TWISTED ꜜ LOUIS PARTRIDGE

⟾ 18 | TOGETHER WE BURN

LOUIS🗡

Sunday, 9:23am

_

LOVELY.

I slept in a bush all night, woke up with sand in my hair, skipped breakfast because Ash said we didn't have time, and now I'm on my way to visit two arsonists/murderers/thieves/horrible people—otherwise known as her parents.

I'm so excited!

That was sarcasm, if you couldn't tell.

I wasn't sure if our row yesterday made things awkward between us, because she's currently refusing to look me in the eye. It was because of what I said, wasn't it? I called her—no, not her, the kiss—a mistake. It was in the heat of the moment, and I'm not entirely sure if I meant it or not.

She mentioned that she knew where her parents were hiding, because she saw an address before they ditched her to come to Barbados. One of her most prominent memories, she said.

"Do you think you'll be able to recognize them?" I asked, ducking under a market stand.

Ash kept her eyes on the pavement. "I haven't seen them in four years."

"Do you think they'll remember you?"

"Of course they will," she said.

Holding out her arm, she stopped me from moving, flipping me so that I was facing her directly. She made a point of not looking at me, even as she lifted up the sleeve of her shirt, displaying the triangle of black ink marked onto her skin.

It was uncomfortable to look at, but I couldn't tear my eyes away from it.

"Why are you showing me this?" I asked.

She covered her arm back up again. "Because you asked if they'd remember me."

"But you nearly killed me the last time I saw your tattoo," I said, "and yet you just showed it to me now."

"Well, you've already seen it," she frowned, resuming her walk through the busy street, "so there's no point in hiding it from you."

I had the sudden urge to grab her hand when her voice faltered, because something inside me rose when I heard the hurt in her voice. Not in a comforting way, but in a way that made me want to stop her from walking away for once and just have her talk to me. She didn't need to like me to talk to me, because at least I would listen.

But I knew she wouldn't, because she doesn't trust me.

"I'm sorry," I said, although I wasn't sure if I was apologizing for myself or for her parents.

She kept walking. "Stop saying you're sorry."

"But I am."

"If you were sorry, you would change, but you haven't, so just drop it."

Nodding my head, I decided not to say anything else. I didn't want to fight with her. We always fought, but now I was beginning to hate it, because actual feelings were involved. It wasn't blind hatred anymore. Someone was actually bound to get hurt.

According to Ash, her parents were living in an abandoned building on Harrismith Beach. It took a long while to get there, mostly us just walking in pensive silence, but soon we had our feet dragging through the rocky sand as we trudged towards our destination.

Once we reached the door, she stopped me, eyes still trained on the floor. I wish she could just look at me. I have no way of seeing what's happening in her mind now.