Six A.M.,
Day after Christmas.
I through some clothes on in the dark.
The smell of cold
Car seat is freezing
The world is sleeping
I am numb
~
The alarm sounded loudly in Tidus's ears, the harsh buzz jolting him awake quickly. He sat up and hit the 'off' button on his alarm clock. Not having the patience to turn on a light, and knowing that it would hurt his eyes anyway, the young sports star grabbed his discarded clothes and pulled them on, not wanting to waste time.
Five minutes later, Tidus was getting in his tan Honda, flinching as the cold lather of the driver's seat touched the backs of his legs. Winter scents pricked at his nostrils; even in the middle of New York City he could smell the scent of wood smoke he had grown accustomed to over the years. It calmed him greatly for something to be familiar right now, when he didn't know what the hell he had gotten himself into.
It had seemed really weird to have his girlfriend's cousin, Rikku, come up to him at the Christmas party last night and ask to talk to him alone. The news she gave him startled the teen so much that at first he'd thought she was kidding. But, looking into her eyes, he knew she wasn't. The young girl was in way over her head here, and she needed him to help her out.
~
Up the stairs
To her apartment,
She is balled up on the couch.
Her mom and dad
Went down to Charlotte
They're not home to find this out.
~
Tidus pulled up to the apartment building Rikku lived in with her parents. Of course, they were on another business trip. It was like they were never home. But Tidus knew that they had been known to show up unexpectedly. If she wanted to go through with this, Rikku could never have picked another time.
He opened the door to the big apartment, empty but for one broken soul. This soul is curled up in the corner of the big green sofa. Tidus could tell she had been crying; her eyes were red and puffy, and her voice broke slightly when she spoke. "Thanks for doing this for me, Tidus. You're the only one who would've agree to it."
Tidus nodded. "No problem," was all he said.
She stood, and, silently, they made their way out of the apartment and down the stairs to Tidus's waiting car.
There was still silence when they drove across the city to the Planned Parenthood clinic. They didn't even turn the radio on. There was complete silence.
The silence was broken by Tidus's voice when they finally got to the Clinic. "Hey, Rikku?" he was unsure of how to say what he was thinking.
"Yeah?"
"You sure you wanna do this?" He asked after a pause.
Rikku paused, too, and Tidus hoped she was reconsidering her decision. But she nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."
Tidus nodded, too, and they both got out of the car. It's her decision, he kept telling himself. You have nothing to do with this; you're just here to sign the papers.
And truthfully, he was. The blonde had just turned eighteen a week or two ago, making him able to pose as a guardian for the fifteen year old. He wasn't here to take credit for her actions; it wasn't his fault she got herself pregnant.
~
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly,
Off the coast and I'm heading nowhere.
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly.
*
They call her name
At seven-thirty.
I pace around the parking lot.
As I walk down,
To buy her flowers,
And sell some gifts that I have got.
~
About an hour later, at seven thirty, they had finally called her name. Tidus had long since signed the papers, granting her permission. She was paying for this herself, she had told him. He was just there to sign the papers and get her to and from.
Tidus paced nervously. All the stories he'd heard about girls who died from bad needles came back into his head. He had gotten her a small bouquet of flowers (really, too small to be called a bouquet. It was only some extra blossoms a friend who worked at a flower shop gave him). He knew how hard this would be on Rikku. She loved kids, and always said how she couldn't wait to have a family. The only reason she was doing this was because of her parents. Her father could get very angry very easily, and had always told Rikku never to get herself pregnant, or he'd throw her out. She couldn't take care of herself. Yuna wouldn't let her stay with her without Cid's, Rikku's father, permission, and Tidus certainly couldn't let her live with him. Her boyfriend dumped her as soon as he found out she was pregnant, and neither Wakka nor Lulu would want to have the girl's liability (even though they were the oldest of the group, they could be irresponsible at times, too). Wishing there was another way but knowing there wasn't, Tidus continued pacing, waiting what seemed like hours for Rikku to finally come out.
Wasn't there any other way? That thought had kept him up nearly all night. He had tossed and turned, wondering if there were any other options, something Rikku had failed to see. But he could think of nothing.
There was no other way. Rikku had had the same sort of night as Tidus: Sleepless and thoughtful. She couldn't come up with anything, either. All she wanted was to get rid of this hell. At the party she had eaten very little. This morning she'd had no breakfast. But still, before Tidus came to pick her up, she had practically turned her stomach inside-out, just like she'd done every morning, even though there was nothing for her to vomit. She had been sobbing for hours. She had cried all night, cried before Tidus picked her up, cried while he was signing the forms. It seemed all she did was cry these days. But no. Not anymore. This was the end of it. She'd cried enough to last her a lifetime in these past few days since she learned she was pregnant. And she was never going on another date again. Tidus, Wakka, and her bothers and cousins were the only men she'd ever allow herself to get close to again.
She just couldn't trust anyone else.
~
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly.
Off the coast and I'm heading nowhere.
She's a brick and I'm drowning slowly here…
~
Characters belong to Squaresoft.
Lyrics are from the song Brick by Ben Folds Five, which I recommend to all of you.