riverdale imagines - complete

not in that way // malachai

She sat on the bed, fiddling with the sleeves of her oversized sweater, trying to formulate a sentence that could be said without crying.

"Are you going to say something or sit in silence?" he asked from the other side of the room where he sat in the desk chair. His hair was a mess from the many times he ran his hands through it angrily and tugged at the roots in frustration.

"I'm trying to figure this out and understand why this is happening. After everything, this is how it ends? That fails to make sense in my head." she muttered. She finally gained the courage to lift her head and look at him as he sat in the chair across from her.

"It's ending before it goes on for too long and both of us end up more hurt than we are right now." he responded, earning a scoff from her in return.

"That's rich. I don't think this is hurting you in the slightest." she snapped. Finally she was feeling something other than sadness and hurt. She could feel the anger run through her veins and it was becoming easier for her to speak without crying or her voice breaking.

"You don't think this hurts me?" he asked incredulously.

"If it is, you sure as hell aren't acting like it."

"Look, it is hurting me but i also think it's for the best."

"So did none of this mean anything to you?" she asked shifting in her spot on the bed.

"I don't know how many times i can answer that question for you to make it clear that, yes this whole month or so meant a lot to me and i care about you, but it's not going to work. I put in the effort and i tried, but it's just not going to work." he explained.

"How can you sit there and say you care about me when you just broke my heart?" she cried.

"I care about you, just not in the way that you want me to."

"And what way do you think i want you to?" she snapped.

"You want flowers and for everything to be normal out in public, like holding hands and taking walks around town. Picnics by Sweetwater River. Prom. Homecoming. You want me to meet your parents eventually. I can't give you any of that, y/n." he finished sadly. His eyes catching hers that were filling with tears, his holding a look of sorrow and it made that sadness she felt in the beginning return.

"I know you can't give me that, Malachai. When have i ever asked for you to be anything other than yourself?" she whispered.

"You never have, but i can't just keep holding you back when you deserve so much more than to be hidden." he shook his head, curls falling in his eyes. He brought a hand up, but stopped his movement when he felt the soft touch of her hand pushing them away from his face. He didn't realize she had walked to stand in front of him.

"If hiding our relationship means that i'm happy, then who are you tell me i can't be happy?"

"Are you truly happy though?" he whispered.

"If being with you means we have to keep this a secret, than i'm the happiest girl in the entire fucking world. But if you genuinely believe that we're not going to make it, then i'll leave. Just tell me again that you don't want to figure this out and i'll walk through that door and i won't bother you again." she cupped his cheek, waiting patiently for his response. She braced herself for whatever answer he was going to give her trying to tell herself that not being with him would be the easiest route and that's something she'd have to live with if he did end up telling her to leave.

"How about we take a break? A week without seeing each other. Time away for both of us to think about things and what we really want. In a week we'll meet and discuss everything again, figure out where this thing is going, okay?" he said finally.

"Okay." she agreed. But little did she know, that Malachai wasn't going to be around after a week. He had been planning on leaving for a while now and breaking things off with her was the last thing on his list. He knew it was going to be hard, but he had no idea she'd fight tooth and nail for him and their relationship.

After a week, she hadn't heard from him. She'd text his phone and get no response. All calls went straight to voicemail. After a couple of days without any word from him, she showed up to where him and the rest of the Ghoulies were staying to find it completely empty. He had packed all of his things and left. The Ghoulies, who no longer had a leader after Malachai fled, went their separate ways and found home with other groups. She walked into Malachai's room, everything bare. Dresser drawers were hanging out completely empty of the clothes that once occupied them. The posters and paintings on the wall were gone, nothing but nails left behind. The bed sheets were taken off leaving the bare mattress to lay in the middle of the room completely empty except for a single envelope. She walked over and took it, immediately seeing her name scrawled on the front in his messy handwriting. Pulling out the note inside, her heart broke even more than the day he first tried to end things.

I'm sorry, believe me. I love you just not in that way. - malachai.