A/N: I wrote this story while listening to Cassadee Pope's You Hear A Song. I thought of incorporating the different layers of how a person can say he appreciates you and, at the same time, learning to recover from the past. Muffy was the perfect person who fit that mold. Enjoy the story and I highly recommend you guys listen to the song!

Disclaimer: A big no-no from me.

Broken To Be Loved

Love is not always the fuel that strengthens couples to form a stronger bond. It is sometimes the one who fixes two broken hearts to become one whole.

"Muffy, you look great tonight."

I look at his eyes, his fiery eyes full of passion and hope and love. I remember first looking at those eyes and thinking that this boy won't fall for me.

I'm not one of those girls who can easily show their true colors to the world. They can flaunt their personality to everyone without as much as a doubt in their mind. They're confident of what they are and they're not afraid of showing it.

But I'm not like that.

I cower and hide behind this façade of a diva. I'm not the strong girl who can take on anyone she meets. I'm not the girl who's ready to face the world without her mask on.

I'm not the beautiful girl he says I am.

As this boy leans in to give me a kiss, I take in his breath, the shape of his lips on mine, and the grip he has on my back.

The most popular boy is kissing me right now. I should be happy. I must.

But I'm not. All I feel is hollow emptiness.

His hands travel up to my shoulders, his fingers traveling to the straps of my dress.

I'm not happy. I can only feel emptiness as his mouth travels to the crook of my neck. I don't have the devotion necessary for this kind of love.

I give in, anyway.

I'm just a mess inside.

"Muffy, you're beautiful."

I now look at tender, loving eyes back at me. The warmth of his eyes melts me inside and I succumb to his arms. He embraces me tightly and I take in his scent, wood and dirt and flowers.

"Thank you, Jack."

After moving away from all the heartbreak I've had in the city, it had been a fresh start in Forget-Me-Not Valley. I've been able to recover pieces of myself, slowly, with the help of the villagers' encouragement.

And most especially the new farmer, Jack.

If anything, he's very patient and very gentle. He doesn't rush things like city boys would normally do. He takes me out on dates where I'm comfortable with and he doesn't push me to do things I'm not ready for. Jack makes me feel whole about who I am.

And when he says I'm beautiful, I don't deny it anymore. I feel comfortable whenever I'm with him. As long as he keeps this on, maybe I'd have the courage to show every shade of my personality. Maybe I could actually stop hiding who I really am.

But I still feel afraid. I feel like I'm not yet ready to show him who I truly am.

He kisses my forehead before gazing at my eyes. "The sky is beautiful tonight, don't you think?" He shakes his head to the window's direction. "The stars are out tonight. Almost no cloud in sight," he turns his head towards me. "Yet nothing compares to the way you shine." He kisses me softly on the cheek as he steps off his stool and heads outside.

I polish the glasses as I look at the sky. He said that I am beautiful, that I shine like the stars do.

But every time he does, all I see are the ghosts of my broken self.

The ghost of my past never left me. He's their haunting me whenever someone smiles at me, or touches my hand, or even just tells me I'm pretty. The ghost is never gone. It's always there and you have no power in making it go away, no matter how much we want it to.

I want to leave my broken-hearted past. I want to see the bright skies Jack is leading me to.

But all I see are dark clouds closing in on me.

"Muffy, I love you."

I'm staring at the blue feather Griffin is holding out before me. I look at his face. Brown mustache, graying hair and eyes that have learnt so much.

Griffin, who has been there for me all this time in the village, who has been my protector, my guardian, my friend. I don't deserve him. He doesn't deserve a broken person like I am in his life.

Yet…

I look in his eyes and I could see all the love and adoration he can give to a person. He gives out a smile, a very small one, and slowly bows down his head. He heads for his room in silence. I can hear him playing a song in his guitar, singing of happiness, hope and freedom. And I think of me, crying out to a person who's willing to fix this broken state.

And I realize what I've been lacking all this time.

Love.

All I've been hearing my whole life is noises in my head leading me nowhere: broken melodies, mismatched sounds, and a symphonic chaos. Jack may have completed the incomplete song in my head, but he never truly fixed what's wrong.

I don't need someone to complete me. I need someone to fix me.

I need someone who can make me shine without fear, who I can show all the shades of my true self with ease, who I can depend my life with wholeheartedly.

I walk to Griffin's room silently, doing my best not to disrupt him. He keeps on strumming his guitar until he sees me in my most vulnerable state, make-up off and in pajamas, smiling up to my ears. He places his guitar on his bed and looks at me.

I clutch on to the Blue Feather he gave me, hanging on to it like a lifeline, as I respond.

"I love you, too."

I don't feel empty. I don't see the dark clouds closing in on me. I don't feel broken.

I sit beside his bed and hand him the guitar.

"Sing to me, please."

And he does.

I feel happy as he strums his guitar.

I see the bright skies of the future as he opens his lips.

I feel whole as I listen to his voice sing for me.

And, as I see the love and adoration in his eyes as he performs, I feel loved.