Alice Avery
I instantly relaxed, my tense body became at ease. "He's awake?" I questioned for certainty in a shocked tone and Trent nodded at me. I stepped forward and I hugged Trent, I was just beyond relived that Link had woken up.
"What are those doctors doing in there?" Razzle asked as I moved away from Trent.
"Just checking that everything is normal with him I guess. They threw me out before I was told anything."
I walked over to the door and peered inside. Link was awake, sitting up with his eyes open. I let out and sigh and a smile formed on my face. I'm glad this was resolved, I knew Ricky would be too.
I took a few steps into the room and waiting for Link to notice me, I hadn't even thought of what his reaction would be once he saw me.
"You're welcome to come in ma'am," a nurse gestured me towards the bed and I hesitated before walking forward.
Once Link saw me he just watched me with a plain look in his face, it sorta creeped me out. I came to his left side and rested my hands on the edge and waited for him to have the first word.
He tilted his head at me, "do I know you?"
The tension was back, my face had fallen completely. I looked to the nurse who just shook her head and rolled her eyes, when facing Link again he had a funny grin on his face.
"You fucking bastard," I mumbled. "You just woke up from a coma and you're already fuckin' around."
"You missed me didn't you?"
"Don't get your hopes up," I joked harmlessly. His eyes shifted as Trent and Razzle walked in.
"You look like shit," Link said once he looked at Trent.
"Have you seen yourself?"
There was a huge elephant in the room that I knew none of us ever wanted to acknowledge. We all fell silent, you could hear a pin echo in the quiet.
"I'm sor-"
"It's not your fault Alice, you know that. He did it, not you." Link cut me off before I could apologize. I saw Trent shoot me a look from the corner of my eye. I guess now that Link was awake him and I would go back to how it used to be.
Trent let out a sigh, "alright both of you out, you aren't needed here."
I let my guard down, I wasn't in the mood for an argument. Link was finally up, that's all I needed.
"I'm glad you're awake," I told Link before Razzle and I walked out of the room.
"Where are you off to now?" Razzle asked me
once we got out to the parking lot.
"I have to see Ricky. I haven't seen in for almost a week and I just need to know for sure that he's okay." I explained, he nodded and smiled casually.
"You've got a heart of gold, you know that?"
I tossed my arms around him and he instantly hugged me back. Razzle was my mentor, like a father figure. "I needed that, thank you Raz."
He just stood there and held me for a few second, letting me know that he was always there when I was in need of comfort.
"I'll see you soon." I promised before leaving to walk back to my car.
I pulled out of the parking lot and began driving to Ricky's place just as the sun was beginning to go set. I've missed Ricky a lot, I missed the feeling he gave me when I was around him, I missed everything about him. Though he changed, this event changed him. It wasn't the idea of change that upset me, it was who he changed into. He acted as if he brought no good into the world, Ricky didn't deserve to feel that way.
I parked my car in the lot and walked through the building up to his apartment. I knocked on his door and waited about a minute until he answered.
"Hey," he greeted in a surprised voice. "What are you doing here?"
I smiled, "Ricky he's awake."
His eyebrows raised and eyes were widened but he was still tense, much more than I've seen before. I welcomed myself inside, his face held a complex expression. I'd be lying if I said I expected his mood to change automatically. I've learned that this is a long road for him and I wanted to be there as he went along it.
"Did Link say anything?"
"Not much no. I didn't stay for long, Trent kicked Razzle and I out."
He didn't reply. My eyebrows furrowed, he appeared nervous and uncertain. He fiddled with his fingers and repeatedly tapped his foot up and down on the floor.
"You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"
"I relapsed, Alice." He told me in an emotionless tone.
My lips parted, I felt ready to cry. I felt like I had failed him when he needed me. "But y-you called me an-and," I threw various words together and just stammered them out.
"I only did it once. I wasn't going to call you I was going to leave you alone but, I made a promise to you."
"I don't care what's going on in our lives, if you need me I'm here right away, okay?" I cupped his face in my hands.
"Okay?" I repeated.
"Okay."
I snaked my arms around his neck and pulled him into a protective embrace. I rubbed his back soothingly and he nuzzled his head into the crook of my neck. I was beginning to realize how possessive we were over each other, like we'd kill for each other. Ricky has made me go insane, brought out things in my that I didn't know existed. Ricky awoke a feeling of mine that horrified me and it was inescapable.
I pulled back, eyeing the black sweatshirt that covered him. I reached for his wrist and slowly rolled up his sleeve, I listened to his unsteady breathing though he let me continue. I brought my lips to his forearm and planted soft, light kisses to his scarred wrist. He relaxed as I brought love to something he considered hideous.
"I wish you could see yourself the way I do," I spoke softly.
He looked into me deeply, "you're gonna make me fall in love with you."
My heart was held in the palm of his hand. He could do whatever he pleased with it, ruin it, it didn't matter. It was his to have, it beat for him.
His thumb traced the outline of my lips until we closed the space between us and he captured my lips with his.
Heaven on earth was real, and it was kissing Ricky Noir.
He pulled away, caressing my cheek as he looked me in the eye. "I wanna take you somewhere."
*
Ricky and I stood outside of a gated graveyard in the pitch black darkness. We each held a flashlight in our hand and I flashed the light to find the opening gates locked.
I caged the small flashlight with my teeth and climbed to the top of the gate then jumped down to land on the other side.
"Your turn," I laughed as a I watched him struggle up.
"Bully." He muttered before hoping down to join me on the ground.
We made our way to the concrete path and walked through the cemetery, ignoring the fact that we just checked off another illegal activity. "So why are we in a graveyard, is this our first date?"
"You think I'd take you to a field of dead people for a date?"
I gave him a funny look and spit out a short laugh, "have you met either of us?"
He rolled his eyes but paired it with a smile, "you're such a fucking loser."
"Thanks baby," I grinned and pecked him in the cheek. "Your suspense is killing me, what are we doing here?" I asked again as he slung his arm over my shoulder, my fingers intertwined with his.
"I want you to meet someone."
Ricky then stopped in front of a grave, the large tombstone read two names. Robin Noir, Richard Noir.
"Your parents were buried together?" He nodded in response.
He moved to sit down in front of the grave and I joined. I was nervous, this was extremely personal for him and I didn't want to ruin anything.
"I brought someone with me today." Ricky spoke out, the crickets sang around us in the background. "You'd like her, love her even. Her name is Alice and she's a pain in the ass.
I let out a heartfelt laugh, "your son has the humour of a 15 year old boy so I'm quite positive he's the pain in the ass."
I was speaking to a spirit, something I've never done before. I never had someone important in my life pass away, therefore I never had to grieve and mourn like Ricky did. He's strong, stronger than me.
"I know I've never brought anyone here and I swore I wouldn't but, shit happens when you put a guy in a coma for them."
"Your parent will think I'm a terrible influence." I said with a grin and he laughed lightly. He was happy here, he carried a smile that never left.
"Y'know Mom I still remember that talk you had with me, even after all these years. You told me to find someone that made my reality a dream, a wonderland." He was focused on the words he spoke.
"She's my wonderland, Mom."
He spoke like I wasn't there, it was just him and Robin. My eyes lit up seeing him like this, flooded with joy to talk to his mother again.
I rested my head in his shoulder and just listened to him converse with his mother. Ricky's voice was soft, honest and pure. A totally different side of him that I admired.
"I'll come back to visit you soon, I promise. I love you Mom." He said before lacing his fingers with mine and we both stood to
our feet.
"You ready?" He asked with a kind smile to his face.
"I'm ready," I nodded.
We walked back over to the gates and climbed up back to Ricky's car. "You're telling you mother about me, you must really like me." I teased after we both sat ourselves in the car.
"Thank you for coming with me," he thanked before starting the engine. His hand stayed held with mine as we drove away.
I played with the rings on Ricky's fingers and hummed to the beat of the song on the radio. Mötley Crüe's Home Sweet Home.
I chuckled, "do you remember this song?"
"Course I do, you were playing it on the roof after your race against Trent." He reminded me of the treacherous yet memorable night. "That night changed everything, we were in such a different place."
"It was only a month ago."
"No shit," he laughed. "Time flies huh?"
"Yeah, I guess it does." I spoke as I quickly reminisced this past month.
The silence roamed for awhile as we neared back to Ricky's apartment. I studied the detailed rings he wore, the one on his ring finger caught my attention. A silver band with a large purple gem in the centre.
"I like this one," I admired. "Purple's my favourite colour."
Ricky pulled into his usual parking spot out front and turned the car off.
He pulled the ring off his finger, "it's yours on one condition."
I shifted my body to face him, "and what's that."
"You can never take it off."
"I wouldn't dare," I whispered with a cheery smile on my face.
He grabbed my hand and slide the ring onto my finger, kissing the ring before he let my hand fall.
"You'll never take it off."
"I'll never take it off," I assured him.
Ricky and I left from the car and went up to his apartment, I decided on staying the night and changed into a pair of his sweats. I laid in Ricky's bed, his arms wrapped tightly around my waist.
"Ricky?" I spoke into the quiet, "you only talked to your mother tonight."
I heard him let out a small sigh and I scolded myself for bringing it up. It was touchy subject, though he let me in.
"I've never talked to him, only my mother." Ricky's voice was barren as he told me the reason. "He blamed me for a lot of things my mother would go through, the drinking, the drugs." He paused, inching away from me I turned over and came face to face with him. "He blamed me for her death."
I felt nothing but pure hatred for his father, Ricky was just a child when he was harshly blamed for the death of his very own mother.
"I have this voice in my head," he continued. "It's my fathers, it comes out when I feel like- when I feel like relapsing." Ricky's voice hit a near whisper, a sadden crack in his voice at his last word.
"This afternoon-"
"This afternoon he was in my head; provoked me." Ricky answered before I could ask.
"You're a lot stronger than you think," I told
him. "People need you, I need you."
Ricky pulled me onto his chest and kissed my cheek before whispering in my ear, "I don't ever want to live in a world without you."
A/N
Hello darlings, hello!
Just to clarify, Ricky is not a schizophrenic. He has the ability to make his fathers voice go away but right now that very voice just overpowers him.
As for the next chapter,
Sweet dreams.....