alight. : a fireafy fic

Chapter Nine

Firey could swear he could hear the sound of the blood pumping through his ears.

The pulse in his eardrums was deafening as he processed what he saw. He stood up from his bed, slowly staggering his way out of his bedroom. He felt hot. He didn't know what was going on anymore. He just felt hurt and hot.

Although he had only seen the photo once, it was burned into his brain forever. The feeling of betrayal was incredible. The image kept flashing through his mind, making his head seemingly spin in circles to the point where he was dizzy just by walking straight.

She looked so in LOVE with Snowball. She had never looked at him like that. He couldn't even remember the picture anymore. Any memory of it was replaced with a raging, scarlet red. It was revolting. He was unbelievably disgusted. He was...jealous.

At this point, he was nothing more than a heartbroken loser. And for Firey, who was popular all his life, this realization came with embarrassment.

Needle had humiliated him. Snowball had ruined him.

He hurt too much to cry. He was too angry to cry. He didn't even want to cry. He just wanted to know, why, why, WHY.

Why was this happening? Why did she do this?

The confusion turned into anger. The hurt was now replaced with nothing but rage.

The questions were spinning around him like a flurry of snow, suffocating, smothering him until it was too hard to breathe. It was hurting to breathe. He threw the door to his apartment open. The doorknob collided with his wall, breaking it inwards until a very large hole presented itself in his drywall.

He didn't care. He couldn't care. Why. Why.

He stormed to Needle's apartment. He hadn't seen her in almost 5 days. He wanted to give her some space, and try to get himself under control at the same time. He figured she'd be thankful for his efforts.

This is what she repays him with??? Why???

He pounded on her door, and the silverhead answered it with a bemused expression.

Without pausing, Firey grabbed her by the shoulders and lifted her into the air, slamming her thin body against the wall.

No time for apologies. No time for excuses. Too many questions. All of them needed answers. He wanted some fucking answers.

But for some reason, his voice was unable to formulate any questions. All his voice did was accuse.

"You!" His exasperated voice bounced off the walls of the apartment. "You two timing slut!"

Needle kicked her feet, and once she determined she would be unable to free herself from his grasp, glared at him sharply.

"You have no right to call me names," she bit back. "Do you even know what you've done?"

Firey growled. "Of course I did! I was trying to make it up to you!"

"By ignoring me for almost a week?"

"No!"

"By being in love with Leafy?"

"Wh-" Firey shook his head in shock. "What are you talking about? I'm not in love with Leafy, and this is about you CHEATING on me!"

Needle flinched at his words before looking away.

"What was I supposed to do? You wouldn't let me leave. You almost assaulted me. You didn't understand that I don't want you anymore. Snowball, he treats me so nicely. He's kind and gentle with me."

Firey didn't even know what to say. He felt the hair rise on the back of his neck, the anger and discomfort prickling down his back. He tightened his grip on Needle and opened his mouth to speak, probably to say something snarky, but Firey wasn't thinking anymore. He stopped thinking long, long ago.

He stopped thinking long before he started dating Needle.

Needle's eyes snapped back up to meet Firey's. The look in her eyes was one Firey had never seen before, and it scared him. The ginger boy quickly shut his mouth, too scared to interrupt her at this point.

"You've been treating me like shit." Needle's stern voice seemingly echoed. "Put me down."

Firey's discomfort soon enveloped every other emotion coursing throughout him until it was all he felt. He gently lowered her onto the ground.

When her feet touched the ground, he gulped. He was unsure about himself now.

Needle pointed an accusatory finger at him. "The way you treat me-" she jabbed him in the chest, "is filthy. You think the world revolves around you? It doesn't. You're selfish!"

Firey's eyebrows knitted together with worry as his eyes grew wide with shock. He's selfish?

"You think I'm stupid? You think I can't tell?" Needle's voice was getting shrill and incredulous. "You kept drinking away our night. You didn't want me in the first place! When you ordered me to stay with you, you wanted me to be like Leafy."

Firey pressed his lips into a tight line. "How does th-"

"Because," Needle cut him off abruptly, "No matter how many times you mistreated her. No matter how many times you've been an absolute dickhead to her, calling her a 'friend' when she wanted more than that the whole time, Leafy stayed with you. Leafy never asked to break things off. When I did so, you lost your temper!"

The ginger boy could feel his blood pressure rising exponentially.

Needle took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. When she spoke again, her voice was quieter. "You want me to be like Leafy, and I just want you to know, that's impossible. Face yourself, you're not in love with me, you're still in love with her! You hear me?

The ginger boy's breath hitched in his throat. The guilt flooded into every bit of his bloodstream, every crevice of his body, every little bit of his consciousness. Guilty. Deep down, he knew Needle was right. She was a smart girl.

He looked at the ground, no longer able to look the girl in the face. How could he? A guilty person knows when they are guilty.

He was guilty.

He stared at the ground, shuffling his feet. But Needle wasn't done. The final blow seemed to prove too much for Firey to handle.

"This is a wake up call, Firey! Get yourself together! You and I are over!"

Despair set Firey alight.