Before Forever|| T.M.R

Chapter eight: Obey

"Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is "timing"
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way."
-Fulton J. Sheen

***

Gavin's red hair fell loosely in front of his face as her footsteps came echoing down the hallway, his nose scrunched and his jaw tightened. His heart clenched at the memory of what had happened in the clearing, disgrace filling his being fully.

"Gav" Valencia came up beside him and he refused to meet her gaze, "can we talk please?" her voice held a type of sadness he hadn't heard in a while since he became friends with her. It almost pained him to hear her sound so desperate when he would've went anyway she asked.

"Of course darling" he picked himself up off the wall he had been leaning on and cleared his throat, adjusting himself so he was standing in front of her. "What is it that you would like to talk about?"

She picked herself up and shoved down her pride, it was rare you'd catch Valencia Young apologize to anyone. With a large inhale she began to speak her mind, all the words that had been haunting her mind since the duel. "What happened in the clearing was my fault, I shouldn't have went so hard on you to the point of actually physically harming you, it was never my intention. It has been hell without talking to you and I can't imagine my life without you any longer, so please please forgive me. I am sorry."

Gavin's breathing hitched as he watched his best friend break in front of him. She had dark circles under her eyes, her hair was messily put together, and her irises held such sympathy that it made his heart shatter at the sight. He never wanted her to be sad, never, it wasn't something he enjoyed seeing and he always felt the need to make all her worries go away.

"Valencia it's okay, alright?" he moved closer to her and gazed down at her sad face, watching her twisted expression go mad as the proximity closed between their bodies. Within that moment he wrapped strong arms around her fragile body, squeezing her closer to him as if letting her go was the last thing on his mind. "It wasn't just you, I hurt you as well, and I'm sorry love, I never meant to hurt you, I never want to do it again. I've missed you so much Val, don't ever stop talking to me again, okay?"

Her eyes closed as he squeezed her tighter and his lips grazed her head as he placed a soft kiss upon her hair. "Okay Gavin, I won't, but can we get new dueling partners? I can't risk hurting you again, for now anyway, I'm sure we can do it again in the future but for now this seems like the best thing to do to ensure nothing like this happens again."

He nodded swiftly, pushing her harsher against his chest. It'd been so long since he had felt her this way, and even thought it wasn't anything significant, it meant everything to the boy. It meant everything that she came to apologize to him, it meant too much in all honest. He felt his mind clench around the idea that she had been constantly worrying about his forgiveness all this time.

The truth was- Gavin would always forgive Valencia, it didn't matter what she did to me. She could hold a dagger to his chest and threaten to pierce his heart, he'd forgive her. She could take all of his money, drench his name in venom, and before the week was over, they'd be the way they were before.

Their friendship was far from indestructible, but also nothing close to fragile. It was something not even the best author could describe with their finest selection of words. It was something that even the  grandest sayings from the dictionary could not calculate. It wasn't heaven, it wasn't hell, it was... safety. That was the only word worthy.