DISCLAIMER: In some far off parallel universe, I own everything! Not in this one though.
Real
She watched through the window as the truck drove up the driveway, briefly splashing her with its headlights, the sound of the tires growling softly through the gravel as it came to a stop.
It was 4:49 am and he had been gone for almost five hours. This was the third night he had snuck out. He thought no one knew.
The engine died and the door opened and quietly slammed; a moment later, the sound of the front door opening. Inside, the house was dark, save for the soft luminance of moonlight seeping through the window.
This time she didn't slip back into the shadows.
"John… can we talk?" Her voice was mild, soft but suggestive.
He stopped midway through closing the door and let out a frustrated sigh. He closed the door and turned to her.
"What is it?" He was annoyed. He was always annoyed. She had trouble understanding why.
"You were with Riley again."
"Why do you care?" He immediately took on a defensive posture, challenging her.
"I care." It was matter-of-fact. It was true. He didn't think so.
"Right," he snorted sardonically, shaking his head and crossing his arms. They stared at each other in silence.
"Do you love Riley?"
He was taken aback. "That's none of your business." He scolded. He was angry now.
"I want to know." Her timid voice had become lost in the sea of his volatile temperament.
"Why? Why do you want to know?" He seethed.
Her eyes glanced downwards. She wanted to tell him, but she didn't know how. The moonlight bathed her in a milky soft glow, highlighting her smooth skin as dark auburn hair draped down and framed her face. She was beautiful. He'd had enough and began to stomp off.
"John?" She called out to him as he had started up the stairs. He stopped but didn't look back.
"Do you love me?"
He turned around. There was an expression on his face that she couldn't place. She had said the wrong thing. Lately, everything she said to him was the wrong thing. She didn't know how to tell him.
"What?" He asked horrified, incredulous that she had asked such an audacious question, hurt.
"Do you love me?" Her face remained as stoic as ever.
Finally shaking himself loose from his paralysis, he marched right up to her.
"Why would you even ask that? What does it even matter to you?" She noticed that he hadn't answered any of her questions.
"Do you even know what love means?" He asked angrily.
"Yes, I do." She tilted her head slightly, looking at him as if willing him to understand what she so desperately wanted him to know.
The anger seemed to leave him fleetingly as he considered the implications of what she said before rushing back in even greater force.
"No, you don't." His voice was a whispered growl dripping with animosity.
"You don't know what love is. You don't know what it means to care about someone, or to be devoted to someone, and not because it's your mission." The anger in his face faded away only slightly, his eyes held a hidden longing that wistfully glared back at her. "You're… programmed. You don't know love… It's not real..." He trailed off with an almost inaudible sigh. She heard it.
Their eyes remained locked together for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he retreated back up the stairs and she heard his bedroom door close.
She turned back towards the window. The stillness of the night was met with a genuine sadness that remained locked behind two expressionless brown eyes.
"It's real to me." It was barely a whisper.
