And meet me there
Bundles of flowers
We’ll wait through the hours of cold
Promise ~ Ben Howard
Tyler
As I drove out the town, I couldn't help but acknowledge the immeasurable ache within me. Although I'd managed to buy Troye roses at two in the morning - which might've made the cashier mutter something about the peculiarities of teenage love - it'd all gone down hill from then on.
Once I’d arrived at the hospital, the receptionist told me I couldn't see him. Because I wasn't a relative, and he wasn't in an unstable condition, I had no valid cause to see him outside visiting hours. My heart sunk deeper than the titanic at her words. I’d desperately wanted to see him, to have one more conversation with him, or even just to see his face one last time. But it wasn't possible - and that fact was a crushing weight to bare.
Instead of walking away, I was charged with a searing rage. A black mist evaporated off my skin. The computer started to spark. Official papers in front of the receptionist started to singe. The plant on the desk burst into the flames. I asked her again to let me though, in as rough a tone as I could muster.
But the receptionist didn't react as I'd hoped. She merely rolled her eyes, cast water over the plant and papers, and told me to leave.
Seeing as my hostile behaviour was having no impact, I admitted defeat. I headed for exit, with my head hanging low. In my anguished state I almost didn't notice the sympathy being placed upon me, until my path was blocked. An understanding nurse looked down at me. He asked if I was okay, and before I knew it I was spilling out all my sorrows. I rattled on for a good few minutes, after which the nurse gave me a sympathetic pat. He was kind enough to offer taking the flowers to Troye’s room for me. By that point, I'd been so past hope that the sudden burst took me entirely by surprise. I was so elated, I could've killed a man if I'd wished - and I'd done that before.
Just before I handed it over, I hurriedly wrote a message for Troye and placed it within the bouquet. I had to hope Troye would see the note - that it would be good enough. I knew deep down words would never be enough, but else could I do? I asked the nurse to chuck the other flowers in the room as well - only because they were wilting, of course... Not because they were from Connor.
Upon leaving the hospital, I contacted some people who were known to be Yokela supporters. Mr Chapman and Ms Burr, who had been regular clients of my mother when she had laundered people's clothes, welcomed me in with open arms. Mr Chapman checked that no one had followed me, before telling me to stay for the day. I was more than happy to do so. I hadn't had the chance to get my head around all that happened, and a rest sounded good to me.
After I'd taken a nap, we talked through the recent developments in the government schemes whilst eating food. They spoke with yearning for a resistance, but it all went over my head. I was more focused on the food in front of me. As the two became sentimental with one another, I zoned out. In my head I figured that as the government - or whichever group Connor had been consorting with - had controlled Troye, they must’ve threatened the most important part of his life: his family. None of them deserved to be put in danger. They were some of the most harmless people I'd ever met. I knew I had to help in some way. At some random interval, interrupting Mr Chapman from compliment his wife once again, I asked if they would check the Mellet’s house for surveillance equipment at some point. The two didn't question why, but agreed to do it. I didn't doubt that they would.
Soon after, it was time to leave town, again. Driving away was harder than before. I ignored the tear that rolled down my cheek, muttering it was just because of the dust in the car. I ignored the growing coldness unravelling inside my chest, saying it was just because it was winter. I ignored the looming loneliness that was oppressing me more and more each minute - but for that one, I had no defence.
As the signpost to leave town came into view, I heard it. A voice. A whispered melodious voice that was carried by the howling wind. Although it was difficult to understand the words, the meaning itself was clear enough. It was calling me to go back to the town - almost like a siren. And like a possessed sailor I complied. Rationality was out the window in an instant. My car swerved dangerously as I changed the course I was on. I just wished the new path was better.
As I drove back the words became clearer, yet the voice itself was growing quieter. Over and over again I was told to go to the place where it ended. I wasn't sure what it was at first, until I passed Ironbay. The place where my relationship ended.
I parked the car a fair distance away, then made my way to the shoreline. I shook with fear, terrified it was a set-up. I was expecting to be ambushed at any moment. But somehow I kept going. I couldn't explain why I didn't turn around and run back to safety. It wasn't that the harmonious voice had possessed me - in fact, the voice was fainter than ever as I walked across the sand. But I was overcome by a new feeling, that convinced me to continue on. I couldn't distinguish what the feeling was, but it was stronger than my entire being, filling me with a warmth no coffee could compare with.
I stood in an alcove on the beach, hidden from sight. In front of me I watched a never-ending sheet of water hit the sand with an almost silent clash. The salt-laden breeze ruffled my hair and tugged at my coat but I didn't move from my spot. I waited as the sky grew darker, as the last few crazed beach-goers packed up and left, as the raucous cries of sea birds died down. Even when it started to rain I waited. It never struck me that I shouldn't stay. I wasn't sure what I was waiting for, but I knew that it was important.
With my acute senses I could pick up the smallest of changes in the world around me. When the sun was setting, I felt the wind change. I was no longer alone.
I scanned the shore, spotting a silhouette printed against the dusky sky. A fragile male curled against the harsh gusts that battered him down. His long coat flapped around him as he prioritised protecting his hair. He was standing so far away some people wouldn't be sure as to who it was. But I always sure, when it came to him. A glimpse of his face reassured me he was not just a mirage.
As I walked across the sand he turned. I caught sight of his face, his fear-stricken eyes glowing in the rose light. When he saw me, it all faded. He let out a breath of uneasiness. We stood staring at each other from across the beach. No words were exchanged. We were surrounded the sound of lapping waves and pounding hearts, embraced by the sunlight as it fell through candy floss clouds and into sleep.
But soon enough the waiting had grown too much. I couldn't keep myself from him for much longer. I ran forward. He ran too. In sync we charged, getting faster and faster as he became more real.
With a short distance between us he opened his arms for me. He caught me in his loving arms, my own wrapping around his neck. My fingers brushed against the straps of a rucksack, but I didn't question it's purpose at that time. Instead I buried my face into the crook of his neck, breathing him in after an infinity apart. When I let out a breath of relief, goosebumps rose up on his neck. His slight scent of seaweed and chocolate enveloped me. I could feel his heartbeat despite the many layers of clothing between us. He was my sanctuary - the only protection I’d ever needed. Even when other’s turned against me he still let me in, still seeing me as innocent.
I moved back, smiling up at him. “Did you miss me?”
“You have no idea.”
But I did, because I was certain I'd felt the same. I didn't need to say it in words - they wouldn't do us justice. But actions... that was another story. With a rush of movement our mouths clashed against one another. The blissful paradise that overcame me lifted me onto my tiptoes, head high in the clouds. I'd missed the elevated feeling that came over me whenever we were in contact. I'd even missed the lilac mist that surrounded us, shielding us from everything else in the world.
We were like that for a while as our lips re-acquainted themselves. When we ran out of air, and the purple fog around us became too thick to control, we let go of one another. In sync we looked out at the sea. After a moment of separation, I felt his hand grasp around mine. I smiled shyly, feeling flustered at the small act of romance. After a comfortable silence, curiosity got the better of me. “Why did you send a message through the air?”
“Dan offered to do it. He said it’d be safer, so that only you'd get it. Don't ask me how he knew that, because that's a dark path I don't want to go down-"
“But why did you send it?”
He turned to face me, giving me an incredulous expression. He opened his mouth to speak.
A shot fired.
Everything slowed down to an excruciating pace. The gun’s scream echoed around us. Our heads whipped round. I noticed the silver bullet, glinting maliciously in the sunset gloom. It sailed towards me - a deadly boat in the air. I tried to cast a spell but I couldn't muster the energy. Neither could Troye. So we did the only thing we could - we started to run.
My feet slammed against the sand as I built up momentum. I could feel the wind blowing right through me, caught within my coat. I could hear the bullet gaining up on me. I tried to go faster - faster than I'd run before. But I’d never been good at running.
Seconds later the bullet had caught up with me. It caught my arm - devouring my might. It tore through my skin as if it were paper. My head was pounding. Blood was escaping in torrents through the open wound. I started to move. Away from it all. The sand was a comforting sight - a good place to rest. A good place to lie. A good place to die.
As my knees bucked beneath me, I was suddenly grabbed in a very firm grip. "I'm not letting you get away that easily." He was next to me in an instant, willing to hold me up relentlessly. He looked across the beach, scanning the shore for the attackers. His body shook with rage. Purple rings of smoke revolved around his arm. A crackle of energy shot through his hands. "Stay close to me.”
I glanced behind us. A dark blue light swirled around his pupil, reminding me of a whirlpool, ready to destroy anything and everything. The water was rising. Like a tsunami wave. The wall of water towered over us, but it didn't fall down. It arched over, heading towards the others on the beach. The people tried to retreat but it was too late. The tidal wave crashed on to the sand with a .
I didn't see it’s devastating effect. Troye was already moving us away from the scene. My vision darkened. My energy drained from me. When my eyes opened again we weren't walking any more. Sheltered in an alcove, I was sat up against the wall, bleeding like a waterfall. He sat in front of me, face hidden by the shadows. As my body finally became aware of the bullet within me, a low groan escaped my lips. He tried to soothe me, taking off my coat in order to get to the bullet. At any other time, I would've made some joke about him taking my clothes off. But the air was thick with apprehension and fear. I just sat back, waiting to have the gash revealed. Troye took in a deep breath from seeing the wound.
Before I could get a look, we heard footsteps above us.
Instantaneously he covered my mouth with his hand. Droplets of my blood that were on his fingers fell against my lips. The metallic taste had me gagging. I wanted him to move his hand, but he gestured me to stay quiet. I stopped moving. I knew any noise could jeopardise us completely. I had to make do with the bitterness if I wanted to survive.
Murmured voices sounded overhead. I couldn't tell what was being said, only that there were two people - one of whom had obviously fucked up.
When the voices were clear enough to hear properly, the first thing I heard was “I've already said I'm sorry."
"Sorry isn't good enough Bryan," the other voice said scathingly. Troye froze at the name - but judging by his indignant expression, I guessed he could've been one of the blackmailers from before.
Troye wasn't the only tense one, but I felt paralysed for another reason. The speaker had a soft voice, slightly croaky, yet laced with warm. It was voice that had haunted me for years.
It sounded like Korey.
The first man, Bryan, started talking again. "I can promise you that we’ll keep him safe when we find him, but-”
“You had one job,” the Korey-sounding one said.
“I know but it's just one mistake-”
“But it's not the first time this has happened. You've made so many mistakes. Too many, if you ask me. And in this job, mistakes can't keep happening. I'm afraid to say I won't be requiring your services any longer."
"Please, you know I've got so much more to give-"
A shrill scream rang out, followed by a snapping noise, like a bone breaking, A loud thud sounded overhead. Only one set of footsteps walked away. I had no doubt that the other set belonged to the Bryan man, who was lying on the earth above us, dead. The silence that followed assured me it was true.
Time trickled by. I sat frozen, terrified as to what had unfurled above. No doubt the task two had set out to do had been to capture us. But who had they been? It couldn't have been Korey. He was dead. So who’d stolen his voice?
Besides me, Troye began to stir again. He warily touched the tender skin around the fresh wound, obviously pained by the sight. It was too dark for me too see it distinctly. All I knew was that there was a lot of blood leaving me. His hand hovered over my arm, seeming to be planning something. “This might a hurt a bit,” he said, voice shaking slightly. "But I promise it'll feel better soon."
I nodded, wanting nothing more than the pain to be over. With a deep breath in, he began to mutter an enchantment. At first, nothing happened. Then, at an excruciatingly slow pace, a blue tendril leaked out his hand. It grazed my skin, changing the hue of my skin.. I winced at the coldness but tried my hardest not to jerk away.
Without warning my skin started to burn. I almost lept up in fright. I glanced down at his hands. Flames rose from his fingers, licking my skin. He retracted his hand, but the fire remained. I watched in horror as my arm caught alight. But instead of growing, it shrunk. All too soon it had died away. In it's wake was... nothing. My skin was anew.
“What the actual fuck,” I breathed, touching my soft skin. There only a minuscule scar left, hardly noticeable unless you knew it was there.
Troye gulped. “I’ll tell you now, this is weird, even for me.”
We looked at one another. In our nervousness we laughed. It forced out the darkness, just for a moment. Of course, darkness always had a way of catching up on us. When the laughter died I was left with unanswered questions plaguing my mind. "How'd they find us?"
"Maybe they saw me leaving the house? It’s not normal just to go out in the dead of night, is it. They set up camera’s around my house a while back.... They said they'd take them down though-"
"And you believed them? Come on Troye, why would they?" Troye gave me a disgruntled glare. I sighed. "I asked some people earlier to check your house for bugging devices, so at least they won't be able to use them much longer."
“Oh... Well, thanks for that,” he said, looking away. Distracting himself from the awkwardness surrounding us, he took off the item from his back, which was in fact a bag. Once he'd sat back, he finally saw my bewildered expression. "What?"
“Why exactly do you have a bag?”
He stared straight out at me, gaze oozing with firmness. “Well, it has everything I need so I can go with you.”
My mouth fell open. I couldn't speak for a bit. My head spun. It was crazy, it was stupid, yet it was everything I wanted. But he couldn't come. I couldn't let him. He had so much more to live for. I would ruin him.
“You can’t-”
He held up his hand. “I can. And I will. I'm already caught up in this. They won’t ever leave me alone. What’s the point in staying here when they’re just going to taunt me forever?”
“They’ll leave you alone eventually, and then everything will be fine.”
“And how long will have to wait for that to happen? I can’t wait for things to maybe happen one day. Even if they ever do leave me, it won’t be fine. I only want to be with you Ty.”
“But you can’t come with me. Your whole life’s here.”
“It’s half a life without you. Everything’s darker. Nothing comes close to being as good as it is with you. I can’t stand it. I shouldn't have to.”
I tried to appeal to another side of him. “What about school? You can’t give up your education.”
“That’s hardly a worry of mine. What I want to pursue doesn't involve the education system."
“You say that now but, what about in ten years, if you decided to go into some field that-?"
"There's no point spending your whole life planning out the future if it's going to make the present a living hell. Besides, if you're worried about my education, what about yours? You're in the same boat.”
"Yeah but-"
“No.”
“But what about your family? Surely they don’t agree with this? Have you told them?”
“Yes of course I've told them! They said they want what’s best for me. And that’s you. I've been feeling worse and worse every day since you've been gone. My veins went all weird and I couldn't focus on anything. But when I'm with you, I'm cured. It's like I'm a stronger version of myself. And I don’t want to lose that again. That’s why I'm coming with you.”
“I still don’t understand why you want to come with me.”
“Listen to my heart," he said, gently taking my hand in his, and placing it over his heart. I could feel his heartbeat - erratic, loud, as familiar to me as my own. "It's been this way for a while, but only when I'm with you. I was stupid not to say it before, but the way I feel for you is far more than infatuation. And I think it’s been more than that for a while. Believe me when I say I wouldn't have it any other way."
“Troye-”
"I’ll risk everything for you Ty, and I'm more than happy to. Because even if it’s too soon, or if I'm too young to say it, it’s true: I love you.”
A/N
This isn't great, and I'm sorry ples don't hate me too much (like a little is okay because I deserve it this chapter was literally just a reunion and urh). I was writing this on my revision breaks and I don't even think it flows properly but I don't think I'll ever be happy with this chapter so I figured I might as well post it sooner rather than later
Just a heads up: if I'm not active on here for a while it’s because I'm revising. If you desperately need me, you can always find me twitter @TroylerToujours because I'm more likely to check that (yes it's shameless self-promo check me out)
A MASSIVE SHOUT OUT TO rachelwedlock WHO MADE AN ALTERNATIVE COVER IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL AND UH LIKE CAN YOU NOT (or khanye-knot hehe haha look at me referencing my own story… I’ll see myself out) BUT SERIOUSLY THANK YOU! WHILST I'M AT IT SHOUT OUT TO CandyLoveOnlyLove WHO WROTE A POEM AND ALSO MADE SOME ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THIS STORY WHICH IS INCREDIBLE SO THANK YOU DEARIE!
Au revoir mes petits pois, love to all and to all a good night!
Emma x
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