(Archived) Poth Short Stories and One-Shots

The Road to Hell - Chapter 2 (End)

... is paved with good intentions.

Chapter Warnings: Depression, attempted suicide, swearing

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Rurik slammed the door, stomping over to his bed and roughly grabbing a pillow, discarding the bag of chisps in his hand. His first punch ripped right through the fabric, doing nothing to quell his anger as he tore the pillow to pieces. He stormed over to the bookshelf, ripping things off the shelves and launching them around the room. 

His hand eventually settled on a picture frame. 

It contained a picture of himself and Lotus, out on their first date... the only date they ever went on. Seeing the reason behind his anger made the skeleton's emotions spill over, urging him to throw the object before he even registered the action.

He jolted at the resulting crash and shatter of glass, his anger drained away as regret instantly filled the void. He maneuvered around the debris, picking up the broken frame. 

He and stared at the picture peeking from behind the jagged bits of glass. 

Lotus looks so happy... when was the last time I saw him smile like that?

The date had started well enough, with the pair engaging in their typical conversation topics and banter. But everything changed when the waitress came back with the wrong order. His companion had waved it off, even going so far as to have one of the waiters take their picture in an attempt to lighten the mood, but Rurik wasn't able to let it go so easily. 

That date was supposed to be perfect... and I was just so angry...

He'd gotten himself so worked up that he left just so he wouldn't take out his frustration on the restaurant... or Lotus. So focused on blowing off steam, it was hours before he even remembered his companion. By the time he made it back to the restaurant, the small skeleton was already gone.

Rurik stared at the mess of stuffing on his bed and the destroyed remnants of his bookshelf scattered across the floor, sliding down to lean back against the side of his bed as his skull tilted toward the ceiling.

Lotus is right. I really am a bastard.

He was moody. He refused to back down when challenged and was loathe to take the blame when he was called out for his actions. 

He was selfish. The skeleton couldn't resist whenever a pretty face that presented itself, even when Lotus was clearly devoted to him. 

He was callous. He knew Lotus constantly criticized himself and suffered from low self-esteem due to his shitty lot in life before meeting Rurik... yet the taller still threw insults and said things he didn't mean when his temper flared despite the damage it caused.

To make matters worse, he had been harassing Lotus' cousin prior to arriving home.

Dammit... He had every right to blow up at me. I should apologize for hitting him.

Pushing himself into a standing position and making his way out of his room, he checked the living room. Empty. The kitchen was too. 

Guess he's crying in his bedroom again... shit. This makes things more awkward.

Backtracking to Lotus' bedroom door, he turned the handle, only to find it locked. His temper rose up against his will as he began to slam his fist into the door.

"Lotus, you piece of shit, open the door!" 

How dare he lock me out! I even came to apolo-