Theo let out a small, airy, laugh before tucking both hands into the pocket of his hoodie. His dark brown feathered hair stuck up in varies places as the wind hurled by them. Tequila was aware the he was uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop her from flat out staring at him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t force herself to look away.
He didn’t mind, however, because when she had dared to touch the scars on his face he let her without hesitation. The tips of her fingers slowly traced the scars on his cheeks while her eyes kept darting up to watch his reaction, but he was completely emotionless. She pursed her lips together as her gaze dropped to the ground and her arm fell to her side. After a while she slowly glanced back up at him only to be greeted by his intimidating stare.
She pushed her hair behind her ears before crossing her arms over her chest. “Well are you going to tell me your story?” She grumpily asked.
He shifted feet, “Do I have to?”
She stood there with a blank look on her face and without saying a word she had gave him an answer.
His crystal blue eyes were distant as a sigh escaped his lips. “The memories tend to run into one another and I’m not sure if they really happened or if they were your mother’s stories. You see, she used to talk to about you constantly in class. I guess you could say I was infatuated with you – no I was intrigued, that’s a better word for it.” He smiled as if remembering a pleasant memory. “You would always sit beside me and I remember feeling like I had just won something big. Maybe if I was a bit more outgoing I would have talked to you, but at the time it didn’t matter to me. I was sitting beside a girl whose smile was like air – I couldn’t live without it. Seeing you smile was all that I cared about.”
His face fell and his pool blue eyes were filled with guilt, “Of course the day that you noticed me was also the day you watched your mother die. I never forgave myself for that neither did your father. He would always glare at me or make side comments about who I was and about rumors that were going around. He made my life a living hell, but I couldn’t blame him because I had made his life a living hell too. So I guess that made us even.”
Tequila’s eyebrows furrowed together as she settled her gaze on the ground below her, “Wait,” she said, “What rumors?”
“When people heard about how I saved you they took it the other way. They said that I did it on purpose so your mother wouldn’t live. I was known as the weird kid who had no parents and apparently had killed them as well.” He bit his lip as he looked away.
She knew he was about to fall apart, but she was surprised at how well he was handling himself. For some unknown reason she smiled, not a happy smile, but one that was filled with forgiveness and understanding. But then her smile dropped and the words he had just uttered stung her.
“But you didn’t kill them, I mean maybe you killed that policemen the day you kidnapped me but-“
“I didn’t kill the policemen, another guy did. I never kill anyone; it’s unprofessional of me to do so. I-“ He froze, his mouth hung wide open, as he stumbled backwards. He quickly regained his posture but he was still in shock.
“But I wanted to kill you,” he said in a whisper while his face twisted in disgust, as if he had just eaten something bitter.
Her eyes widen, “Why?”
Theo shook his head at the ground, “Jealously. I was so jealous that I thought if I killed you it would make things alright. That I wouldn’t feel like shit or the memories of what happened that day would just fade away.” He ran his hands through his hair in distress, “I should be the one who is dead, not your mother not my parents. I mean ‘Red Face’ is proof that I’m mentally insane. I’m also a wimp because when I heard of the rumors I immediately gave up and became the lies. I became the murderer that they created.”
“My parents told everyone they met that I was their prized possession, sadly they are both dead and so am I.” He laughed dryly to himself, “At least I thought I was dead.” His eyes met hers and for a second her heart stopped working and she couldn’t breathe. “You brought me back to life. You made me remember the kid I used to be, the kid that my parents would brag about nonstop. And you also made me remember how much I missed seeing you smile.”
He took one step closer and even though he was still a few steps away she still felt nervous, a good kind of nervous. There were words she had on the tip of her tongue but none of them came out, instead she asked something she had no idea she wanted to know.
“Could you tell me about your parents?”
His arms hung limply by his sides as he hung his head down, “I can’t remember how old I was. I’m not sure if it is because I choose not to remember or I just simply can’t, but all I know is that my early years of childhood is completely blank. I was told they were coming home and something happened and they ran off the bridge and drowned.” He frowned, “My mother had said something before she left that morning but I can’t remember what it was.”
Tequila watched as he struggled to keep a straight face and she instantly felt guilty. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked,” she apologized.
He shook it off, “No it’s fine. I’m sure you feel the same way when you talk about your parents.”
She took a deep breath, “Yeah.”
“We’re alike in many ways that I wish we weren’t.”
“Yeah,” she repeated unable to say anything else, unable to feel anything else. She wanted to stop all these flooding emotions from corrupting her mind but she couldn’t. It was then that she realized that emotions like these would drive someone insane – it drove him insane.
She glanced up at him, with a frown, and watched as his head darted up and his eyes meet hers. They stared intensely at one another before Tequila broke the silence.
“You’re not insane, you know, you’ve just hid under a mask for too long. But we all have and there is nothing wrong with that. Because I know deep down you’re still that boy who I sat beside, even though I don’t really remember you, I’m sure you were great.” She sent him a side-ways smile.
He managed to smile back, somehow, and took yet another step forward. “You’re something else Tequila.”
Her smile widened, “What else could I be Theo?”
He laughed as he took another step closer to her before realizing there were no more steps to take. Their bodies were inches away from touching. “Well if I told you I’ll have to kill you after,” he joked.
“You couldn’t kill me, you love me too much,” she froze in her spot as she realized what she had just said. “I didn’t mean-“ she went to explain but Theo quickly stopped her.
“It’s true,” his words were simple but to her heart they were too complex to comprehend. Maybe she didn’t want to decode the meaning to his words, but it was already too late. She was already reading in too much and maybe, just maybe, that was a good thing.
Her eyes lingered on his lips before jumping back up to meet his bright blue eyes that were watching her. “Is it?” She teased.
He couldn’t help but smile at her, but the smile soon disappeared as his eyes zoomed past her. “It’s getting dark, you should go home.”
Just like the playfulness stopped and it was like he had turned ice cold. His shoulders were broad and his posture was intact, but behind the mask he was wearing was someone she wanted back. She wanted him to stop stopping.
“That’s it?” She argued. “You’re just going to tell-“
Theo grabbed her by the shoulders, “Trust me I would rather you stay with me but you need to go home. It’s getting dark and your brothers are probably worried about you.”
She huffed in response, not wanting to agree to anything he had to say.
“Please, jut promise me you’ll go back home. Look me in the eye and promise me you’ll do as I say?” With each word he moved closer and closer to her making it harder and harder to pay attention. She blinked a couple of times before slowly nodding, unsure of what he had just said.
“Yes?” She said weakly.
He rolled his eyes, “Where did you park? I’ll walk you.”
“No,” she demanded, “I am not leaving you.”
”Tequila-“
The sound of a car door slamming made them radio silent and both of their heads snapped in the direction of the source. Tequila let out a barely audible gasp as she stared wide-eyed at the person walking their way.
“You’ve changed a lot since the last time I saw you,” Nero laughed. “You’ve never been handsome but you were never this bad. What happened to your face?” He said as stopped to stand in front of Theo “Hm?”
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A/N: Sorry for the spacing gap but I'm too lazy to change it. Anyways only two more chapters left of this woo. Finally!