It's All in the Eyes

Chapter 7 Bodies Forgotten

His body isn't here. My father's body isn't here. Where is it?

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH." I hear Tobin yell. "Arya! Get out here!"

I run outside and search for Tobin. "Tobin!"

"Arya!"

"Marco!" I yell while turning a corner.

"Pablo!"

"Pablo?"

"Pablo!" Tobin yells as I find him.

"Pablo?" I ask and he shrugs his shoulders.

He leads me to a room in a house. When I see what's in front of me I step back in pure terror.

It's my father's body nailed into the wall. Dried blood cakes his shirt and his eyes lay open, looking off into a distant sky. There's a note pinned onto his body that says:

"You have 30 days to save Rueben and become a part of our army, or you can hide in the islands like a coward. Your choice. Choose wisely."

"No," I say aloud and run backwards until I hit a wall, my eyes never leaving my father's body. My back slides down the wall, memories flashing through me.

Memories of my father holding me and laughing. Memories of picnics and times before the war when things were right with the world.

Tears fall down my cheeks while I scream about the injustice of the world. "He didn't deserve this! All he did to deserve this was fall in love with someone with purple eyes and then he had a kid with her. All he did was fall in love! That's all Rueben did too! He fell in love with a freak and now look where it's got him!"

Tobin comes over and sits by me, a foot of space between us. "Love is the music and color of the world. No one can help falling in love. It's a drug that addicts are happy to be addicted too. That still doesn't mean it's safe."

I look away from my father's body for the first time since I walked in to see it. "How do you know so much about love?" I ask.

"That's not important," Tobin says.

"No," I say back. "You are not keeping anything else from me!"

Tobin looks down at his hands. "Her name was Gemma. She had blonde hair and beautiful green eyes. I fell in love the first time I saw her and I stayed in love. Every time she laughed her eyes would light up. That light was the light to my darkness, the yin to my yang."

"Was?" I ask.

Tobin nods sadly, "Was. She's gone now, but I still love her. I always will."

I don't question further. I remember back to the first time Rueben said that he loved me.

*Flashback*

I looked around to see if anyone was coming. "Clear," I whispered to the person behind me.

"Good," he said and stepped out of the shadows.

The blonde haired boy looked down at me happily. "Arya, I know we've only known each other for a while, but I love you."

I stare at him in shock. "Wait, what?"

"I love you."

"You don't love me, Charles. We've only known each other for a month!" I said.

He folded his arms, "You don't understand love then. It comes at all times."

I was saved from replying when a drunk stumbled out of the tavern we just walked out of. "My love is true, and so is you! For love is you and true!" He belted out. His face was covered in dirt and he had a hood over his head which covered up most of his face.

"Hey!" Charles yelled. "I'm trying to tell my girl that I love her, so shut up!"

"Love," the drunk said, his words slurred, stumbling towards us with drunken steps. "I hate the idea of love."

Charles stood a whole foot taller than the drunk. "Love is beautiful. Tell him Arya."

"I wouldn't know," I said.

Charles looked hurt and he stomped away. "We're over!" He yelled.

"Thank god! You were getting too attached!" I yelled to him. I heard him huff and I laughed. In all truth, I only thought of Charles as a friend and nothing more. The person who really had my heart was gone from my life and I had to except that. Rueben was done with me.

I walked over to the drunk and lifted his hood. I could barely recognize his face, but I still recognized it. I slapped him as hard as I could.

"Ow!" Rueben yelled. "What was that for?"

"That was for leaving me in Henlra! I waited for a week for you to come back, but you didn't! I was so worried about you! Then I realized that you probably just left me there, so I left. We were together for five months, and then you just left me there!" I yelled at him.

He looked taken aback. "I didn't leave you!"

"Yes you did! Do you know the worst part, though?" I asked, angrily. "I still have freaking feelings-"

He cut me off by kissing me. He pulled away, our foreheads touching. "I missed you too."

"Why did you leave?" I asked.

"Well," he says, his words still slurring from being incredibly drunk. "I was kinda taken by some people I owe money too. I got away from them, but that was after you left town."

"You're a terrible liar," I said and started to walk away from him.

He caught up to me. "Okay, that was a lie. The truth is, I started to feel things for you that I didn't understand. Things that scared me. So I ran off." I stopped walking, prompting him to stop also. "I'm sorry I left you there, I just needed to sort things out. The truth is, Arya Helstrom, I love you." He was completely sober then, because of the seriousness of what he just said and the situation.

I smiled at him. I was still angry, but some of the anger had faded. "Love at first chase." I said.

He smiled back at me and we kissed again. "How do I know you won't leave me?" I asked.

"Because even if I try, I won't be able to," he said.

We walked around the streets, staring up at the night sky and just talking.

"How did you find me?" I asked after a while.

"I just followed my heart and the stars." We stopped walking and he held my hand over his heart. "No matter what happens to us, just know that we will always be able to find each other if we let the stars guide us."

I smiled and he pulled me towards him, holding me in his arms. I could have stayed like that forever.

*End of Flashback*

The stars aren't guiding me to him now. I don't know what that means, but it scares me. I need Rueben to come back to me safely because no matter what happens, I will always love him. I will love him forever.

I don't want to become Tobin. A person that keeps secrets and hide's their identity. Most of all, I don't want to loose my love like he lost his. I don't want to become the bitter shell of a person that Tobin is.

I need to find Rueben and I need to be back in his arms.

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A/N

Rurya feels! I can't think of a good ship name for Ruben and Arya, so if you think of one, comment it down below. That'll be the question for this part. Thanks for reading! If you want more flashbacks just tell me and I'll write some more up!

Please vote, comment, and pass this story along to your friends!

First person to come up with a ship name that I like, get's a shout out in one of the upcoming chapters! Thanks!