#and my muse for lydia is sky high right now aaa. this got so long pls don't feel the pressure to match omg

[cursivebloodlines]

@overnightheartbeats because a dare is a dare. continued from here. enjoy :)

Lydia had vowed to herself that she would never go down this road with anyone ever again. She had wasted years of her life, her heart had belonged to a man that didn't deserve her. A man she never truly knew and had portrayed himself as an idea of someone he pretended to be: an illusion. In the end, the mask was yanked off, leaving her with nothing but a broken heart. It was too painful to go down that route with anyone. Years of her life wasted, years she couldn't and would never get back.. And then...then there was Aaron. A man who completely took her by surprise in every way. She actually managed to drag herself from work so she could get there before him - had actually wanted to for a change. And wow, where had the hours gone? Just...talking. Which Lydia could do a lot of if given the chance anyway but, often she never had that chance. And so much laughter, genuine laughter from one thing to another and... to see that smile on his face. It terrified her, even. It had been a long time and starting over like this was daunting to say the least. Could she handle it? Could he handle her?

"I am... considering it, yes. Well, I...suppose you could say that." She offered him a smile in response, hands wrapped around her now empty mug, looking down into it for a moment as she contemplated her next answer. His next words had her lifting her gaze back to him. She looked over at him - really looked at him. "How can you be sure?" she asked softly. "Sometimes, you can break someone's heart without really meaning to. Sometimes, it's unavoidable. How do you know you won't?" Was she actually considering it? Aaron had also been on the receiving end of heartbreak... that meant he understood. That meant they both knew. They understood each other in that regard. Was it wrong to ask more about it? Considering where their topic of conversation led them to here, this point. Lydia knew she would answer any questions he had. It was terrifying, for her though. To do it first. Maybe another time...right now they were focused on...well, them. Each other. "Would it make me a coward if I said I was...scared?" She asked, eliciting a quiet laugh like it would alleviate the sudden nerves tightening in the pit of her stomach. Another smile as he spoke. "It is a big task, a lot of responsibility riding on your shoulders. An even bigger task to try and bring a heart back to life that possibly didn't exist to begin with." The number of times she'd had someone call her heartless for not putting up with someone's bullshit. For being too brutally honest, always too much of something. She had begun to wonder if she had a heart after all. "Are you sure you're up for the challenge?"