SOTC: Another Love — Tom Odell
• I wanna fight / but my hand's been broken one too many times •
x x x x x x x x x x
She counted out the hours on her fingers.
One. Her shoes slapping against dirt. Sky washed with ink, black, gathered in the lines of her palms. Skin stinging, reeking of everything visceral and—
Two. She should've made him stay, everything was visceral and peeled at the edges like the burnt edges of a photograph. She wished she had every moment captured like that, maybe then she wouldn't have to lie to herself—
Three. He's dying, she can feel it. The air is blue as it presses to her throat. She wanted to—
Four. The door opens and she was already halfway there, halfway tortured herself to the stars. She stares, and his eyes—
Five. There's one more heart on her, one more than before.
The pain is scorching. The fumes, blinding. She didn't pass out, didn't allow the flames to curl over her skin.
In fact, she hardly closed her eyes at all.
♛ ♛ ♛ ♛ ♛
He surfaced, early morning light pooling onto his cheeks. Strangely warm, alike the many things about April's room. About April.
He found that the air was serene, polyphonic in its comfort. It was this kind of morning that, in its first moments, demanded nothing of the world.
Carl sat up quietly, so far removed within his stupor that it took him a moment to register what was breaking it.
He first noticed a breath. It was so faint that it could have been mistaken for his own movements. But when he heard it again—a sharp, detached sniffle—he knew immediately its source. April.
His head turned apart from his body, careful to remain noiseless. April was sitting upright, back to him. Crooned over her lap, elbows on her knees, fingers running through her knotty coffee-colored hair.
The first thought that struck Carl wasn't that she was being pitiful or weak. No, not weak at all.
This was the smallest she had ever been.
She carried herself as a force of nature, a sprawling storm cloud. Lightning gathered in her mouth like smoke. Green cargo jacket angled across her shoulders.
And maybe she was some kind of star, pulled so far into herself that she grew clenched. Gravity sucking her skin into her muscles and her teeth into her throat.
A fist with fingers pressed so tightly to palm, nails so sharp into skin that blood is drawn.
In that moment, April was less a girl, and more a singularity.
Another jagged breath tore through the air.
Then, quiet.
Carl bit his lip in apprehension.
April's face wasn't visible from where he was, but Carl could still clearly envision her lips, parting shakily.
"You're awake," she whispered, voice faint and thin.
Carl could only sit in confused silence as he formulated a reply.
"Yeah," he said lamely.
April let a quiet sigh fall out of her mouth. She tucked her knees to her chin. Carl could feel every breath, every twitch of her body, as she angled her gaze benignly at the wall.
For once, she was near speechless.
She was ashamed.
She was—
"You're thinking too much, Carl."
"Huh?"
"Quit thinking. You're screwing yourself over."
He ran his teeth over his lip. "What do you...?"
"I mean," she started, a loose quality to her words. "When you think like that, constantly analytical, constantly... trying to make something out of nothing. You're giving yourself a reason to grow attached."
Carl kneaded his lip between his teeth.
"When I say that, I mean you."
He let a puff of air from between his lips. "Okay."
She made to launch a snappy comment, then relented. Nodded.
"Yeah," she agreed, eyes fallen far into the distance, fingers spidering. "Yeah, you're right."
She rolled off the bed, stood, and made herself the morning's cup of coffee.
Not a thought left her mind.
Not a word left her mouth.
x x x x x x x x x x
A/N: let's set a goal for the summer. How about making it through part 1? That's a good goal. I'll try my best to make that a reality.
[update 8-21-17]: nope.
QOTD: Favorite candy bar?
AOTD: Twix. 100%.
x x x x x x x x x x
Word Count: 733
Created 5-18-17
Edited 6-6-17
Edited 6-28-17
Edited 8-21-17
YOU ARE READING
DEVILS ♛ C. G. 〖 #wattys2018 〗
Fanfiction[ c o m p l e t e d ] "She looked like a goddess. The kind that sends cities to their knees in fear. The kind that is never in picture books. The kind that twists people." - - - - - April is a devil. A demon. And above all, she is a...
