My hands are steady as I hold the pill bottle, staring down at it.
I don't want to do it. I really don't. I want to live. I have so many years ahead of me, so many things I haven't done. I want to sky dive, I want to go to Hawaii, I want to go bungee jumping.
Even the simplest things seem so important at this moment. Things like sleeping until noon, watching movies at midnight. And Fang.
I squeeze my eyes shut to keep the tears from falling at the thought of him.
Fang. Fang and his shaggy black hair, his dark brown eyes. His strong, tan arms around me. His soft lips on mine.
Now the tears do fall. I let out a small choking sob, dropping the pill bottle into the sink and clutching the sides of the sink for dear life. The tears continue to fall, flowing freely down my cheeks. But they fall silently. I refuse to make a sound, my jaw clenched.
I try not to think about him, but it's no use. Images flash through my mind without my consent.
Our first kiss, the day his car broke down and we walked home in a thunderstorm, laying together in my rickety old tree house with our fingers interlocked, when I locked myself in my room and wouldn't let anyone in so he broke down the door, when he let me wear his favorite ratty old sweatshirt which meant more than any brand new sweatshirt, slow dancing in my room, hanging out at the beach with our friends.
Suddenly, a ragged sob rips from my throat, everything spilling out at once.
Oh god. I don't think I can do this to him.
But if I don't do it, I have to keep living trapped in this life. This life of nightmares every night, of waking up sweating and curled into the fetal position because my father's abuse still haunts me. Nightmares of my mother's face and her beautiful dark curls, right before the semi hits her and her beautiful dark curls are smeared with red and her eyes dim. Nightmares of helplessly trying to get up as Jeb, now finished with me, drunkenly stumbles to the closet where my little 11 year old sister hides in the coats. Nightmares of watching as he hits her repeatedly before hitting her over the head with the beer bottle, the light in her eyes fading just like Mom's.
No! I snatch the bottle from the sink. I have to.
I take a deep breath to steady my shaky breathing. I pop the top of the bottle off.
That's when I hear a knock at the door. I freeze.
Go away, go away, go away, I silently chant.
I hear the door squeak as it swings open.
"Max?" I hear Fang's deep voice call out.
Oh no.
I take a deep breath.
The bathroom door is shut. He'll never look in here. Hopefully, he'll just assume I'm not home and leave.
But of course, that's just not my luck.
The bathroom door swings open.
Fang stares at me, brow furrowed. It takes him a minute, but he gets it.
He hurries over to me, snatching the pill bottle from my hand. He dumps the pills into the toilet and flushes them down. He throws the bottle and cap into the trash.
Then he crushes me to his chest, burying his face in my hair. I close my eyes and wrap my arms around him. For what feels like hours we just stand there.
Then, Fang pulls back. He holds my face in both his hands, bending down to look me in the eyes.
"I will always love you," he whispers, stroking his thumb across my cheek. His dark brown eyes bore into mine with intensity. "And I will always be there for you. If you need to talk, or if you need anything else."
He lays a lingering kiss on my forehead before pulling me to him again.
"Don't ever scare me like that again."
"I won't," I whisper against his chest.
! LINE BREAK later that night LINE BREAK !
I let out a quiet sigh, pulling the blankets up to my chin.
"Night, Fang," I whisper.
"Goodnight, Max," comes his voice from next to me. He refused to leave after today's incident. In fact, he refused to let me even leave his sight. Not that I minded.
I close my eyes, sleep pulling me under.
little line break
I wake with a start, my body jerking to the side, causing me to almost fall off the bed. I'm sweating and shaking.
I lay awake for what seems like hours. All I can think about are my nightmares. They replay over and over in my head.
A dark hand comes down to set on my hip.
I stiffen and almost scream, thinking it's one of my nightmares come back to life. But then I realize it's just Fang, shifting in his sleep.
I turn over, so I'm facing him.
He looks relaxed in his sleep.
He shifts again, scooting closer to me.
I smile slightly, laying my head on his chest and falling into a peaceful sleep.
Okay, this idea (and a couple others which I will use in the future) came to me earlier so I decided to just write a quick one shot. It's not my best work, I must admit. And it's sort of depressing, but it has a happy ending.