100 THEME CHALLENGE
CHAPTER 17 – FEAR
He stood, silent tears falling. He felt them splish onto his white school shirt, mixing with his sweat and the smell of her. Occasional droplets caught his hands, wringing the fraying edges of his shirt, but he dared not utter a sound. He dared not risk making the situation worse with pointless frustrated abuse, yells for her to stop, or cries of honesty.
She was leaving.
She was walking away form him, every step she took she pulled his heart along with her. And he stood, watching her go, wishing for her to turn around and tell him she was lying. But nothing could fix this.
She didn't love him anymore,
if she ever had... And nothing could change that. Not all the poetry in the world, not the stars, not the Gods, and especially not he. He who was rough and wild and loved the outdoors, as he believed she did. He who joked about and threw around tender insults that he hadn't meant for her to take to heart. She had been so loving and beautiful and feisty and strong. While he felt so insecure, confused, and tactless.
But he loved her.
He didn't want to admit such a pathetic weakness, but he couldn't run away from this. The one who made him feel strong was striding away, off towards a sun which bled fire over the horizon. In his mind he ran after her, tugged at her arm, pleaded with his eyes what mere words couldn't describe.
He turned away.
So instead, he slowly dragged one foot from behind the other and pulled himself away from her. Slumping in defeat and feeling out of breath, he struggled forward, away from her.
And when she looked back, he wasn't there.