To Crush a Rose - Floyd & Riddle

Chapter 12

The weather was warming up once again, bringing a calmness to him that always felt so elusive to him. Blue-grey eyes glanced towards the new plants he'd been able to pick up the last time he had gone into town, lips curling into a smile as he recounted how much he didn't care about gardening when he'd first tried it. It was something to do to pass the time and to get away from Floyd. But as each new berry or flower grew, it instilled a sense of pride inside of him, making him want to expand more and more.

Riddle dug the gardening spade into the soil with his foot, brows furrowing as an unnatural sound caught his ears. He glanced around the treeline, then back towards the house for the source, but Floyd was nowhere to be seen. The boy shifted from one foot to the other uncomfortably, taking a few deep breaths to try and calm him. However, he continued with his gardening, trying to shake this uneasy feeling from within him. He picked up one of the blueberry bushes, placing it in the whole before beginning to cover it with the spade once more.

"I finally found you" A voice caught his attention, causing him to tense up. His breath caught in his throat, threatening to choke him as his whole body began to shake. Not here.

The redhead stood up, palms sweaty as he glanced towards Trey. Blue-grey eyes shot towards the door of his home, making sure that Floyd was still occupied inside with the smell of whatever he was cooking masking his friend's scent. Finally, when it seemed that the ghoul wasn't going to rush out, he let out a sigh and shook his head. "What are you doing here, Trey?"

The smile that was offered to him was more sad than anything. It seemed that despite their last conversation, he seemed to have been expecting a warmer welcome. "I came to take you home, Riddle."

There was a strange feeling that crept inside of him with the word "home." The town he had grown up on the outskirts of had felt like something out of a dream when he had been there—familiar, but that something was wrong. It was far from what he had remembered growing up and being there made him feel more like a stranger than anything. Even at the time he had thought that it could change—that the more time he spent there, the better he would feel. But that had never been in the absence of the place he'd called home for so many years. Despite the circumstances, he'd stopped considering it a prison years ago.

He sighed once more, shaking his head. "I already told you to leave us alone."

The green-haired boy shifted uncomfortably. "You're not serious." It sounded like he was trying to convince himself more than anything. His hand reached out to grab Riddle's, this time far less rough than it had been in town. When the redhead looked up towards him once more, the soft expression made his heart feel as if it was breaking. "You don't have to stay here anymore. I'll protect you."

Riddle had to admit, he appreciated the sentiment. "I want to stay." His voice cracked as he said it, stomach churning as the guilt began to consume him.

Trey's brows furrowed and he gave the younger boy's hand a firm squeeze. "He's not going to threa—"

"He's not threatening me, Trey!"

Yellow eyes scanned his face, his hand finally falling down to his side. He could already imagine all of the things running through the other's head. Why would he want to stay here? Is he a murderer too? What happened to him? "He's a murderer, Riddle." Lips pressed together tightly as he nodded, blue eyes looking anywhere but the boy in front of him. "I have to tell the police about this."

Wide eyes shot up at the other, taking in how serious the other's expression was. His heart began to race, palms sweating as he began to imagine people from his old storybooks coming to chase down the monster in the woods. Torches, pitchforks, chanting bouncing off of the woods that belonged to the two of them. "What...?"