Brake My Bones ✓

25 | Not Your Fault

"Zandra stuck around him for a while, and I was always with Iris, so she was always with me, and by the time Pearl was with us, Zandra was involved in more dangerous activities. I should've pushed Pearl away. I should've fought harder for her safety-" He shook his head, deciding this wasn't the time to talk about Pearl.

Riot had to fix that issue with Pearl herself. Maybe one day he'd right his wrongs with her, for keeping her involved with them for so long when she was vulnerable.

"That's why Zandra latched onto you, Gabriel. After being hurt over and over again by evil men, she saw a lot of goodness in you, and, in some twisted way, you were her saviour. That's why she didn't kill you," He made sure to look at me deeply as he spoke with confidence. "But none of this was your fault. It's not your fault for being the good guy, or for even being friends with someone as broken as her."

I had to blink faster than usual and tilt my head up to the sky to prevent myself from crying. It was all over, and the fact that I could start to heal properly was hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"There's no need for you to be forgiven when you did nothing wrong. You need to take care of yourself, rebenok. You did nothing wrong, and you need to believe that no matter how hard it is to tell yourself." [kid]

Riot left after saying those words, knowing I was too distraught to say anything. He took the image with him, but it stayed in my head the whole time I was mentally preparing myself to see Zion at the hospital.

⭐︎

The moment I was in the hallway leading to Zion's hospital room, his door opened, and Pearl walked out with a warm smile on her lips. She stayed the entire day, it was nearing the close time for visiting hours. I was hoping I wouldn't bump into anyone, but now I was glad I did.

Pearl's brown eyes locked with mine, and she paused as soon as the door clicked shut behind her. I visibly saw how her breath hitched while she merely stared at me. My heart plunged into the thickness of guilt due to the way she was looking at me like she was scared to even be in my presence. Pearl was scared that I was still angry at her, and that wasn't the case at all.

"How's he doing?" I asked quietly before I could comprehend that I didn't even have the decency to say hi.

"He's going to be okay," She replied, breaking out of her frozen state to give me a small smile.

I nodded once, feeling nervous to speak to her after weeks of ignoring her for something that wasn't her fault at all.

"And you?" I questioned, walking closer to her.

"I'm okay," She said after hesitating. "Maybe one day I'll even sound confident saying that."

I chuckled faintly. "One day, we will be."

Silence enveloped us for a moment as apologies circled my mind.

"Zion's been asking for you all day," Pearl murmured, her eyes beginning to glaze. "He misses you."

It was difficult to stop my eyes from burning with unshed tears at those words.

"He loves you a lot. You know that?" I told her, my voice sounding more gravelly than usual. "And he deserves you. You deserve him, too. Both of you need each other, and I'm so sorry if I ever made you feel any different."

Pearl shook her head and smiled again. "I know you didn't mean it, and I get it. After Zion saved me at the beach a year ago, I had to stop drinking. I was addicted to alcohol, and when I didn't have it, I snapped at everyone. My parents didn't know what rehab was, so we did it on our own, and it was a pain in the ass.