The Freaks | Sally Face

Chapter 52: Soul Shattering

River's POV:-

I held him in my arms for ages, feeling his chest beginning to relax as his breath returned to normal. I could feel his aggressive heart beat clatter against my chest for a long while, even after he had calmed down slightly. We didn't speak for a while after our brief heart to heart, I just wanted him to focus on his breathing and his soul returning to his body. I had to push my feelings aside as quite honestly, my only real purpose in life now is ensuring Sal is ok. As I had mentioned, I didn't really know a huge amount about Sal, apart from his mother dying young, him suffering with many different mental issues and how kind and caring he was. I never wanted to pry, but hopefully now this would encourage him to speak to me, I had proved I wasn't going to walk away from him so now I hoped this would only show him how much I cared. 

I closed my eyes, burying my face into his t-shirt and smelling his delightful scent. It was warm, masculine and felt entirely like home. Having this security with him was such a wonderful feeling and even though it came from a hideous place, I wasn't going to pass the moment that we had just shared. When I felt his body finally relax, I slowly came away from the embrace, checking his face and expression to gage whether or not he wanted to return to the party. We must have been outside for well over an hour now and not one person poked their head out of the door, I assume they knew I would find him and that this needed to be a private speaking matter. I looked into his stunning blue eyes, giving him a small smile which he mirrored. 

"Hey, you ok?" I whispered and brushed some loose hair away from his now red, raw skin. 

"I'm getting there, I'm coming down from it now..." he smiled weakly at me. 

"Do you want to go back inside? We don't have to, we can go wherever you want to..."

"I will do whatever you want to do. I don't want to ruin anyone's good time, well more than I already have..." his voice dropped deeper as he continued to blame himself.

"Sal" I pause. "You haven't ruined anyone's good time, I promise you. It's not your fault what happened ok?" 

"But I was involved, it should never have happened. I only went to the treehouse with Ash because I thought she was going to tell me something. Well, if I knew she was going to tell me that... I would never have gone... It's purely because she's my friend... and..." 

"Stop" I interrupt him. "You don't need to explain yourself ok? If I was seriously that bothered I would be confronting you or leaving you to deal with this alone. But I'm not a dick Sally" I chuckled. "Look, if you don't want to go back, we can go and chill somewhere else? I don't want to force you back into an environment if you're uncomfortable.." 

"I want to go back inside. I want to brush this feeling away and if I keep running from it, then it will never go away.."

"This is true. Trust me, I'm not best pleased Ashley told you she was in love with you, I don't really feel comfortable being there with you and rubbing it in her face..." I pause and take in a deep breath. "But at the end of the day, we're together and have been for a long while now Sal, I'm not denying that to suit anyone. If that makes me seem like a bitch then so be it but I can't just hide how I feel about you" 

"No, I would hate to do that too" he smiled. "Then what do we do?" 

"Let's go inside, I'm sure someone will want to try and flatten it at some stage. But for the rest of tonight, let's brush it aside and just have some fun ok?" 

"That sounds like a good plan" 

"Plus, I think it's time for me to smash your ass at Mario Kart.." I chuckled which prompt Sal to scoff at me.