She wanted to die.
He wanted to live.
•••
A hand grabbed onto my wrist, yanking me back just as the train rushed past, before I'd even had time to comprehend whether or not I'd carry out the action. I stumbled back into the person's chest, my hear...
(A/N) I'm back and (still not) better than ever! In case you're too lazy to go back and read the last chapter...
Go back and read the last chapter.
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For a 17 year old, I'd seen more trauma than most would in their entire lives.
I'd seen parents say their final goodbyes to their children, survivors receive the dreaded news that they weren't as strong as they'd thought, and witnessed unquantifiable amounts of tears and heartbroken cries from those I loved - but none of it could possibly have compared to this.
None of it could ever erase Cassie's distressing cries and chilling words that would be forever engraved into my mind.
Low and incoherent, her helpless pleading was the only thing I could hear, the repeated chant like a mantra she couldn't survive without saying. Her tone was raspy and breathless, as though she'd already spoken the words a thousand times before, begging for mercy from a mental creation while tears streamed down her panic-stricken face. "Leave me alone, leave me alone, leave me alone..." she murmured incoherently, her continuous rambling amplifying my consternation.
Sitting up with a start, my brain tried to wake up after the sudden interruption to my sleep, causing me to momentarily forget that Cassie was leaning against me until her body slumped into my chest as a result of my movement. Wrapping my arm around her to support her slumped body, I anxiously ruminated over what to do, internally debating on whether to wake her up or hope that she would naturally awake herself.
A few of her tears seeped into the material of my hoodie while I brushed back the curls that had fallen onto her face, until at last her lips abruptly ceased their repeated phrase and her tears slowed to a gradual stop. Her cheeks were flushed from crying, their soft pink a stark contrast to the pastel blue of my fingertips as I cleared away the last of her curls from her face. Her eyelashes fluttered every few moments as though she was about to open her eyes, only for them to return to their still position and keep Cassie imprisoned in her slumber.
She's okay now Romeo, I thought to myself as I held her frail body in my arms, reminded of how frightened I had been for her mere seconds ago. Cassie had told me she didn't want to sleep, and yet it had never crossed my mind that she might have had a reason as grave as this.
For someone who supposedly knew everything about her, there was a lot I still didn't know.
When I first saw her, I expected to meet the picture-perfect girl I'd heard so much about, not discover a completely new perspective that I could never have anticipated. It never occurred to me that I would be holding her on a platform in the London Underground past 3 o'clock in the morning, wiping away her tears after she had sobbed in her sleep; but I suppose fate had its reasons. Whatever they were, I hoped fate could somehow justify the immense pain Cassie was still undergoing in her sleep.
