Saved || Jesse Rutherford ||

Leaving

"Anything for you", I whispered as I walk past him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To describe my emotions at the moment would be futile. I was feeling every emotion known to man. Fear, excitement, relief, and most of all, something unknown...

"Ava!", Jesse called. He grabbed my arm tightly, stopping me. I turned slowly. He ran two hands through his hair.

"Wow. Two hands. This should be good," thought.

"I-I'm sorry." I sighed. Apologies, apologies.

"It's alright", I said turning, yet again.

He grabbed my arm again. "Ava, please." His voice sounded exasperated. I turned to face him. He was closer than before. Fretful eyes searching my face.

"Uhm..I'll go upstairs", I heard Kevin called. I waited until I heard his soft footsteps padding upstairs.

I looked Jesse in eyes. He lifted a hand and carefully pushed a stray hair away from my face.

"I have to leave town...for Cali", he blurted. And that's the point where everything collapsed. I crumbled. I knew he was leaving...But California?

"W-why are you leaving?", I said anxious. My breathing quickened. I felt sick.

Jesse sighed. He took a step back. He ran a hand through his hair.

"Because I'm running out of places to run."

I stepped closer to him. "What do you mean? Is this because of Tyler? I-I mean I can stay away from him. You don't have to run anymore."

"Ava. It's not just about you. It's about him. Everywhere I go, he's there. And this town..I thought it could be my safe-haven and it wasn't. I ended up getting myself in even more trouble! And you!", he scoffed, running a hand through his hair, "You're doing something to me."

I stopped. My heart stopped. The world stopped. Me? Doing something to him? The universe must be playing some kind of trick on me.

"W-what do you mean?", I whispered.

He gave me a small smile. "You are so naive. So small. So innocent. The beauty. I, on the contrary, am not. I'm the beast."

For once, I felt brave. I padded towards him. "You know how the fairytale goes", I said reaching up and caressing his face. He closed his eyes and leaned into my hand. "Beauty fell in love with the Beast. Not because of his past. Not because of what he did, whom he hurt. But because she saw something in him. She saw his true beauty."

"But what if the Beast is obsessed with protecting her. So obsessed that he would kill for her. Even if it was those closest to her", he mumbled.