Purple Ink (SatoGou)

Chapter 14

"Last time was different." He rips his wrist away from my hand.

"How?" I ask, throwing a hand up. "How was it different? And things have changed between us now."

"Nothing's changed between us," he says stubbornly, rubbing absently at his wrist like he's trying to rid it of the feeling of my fingers against it.

"You're lying to yourself. You-" I choke, and take a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "You told me you liked me, before you knew I was Blue." He winces at the name. "I'm still the same person. I'm that person, and the person you've been writing to for years. We've met, and we get along, Goh. What are you afraid of?"

He bristles, brows furrowing. "I said I liked you, Ash. That means I had a slight interest in you. It's not like that can't change in an instant. Stop trying to make it deeper than it is."

With that, he strides past me, and this time I let him. His words cut deep, creating another new wound, and for a while I just stand there, debating whether I should even go inside or not. Keep reaching out, I try to remind myself, but... Has he forgotten all of the years we've known each other? Has he forgotten everything that was said in those letters? Has he forgotten all the flirting that used to make me feel so exhilarated, and how he told me he'd try to wait for me? Because I haven't forgotten. I never will. I'll always remember that he was my best friend for twelve years, and that we were so close I never thought anything could break us. Now we're standing outside nightclubs in the cold, shouting at each other. Now he can't even stand to talk to me.

I decide to go inside anyway. I'll be damned if I'm going to let him ruin my night.

Once I'm in, I scan the crowd of badly-dressed up students and see Serena, standing alone at a bar. I head over to her. She looks up as we wait to be served. "Well? How did it go?"

"Badly," I sigh. "I don't think there's any reasoning with him."

"I hope he's not too mad. I hate annoying people. Maybe you could try again later?"

"Maybe," I say.

Once we grab our drinks we scan the crowd for the others, finding them standing around a lone table at the other side of the room.

"Wait here," Serena says, handing me her drink. "I gotta use the bathroom quickly."

The stairs up to the bathrooms are right behind us. I take her drink and stand at the bottom of them, figuring we'll head over to the others when she gets back. The music isn't half bad, and I people watch, impressed by the number of people that are already clearly very drunk. There's countless zombies, corpse brides and vampires, all writhing around each other in the crowd.

"Where's Serena?"

I jump, but it's only Clemont. How he snuck up on me, I have no idea. I glance at him, again trying not to laugh at the costume.

"Bathroom," I say, nodding at the stairs. A group of girls giggle under their breaths at us as they walk by, and Clemont sighs.

"Are you two a thing?" He asks, turning to look back across the crowd to where Cilan and Goh are talking. I follow his eyes, my heart skipping. Every time my eyes fall upon him again, it's like seeing him for the first time again. I'm blown away every time. I ignore the dull ache in my chest.

"I- No," I admit. Clemont nods, and before we can say more Serena floats down the stairs, smelling like vanilla. She beams at Clemont, and he turns away in a poor attempt to hide his blush. We head across to the others, but by the time we push through the crowd, Goh is missing. "Where's Goh?" I call to Cilan over the music.

"He went back to the bar," he calls back. I turn around, scanning the bar, until I spot him, leaning against it, and beside him... Another guy, leaning in, grinning like a cat, saying something into his ear. White hot jealousy runs up the length of my body, and I stiffen, the urge to go over almost making me move without thinking. Goh just gives the guy a sheepish smile and I notice how he shifts away, ever so slightly, putting some distance between them. But the look the guy is giving him... I know those eyes. He's looking at Goh like he's a piece of meat.