She looked at me, green eyes full of joy. I glanced back, just as joyful. We stared into each other's eyes with massive grins on our faces. With a giggle, she reached out her pinky, and I raised mine. "Pinky promise?" I linked our pinkies together and stepped closer. With our foreheads touching I whispered.
"Pinky promise."
The sun rolled down the hills without a sound, leaving us in the dark. I could hear her parents calling for her from below, so with a sigh, I helped her up. It was our tradition to climb the steep hill behind the row of red houses - where she lived - to watch the sunset. We'd do it every evening, even when it was raining or snowing.
"Tomorrow at five?" I saw her turn around, so I waved at her. "At five, like always!" After she nodded at me, she was gone. The only proof that was left of our quality time on this hill was the marks of her boots in the moss. There were no clouds on that night, so the stars shone clearly above me. I laid on my back, keeping my eyes on the stars; scared to blink in case they'd just disappear once I wasn't looking.
The sound of Grace's porch light turning on was faint, but I could hear it. It was already pretty late; I should probably go home too. But somehow, I couldn't find the strength to get up, my feet were almost glued to my spot. I'd have to stay for a while.
The air got colder and colder with each second, but I couldn't seem to bother picking up my scarf to wrap it around me. It just laid there, dead on the ground next to me. Suddenly, a thought approached my usually silent head. Then another one, and one more; I didn't remember inviting them, they were trespassing. Memories began playing before my eyes like movies; I could remember meeting Grace's parents for the first time.
"Grace, whose child is this?" Grace's mother, Eve, scoffed with an unpleasant scowl. Eve's husband, Rick, bumped her shoulder - pushing her over slightly. "Dear, don't be rude: Grace finally brought a friend over!" I didn't do anything but latch onto my own arm while avoiding eye contact with the adults that were now quarreling.
"I'm sorry Alex, they're always like this.." Grace whispered to me while casting an embarrassed glance to the left. Without saying anything, I grabbed onto her hand and hid it behind my back; I knew they would never support us, from what Grace had told me. Eve and Rick didn't notice when we snuck up the stairs whilst holding hands. I was lead into a bedroom with yellow-ish walls and wooden floor.
"I knew it was a bad idea to bring you here, I'm sorry.." It was silent for a few seconds before I sat down onto the bed next to her. "I'm glad you brought me here. Even though your parents are shit, I got to see the place you were raised in." My shoulder got heavier as Grace added weight on it, she rested her head on my shoulder with a small smile on her lips.
"I love you, Alex.. I'll never let go of this happiness." I never got to express myself to her before her mother stormed into the room, red in the face, and ripped up apart.
I'd never been at Grace's house since. Every time Grace's mother saw me, she'd push Grace forcefully inside and lock all the doors. It might have been true that Grace would have been better off without me, but that didn't mean I was about to leave her. Especially when I knew what was going on behind their closed doors.
My legs began to feel restless, they no longer felt attached to the ground. There was light shining through a window on the second floor; Grace's bedroom window. Without noticing my gaze, she opened the window and rested her elbows on the sill. She was sobbing and heaving while drying her overflowing eyes. But the tears kept coming.
There was something hard in my back pocket, pressing against my leg. Upon further inspection, I made the discovery that it was the flashlight I had brought with me from my house. I held onto it when an idea hit me. While I put the batteries into the battery compartment I could hear Grace inhale deeply. One, two, three. Her sobs came to a halt as she noticed the light flicker at her from the hill, our hill.
"Alex?" Two flashes for yes. At first I though she was about to cry again, but to my surprise, she cracked up into a fit of giggles instead. I loved her laugh. The night silence was soothing, but I missed her voice. Come over... as if she could read my mind she asked silently. "Want to hang out?" Two flashes for yes. The window closed and the light disappeared from the room.
Time ticked by slowly but the sound of the porch door opening and the calm of her footsteps interrupted the silence. When she was close to the top, I grabbed onto her forearms and hauled her towards me. We wasted no time when her body crashed onto mine, I kissed her softly and tasted the salt from her tears.
"Let's go." I lead her away, hand in hand. She decided not to question it, following quietly behind me; her grip tightened and loosened every once in a while but she didn't let go. We stopped outside a worn down hut: my house. The keys clinked softly as they unlocked the door, leaving me to step aside to let her in. The smell of pancakes and magazines entered our nostrils and nostalgia of her last visit entered our memories.
The shoes stood by the wall, close together. The stair steps creaked ever so slightly when we went up to the living room. My house was our secret forte, a safe zone to take a break. She sat down on the couch to watch me make our usual dish; pancakes. It was always worth the time when I watched her face light up as she ate; Grace did love pancakes, after all.
Since I didn't have much electricity to waste we lit some candles. Grace danced around while humming a melody I didn't know. I hugged her from behind and swayed with her while she chuckled. We danced around to Grace's song, my head in the crook of her neck the whole time. I knew they'd be coming to take her away from me in the morning, I had to treasure our time together as much as I could before it was too late.
The dance came to an end and we sat down on the couch together, surrounded by living lights. She relaxed onto me and I took her hands in mine, admiring her skinny fingers. The both of us took a moment to enjoy the others' presence, without saying anything. After a while, she turned her head to look at me with tired, yet happy eyes. "Thank you, Alex." Her eyes began to close without her as her head dropped onto my shoulder. Grace's soft snores reached my ears and I gathered her in my arms to carry her into my bedroom.
I left her on the right side of the bed - the side she liked the most - and covered her up to the neck with sheets. The sound of the door closing made her body jolt slightly, but she didn't wake up. There were a couple of clean t-shirts left, I left a purple one for Grace on her nightstand and picked out a blue one for myself. Of course, I didn't forget to leave a new pair of socks and trousers as well. Grace disliked sleeping in her clothes because they'd smell weird when she woke up. When I brushed my teeth I noticed I had to purchase more water, but I used the water I could regardless.
I crawled under the sheets and cuddled up to her to steal some of her warmth in the cold hut. The time moved slowly as I stared at her sleeping face; her left cheek was slightly red, I didn't have to ask what happened. I put the pieces together by myself.
With droopy eyes I turned my back to her, letting my body relax into the mattress. I fell asleep. In my dream, I sat in a boat, rowing. The boat and I were stranded on an ocean, far from civilization. The waves pushed against the wood, trying to rip it to shreds but they failed miserably. I struggled to keep the boat going forward, the current was too strong; all of a sudden one of the oars broke in two and the boat's direction changed drastically as it headed for some really sharp stones. Just as I lost hope, a voice called for me in the distance and encouraged me to continue.
"Alex!" I jumped out of the boat just in time, the wood tearing apart behind me as I swam towards the islet she sat on. "Alex!" Grace reached for my hand, but before I could grab it the water forced me back. But I didn't give up, I swam towards her again, our fingertips touching; But it was enough to send a shock through my body and throw me out of my dream.
Grace was awake beside me, staring at me with those green eyes; scared stiff. Being shocked awake and then hearing someone nearly blowing down your front door is not very pleasant. With shaky fingers Grace gripped onto my arm, palms sweaty and lips quivering. My left hand connected with her cheek soothingly and I planted a kiss on her forehead to reassure her. "Get changed, I'll take care of it." Another loud bang on the door reminded me of how little time I had left before they illegally broke in to force Grace home.
The second I opened the door I was greeted by a punch to the stomach. "You piece of shit, where's my daughter!" Rick shouted, his entire being engulfed in rage. Recovering from a direct blow took longer than I expected. He grabbed onto my shirt and yanked me towards his face, a nasty scowl evident. "Tell me, where the fuck is she!?" Wheezing, I smirked at him. His rage only grew when I spat at his face. "Why the fuck would I tell you?" I stumbled back when he pushed me away and fell when he kicked me. Another direct hit; I couldn't get up. The air had been knocked out of me. Whilst I was laying sprawled out on the floor, gasping for air I saw a familiar brunette peek at me from behind the bedroom door.
"Alex!"Shit.
When she was close enough to touch me, her father grabbed her by the hair and yanked her his way. My breath hitched in my throat as I witnessed him slapping her across the face. Once, twice; one could see her limbs give up on fighting back as a defeated look overtook her face. "Didn't I tell you to stay the fuck away from this scumbag!" When she whimpered he pulled at her hair again, she tried to cover her ears.
"You're supposed to fucking obey m- what the fuck are you crying on about now?!" Grace's body was shaking under his hand, but I still couldn't move my body to help her out. My hand was automatically reaching towards her, my lips moving on their own. "Gra..ce.." Our fingertips almost made contact. But in that moment Eve decided to jump in, picked up a nearby stick and swatted my hand away from Grace's. "Don't touch my daughter with such filthy hands!"
The defeat we felt was undeniable, what had I been thinking? That I could reason with such people, explain to them? The look in their eyes was the look of pure hatred, I'd never seen someone as angry before.
"I'm so sorry Grace.." Tears I couldn't hold back anymore ran down my cheeks as I made eye contact with my Grace. "It was stupid of me t-" Rick cut me off with a kick to the face. "Don't speak to my daughter with that filthy mouth of yours, fag!" A tooth loosened from the impact and I spat it out, along with some blood. "Dad.. Please stop.. I'm begging yo-" He slapped her again, harder this time. "Shut the fuck up you useless daughter, I'm trying to fix your friend! Be grateful!"
My limbs wouldn't move like I wanted them to at all and I was on the brink of passing out, but I had to defend Grace. "Stop.. Don't hurt.. Grace any.. more.." His eyes feasted upon my bloody face before clicking his tongue in disgust. "Burn in the fiery pits of hell, where you belong, fag." Not even my elbows could hold my weight, I fell again. But I didn't give up, I tried to crawl over to Grace again.
"Dad, stop.. I'm begging you.."
Now all attention was on Grace, and she didn't seem to like it one bit. She glanced at me through her tears, hair covering her face, draped over her shoulders. Picking up her courage she grabbed her father's wrist and weakly led his hand away from her hair. He looked at her, speechless. A fire burnt in her green eyes, the blood oozing from her nose didn't seem to bother her at all when she glared at her dad.
"I love her, don't hurt her." A whole minute passed without anyone saying anything. Grace's hands were shaking, I wish I could hug her and tell her it would be ok. But that would be a lie, right? Rick looked at us: me, then her, then me, then her. He moved his mouth, trying to speak but only soundless grunts came out. "You.." He pushed Grace back to her mother, who grabbed her like she was a price. "You did this."
I was at his mercy now. His shadow loomed over me, reminding me of how weak I was. "How dare you turn my sweet angel into such a thing? It's wrong." Pain filled my heart: people like this really did exist. Ever since I met Grace I had decided to play dumb, to avert my eyes and devote myself to our daydream. But I couldn't run off to a fantasy world where only me and Grace mattered anymore because right before me stood the truth. People with bitter hearts will never be truly happy.
"If this is wrong.. Then I don't want to be right." A kick to my stomach. A punch to my jaw. There was no sense in those eyes of his. Grace screamed my name under water and her father punched air: I couldn't feel a thing. My mind went numb and black dots filled my vision. Grace was carried out the door, followed by her father. The bitter taste of defeat rolled on my tongue as I gave in to the void.
~
It was late on the night and cloudy outside when I came to again. The lights that usually shone from her window was off. Somehow, the hill felt a whole lot emptier now, without a laughing Grace by my side. Maybe we should have ran off instead? If we had done that, Grace wouldn't have been locked in.
I held the flashlight with both hands. Regret. Grace was probably crying rivers under her bed sheets. My heart wasn't in a much better shape, I was ready to burst into tears at any given moment, but I had to stay strong for Grace. The thoughts of the hundreds of things we could've done rather than stayed in bed that night haunted my throbbing head. Had I done the right thing?
The window on the second floor opened and Grace stuck her head out. She looked horrible: black bags under her eyes, a red nose, and red eyes. The tears kept rolling down her cheeks, seemingly without an end. "Two flashes if you're there." I flinched, her voice sounded like nails against a blackboard, not as angelic as it usually did. I fumbled through my pockets, only to find them empty. Agony built up in my chest and I let out a hoarse croak. Once she realized she wasn't getting and answer, the closed her window and locked it one final time.
The only warmth I had left was the one rushing to my head. My tears wouldn't stop, and who could blame me? I cried like a child who had lost her favorite plushie. Grace, whom had been my only comfort up until this point, had been ripped from my tiny hands.
Unfair, so fucking unfair.
Fin.