7Just a heads up: This story is basically a big metaphor. I'm sorry if you get confused.
Porcelain Hearts
A boy stood in front of the girl, his hands hiding something behind his back. The girl raised an eyebrow in slight confusion and tilted her head slightly to the side. He smiled innocently and revealed what he was hiding. It was red porcelain and it had many cracks and tears and several worn bandages and tape, as well as other things to hold it together. The object's owner kept his innocent, happy guise in front of the girl, who just stared at the object. The little boy took her right palm and placed it in her hand, and her green eyes stared at him.
"I know it's not much, but I want you to have it," he said and continued smiling at her. She held the fragile thing in her hands and ran a finger over it. She should cherish this, take care of it, help it fully mend. She should thank the boy for being so kind to her when she knew most others weren't. She should thank him for even bothering to look at her. But she looked up at the boy again for a moment, then back to the ground. She purposely lost her grip on the boy's fragile heart and dropped it to the ground, shattering it to pieces. Keeping her eyes glued to the floor, she turned around and did not see the poor boy cry as he hurriedly scrambled to pick up the pieces.
This poor little boy had not had a good childhood. He was beaten and threatened, glared at and stepped on. With every beating, with every step, with every threat, his heart would crack. But he tried his best to nurse his broken heart by placing bandages to keep it from cracking any further and smiling despite the unrelenting pain he felt.
Then he met this girl, and he decided he'd give his heart to her. She seemed nice enough, and he hoped that maybe, just maybe, she'd accept him.
But alas... there the shattered remains of his heart lay.
After the girl walked away, he raced to pick up the pieces as tears ran down his cheeks. He wiped his eyes with his shoulders and held the pieces close to him as he walked away.
The girl from before was now holding something in her hand as she walked towards a different boy, the boy from earlier buried in the back of her mind. Her cheeks flushed deep red as she came closer to him. When she reached him, his back was to her. She tried to get his attention by tapping his shoulder, but he didn't move.
"A-ano..." she stuttered shyly, and she earned a glance from the boy. She looked down, embarrassed, and held out her porcelain heart. The boy turned around and stared at it.
"What is this?" he asked coldly. The girl showed no signs of being affected by his tone, as if she were immune to it.
Her blush intensified and she held out her heart a little further, and he only continued to stare.
"Don't you see? I love you..."
The boy scowled. "Hn." The girl looked up at him, only to see him walk away.
She lost her grip, and it fell to the ground.
The girl had long since returned her heart to normal, and she acted like nothing had happened each time the same boy broke it.
Likewise, the boy she had rejected acted like nothing had ever happened.
They both kept giving out their hearts to the object of their affections, both being rejected every time.
And tonight, the worst rejection would occur.
He was leaving. He was leaving his home, his friends, and most importantly, her. She tried one last time to convince him to stay with her. She had begged, pleaded, cried, declared her undying love for him. But he never responded with a "I love you too, and I'm sorry." Instead, when she gave her heart out to him for the final time, he shattered it.
Another boy came into view and smiled at her. She looked at him through tear-filled eyes as he helped her pick up the pieces. When they were done, he took the pieces in his hands and glued them back together.
"I'll bring him back to you, no matter what. It's the promise of a lifetime."
Both boys stood in front of each other, the darker, more malicious one holding something that seemed so very fragile. It seemed it had been broken and beaten many, many times before. Old bandages were decaying away, and the ones that were placed more recently were turning vermillion as the boys stared at each other.
"Why?" the innocent boy choked.
"Hn," came the other's unresponsive reply. He turned, and red shards and torn bandages went flying.
His friend, his rival, and now, his enemy, walked away from the battle scene, leaving him to pick up the pieces.
The sickening sound of shattering glass resounded through the empty space. The boy cringed and looked at the girl next to him, who was kneeling on the ground in tears. He looked up to witness his own heart being tossed to a wall, shattering it to a million pieces.
His rival walked to his heart first, and stepped on it multiple times. Not once did the other boy flinch. Instead, when the girl looked at him, he smiled.
The cold boy turned his back on the two, and continued to step on the other boy's heart without a care in the world. But the boy still showed no visible signs of hurt.
When the boy left, the girl saw someone walking towards several shards on the ground and picking them up. He patiently glued them back together, and when he was finished, he couldn't find the last piece. In his search, he walked over to the girl.
She looked at him in shock. Wasn't this the same boy she had rejected, the same boy who had been so hurt in his lifetime? Why was he showing so much concern for her after all he'd been through because of her? Shouldn't he hate her?
He had every right to hate her, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He loved her more than life itself, and he knew she needed his help right now. He would gladly provide it for her.
Another piece fell. He smiled warmly and picked it up, placing it back in its rightful place.
"Why are you doing this for me? You should've left my heart alone and picked up your own. I deserve a broken heart, not you. I did all of those horrible things to you, and you still love me, after all these years? I don't deserve you."
"I do this because I love you. I want to protect you."
Without taking it back, she walked towards the boy's heart and picked it up. She cried at the sight of it. It was so torn, so beat up, so much worse than her own. And he still wanted to protect her? It looked like he was the one who needed protection.
She walked back to him and placed all of the little pieces back in place. She smiled and held it close to her.
"It's perfect."
Two bright lights shined throughout the room, and when it died down, both porcelain hearts were both completely healed. No glue, no bandages, no tape. They had made each other whole again.