Sapphire Stones

''There's nothing better than you, my love.''

I knock before entering. I knock on my own door. I mentally roll my eyes at myself. Sure, Gally's angry, but that shouldn't mean that I should have to knock on my door to my hut. That's just plain ridiculous. Yet, I do it anyway.

I knock on the door a few times with my knuckles, but am met with absolute silence. I run a shaky hand through my hair, my heart rate quickening. I really don't wanna deal with this right now. 

Despite everything in my brain telling me not to do this, I push open the door and step inside my hut. 

"Gally?" I ask, my voice soft as if he's an animal and I'm trying not to spook him. I'm met with silence again. I squint my eyes in an attempt to see through the darkness surrounding the small hut, but I can't seem to make out his form anywhere.

With a deep breath, I turn on the lamp. Warm light floods every corner of the hut, helping me see what was once hidden in the dark.

Everything looks completely normal. In fact, it's as if no one's been in here since before the Bonfire. Gally's nowhere to be seen. The hut is completely empty of anyone else.

I sigh, running my hands through my hair once again as I contemplate where Gally might be; where he would go when upset like this.

I eventually decide on just wandering the Deadheads, seeing as we tend to take walks out there after he has a nightmare. I remember one time when he showed me his all-time favorite spot out here. He told me that he stumbled upon it one day while looking for wood when he first arrived here and, ever since then, it's become one of his favorite areas in the whole Glade. I decide to look there first.

I push the bushes and low-hanging tree branches away to reveal a stream surrounded by rocks, trees, grass, and bushes, a thick, fallen log creating a sort of bridge from one side of the stream to the other. Despite the lack of sunlight to brighten up the area, it's still a sight for sore eyes.

As an added bonus, I spot Gally sitting on the log with his head in his hands, legs dangling over the edge. His shoes just barely skim the surface of the water.

"Gally." I call out to him, walking quickly over to where he sits.

If he hears me, he does a damn good job of ignoring me. He continues to sit with his head in his hands, his legs swinging back and forth ever so slightly. 

I carefully walk across the log until I'm next to Gally. With a small huff, I sit down next to him. He doesn't say anything, but I notice his body tense when I sit.

"Are you okay?" I ask, placing a hand on his shoulder. Gally looks down at me, shrugging my hand off his shoulder. I furrow my eyebrows at the sudden reaction from him but don't say anything, hoping he'll respond to my question.

"Why're you here?" He asks, his voice soft as his runs his hands through his hair. 

"Why do you think, moron?" I snap. He looks away from me and down at the water below us, watching as small insects skim the surface of the water. 

I take in his appearance as he sits in silence. His hair is disheveled, his shirt crumpled with a small tear in the side, probably due to the fight earlier. I look down at his hands, noticing the dried blood and fresh cuts and bruises littering his knuckles. 

I gently take them in my hands, skimming my finger lightly across the cuts and bruises. He winces slightly at the sudden contact, but remains silent.

"What happened to you, Gal?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

"I got in a fight." He mumbles, his face turning slightly pink.

"With who?"

"A tree." He replies, looking away from me. I guess that would explain the injuries. I bring his hands to my lips and press soft, barely-there kisses to the cut open skin.

"Why?" I ask, holding one hand close to my cheek. Gally doesn't look at me when he responds. He keeps his eyes trained on the water.

"I lost." He says shortly. I feel a pang of sympathy hit my heart when those two words leave his lips. I knew winning was important to him, but I guess I never realized how important it truly is. "I've never lost." He adds.

"So you fought a tree?" I ask, looking at his side profile. He shrugs, but doesn't respond. A silence passes between us as we both stare at the water below us. 

"I'm so screwed up, Venus." Gally mutters, his eyes still trained on the pond. I look up at him, furrowing my eyebrows at the words.

I see tears form in his eyes, but he swallows them back, looking up at the sky. He studies it for a second before turning back to me.

"We're all a little screwed up here, Gal." I say. Gally just shakes his head.

"No, I mean I'm really screwed up. I think..." He pauses, trailing off. "I think I might be a bad person."

I feel my breath hitch at his words. He gently takes his hand out of mine, placing both of his in his lap and studying them. There's another long pause.

"People are scared of me, Ven. They run away. The second I get even a little bit mad, they all run away from me."

I don't know how to respond to all of this. Instead, I'm silent. Silent is the best thing I can be right now anyway. Gally's expressing his feelings, so why should I give my two-cents right now?

"I'm scared." He adds with a sigh, looking back up at the stars. I see his eyes searching for something in the sky, his body relaxing ever so slightly when he finds it.

"Of what?" I ask.

"Of me. Of what I'm capable of. Of what my parents might have made me." He whispers, his voice cracking. A few tears drop down his cheeks, but he doesn't wipe them away. Instead, Gally lets them slowly trickle down his face, eventually falling into his lap with his hands.

I take a deep breath before taking his face in my hands and gently pulling his head towards me so that he's looking at me.

"You're not your parents." I say, running my thumbs across his cheeks. "You don't have to be like them. The great thing about growing up is that we get to choose who we want to be." A few more tears escape his eyes, but I wipe them away as quickly as they fall before continuing. "And you're not a bad person, Gally. Just because you're quick to anger doesn't mean that you're a bad person."

He nods, closing his eyes tightly shut.

"You haven't murdered someone, right?" I ask. Gally lets out a small chuckle, shaking his head in my hands. "Then you're not a bad person." I say with a small smile.

Gally slowly pulls away from me, staring back at his hands in his lap once more. He mumbles something, but I can't hear it.

"What was that, Galpal?" I ask, tilting my head and furrowing my eyebrows slightly.

"You deserve better." He repeats, his voice still soft. I take one of his hands in mine and press a kiss to it before lacing our fingers together.

"That's what you don't understand." I say with a small smile. He looks over at me, eyebrows furrowed as another tear slowly trickles down his cheek. "There's nothing better than you, my love." 

Gally smiles, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. When we both pull away, I stand up, Gally following after me.

"Now, let's go get you cleaned up." I say, nodding down at his hands. We begin the walk to the Medhut in a comfortable silence, our hands still interlocked. Every once in a while, I feel Gally squeeze my hand lightly, as if to say that he's here and he's not leaving.