Cracks in the Mask

Lydia never thought she'd be going out to an evening of nightmares. But then, so few do. Still, she put on her face diligently, painting on the lips and the little hairs inside her eyebrow and adding so much color on her lackluster eyes until they shone completely different. Not Lydia, but who's to know?

And suddenly, in her pretty pink mirror, Lydia came alive - with her swollen, red lips and her flawless, perfect skin and her tight curls. You couldn't tell she was broken. And you could look really hard and try and still, you wouldn't be able to see it.

But Abel did see it. He noticed the cracks in her mask as soon as she walked through the door. And they called out to him, to fix them, or perhaps to pick at them until he tore it all off. So, he bought her a cocktail. It was all in good fun. He wasn't about to hurt her and he did his best to show her he wasn't a weirdo. Hey, he got it. He had a sister back home, and he'd just about kill anyone who'd try to hurt her.

As he talked, Abel could see the light rekindle inside Lydia's eyes. The real light, that light he so liked to see in people. Abel considered it his life mission, though of course he didn't say that. Because people look weird at people like him. They wouldn't understand, not even Lydia, so best he kept quiet, working his magic on the sly and watching her blossom as he told her silly jokes sipped on his own cocktail.
The music in his ears had gone duller, suddenly unimportant and all he heard was a faint piano in the distance. It was time to go, so he took Lydia by the hand and she went with him.

'Cause for the first time, someone saw behind her mask, someone was reaching in, touching that scarred broken inkling of light. The one she'd thought would never be whole again. The one she watched die in the mirror, every time she heard that one song, when all her demons came back to her. He saw past all that.

And as Abel pulled her into his arms, smiling, she looked up and saw past Abel's own mask, the cracks in his own face. And she screamed and she clawed at his eyes and she fought in vain to pull away from him, but he held her tight. Tighter. Tightest.

Abel knew the healing wasn't easy. But if she was to ever get rid of the monsters inside her own mind, she'd best embrace his.

'It's for the best, now.'

Prompt: cocktail. Thank you, @mariannewest :)

Thanks for reading,