Guns and Roses

Fifty Six ~ Rya

When I come out of the bathroom still drying my hair, Matthew is sitting on my bed. I stop in the doorway and tighten my dressing gown around my body.

He smiles tightly at me, "Hey." Hes wringing his hands together almost nervously.

I dont move from the doorway because I know that he's here to tell me something bad. I can see it on his face. "What's happened?" I ask, my voice sounds cold.

A smile appears on his face as he looks at me. "Your walls build themselves up so quickly dont they?" He shakes his head and sighs, "I figured out why we didn't work. I kept trying to fix you, but theres nothing to fix."

Finally he gets it. It took him a few months but he got there.

I walk over and sit beside him. My brace is sitting on the bed behind him and he watches me as I try not to wince when strapping it on.

Tap.

I jump and spin around to where the sound came from. It almost sounded like it came from the floor. "What was that?" I think out loud.

Matthew puts his hand on my arm and I slowly turn back to him, the sound leaving my mind. "Rya," he says his voice shaky, "I'm leaving."

I frown at him. Hes got exams in about a week I think. Why the fuck is he leaving now?

Tap.

"I was supposed to leave in summer but I've been working too much to have any chance of passing my exams anyway," He trails off, "And my aunt thinks that I need to get away of Torstone."

I sigh as I realise what she means, "Get away from me she means."

Tap.

He nods slowly, "That's not why I'm leaving by the way, but it's why I'm leaving so soon."

I take a deep breath and then sag against his body. We didn't work together romantically but if we had tried this as friends, great things could have happened.

Tap.

When he leaves, I'll probably never see him again. He has no reason to come back here anymore.

"If you leave without saying goodbye to mum she'll hunt you down," I warn him, "And if you're leaving for good, stay out of all of this. If you're getting the chance to have a normal life, take it. Please."

Tap.

It's an opportunity I'll never have. I'll never have the traditional wedding with a romantic honeymoon. I'll never get to take my kids to the park or go to their graduation ceremonies without fear of being arrested. This is my life until someone decides that it's not anymore and ends it.

It occurs to me that the tapping has stopped and I frown. I never figured out what it was.

Thud. Tap.

I jump as the sound comes back paired with an almost echoing sound. It's coming from my window.

"What the fuck?" Matthew says out loud as he frowns at the window as well.

Thud. Tap.

I see the black shape as it cracks off my window. So that's the thud, what's the tapping? And who the fuck is throwing things at my window.

I stand up and walk over slowly. Another object smacks against the glass followed shortly after by softer sound from lower down.

Thud. Tap.

I wait a second, readying myself for catching whoever it is in the act.

Thud.

I jump forward and yank the window up but as soon as I do, something smacks me hard just above my eyebrow. I fall back into my room clutching my face and I hear a startled yelp come from the garden.

I right myself and look at the blood on my hand before sticking my head back out of the window. Quinn and my mum are standing looking up nervously at my window.

Mum turns to Quinn and a small smile plays on her lips, "Well you threw it high enough that time," she says.

He cringes and I notice the massive bouquet of red roses in his hand. "Come on up," I mumble still holding my head. I think it was only a pebble but it must have had a sharp edge to have broken the skin.

I go into the bathroom and examine the small cut in the mirror. It's only about a centimetre long and barely bleeding. An inch or two lower however would have probably blinded me.

A hand on my back makes me jump, "I'm going to go say goodbye to your mum," Matthew says and I turn to see him one last time, "Goodbye Rya, it's been a pleasure knowing you."

I smile and wrap my arms around his neck. He tenses slightly obviously not expecting the hug but soon relaxes and wraps his arms around my waist, "Dont go getting yourself killed, you hear me?" He mutters.

I dont say anything. I dont know if I'm going to die today, next week, in seventy years as each one is just as probable as the last.

I pull back and lean against my sink. "Goodbye Matthew."

He smiles at me and then leaves for the last time. I'm going to miss him, I'm sure of that, but I also know he's going to be happy out there. He's going to make everyone see more than his parents when they look at him. Hes going to do everything I want to do but cant and I couldn't be happier for him.

Almost as soon as he leaves, my door opens again and I walk into my room to see Quinn standing there clutching at the flowers and scratching his neck awkwardly. "I'm really sorry about that," he says, "I didn't mean to hit you in the face."

I start to laugh, "I should hope not, Prescott."

His lips spread into a smile and he holds out the flowers, "These are for you, I arranged and tied them myself as well."

He's got a proud little smile on his face and my smile gets even bigger. The sun is shining on his face and his auburn curls are a mess on his head. His expression is so wholesome and the emotions are so pure.

I take the flowers and place them on the bed very gently. Without warning, I throw myself at him and smash my lips against his.

He pulls away quite quickly and a sudden flash of fear jolts through me. "I came to tell you that I love you," he says breathlessly, "I love you more than I thought was possible and I know that you're probably going to hate how cheesy that is but I do. You make me so fucking happy and you're brilliant."

He doesnt swear often so when he does I know that he's telling me something unfiltered. My heart swells in my chest as the words leaves his lips and my smile just wont leave my face.

"I love you too," I say. My voice sounds awkward and I'm unsure of what to say. Unsure of how to express what I'm feeling. I gulp and step forward to take his hands, "I dont open up to people and I'm sure you know that. I grew up surrounded by hate so hate comes naturally to me, love is hard. But then you came along and you cared. You didn't just see my family or my reputation and leave. You stayed and..."

His hand on my face makes me stop my clumsy speech. "I dont care that you're a Guerreiro or that you're Koroleva. What I care about, is the girl who's eyes lit up at a room full of fresh flowers, the girl who held me even after I pointed a gun at her, the girl who spent a million pounds to save her friend. You once told me that our parents did bad things but arent bad people. We're not bad people either Rya."

"I love you so fucking much," I laugh and pull him down to kiss me. If I cant use words to show him how much I love him, then I'll use actions.

There's only three more chapters to come...