through my prayers.

I only wanted to tell you, I care.

Every night after and everyday since, I found myself crying when the memory hits.

Sometimes it knocks me down, sometimes I can just put it away.

Down in my mind where I don't care to go. The pain of a lesson is letting me know, if you have love in your heart let it show while you can.

Yes now I understand, but now my only chance to talk to you is through my prayers.

I only wanted to tell you, I care.

Mae touched Jacob's shoulder, suppressing her tears as much as she could. "I'll be right back."

"Oh, I'll come with." He said but she shook her head.

"I just need some fresh air, I'll be back soon." She smiled, falsely and walked out of the building.

Mae moved to the alley behind it and sank down one of the brick walls. She sobbed into her arm, memories rushing through her mind.

Everything Eran had ever said. Anytime she used Mae's nickname, Dragonfly. How her heart broke just at the lyrics of that song. How was she supposed to go through life like this? So sad?

No one was able to help her forget and she only wished that she could find a friend. Someone she trusted enough to talk too.

"God damnit, Mae!" She moved her arm, seeing Andy in front of her. The minimal light from the alley made him look scary and she found herself shrinking away. "I told you to stay away from here! You're so lucky it's just me ton-" He cut himself off as he noticed the tears soaking the young girls cheeks.

"Andy, I don't have the patience for your shit right now. Could you finish the lecture and leave me alone?" She asked, sniffling as another round of tears came on.

He sank down next to her and stared as she looked at the wall across from them. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing that would interest you, so could you just leave me alone? Let me wallow in my misery without some asshole trying to get into my business." She shook her head and covered her face with her hands.

Andy felt a pang in his stomach. Is that really how she thought of him? An asshole? He just didn't want his friends to touch her!

"Mae, I'm not trying to upset you." Andy said, she stayed silent. "Sometimes it helps to talk about what's making you sad."

"I-I'm afraid if I start talking about it, I'll break completely." She whispered, more to herself than to Andy but he heard.

She felt one of his hands pry her's from her eyes. He closed his around her's as she looked into his eyes.

"It's good to fall apart." He mumbled. "Then you can put yourself back together instead of staying half broken." She nodded and closed her eyes, before reopening them to see his magnificent blues. They stared into her soul and in that moment she could see nothing but kindness in them.

"My best friend, Eran Romano, killed herself about a month ago." She whispered, hoarsely. "And I've been torn up ever since."

"I was walking over to her house and I felt in my gut that.." Mae shook her head before continuing.
"That something was wrong. She hadn't texted or called me that day. She didn't go to school and her parents were out of town on one of their work trips so she was alone. We had always been a little different, she liked different music than I did and she was a little more hardcore but we just got along. Anyways, I walked into her house since I had a spare key and called out her name. She didn't answer, and all I could here was some song playing on repeat. I figured her boyfriend had done something to upset her so she was moping in her room but as I grew closer I realized how loud the music was. When I opened the door, it appeared that she wasn't in there. But I had this feeling. I kept looking until I opened up her closet and-" She let out a loud gasp as the tears now poured down her soft cheeks. Andy's arm slid around her back and he squeezed her hand tight. "She was in there, hanging from the rack with her beautiful eyes looking dead and dull."

Andy stared at the tiny girl as she shook and sobbed. She really was broken and he wanted to fix her. He wrapped his arms around her body and brought her head to his chest.

"You know, I lost someone I loved too." He said, running his fingers through her hair. He was positive the only reason she hadn't shoved him away was because she wasn't conscious of what was going on. "Not to the same capacity but I had been in a relationship with this girl, Scout, for three years. I loved her. I went out to Los Angeles with her, I did everything for her. One day, out of the blue, she left me. She had been cheating on me. I was so depressed and then my parents bought me a little cat named Crow. He became my best friend since most of my friends try to pressure me into doing things that make no sense. I think you need a Crow." She pulled back to look up at him, laughter in her eyes.

"I need a cat?" She whispered, wiping some of her tears away.

"Sure, come on." He said, standing up and pulling her with him. "I'll take you to get one right now!"

She laughed, "Andy, I'm here with Jacob. I can't just leave him."

"We can call him from my car." He said, placing his hands on her shoulders. "If your going to repair yourself again, you have to forget about caring. You've got to go do stuff that's crazy and spur of the moment!" She grinned at him and shook her head. "What?"

"Your just like Eran."

And that's where their story began..

Notes

A little short but it's the beginning :) Yay for lovers!