Picture Perfect: A CaptainSparklez Story {COMPLETE}

Chapter 6: Complications and Confrontations

My eyes were stinging when I awoke the next morning. One side of my pillow was stained with salty remnants of my tears from the previous night. Ruby was passed out along the foot of my bed; her arms dangled over the edge and her legs were up against my wall, her foot obscuring my Minecraft fan-art.  She must've decided to stay with me until I calmed down. I must've worn her out.

I sat up in my bed and rubbed my eyes, which only appeared to worsen the stinging. Blinking rapidly, I glanced at my bedside clock; it was 9:15am.  I had about two hours before I was to meet Jordan.

Jordan, I thought dreamily. He seemed to take my mind off the pain from the night before.

The night before...

I shook my head angrily, trying to keep it out of my head. Remembering the pain seemed enough to increase it. Pain was the last thing I wanted or needed.

All I needed was a shower and my camera.

All I wanted...was Jordan.

As I slowly slid out of bed, I heard the ding of a text message from my phone. I looked down and saw that it was lying on the floor. I assumed it had been knocked over during my night fit.

There was a new message from Jordan flashing in my lock screen.

"Good morning :D hope you haven't forgotten about today. I'll meet you outside the apartments at 11 (:"

I smiled. Even through his text messages, he sounded just as excited as I was.

I quickly hopped out of bed, lightly bumping Ruby's face with my toe, and made my way to the bathroom for a shower.

I turned the water on HIGH and stripped down to my bare skin body. For a moment, the body repulsed me as I gazed through the mirror, taking in the image of the body that had turned against me, using me for another's evil and wrongdoing.

I shut my eyes tightly, trying to tear the memory from my mind. It was too horrible. I'm still not even sure why I held onto it for so long. Perhaps it was because I just couldn't let it go.

Much like how I couldn't let Her go.

I opened my eyes and discovered the fog that now obscured my reflection. I grabbed a hair and body towel from the cabinet, set them on top of the toilet, and stepped into the shower.

Immediately, the hot water struck me like an oncoming truck, catching me by surprise at its intense heat. Yet, despite the heat, it was quite soothing. It felt as if it was burning away all the bad memories and horrible sadness that overcame my demeanor.  Obviously not all of them, but a few

I scrubbed and combed my hair at least a billion times before finally stepping out of the shower. I grabbed my towels and wrapped up my hair and body.

After a fruitful blowdrying, I went back into my bedroom to grab some clothes. That was when I noticed Ruby was gone and a fantastic smell of sizzling bacon and fresh biscuits wafted into my nose.

Ruby was cooking breakfast.

Ruby? Cooking? I thought surprisingly. Never thought I'd see the day.

I grabbed a tight, long sleeved black shirt and a pair or gray skinny jeans. I slid my feet into my laceless Chuck's, grabbed my camera bag, and went to the kitchen.

Ruby was sitting at the kitchen table with her head down. There was a small plate with a strip of bacon and one biscuit in front of her. She appeared to be upset, but I wasn't exactly sure why.

Ruby looked up, acknowledging my presence. Her eyes were teary and bloodshot. Her face was puffy and her nose was slightly red at the tip.

"Oh, Ruby!" I said startlingly. "You've been crying. Is this about last night?"