... And They Painted Together.

... And they painted together.

He was standing in front of his previous school, uneasy about going inside. It’s been a year. A lot could change in a year. He decided to go that place instead. At least no one would be there, he guessed. He went there and stood in front of the huge wall.

“So it’s still here, huh?” he whispered.

Then he heard a sudden splash. He turned around and saw that someone was covering the mural with white paint.

“Eh?!” The guy, holding a can of paint, looked at Jerry closely.
“Ray?” Jerry asked.
“Jerry?! Is that you?” Ray let go of the can and went to his friend.
“Wow! You.. You came back. Are you here for vacation? But it’s still January.” Ray hugged Jerry. Jerry’s shirt was messed with white paint.
“Uh.. Sorry about that.” Ray apologized.
“It’s normal for artists to be messed up with colors. Don’t worry,” he looked at the mural and asked Ray what he was doing.
“Uh.. Actually, someone’s fixing it.” He swayed back and forth.
“I.. I need to go. Really, uhmm. Nice seeing you again, Jerry. This is too unexpected. Well, gotta go.”

Jerry was about to follow when he heard another splash. He looked around and saw her.
She stopped, too.

“A-Al..” Jerry caught his breath.
“You.. You’re..” Allie couldn’t bring the words together, too.

For a while, they just stood there, staring at each other’s presence.
Jerry broke the silence.

“You did not change. You.. You still splash white paint to.. whatever I paint. You know-” before he could finish what he was going to say. He was covered with white paint already.

“Wa-why are.. Why.. You’re here..” Allie was blushing already.
“Seriously, how many times do you have to..” Jerry stopped when Allie started crying.
“Eh!! Why are you crying? Hey, I was just.. Really, it’s nothing.” He took a can of paint and bathe himself with it.
“Stupid.” She whispered.
He moved closer to her and said, “I’m sorry. I can’t help it.”
She looked at him, puzzled.

“I could never stop myself from.. loving you.” He bowed and turned away, ashamed of what he just said.

He could sense that Allie was laughing.

“Thank you for.. not stopping.”

He smiled and turned back to her. Then to the wall.

“Why are you covering the wall with white paint?” he asked.
“Fixing it..” she replied.
“Fixing..it?” He remembered the times Allie would splash white paint everytime he tried to fix her painting.
“You’re fixing it.. into what this time?” Jerry said, as if he was unsure of whatever Allie is doing.
“Fixing it into what it should be,” she started splashing white paint to the wall. She looked at him and said, “What are you doing? I need help fixing this.” Then smiled.

When everything was finally white, Allie turned to Jerry.

“I was always scared to love because.. I’m not sure if people really love me. And if they do love me, I was hurting them. All my life, I was full of fear. To be hurt and to hurt. But.. Love is like a painting. People think they know what it is all about. But unless you yourself try to paint it, you will never know what it means. You need a lot of paint, a lot of effort.”

She handed him a brush.

“Will you.. paint it.. with me?” she turned red while asking him.
“Well,” he looked at the wall, “love is a lot bigger than this wall.” He looked at Allie.
“It would take us a lifetime, though.”

Allie smiled. They took their brushes.


... And they painted together.



.END.

LitTLe . mAkE-BeLieVeR . sTorYtELLeR


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