Biker Mice From Mars - Somewhere I Belong

Even Those Who Are Gone Are With Us As We Go On

Did you ever see a robin weep

When leaves begin to die?Like me, he's lost the will to liveI'm so lonesome I could cry

Up until this moment, he never realized how lonely he actually felt ever since he had lost her.
Or maybe he did know, deep down.
He just never acknowledged it.
If one ignored something long enough, it simply didn't exist, or well, that's the theory anyway.
It was a coping mechanism taught by his beloved mother, and he still wasn't sure whether to be grateful or hate her for it.
It was odd, though.
That it was the voice of this unknown singer that managed to get through to him.
To show him what was hidden behind the mask.
And it wasn't just loneliness.
No, there was something else, lurking in the shadows as he kept staring into the accusing eyes belonging to a ghost from the past.
Something even nastier.

The silence of a falling star

Lights up the purple skyAnd as I wonder where you areI'm so lonesome I could cry

Guilt.
Disgraceful and destructive guilt, in its ugliest form.
It unfolded itself and covered him like a blanket, but not a soothing one.
No, it was a heavy one, as if it was made of lead.
A prison.
One that was all too familiar, sadly enough.
One that literally haunted him in his dreams.
As always, his primary reaction was to flee, preferably as far as possible and his hand holding the throttle twitched.
It was ever so slightly, but his bike always had been sensitive.
Sometimes, it almost seemed to have a mind of its own.
Today was no different and the moment he only so much flexed the small muscles in his fingers, the impressive machine catapulted forward.

The warm arms around his waist tightened, and a soft cry was heard from behind him.
One that brought him back to reality instantly, and Vinnie immediately let go of the throttle again, cursing himself for allowing himself to get carried away with his emotions as he did just now.
As the bike slowed down, his tail gently squeezed Charley's waist in a silent apology, hoping she wouldn't be mad at him again.
He truly meant what he said, you know, about her being scary when she's mad.
But, thankfully, she didn't yell.
She didn't try to hit him.
She didn't even say anything.
All she did was rest her helmeted head on his back while holding him even tighter.

It probably should comfort him, as it was intended, and he couldn't be more grateful for her attempt.
However, it made him severely and uncharacteristically insecure instead.
Insecure to such an extent that he almost hit the brakes and made a full 180, suddenly doubting his own sanity for what he was about to do.
For where he was about to take her.
Just as turning on the music, it belonged in the category of badder than bad ideas.
And yet, he kept going forward.
He just kept driving, his rapid heartbeat and somewhat uncomfortable breathing the only clues for what was currently going through his mind.
There was simply no other choice.
Not anymore.

...

With his heart pounding in his throat, Vinnie took a sharp turn to the right and steered his bike on the unpaved road that led to his destination for tonight.
Although he could practically feel Charley's confusion about where he was taking her, she remained silent, and for some strange reason, he was grateful that she was.
He also felt a pang of admiration, for he knew how hard it must be for her to keep the questions she obviously had inside.
He had never met anyone before that was plagued by such lethal curiosity as this human being, and that included himself.
Go figure.

Nibbling on his lower lip in some feeble attempt to deal with his nervousness, Vinnie swerved from left to right to avoid the many holes this road owned and for a moment, the sharp yet somewhat soothing pain actually helped.
Until he suddenly noticed how close he was.
Removing his teeth from his lip to prevent himself from biting a hole in it, he let go of the throttle as if it was on fire and the bike immediately slowed down.
On edge as he was, he could feel Charley raising her head to look around her, but there was nothing to see.
Not yet, that is.
Even though he was close, he still wasn't close enough and he suddenly wasn't sure if he would ever be.
Close enough.