The Falling Rider

Chapter 15

When we got back to camp, I was fuming. How could he have done this?! Leo was our friend! He destroyed everything...

All of our tents had been burned. All of our food apart from the things Li, Skyrah, and Darius had brought in today was taken. We had built an area where we could all join together to have meals. That was destroyed, too. Everything was gone.
"How could he do this to us? Over a breakup! He has some serious anger issues!" I shout as I get off of Storm.
"So do you, Adira." Darius mentions.
"My anger issues aren't as bad as this!" I say as I gesture to our destroyed camp.
"She's not wrong. None of us would've ever done this over a breakup. Leo wasn't just a jerk. He was insane." Skyrah says.
"Exactly! What kind of guy freaks out this much after a breakup?!" I ask as I stare at my camp. Everything was burnt. I'm surprised we didn't see the storm. He would've had to make a storm to destroy stuff this badly.
"I don't know, but he might be planning something." Gallagher says.
"What do you mean?" I ask him. I look over to him to see he's standing by one of the walls to our meeting area.
"Come check this out." He answers. I walk over to the wall and see something written on it. This is only the beginning. What is that supposed to mean? I guess he could be planning something, but what?
"Whoa, I wonder what he's planning." Skyrah says, staring at it.
"I don't know, but it's probably not good." Darius answers.
"None of this is good. We should get back to the kingdom. What if he's planning to destroy it?" Gallagher asks. The kingdom may see me as a disappointment, but it's still my home. No one will destroy it if I'm there. I won't let them.
"Good idea. Let's go. I assure you guys that you won't have to go back to your homes since your parents are terrible, no offense." I say.
"None taken. Thanks, Adira." Skyrah thanks.
"No problem. Ok, everyone. Saddle up." I say, walking over to Storm. I get on him and wait till the others get on their dragons.
"Sissy?" Li asks. "Where are we going?"
"Back to the kingdom." I answer.
"But why?! I don't wanna go back there!" She shouts.
"I swear I won't let our parents go near you if you don't want them to, but we have to go. We think Leo is planning something." I say and she nods with a frown.
"Li. I promise to keep you safe." I promise and her frown turns into a small smile.
"Thanks sissy." She thanks.
"Of course." I say. "Ok! Everyone good to go?" I ask and they nod.
"Alright. Let's go." I say and we start flying to my old home.

~Time Skip~

We made it. After hours of flying, we finally made it. Our dragons are exhausted, but we made it! Of course I didn't have any doubts.... Oh, of course I did. Jeez. Once Leo was mentioned, Gallagher and I wanted to jump off of our dragons. I suppose we did have to talk about him, but it still pissed me off. He's not the Leo I became friends with. Definitely not. Anyways, we're back at the kingdom now. It's night time right now and we just landed in the forest where the sound of running water could be heard.
"So what's the plan?" Skyrah asks.
"I have no idea." I say, yawning as I get off of Storm. The others get off of their dragons as well.
"Well, we could go to the castle." Darius suggests. My eyes widen, then narrow.
"No." I growl.
"Adira! We have to!" Darius argues.
"No! We don't! We don't have to do anything." I say.
"But Adira-" I cut Darius off.
"No. We're not going there." I say and he scoffs. Gallagher walks up to him and mumbles something. Darius nods and turns towards Skyrah, hugging her. Aww. Gallagher walks over to me and takes my hand in his.
"Come on. I wanna show you something." He says as he starts walking with me following. He leads me to the source of the running water we heard when we landed here, a breathtaking lake that reflected the light of the moon. It had a river running into it, water moving quickly with fish swimming into the lake. Gallagher sits me down next to it and sits next to me, still holding my hand.
"I understand you don't wanna go back to the castle, but you know you'll have to face your parents at some point." He says, squeezing my hand and looking into my eyes. I look at the lake, calming my nerves.
"I know, but it's not like they care about me anyway. The only thing important to them right now is Li. Besides, it's not like they've tried searching for us. The only one who's tried is you." I say, looking back into his eyes. He gives me a small smile and hugs me tightly.
"I know they haven't searched for you, but that doesn't mean that they don't care about you. Deep down in their hearts, I'm sure they love you and that you mean the world to them." He comforts, rubbing circles into my back. That's another reason why I love Gallagher. He always tries to see the best in people... Wait. Did I say love?
"Thanks, Gallagher. I just... I don't know. They stopped treating me like a human being when I turned 13. Whenever I was being childish, they told me to grow up and walked away. Whenever I did something wrong, I'd get grounded. Even if it was the smallest thing in the world. Like being 5 minutes late for a lesson." I explained.
"I know, but they could've just been preparing you. Life isn't easy, and they probably just wanted you to be prepared for it." He points out.
"But they could've at least still treated me like their daughter. They even said I was a disappointment to them and the kingdom! How is that supposed to prepare me?!" I ask angrily as I pull away from Gallagher and throw a nearby rock into the lake.
"Whoa, Adira. Deep breaths. I hate seeing you like this." He says as he places his hand gently on the small of my back. I take a few deep breaths and close my eyes.
"Sorry." I apologize after composing myself.
"It's ok, Adira. I can't even understand how hard it must be to be going through what you are." He comforts as he pulls me into another hug and strokes my hair. I wrap my arms around him immediately and rest my head on his chest.
"I just can't believe it. The things they said to me... They were so..." I trail off as I begin to remember the things they said.
You're a disappointment to this family and this kingdom! My eyes water.
You've never been the princess this kingdom deserves and you'll never be the daughter we deserve! My heart aches. I can't take it anymore. I've held it in after my little breakdown that day, but that was a month ago. I burst out in tears. The words they said echo in my mind and my sobs get louder. My arms tighten around Gallagher's neck and his tighten around my waist. He whispers comforting words into my ear as he tries to calm me down. My sobs continue for what seems like forever and I can't seem to stop.

Gallagher's POV:

I hate seeing Adira like this. It's been about a half an hour, and she's still sobbing into my shoulder. Her parents did this... They said that she was a disappointment and that she wasn't good enough. My anger grew, but I knew I had to be here for Adira. I can't even imagine what I'd do if my anger took over. I don't have anger issues, but when I do get angry, all hell breaks loose. Especially if Adira gets hurt by someone. Whether it's emotional or physical pain, that someone who hurt her would get their ass kicked in the matter of seconds. She's my world. I won't let her get hurt. I love her.

Adira's POV:

Throughout my breakdown, he continues to rub my back and whisper soothing words into my ear. My sobs stopped eventually and they turned into sniffles. I'm sure I looked like a wreck. Puffy eyes. Messy hair. Tears staining my face. I guess anyone who sees me will just have to deal with it.
"You okay, Adira?" Gallagher asks worriedly.
"Yeah, I'm okay." I answer.
"I hate seeing you so hurt." He says sadly.
"I'm sorry..." I apologize as we pull out of the hug, but he keeps me in his arms. I feel so safe in his arms. Like if anything ever tried to hurt me, I'd be okay because Gallagher would always be there. Unless he ever leaves me... No, he wouldn't do that.
"Don't apologize, Adira. I completely understand. You don't have to apologize for letting out your feelings." He says, looking into my eyes and giving me a warm smile. I returned the smile and his arms tighten around me, pulling me closer to him. He slowly leaned in and I found myself doing the same while closing my eyes. A soft, sweet kiss was planted on my lips and I immediately kissed back. Fireworks went off in my heart and butterflies swarmed in my stomach. When we broke apart, the kiss lingered. He leaned his forehead against mine.
"We'll get through this together." Gallagher reassures.
"Thank you, Gallagher." I thank him.
"Of course. I'll help you through anything, and if anyone even tries to hurt you, I'll do what I have to do to protect you." He says lovingly as his eyes bore into mine. His eyes showed love. Now, the only thing I'm wondering is if love at first sight is real.
"Gallagher, I-I..." He cuts me off with another kiss. A passionate kiss, but still gentle. When we broke away, we could barely breathe.
"So, will you go to the castle?" He asks.
"If you'll be there with me." I say.
"Adira, can I ask you something?" He asks.
"Of course." I answer.
"What was the actual reason you left?" He asks. Had to tell him sometime.
"I, uh, it was because Leo and I had just become a couple the night you came. So, he asked me to run away with him. I guess that was a bad idea since he turned out to be a jerk." I say just in case Li overheard us. Hurt flashed across his eyes, but faded quickly. No. Please.
"So, you left because of the marriage?" He asks, trying to cover up his sadness.
"W-well, not exactly. I left because my parents were forcing me to do something. Even when I told them I had a date with Leo, b-but now, they aren't making me do anything. I choose to be with you. Not because I'm being forced to, but because I-I... I w-want to. You mean a lot to me, Gallagher. I'm never leaving again." I explained. I nearly said the three words that my heart seemed sure of, but my brain was still wondering. Do I love Gallagher? His expression turned from hurt to relieved.
"You mean a lot to me too, Adira." Gallagher says with a smile. He takes a strand of my hair in his hand and runs his fingers through it.
"You should wear your hair down more often. I like it like this." He says as he puts the strand of hair he was holding behind my ear. I smile and blush.
"I like it down, too. It feels more free." I say.
"Ready to go back to them? It's been about an hour." He asks and my eyes widen. Has it really been an hour?
"They might be asleep already, but yeah, let's go." I say and he gets up, holding his hand out. I take it and he pulls me up. We keep our hands held as we walked back to where our friends were. Once we got there, I saw that Li was asleep and Skyrah and Darius were feeding our dragons. When they saw us, they ran up to us.
"So what's the plan?" Skyrah asks.
"We're going to the castle." I say quietly.

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Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter! There will be a Leo POV in the next chapter. I'll try to post tomorrow. I'll see you guys soon!