It Started With You + Me

Chapter 39: Don't let go

I bit the inside of my lip and folded my arms in irritation. Oh this day just kept getting better and better the cynic in me screamed.

"Nope. I already promised Mia that we were going. And it's late so there's nothing to do at the hotel. It will be fun. I promise."

My mouth hung open at her calm audacity. I blinked rapidly twice and gaped again. My frustration had already peaked. The weight of today was balancing on my shoulders, threatening to rip me down and let me implode .

Pure blind rage flew through me and the next few seconds changed my life, forever....

....

-SHEA'S POV-

"BULLSHIT!" I cursed profusely a slew of swear words lined up in pefect repetition.

I looked down at my bandaged hand and winced. In a feat of anger, I had stupidly punched the wall in my grandmother's cafe kitchen. My knuckles had cracked and a pieces of loose chipped plaster, stone and cement caused the whole of my right hand to scar over. A deep gash ran just above my knuckles, marring the flesh on my hand with scabs. The bandage had the faintest browning blood markings, already partially seeping through the soft cotton.

I didn't even know what we were fighting about. But the pain and sadness in Nina's beautiful chocolate eyes was heart wrenching. But I couldnt stop, I just let my inner anger out, yet through her shouting I could see the remorse building , causing her posture to change and become more slouched and less upbeat. Her tearducts were watery and her eyeballs were glossy and on the verge of spilling over.

I had just got her back, and she was already slipping away...

The clearing of a throat brought me back to reality. "Yes Shea, I told Nika to bring her. And whether you like it or bot, you two are patching this shit up. We all didn't spend thousands of pounds just so we could arrange for you two... idiots to fall out and fight!" I could tell that my cousin's anger was trying to be held at bay, but the irritation was loud and clear.

Of course they arranged this trip. The world was too large for this to be a coincidence. I mentally face-palmed myself for being such an idiot.

"So. You. Are. Staying." I groaned as my cousin forced it upon me. With each word she jabbed her finger at me, causing a perfectly sharpened nail to dig into my chest.

...

"Where is she?" I looked at the time and smirked lazily.

"Should we go and look for them?" I slurred, intoxicated. My sixth beer in my hand. For the past hours I had been stewing in anger. It was true that it took some time to get to our BBQ , as we where having it at our country villa, just like the party last night, but three hours was a long time to be gone.

"Charlie, cousin Aiden," i looked toward at my brother and cousin and smiled a lopesided grin . "Why isn't Nina showing up. Nika promised Mia that she would definitely come. Could you come with me to find them?" I pleaded. Through my slightly drunken state, i could still feel the worry radiating off me. We had just fought, but what was a real couple without the fighting. But this was starting to get on my nerves, something didn't feel right. I needed, to have her by my side. Even if it meant going out at 11pm and find them...

....

-NINA'S POV-

I had had enough. She couldn't just drag me to a party. That I didn't want to go to. She didn't have the authority to force me. She's obviously didn't care anymore. Her indifference was beginning to bother me. 

"Nika, can we please turn around." I pleaded for the gazillionth time this trip. Apparently it was taking her longer to get to their house cause she had no recolection of the place and the GPS may, or may not have been unplugged from the charging cable.

"Dude, its 11 right now, is there any point in still showing up-" I was cut off by the warning in her voice.

"Shut up. I found the country turning."

DAMNINATION! Apparently, street signs and an aincent-looking road map actually worked.

I smiled irritably and bit back a nasty comment . She smirked at my sudden passive expression and opened her mouth to elaborate those very feelings.

And that was when i snapped.

"DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING. I SEE YOUR SMIRK, ALL PLASTERED ACROSS YOUR FUCKING FACE. Stop. I. AM. NOT. SMILING. SO DROP THE DAMNNED ACT AND THE CALM FACADE. YOU ARE NOT. FOOLING ME." I took a sharp intake of breath before I continued my rant. "I can't see him after today. Why can't you understand that? YOU ARE BEING SO FUCKING DIFFICULT. WHY CAN'T YOU JUST ACCEPT THAT I DON'T WANT TO SEE HIM?" I looked over at her, both hands laid out on the steering wheel and her head was bobbing. In the dusky light, i could still see the pale blue headphones plugged into her ears.

My anger had flown through the roof, bust the ceiling and rocketed to the moon... she wasn't even listening.

Without thinking, in a fit of rage I pulled the steering wheel from her grasp and pulled the vehicle to the side, skidding to the side and narrowly missing the curb by a margin. I janked the earbuds out of Nika's ears, shock written all over her face.

I faced her with a deadly glare and opened my mouth to express my anger but her silence terrified me. She just stared in front with her eyes as wide as car headlights. A strange glow filled her pupils and it got brighter and brighter.

Suddenly the scene played out in slow motion. 

"NO!" My head turned to the direction Nika had just shouted at. She flung herself in front of me and instinctively, I curled up into a ball and winced. Tucking my head into my drawn up knees.

The sound of metal against metal rang out clearly in my ears, the reverb echoing throughout the interior of the car. The screech drew zagged lines around my brain sectioning off my senses one by one, until all I felt was an ebbing sense of nunbness and a heavy weight on my lap. My leg had begun throbbing and the pain sliced through it. My vision was blurred by a mass of hair and the milky white airbags.

I coughed repeatedly, unsure why my chest and lungs were feeling so heavy. The seatbelt had found it's way around my neck and it cut into my throat, creating a gaging sensation. I could feel the build up of blood etched into the corner of my mouth. My breathing had suddenly slowed dramatically, the lack of oxygen flow to my brain made me feel light-headed and airy. Like I was high up in the clouds and I probably, wanst comming back.

A figure opened the car door, letting the cool fresh air into the stuffy car. I tried to open my eyes that had fluttered closed a minute ago. I knew my vision was blurred and it was probably deceiving me, but I wanted my final and dying breath to be a happy one, spent with someone I cared about.

"Nika?" My voice came out like a spindle of silk, so delicate, too delicate. "I'm so sorry" with a sharp breath of air I collaspsed letting darkness rush over me. I didn't fight it, no, i welcomed it.

But before I drifted off, I felt warm arms slipping around my body and cradling my head into a wonderfully smelling shoulder. The faintest of words still pierced through my hearing. "I'm sorry Nina, I love you so much. Please don't let go." What was left of my beating heart was wrenched out of my chest in guilt. I could hear the tears in his voice.

I couldn't let go. I refused to let go. This wasn't going to happen. I wasnt prepared for death, i wasn't ready to let go.

My eyes squinted shut  But I had a good feeling. I would be alright.

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Thanks for reading :)

-LG