I WANNA BE YOURS ♡ arvin russell (d. kink)

22. ANYTHING

IWBY
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: ANYTHING

maybe she should've stopped him walking so far. maybe she should've said it was a bad idea for him to go back and visit the place where it all started. maybe she should've done a lot of things, but she didn't. aurora couldn't help the growing guilt as she saw the look of despair against arvin's face. his honey eyes were staring at two wooden crosses, hung upon the trees of the woods. aurora had finally caught up to him, standing right besides him in the place that he stood completely still.

"a-are you o-okay?" she mumbled tiredly, trying her best to sound chipper for her lover. his eyes turned from the deathly reminder back to his little love, giving a smile that truly held little emotion. his warm hand picked up her backpack from her hand, ignoring her protests insisting that she could carry the small thing.

"c'mon, darlin'." he shushed her, pushing the girl further towards their destination. she ignored the fact that he hadn't answered her question. he was probably far more overwhelmed than she was in that moment. they walked for minutes before the woods became thicker, covered in shrubs and bushes. the two pushed the vines and branches out of their way until they came face to face with a big cross made out of wood.

aurora gulped at the sight of the thing. she remembered this from when sweet lenora had gossiped too far and told the blonde girl all about arvin's parent's demise. that had gotten the taller girl in trouble with arvin, but it was something aurora needed to know. otherwise, she would have been completely clueless in this emotional situation.
tears welled in arvin's eyes and he licked his lips as he stared up at the thing. all of a sudden he fell to his knees in front of it, leaning against the thick fallen branch.

aurora nearly thought he was going to start praying before his hands started to shuffle around in the ground. she almost frowned at how vulnerable he seemed since being back in this town. of course, she didn't mind, but it was practically heartbreaking to hear his sniffles as his fingernails became coated in mud. he pulled out various pieces of white bone from the ground and aurora gulped, trying not to shudder at the sight.

he had taken his denim jacket and cap off, aurora clad in the two items to keep them warm. she hated the look against arvin's face, and wanted more than anything for him to be that cheeky, smily boy that had told her that her skirt was awful pretty some time ago once again. but she knew he needed to do this to come to peace with everything that had happened in his rotten past, so she stood quietly against a tree, watching him bury the bones in the mud. he was giving jack his very own funeral.

arvin stilled, the sun beating down on him as he placed the final bone into the pile. the skull had a singular hole through the bone, and aurora trembled at the thought of someone murdering an innocent dog. arvin was thinking hard as he stared up at the sun, and aurora wouldn't be the one to ruin his peace. she turned away as to give him his privacy, her hands falling into the pockets of the denim jacket.

the little girl stiffened at the feeling of the cool metal against her palm. arvin's pistol was sitting in the right hand pocket of the jacket, and it suddenly felt heavy with the weight of the burdens that the gun carried. she couldn't help the curiosity as she slipped the metal between her fingers, pulling it out of the pocket.

the sunlight reflected off of the killing machine, glaring into her very own chocolate eyes. aurora turned back to arvin again, ensuring that he couldn't see her, before turning back to the pistol. it wouldn't take a rocket scientist to know what arvin didn't want the small girl touching things like that. she flipped the metal between her hands, coming accustomed with all its complexities.

"anything." she turned to arvin as he mumbled to himself, lost in his thoughts. he was okay; and that was all that mattered. the little girl turned back around.

it was most definitely something special, and aurora could almost see the beauty in such an object. her chocolate eyes lingered over the trigger, almost telling herself to inch towards it and give it a go; one aimless shot wouldn't matter. but the sound of rustling stopped her dead in her tracks.

she shoved the object back into the pocket of his jacket. arvin too had heard the crunching footsteps, for his eyes were wide open and his head has snapped around. another snap of the branches and the boy was up on his feet, grabbing their bags and motioning for his little girl to follow.

"arvin russell!" the voice stopped the two dead in their tracks. "aurora smith! i know you're down there somewhere! mommy and daddy are lookin' for you, sweetheart. i'm here to take you home!" arvin dropped to the floor behind a fallen branch and the little girl moved as quietly as she could, breathing heavy as she pressed her back against the tall tree. "i know you're down there somewhere!" arvin's eyes connected with the little girl's and the life left both of them as the four fateful words left the stranger's mouth. "it's sheriff bodecker, son!"

IWBY
CHAPTER TWENTY TWO: ANYTHING