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Chapter 38

"STONE!" The terrible scream is torn from my throat. It rips through the air, splitting the silence, and shivers run up my own back at the sound of it.
I scream, because Stone is gone. I scream, because when I opened my eyes, he was gone. And now I'm on my knees, sobbing quietly between screams of absolute agony. He's gone. He's dead. Stone has fallen.
"No..." I pant, still gasping in great breaths when my body makes me, tears running unchecked down my cheeks.
He was annoying. He was bitter, at moments, and he was stubborn. I spilled my entire life's story to him, and he refuses to tell me anything, even right up to the end! I'll never know what dark secrets he was keeping from me... But I needed him.
I've travelled through the Wold with the wolf-boy. I've been saved from Beasts by Stone, and visa-versa. Heck, I've fought off a small army (Okay, a troop) with the boy! I may have only known him for about four or five days, not even a week, but I've come to love him, because it's hard not to when you've only got one person in your life you can trust. If you could even call it that- We had a mutual trust, then, but I know that the motivation behind the kisses wasn't entirely to lower my defenses...
"Oh, Stone..." I feel like jumping over the edge myself. What use is there in carrying on? Without Stone, my protector, I'm exposed, like a new-born baby. Okay, maybe I can take care of myself to some extent, but still, without Stone, I'm nothing.
"Why does everyone die?" I breath to no one in particular, lowering my face into my hands and sobbing. It's an honest question, really. Everyone I meet seems to die.
"Good point."
I scream. Again. You know, the past couple of days, the days I've spent with Stone, I've been crying and screaming a lot more than usual.
When I hear the voice, I snap my head back up out of my fingers, and Stone catches my shoulders, pulling me gently to my feet. Stone. Alive.
My brain goes fuzzy, when he presses his lips to mine, and I don't draw away, or stab him with a bread knife, for that matter.
Then he simply holds me, and I rest my head on his shoulder forever, for no reason I can easily explain. I just need to be as close to him as possible while we're both alive, because, considering the way my day has been so far, I'm not sure how much longer that will be.
Finally, I pull away and punch him in the shoulder. He doesn't even bother to fake that it hurt for my sake, but watches my expectantly, as if waiting for me to ramble into my nagging habit.
"You're all dirty." Is, rather disappointingly, all I can get out, as I try to brush some dust off his shoulder, in vain, albeit.
He blinks at me in disbelief for a moment, and then I punch him again, harder, annoyed.
"Stop doing that!"
"Doing what?"
"Making me think you're dead!"
"Why would that bother you?" He says slyly.
"It doesn't." I say quickly, but the tears are still wet on my face, and I'm lying through my teeth. "How...?"
"I grabbed the edge," Stone says, somehow knowing what I mean. "When I jumped, I knew I wasn't going to make it,"
"Then why'd you jump?" I say, now enjoying my turn in being annoying.
"Because I wanted to, "He says quickly, and continues on before I can interrupt. "I only barely managed to get my fingers over the edge on this side, and that was because I threw my arms out in front of me. But I made it."
"Why didn't you say something, dangling there?! I could have helped you!" I say, wondering at his bravery/stupidity.
"I-I wasn't sure if I could hold on," Stone says grimly, glancing back at the pit. "I didn't want to call out to you, have you come to the edge, and then I loose my grip and fall. I didn't want you to watch me die."
I blink in incredulity. "Men..." I sigh, shaking my head.
"Were you worried about me?" He grins like he's a great genius.
"Shut up, Pebble."