After Cyrus's parents pass away after getting into a car crash, the Sykes take him in and treat him as their own.
He grows up alongside his childhood bestfriend Rosie inside a mansion. Life seemed great.
Well, right up until he fell into a depressi...
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Age eighteen
"You're leaving?"
Cyrus cursed. Once again he was one step too far away from that stupid wooden door.
The same door he walked through when he was nine years of age, sad and confused. Hoping for his mama and papa back.
"I-i gotta go Rosie." He refused to turn and look at Rosie's pretty face.
"Are you going to see them?"
Cyrus sighed and shook his head. He knew she knew that she wasn't going to see them. He knew that she saw the big bag in his hand.
"I-i-"
"Can i come?" She whispered quietly and he shut his eyes at the hope in her voice.
"No, not this time. I need to be alone."
"Where are you going?"
"I'm going somewhere to get better. And this time... i need you to be a good girl and stay."
"You're going to therapy?" She asked and he tensed as he felt one of her small hands on his muscled back.
He rubbed his eyebrows in frustration. "I don't know where im going yet to be honest Rosie. I feel trapped here and I just, I need to..."
"Its okay Cy. I know you need to leave. You've been sad for a while," she said softly and he squeezed his eyes shut as emotions hit him from all angles.
She wasn't as little as she used to be. She'd grown up. But just a bit. She was still his little Rosie.
"Will you be gone for long?"
He shrugged, scared because he couldn't answer any of her questions. "I don't know how long i'll be gone."
He bit his lip hard and his grip on his bag strap tightened as he heard the strangled hiccup come from Rosie's throat.
"Princess, listen to me. Okay?"
"Okay."
"I don't know when i'm coming back, but im hoping to see you graduated and happy when i do. You'll be good for your mama and papa and you'll listen to what your beautiful heart has to say, not anyone else. And if anyone gives you sh~t, you tell them that you're my princess and no one gives my princess sh~t."
He felt her hand on his back trembling so he took a deep breath and silently told himself to stop being such a coward before he turned around and pulled her into his arms. He still refused to look at her face.
"I'll be better when i get back. And when i see you again, we'll go adventuring like we used to. Hows that sound princess?"
She nodded into his chest as he hiccuped and cried. "Th-that sounds good."
"Don't rub your eyes while im gone because then i can't get your eyelashes out then," he said with a small smile before placing a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I'll miss you Cyrus."
"I'll miss you too Rosie. More than you'll ever know," he said quietly. He looked down at her plump lips for a second before looking away and wishing he could feel her lips against his before he left. But he couldn't. They had grown up together. Since diapers. He couldn't ruin what they had now.
She was innocent and deserved her first kiss from someone mentally stable. He just hoped he'd be better before then.
The thought of someone else kissing her made his heart ache.
"If your mama and papa ask... about me, tell them i'm okay. I'm just - figuring things out."
She nodded into his chest, her grip getting tighter because she knew he had to go soon. He always left before the sun was up. "I will. Do you have enough money? I can give you my piggy b-"
He smiled at how much she cared for him. "Save your money. We need it for when we go adventuring."
She smiled and sniffled into his chest. "How do i know you'll come back?"
He thought for a second before unclipping the only bracelet that tied him to his parents. He hadn't taken it off for nine years.
Her eyes widened and she hurriedly shook her head.
"You wear this and keep it safe until i come back for it," he said as he grabbed her small wrist and clipped it on securely. "I'm going to come back and when I do, you'll either be here. Or you won't. Don't wait here for me okay. Go do what you need to do, like I am."
"But," her voice was trembling. "What if you come back and I'm not here?"
"I'll wait here for you then. For as long as it takes." He let go of her and ran his hand down her side, memorizing the feeling of her soft skin and her small curves. He threaded his hand through her hair and leaned in to smell it one last time before he placed one last kiss on her forehead.
He turned and opened the door, hoping Rosie wouldn't say goodbye and he was thankful when she didn't. Instead she said grabbed his wrist and passed him her thin bracelet that he had given them when they were little and said
