==Don't Touch Me==
Chapter Six: Steven
"You don't remember me
But I remember you....
I'm trying so hard not to think of you
But who
Can decide
What they dream
-Evanescence (Taking Over Me)
"I believe in you
And I'll give up everything just to find you
I have to be with you
To live
To breathe
You're taking over me."
-Evanescence (Taking Over Me)
Glacia couldn't find Pam in the mall, besides, she wanted to be alone with her big find. Steven suggested maybe Pam had gone back to DS, so they both walked outside.
Glacia held his arm, and hugged it tighter while they talked. She felt so happy, finally, after four years of not seeing him. He didn't seem to have changed at all, his blue hair still had remained soft, his eyes still seemed tranquil, and his skin was still pale. The only thing that seemed to change about him was that he now smoked. She wondered if he had remembered her at all?
"So, you ran away?" he asked her looking surprised while flicking off his used cigarette and taking out another one.
"Yeah.." she nodded looking embarassed, her grip on his arm loosened.
Sheesh, now he'll think you're an idiot. He'll ask you why didn't you ran away sooner. Glacia yelled at her mind to shut up.
"Why didn't you came to me? I would have kicked his ass.." he said looking sad all of a sudden.
"I-I-I didn't want to bother you.. You'd end up going to jail again, and I don't have money to bail you out again.." she said with a bitter face, remembering how he had gone and attacked Peter.
"Its no bother. Did you think just cus I'm a stick boy that I can't handle him?" he said, almost yelling. Glacia's eyes looked awfully hurt, tears began swimming in her eyes.
Steven's scornful face suddenly went soft, and he embraced her tightly. "I'm sorry, its not your fault. Its mine, I should have taken you away from him. I'm sorry I wasn't a good friend." her face now looked angry, "What? You think that just cus he's my problem he's your problem too? You couldn't do anything, and don't apologize for anything. You ARE a good friend, damnit!" she yelled.
She thought Steven would get angry and start yelling at her back, but he just grinned, "You haven't changed at all, Glacia the Glacier." She suddenly blushed, "I'm sorry for yelling.. I just can't stand it when you're so down on yourself.. You're a great guy, really. Peter was my problem, not yours."
"But friends are always suppoused to be there for eachother. Not just stand there and watch their friends get the crap beaten out of them by some asshole." he said sadly, his face depressing again.
"You ARE here for me. You're not standing and watching me. Okay?" she smiled at him and held his hand.
He smiled at her and took the cigarette out of his mouth, "You're such a strong girl. Unlike me, I wish I was as brave as you." She grinned at him, "You beat Peter. That's brave enough for me." They both started laughing, until someone called Glacia's name. They both turned to see Pam catching up to them.
"Glacia, girl! I was looking EVERYWHERE for you, girl!" Pam giggled as she reached her. Glacia grinned at Pam, "I was too, sorry if I didn't wait for you." Pam shrugged, "No biggie." She looked at Steven and smiled, looking as if she found a new husband, "Hi!" she said cheerily. Steven just grunted.
"Oh! Pam, this is Steven! He's my friend from a long time ago!" Glacia said, holding his arm again. "Awww, he's already yours? Oh well! I'll get myself another one." Glacia grinned, and Steven's eyes filled with sadness. "Oh, and Steven, this is Pam, she's my new friend at DS." Steven's eyes lit up again, as if just waking up. He nodded at her and looked at the ground, Glacia had the great suspicion Pam or her had said something that made him seem so sad.
The three of them walked to the DS building, Glacia and Pam both talking, and Steven just walking ahead of them. When they reached the DS building, they saw Jasmine walking out with her small purse. Glacia waved at her, "Hiya Jasmine!" She looked up, smiled at her and ran towards her, giving Glacia a hug. "Hiya!"
Glacia smile at her, Jasmine was so innocent. How can some asshole have the nerve to hit someone as pure as her? Jasmine also embraced Pam, and when she looked at Steven, her eyes grew dreamy. "Hello, I know you.." she said blushing furiously. Steven patted her head, not knowing what to say. "You're that cool Steel trainer aren't you? I train steel too!" she said warmly. "Oh, you're Jasmine, I thought you were older." Jasmine blushed, it seemed as if she crushed hard on him.
Steven flicked off his cigarette, "I have to go now." Glacia's heart seemed to weigh her down, already? But they just met.. "Don't you want to stay longer? We got a lot of catching up to do.." Steven looked at her strangely, "But aren't guys not allowed in there?" Glacia shook her head, and he shrugged, "Okay, I'll stay, but..." he started reaching into his pocket, then he looked inside his shirt pockets, and started looking around as if he had lost something important. Pam tapped his shoulder, when he turned, she held out a new cigarette to him. He gratefully took the cigarette and lighted it. "Okay, I'll stay. Just don't make me do anything queer, okay?" Glacia smiled and nodded.
When the three entered, Glacia invited Steven to dine with the rest of the woman. The meal was great, except for the part that Steven had all the women coughing and hagging due to his excessive smoking. Glacia showed him her room, feeling like a child showing her daddy her good school grades. They both talked for a bit longer, without any disturbances. She thought he had a girlfriend, but she found out he wasn't interested in relationships. He was still the Hoenn Champion, and he still lived in the same apartments he always lived.
After a while, they both decided to walk outside in the night instead. Being indoors somehow made him uncomfortable, being outdoors was nice, but Steven had a habit of smoking cigarette after cigarette when he was outside. When they were walking outdoors, everyone confused them for a couple. But as Glacia held his arm, she felt good people thought that Steven was her fiance. He was pretty cute and he's nice, any woman that would be his would probably one of the luckiest girl in the world.
While she held his arm, she remembered the times when they were young..
Flashback
Seven-year old Glacia waited for him in the playground, the place they always met. Steven was pretty late, and this worried her. Maybe his Dad was keeping him up?
Finally, she saw Steven walking towards her, with his face down. When he reached her, he just nodded at her slightly.
"What's the matter..?" Glacia had asked.
Steven shook his head once more, staring down at the ground. She gently lifted his face, just to see his right eye swollen and small drops of blood running down from it.
"He hit you again.." she said quietly and caressing his hair.
"No, its not bad." he said pressing his finger into his injured face.
"You have to tell your mom.."
"No, she doesn't listen. All she does is sleep."
"You can't let this guy hit you around all the time.."
Suddenly, Steven raised his head up, eyes raging, and yelled "But what can I do?" Glacia stepped back startled, but returned to normal at seeing Steven's face full of regret. "Sorry.." he murmured.
Glacia stared. Steven was a difficult person to talk to. He usually yelled and didn't open up. But she wasn't giving up, he was just like this because his Dad hit him and Steven just grew to be aggressive. Even if he was going to yell at her every time she offered help, she wasn't going to give in. This boy needed help, and if she didn't help him, she feared no one would.
"I'm worried about you. What if he ends up.. you know.. Making you go away..?" Glacia murmured, Steven just looked at her confused. She looked down at the floor and said softly, "What if he ends up hurting you so bad you're gonna have to go? What if he does that?" she satrted weeping, "What will happen if you don't tell anyone and you end up going to the doctor?"
Steven reached up and hugged her tightly. "I won't." he whispered to her ear, "I'll make it. I'm a survivor. If you can stand what your own grandfather does to you, then so can I." She smiled at him.
Her grandfather used lived with her family, mostly because the old man couldn't get a job, so her parents were helping him. Unfourtunately, the man often went to Glacia's room and touched her in many places. She told Steven about this, but she didn't tell her parents. She thought they wouldn't believe her, that this was her fault.
Steven began growing an admiration for her, mostly because she stayed strong and didn't cry. He said she was a 'strong girl'. Glacia often told her she wasn't 'strong', she just grew used to it.
Glacia wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled at Steven. He just stared, he often never really knew what to say when she cried. "I'm sorry, " she apologized. I'm such a big baby," He shook his head, "Nah, everybody cries once in a while.. I wish I couldn't cry, though. It hurts my eyes." he pressed his hand against his battered eye, making more blood pour out.
She just stared at him, hoping she could do more than to comfort him. He really needed help.
End Flashback
"Glacia..?" she heard Steven's voice, she finally looked up.
"I think you were falling asleep. Am I really that boring?" he joked, and she laughed.
They were walking to a Cafe, and inside, Glacia could see only friends laughing out loud inside. When they entered, she sat down on the seat nearest to the window. She heard behind her a girl humming, when she turned around, she saw a dark haired eleven-year old. The girl's father was busily writing on a napkin, with a far-away look on his face. That man looked very familiar.
Steven walked over the man and said, "Hi, Lance."
Lance? Was that the man's name? She heard Peter say that name once, and she recognized that face.
Of course, now she remembers.. Lance was one of those scary friends Peter had. Lance used to arrive at her house with other men and get drunk. She remembered he always would come in and give her such a sad face, as if he felt sorry for her. Once, her thumb was broken, and when he saw her hand wrapped in bandages, he gave her fifty dollars for her to get it fixed. She always had wondered why would a concerned man be friends with someone so brutal as her husband?
After two months, she realized Lance wasn't coming to Peter's feasts. When she asked Peter, all he told her was that Lance was an asshole. She never dared to ask Peter why he called him that.
When Steven stood by Lance's side, the girl cried out Steven's name and hugged him. Glacia recognized the girl, that was Lance's daughter, what was her name again? Yoko?
The man named Lance looked up at Steven and said a small "Hi." back. As soon as Yoko saw Steven, she cried out his name and hugged him. Steven smiled down at her and hugged her back, they both seemed to really be attached to eachother. Yoko let him go and started to sit down again, but when she saw Glacia, she gave her a look with much loath on it. Glacia chuckled, she knew Yoko had a huge crush on Steven and probably thought Glacia was his girlfriend.
Steven invited her to sit down in Lance's table, so she did. What dissapointed her though was that Lance never seemed to recognize her. Or maybe he was pretending not to recognize her?
Steven and Lance both were drinking their coffee, but not saying a word to eachother. Glacia just drank her coffee alone, ignoring the hateful glances Yoko gave her.
Glacia looked at her watch and realized she had to go, she left both Lance and Steven alone at the cafe, and walked alone to the Daughters and Sisters building.
The next day when she was searching for her purse, she ran into her ring. The ring Peter had given her, the ring Peter had proposed her with, the ring that he claimed was worth a new car.
She had looked at the ring so admiringly, really believing that ring was worth thousands. She had asked him why he had done that for her.
"Because I love you, Glacia."
Yes, he had loved her back then. And he had made love to her countless times, but that was the old times. She had been a spunky chick that took no bullshit from others. Now she was a frightened woman, with scars on her legs, and healing bruises all over her face. She resisted the urge to cry and put the diamond-looking ring back to her purse.
She roamed all over town looking for a pawn-shop, which ended up being a waste. When she had found one, the dealer inside had told her that the ring was indeed not worth a fortune. She chuckled silently, she expected this, how could she not? She was such a fool for having believed that worthless shit from Peter.
The dealer's best offer was forty dollars, she refused it and started to walk out the door, until a song playing from their radio captured her attention.
"...I am now
In a world where I have to hide my heart
And what I believe in
But somehow
I will show the world
What's inside my heart
And be loved for who I am"
Glacia listened attentively to the song, for some reason, she felt as if the very words comforted her. She walked towards the dealer and asked, "What's that song?"
The dealer looked at her strangely then said, "I don't know. But this says.." he took out a CD case and handed it to her. The title said Christina Aguilera, and when she looked behind it, she found out the song's name was 'Reflection'. "How much for this?" she asked the dealer. The dealer shrugged and said it was at least nine dollars. She took out the ring from her purse and handed it to the dealer, "I don't have any money with me now, but will you trade?"
The dealer watched the ring, smiled and nodded. Glacia joyfully took the CD and smiled, hugging it. She left the pawn shop happily and couldn't wait to get home to listen to it over and over again.
To be continued..