A/N : helloooo :)) enjoy this second chapter...

Blanche
~

The next morning, I woke up earlier than usual. I groaned and looked at my clock. It was almost six o'clock and way too early for my system. I had a hard time falling asleep the night before, and it even made me cry. Those were tears of frustration, but also sadness. Falling asleep was always making me feel overwhelmed by old memories. His gorgeous face was always coming to my mind. I hated the fact that my brain couldn't forget him. Sometimes, I would even regret falling in love with him, because if I didn't, I wouldn't have been so depressed after leaving him. I knew I shouldn't feel that way, because the three years I spent with him were amazing ; they were ones of the most beautiful years of my whole life.

I crushed my head against the pillows, immediately feeling pain in my stomach. I groaned and held my tummy. It was probably this time of the month.

After some minutes, laying lazily on my bed, I decided that it was time to get my butt up. I reached the bathroom, my hand on my side as I walked like a grandmother. I opened the drawer to find my painkillers that I was used to take when having tummy cramps. I searched for them with my eyes but, couldn't see them. That's when I remembered that I threw my last box in the trash, the month before.

"Oh hell no..." I mumbled, rolling my eyes. I had to buy some. I couldn't do anything if I didn't take my medicine. I tried to hurry, despite the pain, put some clothes on and left my apartment.

When I reached the nearest drugstore, I attempted to make myself as discreet as possible. It didn't take much time to find what I was looking for, and I went to pay. On the queue, i felt someone look at me from the distance but didn't pay much attention to it. Probably someone who recognized me. It wasn't like I cared ; the only thing I wanted was to go home, take my pills and relax.

"Good morning, ma'am." the cashier greeted me. I smiled at him and gave him the box. "Five dollars, please."

I gave him the money and again, felt the same person look at me. I lifted my head in their direction and saw a strange woman watching me intensely from an alley. She seemed older than her real age, black messy hair with a glint of white in it, wearing only black clothes. She was standing still, watching me the whole time, and, to be honest, it was really scary.

"Ma'am ?" I jumped back, looking at the cashier who was giving me a impatient glare. "Your box ?" he had the box in his hand and was waiting for me to take it.

"I'm sorry..." I blushed, taking the box and hurrying to go out of this place.

I sighed and walked as fast as I could back to my apartment, looking behind me here and there, making sure that the weird woman was not chasing me. She wasn't. I didn't even pay attention to my stomach pain, too busy trying to save my life. I was probably overreacting ; she must have recognized me, which wasn't a big deal, right ?

When I arrived in front of my building, I saw Ms. Lockwood walking her dog in the small patio. When she noticed I was here, she smiled and waved for me to come closer.

"How are you, dear ?" she asked, kissing my cheek softly, a small gesture that instantly brought a smile to my lips.

"I'm great, thank you for asking, Ms. Lockwood." I said.

"It seems like you get finally out of your damn apartment !" she exclaimed, taking her dog in her arms. I giggled heartily and caressed her dog's head.

"It was emergency." I said, lifting my bag in the air. "Stomach pains." I explained. Ms. Lockwood opened her mouth in an "o" and nodded understandably.

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight ?" she asked softly, stroking her dog.

"I'd love to !" I told her, smiling at her. "That's really nice of you, Ms. Lockwood."

"Oh you know it's nothing ! I just have to make your favorite macaronis and I know you'll be happy." she said, laughing. I joined her and we decided the hour I would come at her apartment. Then, I returned to my apartment and sighed.

I took two painkillers and lied on the couch, drifting off to sleep.

Michael
~

"You know, Michael, you don't have to be so mean to me !" Lisa exclaimed, throwing her arms in the air. I looked at her with big eyes.

"What did I even say ?!" I asked loudly, annoyed by her attitude.

"Well, you're always pushing me away, and then you're complaining about your problems ! How can I help you when you're always pushing me away ?!" she shouted, her face becoming red as she talked. I had to be honest, she was not pretty when we were arguing.

"Lisa, I'm honestly not in the mood to have a fight with you." I said, trying to make my voice sound calm.

"Oh and you think I was every time you yelled at me ?!" she shouted, coming closer to me. I sighed tiredly and decided to ignore her. "Where do you think you're going ?!" she asked while I climbed the stairs.

"It's not your business."

"You know what, Michael ?" she said, her voice scarily quieter. I stopped in the stairs, waiting for her to continue whatever she wanted to say. "You are the biggest asshole I've ever seen." she muttered with greeted teeth, taking a small pause between each word.

I turned around to look at her. She was probably waiting for me to go crazy over what she said, but when she saw I didn't, she looked disappointed.

"Alright." I said, no emotions on my face. I continued to climb the stairs and went in our bedroom, surprisingly not giving any damn about what she thought.

Blanche
~

"Oh, darling ! You look beautiful !" Ms. Lockwood explained as she took a look at me. I blushed and looked down at my feet.

"Stop that !" I said, giggling. Ms. Lockwood laughed and opened her door a bit more for me to enter her apartment.

It looked exactly the same as the last time she invited me in. Her walls a pastel pink with lots of pictures of her children and grandchildren. There were several flowers displayed on different shelves. Everything was so well decorated that I was ashamed of my own place. Mine was empty, sad, boring ; just like me, at least for the last two years...

"Sit, sit, Blanche !" she hurried, pushing one of the chairs for me to sit. I thanked her, sat, and watched her bring dinner on the table. I always felt at home when I was with her. I could talk to her about anything, just like a daughter do with her mother. She would always listen to me, giving me her opinion or advice. "Your favorite meal !" she sing-songed happily. I giggled and literally drooled over her macaronis. The scent was now flowing out of the pot.

"You're the best !" I exclaimed, putting some in her plate then taking a very generous portion for myself. She giggled as she saw my plate. We started to eat in silence. It wasn't an awkward silence but just a peaceful one.

"So..." she started, wiping her mouth with a napkin. "How are you ?" she said, looking at me in the eyes.

"I'm fine." I said, smiling at her. I loved the way she was always caring for me, making sure I was okay.

"No. I meant, how have you been doing these days with your-... situation ?" she asked slowly, choosing her words carefully.

"Hum..." I hesitated, swallowing my macaronis. "It's hard to explain." I laughed, trying not to show my emotions. Ms. Lockwood gave me a warm smile and lied her wrinkled but soft hand on mine.

"You know you can tell me anything, right ?" I nodded, agreeing with her words. "I really want you to open your heart to me. You have to. And you know you do." she said softly. I nodded again, taking a deep breath before preparing myself to talk.

"Well, I feel okay on the outside, I guess. I just... feel a huge hole in my heart. And it hurts. I can't stop thinking about him." I whispered, looking down at my plate. "And it's hard to feel that way. Especially when I think about how he moved on so quickly."

"What do you mean ?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"I mean that I can't get him off of my mind. " I laughed. "But he obviously did. He married Lisa only months after he broke up with me. And... I really didn't think that of him." I mumbled, sighing.

"Honey, you knew he would eventually start seeing other women." Ms. Lockwood said, looking at me intensely. She didn't want to hurt me by saying those words but she was right.

"Yeah. Of course I knew that." I told her. "But it doesn't take months to marry someone..." I paused, looking at her. "Right ?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It depends, I guess. Charles and I married each other after five years of relationship." she explained, referring to her late husband who died three years ago.

"He must have seen her behind my back..." I mumbled. It wasn't the first time this assumption came to my mind, and even though I hated to think about it, it may have been the truth.

"Are you really doubting Michael's faithfulness ?" she asked surprisingly.

"I don't know. I feel like after how he broke up with me, maybe I didn't knew him the way I thought I did."

"Why do you think that way ?"

"Well, he acted so strangely that day. He wasn't sad, or disappointed. Nothing." I explained. Ms. Lockwood's dog, Pepi, came around my chair and I took him in my arms, laying him on my lap. "I'm not mad at him for breaking up with me, even though I still don't know why it happened. But the way he did it really broke my heart. I didn't recognize him."

Ms. Lockwood nodded, listening to me intensely. "What was your relationship like ?"

"Passionate." I answered, thinking about it. "We were really in love. I mean, I was passionately in love with him. And, we had fun. We were like two kids, two best friends. We were always here for each other. We didn't hide our emotions, no ; if he was feeling down, I would hold him and he would cry on my shoulder. Men cry too. And of course, he would let me cry on his shoulder, too." I took a deep breath, stroking Pepi's head. "I miss that." I finished, my heart aching as I thought about him. "I hope he could hold me right now."

"I can feel your love for him." she told me, smiling in a motherly way. "You still love him, right ?"

"I do." I whispered, my lips trembling. Of course I did. He is the love of my life. Always. That's what I always said to him, like a promise. I don't break promises. And I can't break this one. I love him too much.

"You both remind me of Charles and I." Ms. Lockwood admitted, looking at a picture of her husband on the wall. "I'll never forget him."

I looked at her, smiling as I saw the love still sparkling in her eyes.

"I always thought about us becoming old and grey. Our children and grandchildren by our sides. We would laugh at pictures that we took during our lives." I laughed, imagining him and I old. "I still have the pictures. I took them with me. I didn't want them to disappear." I confessed.

"That's sweet." she said calmly. We were both thinking in silence, lost in our minds. It was nice to talk about those things to someone, especially when this person was understanding. It felt good. It sure brought back memories, which I didn't really like, but it helped me a lot, too. Those were things that I kept for myself, and now they were out, flying around Ms. Lockwood's apartment. I felt lighter. "Maybe you should think about seeing other guys." Ms. Lockwood proposed out of the blue. I looked at her with big eyes. I never thought about that.

"I can't." I answered, clearing my throat uncomfortably. "I'm not ready." I admitted. Men didn't attract anymore. My heart was already taken ; and broken. I wouldn't bear having another relationship. First because I'd feel unfaithful, and also because one broken heart is already hard to get over with, two would be murderous.

"Honey, it's been two years. You have to move on." she told me, her voice serious.

"I know." I whispered, ashamed. "Honestly, I feel like a coward." I laughed with embarrassment. 

"Oh, sweetie... Don't feel like that. I know it's hard. But you can't stay alone for the rest of your life." I nodded, understanding her point.

"I'll try." I promised her, smiling slightly.

"Good !" she exclaimed, standing up to wash the dishes. I helped her and we continued to talk about anything and everything through the evening.

A/N : I hope you liked this chapter :)) I think Blanche is soooooo cute !