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I look at the doorknob and frown, someone had fixed it and I had no idea who to thank. I step inside my apartment that I expected to be a havoc as I had left it but everything was put in the bin and some posters taped together and placed back on the wall. I look at the rattling keys to the new doorknob and my frown deepens when I see new flash comics next to it.
Maximus Bartholomew was the cleaning culprit and I was suddenly not very grateful about it.
"You know this doesn't mean I have forgiven you Maximus Bartholomew!" I walk towards my room because for some reason I knew he'd be there and he was, with confusion painting his features. My rage peaks to the roof at his dumbfounded face, he had the audacity to look confused? He shouldn't even be here anyways, after all I was just a nobody.
"Yeah I'm really sorry they broke in, apparently they tipped one of my bodyguards to tell them when we were coming back so that they can broadcast the rumours while we were back. They are so fucked up," My heart felt heavy at him referring to us as 'rumours' and I couldn't stand to look at his pretty face that was acting like it didn't know what it had done.
"Get the fuck out of my house Maximus!" I point towards the window instead of the door.
"You swore?" He looks at the window than back at me, acting deliberately more stupid which made me want to throw him out the window myself.
"Just get the fuck out of here Max!"
"Why?"
"It's creepy to welcome yourself into people's home without their consent," it was true, it was creepy and after todays denial I wonder who he thought he was to be standing in my apartment and cleaning it and acting like he wasn't in the wrong
"I'm sorry I didn't mean to be creepy," he stares at me but doesn't move towards the window I was frustratingly pointing at. I wanted to punch him because he looked so genuine and handsome that I found myself falling in love with the hypnotising waves of his eyes instead of loathing his presence.
"Tell me what's wrong."
"I'm a nobody right? Then get the fuck out of this nobodies house," this was the most I had sworn in a long time and I had to breath in to compose myself.
"Wha-" I cut his act off.
"You stalk me, you get close to me, you kiss me, you manipulate me into liking you just so you can use me as a pity case ! Just so that everyone forgets about those kids! Just so that you gain social acceptance! Well congratulations you've lost a friend and have gained the social acceptance you have been striving for," I breath in and look towards the floor feeling tears prickling my eyes but I was not going to let a man see me cry, especially a man that has manipulated me like he has and used me like I was just a worthless object.
"I didn't stalk you, and I didn't do any of those things to use you, I just...I-"
"You just what!?"
"I love you Hales Adams," my mind goes blank, I couldn't think of what to say anymore at that unexpected confession....but that was exactly why he said those words he wanted to manipulate me even further and I found my fury boiling hotter instead when I realised what he was doing.
"Stop it, just stop it! Get out!" A look of hurt flashes on his face but it goes as quickly as it came when he nods and starts walking towards the window. I breath in and almost let the tears drop but he turns back around and I sniff them back in.
"And do you still think I killed those kids?" I raise my head to look at him and even in the dark I could see the pain in his eyes and I regret bringing them up because I knew he didn't. Although he used me like some tool I knew he wasn't capable of killing anyone. I should control what I say when I'm angry because now I've unnecessarily hurt him. But he hurt me first.
"There aren't any claims that you didn't," I turn away from him and walk towards the sitting room because the tears were now threatening to spill.
"There isn't any evidence I did kill them. I thought you out of all people would believe me and whatever I said today I didn't say it to hurt you, I said it to protect you from the media," I clench my fist by my side and feel my nails digging into my flesh. What part of 'get out' did this man not understand. I didn't need more of his lies I just needed time to myself. I just needed to cry.
"I don't need you or anyone's protection! I'm very well off myself so no need to act like a knight in shining armour," He moves closer and I was getting agitated that he wasn't leaving me. I needed to cry and I couldn't in front of the man that hurt me and denied me in front of the whole world.
"Im not saying you need protection and what I'm about to say isn't to gain your sympathy or to manipulate you but for you to see the extent they go to for a good story," I hear him fiddling with something but I don't bother to turn around to see what it was.
"They killed the kids. They did it to get revenge on me for attacking them at Sam's funeral and to fuel the fire that I had ignited by attacking them. They wanted me to be seen as a psychopath. The prince who lost it," his voice was slightly breaking and it took me all of my willpower to not turn around. I knew that, I had connected the dots before he even told me but now that he was confirming my suspicions I found myself more sickened by them for killing two kids for the sake of a story. For the sake of hurting someone's reputation. These people weren't human and all they cared about was good stories and money. The extents they'd go to was sickening and inhumane. I firmly believed that no parent should attend their children's funeral and them causing these parents to attend these funerals for a story made me mad.
"I don't want them to harm you for a good story and I know you wouldn't like bodyguards stalking you so thats why I kept it under the radar. Im sorry, I didn't know it'd hurt you," I believed him but I just wanted him out of my life. I wanted a relationship where we were free without the constant pressure society will bestow upon us. I didn't need to be in a relationship where I was denied worldwide for my protection, I didn't want fame but being denied hurts. He could have said we were friends, which we were and I'm sure they wouldn't have done anything bad.
Yet here we were, before they even got any clarification on our relationship they still ripped my house apart so maybe what he did was what was meant to be done. I didn't like it nor was I ready for it so he needed to step out of my life before I caught any more feelings for him and it was too late.
"Max I understand why you did what you did, but we can't continue being acquainted," I hear some more rustling and I decide to turn around to look at him because the tears were now maintained.
"I understand, I'm deeply sorry for invading your life like this," I nod and he nods back, both of us not moving. We weren't dating but this felt like a breakup and it was aching me. I really liked him around but now for the sake of both of us we needed to move on. We could no longer be aquatinted and I wanted to take my words back but I knew it was necessary. For both my safety and the people I loved. If they were able to kill two kids for the sake of a story, God knows how far they'd stoop and I was not going to take that unnecessary risk. His eyes turn glassy and he nods one more time before walking towards the sill.
"Max..." I stop him.
"Yes?" It was an optimistic yes that made me want to breakdown right then and there.
"Bring them to justice, the kids," he needed to.
"I already have, the murderers are behind bars and the whole organisation behind these malicious acts are going to be closed down soon enough. There is ongoing investigation ." That was somewhat of a relief but why did he keep this under the radar? The world deserved to know that he wasn't the bad guy. When the rumours of Maximus killing two innocent kids surfaced, I hated him. I thought, who in their right minds would kill innocent kids? I indeed portrayed him as a psychopath. I knew that I wasn't the only one who had hated him, most of us did, most wished him dead for a crime he did not commit. Although nothing was published about it, rumours with no credible evidence were enough to kill.
"Then tell the world about it! People still think you did it and they hate you for it," he glance at me from the side and then shrugs.
"Let them believe what they want to believe," I shake my head and I'm about to move closer to him but I restrain myself.
"No, no one deserves to be hated for something they have not done, although you act like you don't care about it I know you do. I know you want to be good king for them and to make Sam proud and you can't be a good king if they hate you. Once you bring the whole organisation down make it known with facts and evidence unlike them, let people restore trust in their future king," he turns to look at me and I smile at him, a small smile to show that I had trust in him.
"Thank you for being part of my life in this short time I've known you Hales," that must now come to an end. He turns back around and jumps out the window leaving only the chilly wind and me. I let some time pass before walking towards the window and glancing out, he wasn't there, just the buzzing cars, the twinkling street lights and the deepening silence in my room.
There were not many tears as I had calculated. Maybe because it didn't end in a messy way, everything was not left unturned. All there was just the regretful pinch and overwhelming loneliness I felt that would eventually fade with time. I pull myself to sit by the window sill and stare at the busy road that never seemed to sleep. There were always cars honking and buzzing and I found myself getting accustomed to the buzzing silence.
I found myself wondering if he really meant what he said about loving me or if he just said it to shut me up and calm me down. But nevertheless the words started to make my stomach flutter now that I was thinking about them and I find myself smiling at the cars below. Apparently my prosthesis isn't a key characteristic and I had no reason to worry about it constantly. People could see me for me and not see me because of it. I wasn't a mutant, I was human, incomplete like every other human and it felt nice coming in terms with that.
My thoughts are cut short by the doorbell. I groan and jump off the window sill and walk towards the door expecting Sam but opening to a smiling Logan.
"Hey unexpected guest?" He jiggles around a container he was holding.
"I made sphaggetto and decided to be generous so I have come to share with my favourite neighbour!" I laugh and push the door wide open for him to enter.
"Wow your apartment looks new," I look around the apartment with him and feel the lonely feeling in my chest expanding. It made me remember that Maximus was now out of my life permanently but for the best.
"Thanks, I had some help," I enter the kitchen with Logan trailing behind me and set the table for both of us. All the while thinking that maybe it was time for me to have a new look too. If I had a new look that'd mean I wouldn't be able to recognise the wreck I am and maybe that'd just help clean the wreck in me a bit.
"Would I look pretty with pink hair Logan," I watch him place the spaghetti on my plate before placing it on his own. He looks up at me and tilts his head as if he was picturing me with pink hair.
"Nahh, you have pretty green eyes I think you should dye it black to make them stand out more," I swirl the spaghetti around my fork not having any appetite but also not wanting to make Logan feel bad.
"What about short hair?" He was almost halfway done with his spaghetti and I hadn't even started yet.
"You'd rock short hair," I look back down at my plate. I had zero appetite but decide to shove the spaghetti in my mouth and I regret it because I felt like gagging the minute they came to contact with my tastebuds. I give a fake satisfactory moan to push back the gag. They were the most horrible spaghetti I had ever tasted and I had a plateful of them with the chef a meter away from me smiling giddily. At least it was the thought that mattered. I forcefully swallow the spaghetti that felt like swallowing a hairball and shove another forkful giving another exaggerated satisfactory moan. Logan was smiling proudly and it made me feel bad that I wanted to throw it away and burn it and hope no other organism ever comes into contact with it. How the heck was he done with his own plate?
"You know this spaghetti is so good I wouldn't want to finish it right now, Im going to save it for later when Im watching a movie," I stand up with the dish and look at it in despair but a part of me was feeling all warm at his thoughtfulness. I put the plate down and look at him. He was fidgeting with the forks consumed in his own little world, his existence not revolving around the world's validation. Wouldn't it have been simple if I liked this man who bought me bad spaghetti at night instead of the man that comes with society's pressure?
"Logan..." he looks up at me and smiles. He also has never inquired about my prosthesis and not once have I doubted his intentions of befriending me, not once had I have to think I was being used to gain validation. He was a normal man with a normal life. Why couldn't I have liked him instead?
"Would you cut my hair?"
"Where are the scissors?" I pull them out from the cabinet. They were no longer going to be kitchen scissors.
"And dye my hair black?"
"Where's the dye?"
"We can go buy some downstairs at that supermarket," I smile as his eyes lit up like he has been given the most exciting activity in his whole life. No questions, just excitement to play with my hair.
"Girl... you know Im down for it!"