Shadow Knights {Zanvis/Heathers AU} (Completed)

Chapter 11: Seventeen

I hugged my knees close to my chest sighing a little. I sat outside the funeral home, leaning my head back on the wall. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted Travis walking towards me. I took in a deep breath, slowly standing up.

"What is that? That smell in the air-" he walked up to me, slinging an arm around my shoulder, "is that...tolerance? Inclusion, love, how often can you say, 'it's a good day to live in Mystreet, Phoenix Drop'. You're welcome, town!"

"Hey," I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms, "you don't have to be so smug about it."

"Your love keeps me humble," Travis chuckled.

He leaned in, holding me by my waist. Travis placed a soft kiss on my lips, and we stayed like that for just a moment. I placed my hands on his chest, gently pushing him back. It doesn't matter if the result turned out well, we still did something horrible! We murdered them! We killed Dante and Aaron!

"So," Travis started, holding me by my waist with one arm, "who's next?"

I glared at Travis, out of of pure disgust! How could he even think, that I would even dream of doing this again! We've already murdered three people! All in one Senior year of High School! We're seventeen, damn it! Doesn't matter if we haven't got caught, we've still basically thrown our lives away!

"Zenix Duke?" He suggested. "He started that threeway rumor. I've been underlining meaningful passages in his copy of Moby Dick, if you know what I mean."

He nudged me, and I scoffed. "No! No, I do not accept this! We've already killed three people! This ends right here, right now!"

I stomped my foot onto the ground, and Travis rose an eyebrow at me. He crossed his arms, "or what?"

"I'll..," I sat there for just a second, trying to think of something that would get him to stop this madness. "...I'll break up with you."

"Every war has casualties," he said nonchalantly, and shrugged. "That doesn't mean that it's not worth fighting."

Why does he have to be so damn philosophical all the time?!

Travis balled his fists, turning away from me. He walked a few paces before stopping. After a second, he turned his head back to face me.

"What, what, you'd rather go to jail, hm?" Travis turned completely around, returning the glare back at me. "And then give a free pass to the thugs who hurt people? Evil fucks that make life so unbearable that you can't stand to live in the world anymore!"

"Travis?" I spoke softly. I waited for some kind of response, but he merely just turned away from me, again. I took in a deep breath, asking the question that has been on my mind, for so long. "...how did your mother die?"

Travis paused, before once again turning back to face me. He ran a hand through his medium-length, white hair, giving a small, 'pfft'. "You really wanna know?"

"Yeah."

"My dad said it was an accident. But she knew what she was doing," Travis began his story, folding his arms over his chest, and bowing his head. "She walked into that building two minutes before Dad blew it up. She waved at me out the window and then... ka-boom. She left."

I saw small tears roll down his cheeks- real ones. My heart hurt a little. I shouldn't have asked that. Irene, why are you such an idiot Zane?! That's obviously a sensitive topic!

"I'm really sorry," I eventually spoke up, after the uncomfortable silence.

"It's okay. The pain gives me clarity," he walked back up to me, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. The tears almost faded instantly. It was weird how he could change his emotions like that. "You and I are special, we have a lot of work to do."

"What work?"

"Making the world a decent place for people who are decent!"

"When does it end?!" I asked, tears reforming in my own eye, as I swatted Travis' hand away.

I didn't want to do this anymore! No more lives needed to be taken away, by our hands! This is sickening! It's...freaking insane! What does Travis think he is?! Some kind of rebel? He is no 'rebel'! He is fucking psychotic!

"When every asshole is dead!" Travis yelled at me.

My instant reaction, was shoving him away. I narrowed my eyes at the sight. Was this truly the man I have fallen for? This...guy... We are both so...we're...

(***)

"Fine!" I shouted back. "We're damaged... Really damaged... But, that does not make us wise! We're not special...we're not different. We don't choose who lives or dies."

When he began ignoring what I was saying, I gently placed my hands on both sides of his head. I turned him to face me, giving a warm smile. I wanted to be with Travis, so long as we weren't...harming others.

"Let's be normal. See bad movies, sneak a beer and watch TV. We'll bake brownies, or go bowling," I continued, rubbing my thumbs along his cheeks. "Don't you want a life with me? Can't we be seventeen? That's all I want to do. If you could let me in, I could be good with you. People hurt us-"

"Or they vanish," Travis whispered, finishing my statement.

"And you're right, it really blows," I shrugged, and Travis eyed me. For some reason, I swore I saw something light up in his expressions when I said that. But, I merely shrugged it off, and continued. "But we let go-"

"Take a deep breath-"

"And go buy some summer clothes," I dreamily sighed, imagining all of the wondrous things we could do together. "We'll go camping-"

"Play some poker-"

"And we'll eat some chilli fries!" I giggled, moving my hand into Travis'. I lead him back behind the funeral home, in a forest-type area. Somewhere, a bit more...isolated. "Maybe prom night?"

"Maybe dancing?" Travis gave a weak smile back, as I moved his hand to my waist, and mine to his shoulder- imitating a slow-dance.

"Don't stop looking in my eye!"

"Your eye!"

"Can't we be seventeen? Is that so hard to do? If you could let me in, I could be good with you!" We exclaimed together, as leaned his forehead on mine. "Let us be seventeen, if we've still got the right."

"So what's it gonna be?" I smiled up at Travis. "I wanna be with you."

"I wanna be with you..." He repeated.

"Wanna be with you~"

"Tonight!" We held each other, pulling one another into meaningful kiss, and stayed like that for a moment.

"Yeah, we're damaged," I shrugged, after we pulled away.

"Badly damaged," Travis sighed.

Together, we softly said to each other, "but your love's too good to lose."

"Hold me tighter," I turned around, falling into Travis' comforting arms.

"Even closer," he hugged me tighter, resting his chin atop my head.

"I'll stay if I'm what you choose."

"Can't we be seventeen?" Travis repeated my words.

"If I am what you choose."

"If we've still got the right."

" ‘Cause you're the one I choose."

"You're the one I choose," Travis spun me around to face him.

"You're the one I choose," we repeated one last time, giving one last kiss, before we decided to part ways, back to our own homes...

Maybe I could change Travis for the better...

~~~