Darcy
If Ian knew she was the real reason why I was so miserable, he'd kill me. The thing was, at that point I didn't even care any more. Our friendship was already damaged beyond repair.
I needed to talk to her.
She just stood there, looking at me as though she couldn't quite believe I was there, in front of her.
I looked at her. “I think you're wrong”, I said. I wanted to scream it at her.
“What?” Her brows furrowed in confusion. Rain was dripping down her nose.
“I said, you're wrong.” I repeated. “You say we would never work together, but I think you're wrong. We'd be perfect for each other, and you know it, too.”
And she did. I could see it in her eyes.
“I've told you before, we can make it work”, I rushed on. “Ian will understand. If there is one person who could forgive us for this, it would be him. You just have to give us a chance.”
“Please”,was all she said, and now I was the one who was confused. What did that mean?
Before I could say anything more, she rushed past me.
She only got a small head start before I went after her.
“Allie, wait!”
She stopped. I didn't expect her to, but she did.
“Just stay away, please”, Allie said, her voice weak and trembling. “You're messing up everything. Don't make it worse.”
“You're making it worse”, I replied, suddenly loosing my cool. I just wanted her to admit it. I wanted her to stop running into the arms of that someone who was 'comfortable and safe'. I wanted her to look inside herself and find out which one of us she truly wanted to be with. If it wasn't me, fine. She at least had to give us a chance, though.
“You and your stupid safety nets. Just take a risk, dammit. Make that jump, and I swear I'll be there to catch you at the bottom.”
“What if I don't want you to?” I could barely hear her over the pounding of the rain . “What if I'm not worth catching?”
I didn't think my next move through. I reached out, wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her close.
“You're worth it to me.”
And then I kissed her.
It wasn't a sweet kiss, and it was definitely not an innocent one. I was desperate, and I wasn't going to hold back. It only took a moment for her to succumb to it and return the kiss with equal desperation. The world around us disappeared. A plane could have crashed beside us and I wouldn't have noticed.
Suddenly, she was ripped away from me. Something collided with my jaw, and I stumbled back a few steps, trying to regain my balance.
When I looked up, it was my best friend who stood in front of me. Not the one I wanted to see at that moment, though.
“What the fuck?! What the actual fuck do you think you're doing?!” he shouted directly into my face. Never in my life had I seen Ian like this. He was always the calm, collected, rational one of the two of us. But now, standing there in front of me, mad with rage, I almost didn't recognise him.
“I'm sorry.” I said, but I didn't say it to him. I said it for the comfort of those big, brown eyes which were looking at me from behind his shoulder.
I think Ian knew I hadn't apologised to him. And in all earnestness, a simply 'I'm sorry' probably wasn't going to cut it in this case.
He came at me again, swinging his fists in a practised manner, considering Ian had only gotten in a handful of fistfights in his lifetime.
I let him hit me, not even trying to defend myself, which seemed to only make him madder. I noticed people were peeking out the library doors to see what was going on. Nobody ventured further than that, though, probably not wanting to get wet.
“Do something, you arsehole!” Ian spat through clenched teeth. “Don't just stand there and do nothing!”
I didn't. I took one hit after the next, not willing to comply with his demands.
Allie's voice cut through his words, high and panicked, yelling at us to stop.
Her figure faded into the background, as Ian punched me again. He got another good right hook and then went for my middle. He knocked the breath right out of me, making me see stars. We tumbled to the ground and Ian landed punch after punch. This went on for a while. How long, I couldn't exactly say.
I decided to put an end eventually, when he didn't seem to show any intention of stopping any time soon. My nose was bleeding, and my ribs would have bruises all over for a couple of days. I took the opportunity, when Ian paused for a moment,catching his breath, to grab both his arms by the wrist, swing my leg over his torso and flip us both over, giving me a chance to get back on my feet.
As I stood stood up, Ian got to his feet as well, and for a moment I thought he might attack me again, but he just stood there. He stared at me with the most hateful, bitter expression I had ever seen.
I was his enemy now. I understood that. I had betrayed his trust, and I would probably never get it back.
“You know”, he said, “the funny thing is, I never would have thought you'd be capable of something like this.” He gave a cruel laugh. “Hell, I honestly thought I could trust you with everything. You are—or were—my best friend. Once upon a time we even made that pact, do you remember? Where we said we weren't going to let any girl come between us. Well, I guess it was stupid to believe in that.”
So he did remember the pact we'd made.
“I'm sorry”, I simply said again. This time it was truly meant for him, though.
I didn't pause to look over my shoulder as I walked away.
I heard Ian shout behind me, “I thought we were friends! I guess I was wrong!”
And I kept walking, wishing I had something to say.