alight. : a fireafy fic

Chapter Eleven

Firey awoke to familiar surroundings, but his head hurt too much to quite place his location. His blurry vision focused on the coral painted walls of the bathroom, but although he knew he had seen this color many times in a positive note, he had a residual feeling of dread resounding in the back of his mind.

It clicked. Very suddenly, actually. He was at Leafy's apartment. Only Leafy would paint her walls mint green. It was her favorite color.

Firey bolted upright in the bathtub and his head seemed to give him a sharp jolt of pain as a reward. He hugged his knees to his chest in an effort to curb the intense need to vomit. After a few brief minutes, he felt as if he was able sit upright normally.

He sat in the bathtub, his posture unsteady as the gears in his head began to turn. Why was he at Leafy's apartment? How did he get here? Why did she let him in, if she did? He slowly got to his feet and stepped out of the bathtub.

Oh yeah, why was he in the bathtub?

He looked around his surroundings.

Leafy seemed to have gotten quickly used to him not being there. One coral-orange plastic toothbrush on the counter. No men's body wash in the bathtub caddy. She no longer had a men's safety razor propped up against the soap dish. Leafy's bathroom, which once held the air of an unlikely, but loving couple, was now bare in romantics. Now, anyone can conclude this bathroom belonged to a single girl.

He never picked up his bathroom stuff after he broke things off. She must have thrown everything that belonged to him away.

Upon opening the door to the bathroom, Firey was met with the sight of Leafy cuddling a cat on her couch.

Where did she get a cat?

There were so many questions.

Leafy didn't turn around as she, somehow, answered one of them. "I got him from the pet store."

Firey furrowed his eyebrows, his head spinning wildly. "Did I ask that out loud?"

The green-haired girl finally turned towards him. "Yes." She sat up, cradling the cat in her arms. "Now that you're awake, you can leave."

Firey was taken aback. "What?"

Leafy narrowed her eyes. "We aren't associated with each other anymore, Firey. So yes, it's time for you to leave."

Firey looked at the floor, ignoring his headache. "I don't want to leave though. I- well. Leafy, can I say something?"

He wasn't sure what he was going to say.

"No."

The ginger boy frowned. "I'm not leaving, then. Not until I say what's on my mind."

Leafy deadpanned. "What mind?"

Fiery scoffed. "I'm a sane individual capable of thinking. I'm not an idiot."

He didn't know what was on his mind. He just wanted to stall. He's an idiot.

Seeing her face had evoked a strange sense of longing from deep within. He looked at what she was watching.

Some TV drama.

Very reflective of their current situation.

That was unimportant right now. Firey's eyes traced alongside the bottom of the TV towards the stand. The golden picture frames were no longer there. The pictures that forever encaptured happier times were just... gone.

Did she throw those away too?

Leafy huffed angrily. "You should consider yourself lucky I even let you into my house. For all I know, you deserve to sleep out in the fucking rain."

Interrupting his thoughts, Firey snapped his head up and looked at Leafy in alarm. How could she say that? He didn't recall Leafy being this harsh. Ever. She was always kind, sweet, and gentle.

"I can't believe I let you call me selfish," the girl continued, her voice steadily raising in volume. "You don't even know the half of it. I wanted to share Dream Island with you when I bought it. I didn't want it for myself. I just wanted you. But you left me alone, you neglected me, you worked such late hours I was slowly going insane. I don't know how I even stayed with you..."

Firey was shocked. His mouth fell open to say something, but no words came out. He didn't even realize what Leafy wanted. Did he ever consider her feelings while they were together?

"I've been scraping my life together," Leafy hissed, her voice dripping with poison. "It was difficult at first, but I'm FINALLY getting better. I don't need you. I never did. You're just a fragment of my past that drunkenly came back into my life. What makes you think I'm going to hear you out? Face it, I was never the selfish one. It was always you. Please leave."

He searched Leafy's face. He looked for any sort of compassion within her expression, but he found none. He pressed his lips together, and when he did so, he could have sworn he saw a flicker of... something... from Leafy.

Worry? Love?

No. It couldn't be love.

It will never be love. Not ever again.

He didn't realize his amber eyes had started watering. The tears were stinging unbearably at the corners of his eyes, and he shut his eyes in an attempt to stop himself from crying.

Before he knew it, he was choking on his own sobs.