Just Breathe

Chapter 15 {Getting To Know Rob/Bob/John?}

She looked over at him, confusion filling her face and he just smiled back at her. "Think about what you want to happen, if your life could be anything you wanted it to be...what would it look like?"

She shifted her eyes from their interlocked hands and gazed out at the view above the trees. The wind blew through her silky brown hair as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. "My dad...I would be with my dad and my mother would be happy again...I wouldn't feel broken or lost...and this pain I feel...every day...it would be gone. I wouldn't feel the need to go numb and all I would have to do to know I was alive would be to just...breathe." 

She exhaled and opened her eyes, letting her head fall back slowly as the wind carried her hair in all different directions. His eyes were glued to her in amazement and he suddenly wanted to be everything, he wanted to do everything and be everything to make her pain go away. He wanted to make her feel alive and valuable. He wanted to make her love everything about herself, right down to the beautiful hairs on her head. He gently tugged on her hand and found it very easy to pull her along with him to the safety of the roof below. All it took is one swift pull, just one small pull and she was in his arms. He held onto her tightly and after one brief moment, her arms slowly wrapped around him as she clung tightly to him.

"Is your name really Bob?" She mumbled into his shoulder after nearly five minutes of complete silence and his body immediately tensed at the question. He moved away and shifted his eyebrows in confusion.

"What?"

"It's just...the name Bob doesn't really seem to suit you." She smirked softly which caused him to smile and nod.

"Right...well, my mother calls me Robert." He joked, but he realized it was the first time he had lied to her. He knew it wasn't right to go on having her believe he was some stranger but the idea of her running when she found out who he was and what he had done sent a shock of sadness through his body he never wanted to feel again.

"Rob." She said softly and his heart grew lighter at the sight of a small smile pulling at the corner of her lips. "So, why did you consider suicide?" Her question was blunt and she was almost wishing she could retract her words. She was curious, but she also didn't want to push for answers.

He held out his hand with a soft smile. "Come with me."

She glanced down at his hand a moment before placing hers inside. They both jumped back as an electric shock flew through the both of them. Their mouths hung open for a moment before they burst out laughing.

"What the hell was that?!" She exclaimed, only causing Jonathan to laugh once more.

"You're electrifying." Jonathan recited Grease and Riley laughed as well, immediately taking his hand once again and hoping the invitation hadn't passed. He gladly held onto hers and led her off the roof and out of the building. They walked a few blocks before coming the care center on 5th, a bold green sign was posted outside reading, "Green Oaks Care Center." 

"What are we doing here?" Riley asked as they walked up to the front doors, their hands still attached after the fifteen-minute walk.

"There's someone I want you to meet," Jonathan answered with a smile. He led her into the building and down a long hallway to the last room on the right. Riley stepped inside to find a woman sitting up in the bed, a small, lifeless smile glued to her face. She glanced back at Jonathan for some answers and he stepped ahead of her, making his way over to his mother. "Hi, Ma, feeling okay today?" He kissed her forehead before turning his attention back to Riley. "Ma, this is Riley. She's a good friend of mine." He motioned for the young girl to step forward, which she did eventually, her legs carrying her forward despite her head telling her she was getting too close in a multitude of ways. "Riley, this is my mother." He introduced them with a smile before pulling up the second chair to his mother's bed. He sat down in one as Riley sat in the one that had already been placed opposite him. "She's catatonic," Jonathan said, answering the question she hadn't spoken. He could see the sympathy rising in her eyes and he immediately knew that she empathized with his pain, he knew she cared. She was a kind person, no matter how many walls she put up to cover it. "She got sick when I was about eleven and from then on it just got worse. When we found out she was going to have to be put in a care facility my dad couldn't get away fast enough. He left me to care for my younger brother and my sick mother. He sends money, I'd like to say that I send it right back with a nice 'fuck you' but I can't afford to do that, especially not when his money is the only thing keeping my mother in a place like this."

She held his gaze with a pained expression and it was almost like they were connected in some way. She said, "I'm sorry" and he smiled as if no one had ever said it to him before. People had told him they were sorry for the circumstances he was in and how they wished things were different for him, but it was different when she said it; it was almost like knowing that if she could fix it for him, she would. Her heart was pure and he could feel it with every fiber of his being.