I slammed the apartment door behind me triumphantly,
"Freaking nailed it!" I yelled to no one in particular. I slipped my shoes off before striding into the kitchen in search of food where I grabbed a bowl of pre-cut lettuce Olivia probably planned on using tonight for a salad. A crash from my bedroom made me stop, lettuce halfway to my mouth. A curse followed the commotion and I growled in annoyance, scooping up the bowl and heading to my room. I swung the door open to find Raphael, fuming, and kicking at something on the floor.
"What are you doing?" I demanded. The turtle snatched something off the hardwood floor and held it up,
"This god damn pencil made me fall on my ass. What the hell is it doing laying around?" I shrugged, chewing on a piece of lettuce.
"I'm an artist, I lose my art shit. Chill out." Raphael narrowed his eyes incredulously at me.
"What the hell are you doing?" I waved a piece of lettuce in the air before popping it into my mouth.
"Eating."
"You're eating..." He stepped closer to look into the bowl and raised a brow at me, "undressed, plain salad?"
"Better known as lettuce genius." I walked past him into my room and set the bowl down on my desk.
"Oh, I freaking nailed the interview, thanks for asking," I exclaimed, my voice brimming with sarcasm. I bent to scoop up a pile of clothing I'd created earlier and organized it all back into my closet. Raphael only grunted, which prompted me to continue.
"I start working tomorrow, I'm super pumped to wear a sexy zoo person outfit. I'll have to text Uncle Tom and tell him I can't make it tomorrow," I slipped t-shirts and hoodies back onto hangars and returned them to their proper places, "really appreciate the interest."
"Anytime," he muttered. I watched him pick a black and white striped dress from the floor as I walked over to my computer.
"You have a dress?" He said in surprise. I rolled my eyes and opened iTunes.
"Yes, I happen to be a female, so I do in fact own a dress. And I can in fact pull it off, so shut up." I tapped play and retreated to my closet with the bowl of lettuce to snack on. A grin flickered across his face and he tossed it to me so I could hang it back up.
That soon became our routine.
He would throw articles of clothing at me and I would snatch them from the air and return them to their places, all the while singing and dancing. I played air guitar but had to stop to catch an incoming hoodie from Raph. But my signing didn't falter.
"We won't hesitate, to break down the garden gate.
There's not much time left today, yeah, ya."
"You are the weirdest person I know," Raphael muttered, watching me oddly but I could care less.
"Life is a highway!
I wanna ride it!
All, night, long.
If you're goin my way!
I wanna drive it!
All, night, long," I threw my hands up, "come on, you have to know this song.
Through all these cities and all these towns.
It's in my blood, and it's all around.
I love you now, like I loved you then.
This is the road, and these are the hands." He just threw me a shirt and shook his head. I laughed.
"I know you know this song. And I'll keep singing if you don't."
To prove my point, I sang louder and waited expectantly for him to do the same.
"There's no load I can't hold.
Road so rough, this I know.
I'll be there when the light comes in.
Just tell 'em we're survivors!" Raphael allowed a grin to take over his face and he watched me sing and air guitar my heart out.
"Life is a highway!
I wanna ride it!
All, night, long.
If you're goin my way!
I wanna drive it!
All, night, long." An avalanche of clothing fell over me, courtesy of Raphael. I punched his arm after digging myself out of the mountain.
"Hey! This is my jam you jerk!"
I quickly recovered and continued,
"I wanna drive it!
All, night, long.
There was a distance, between you and I," in accordance to the music and lyrics, I gestured to him and myself, pointedly using my middle finger and prompting a light laugh and eye roll from him.
"A misunderstanding, once.
But now, we look it in the eye.
Ooooo...Yeah!" I resumed my air guitaring more violently now, ignoring the projectile clothing hitting me,
"There ain't no load that I can't hold.
Road so rough, this I know.
I'll be there when the light comes in.
Just tell 'em we're survivors!" I watched Raph, waiting for him to cave. He gave in and grinned hugely, opening his mouth to sing along with me.
"Life is a highway!
I wanna ride it!
All, night, long.
If you're goin my way!
I wanna drive it!
All, night, long.
Life is a highway!
I wanna ride it!
All, night, long.
If you're goin my way!
I wanna-" a ringing brought our singing abruptly to a stop. I groaned and dashed over to my desk, turning off the music and checking my phone for Caller ID.
"Shit, it's Olivia," I whirled around and pointed a finger at him, "don't say a word. Full ninja mode." He scoffed.
"Full ninja what!?" I ignored him and picked up my phone.
"Hey Liv."
"Hey...you sound out of breath," she noted suspiciously. I rolled my eyes.
"It's called having fun, it usually only occurs when you're not home and I'm allowed to play loud music and sing my ass off." She sighed.
"Our poor neighbours."
"Our blessed neighbours," I corrected, earning a snort from Raph. I punched his shoulder.
"So that's what you're doing with your time?" She asked drily.
"No! I'm cleaning my room. And I just got back from an interview at the zoo."
"No way!" She squealed, "what did they say!? How did it go!?"
"Oh, they loved me of course, I start working tomorrow so I should probably start learning about tropical animals, huh?"
"Yeah, that might help you keep your job."
"I'll do that after I finish cleaning. What's the game plan for tonight?"
"I'm going out for dinner with someone," she said happily. I recoiled in surprise.
"Really? Who?"
"His name's Andy. He came in today to have his leg cast removed and we got talking and Raiy he's so sweet."
"Well that's adorable in a weird way. How'd he bust his leg?"
"His dog ran into him and made him fall down a flight of stairs." I burst out laughing.
"Oh my god I love him already. What kind of dog does he have? What's it's name?"
"Oh I don't know, some terrier, why?"
"He must be pretty frickin scrawny for a terrier to push him. What's he do?"
"He's a physiotherapist."
"Oh, well have fun with this guy. I'll order in or something."
"Okay I will. I'll probably be back around eleven, so don't wait up for me."
"Cool, I'll be sleeping so don't even think about waking me up. I'll talk to you later, bye."
"Okay, bye." I ended the call in relief.
"She's going out for dinner with a guy who's leg cast she removed today. Hopefully it turns out better than her last date." I snorted, playing my music and returning to my closet with more clothes.
"What happened at her last date?"
"Well she went out with a Wendy's worker, to Wendy's, and talked about Wendy's the whole time so you can imagine how much fun she had."
"Have you ever been on one?"
"On what? A date?" I snorted, "no. I don't even have friends. I swear there isn't a single person in this city that's even remotely like me."
"Like you?" He questioned, prompting me to elaborate.
"Yeah, someone that likes to sit around in pyjamas, eat shit food and have movie marathons and Xbox tournaments but would also go skydiving or run around the aquarium in the dead of night or drive to California for no reason, or try making a bunch of Chinese food, I don't know, somebody that's game for lazy days and random, crazy shit like sitting at the top of the Empire State Building and stargazing. Not somebody that would like dive right into a bar fight or go to random parties or go to a concert, that stuff's too social," I shrugged, "I don't know, maybe that's my issue, maybe I'm too antisocial." Raphael watched me curiously, taking in all this new information with interest. I mentally cursed to myself, good job, I'm sure he really wanted to know about your dream guy.
"Drive to California for no reason?" He repeated, amused.
"Hey, stop silently judging me. I learned to surf there, it was my favourite place to go," I sighed wistfully, "we used to go there every summer...before Olivia and I moved here."
"Why are you here alone?" I shook my head, turning away to put clothes in my closet.
"It's all really stupid. Our family is a bit of a wreck." I hummed to the current song, folding and hanging the remaining clothing. Raphael stood in the doorway of my closet, leaning against the doorframe.
"What happened?" I blinked in astonishment.
I couldn't explain why, but something about him made me feel like I could tell him anything and act like myself whenever he was around, instead of hiding behind a fake mask like I did with most people, which probably explained why I was so open last night.
"Alright. I'll give you a Carter family history lesson. Basically, my father's entire family committed crimes and were drunk eighty percent of the time you saw them. My mother and her family were fairly normal and happy, they were small and close, living in Arizona for generations. Their ancestors came from Japan, which is how I'm connected to a Samurai. Do not ask me how my parents met because I have no idea. They got married right away and had me and my sister. And let me tell you, my mother's family despised my father's and vice versa. They hated my mom's choice to marry him. But the thing is, he wasn't even a bad guy until my mother was diagnosed with Leukemia. And I guess that just broke something in him. He started getting into drugs, committing crimes, having affairs with other women. He finally went to jail for committing third-degree murder. And," I shut my eyes tightly, straining to keep my eyes dry and voice steady, "...and a year later, my mom died. Thank god Olivia was eighteen at the time, so she could legally take care of me. We only stayed in Arizona for two months before we couldn't handle it anymore. Everything just reminded me of her. Our Uncle Thomas helped us move here. He promised to teach me to pilot a helicopter so I could get into a good post-secondary and get a good job. He's my mom's younger brother, so he's looked after us," I kept my face turned away from him and my eyes shut tight against the tears, "I haven't heard from the rest of my family since my mother's funeral, four years ago." I hugged myself, trying to ward off the memory of her cold, pale hand in mine and her grey-blue eyes as they lost their light and her lips as they slackened, never to smile and say 'I love you' ever again.
"I'm sorry." I sniffed and turned toward him, smiling weakly.
"We're fine, really. The rest of our family can go to hell for all I care. I just miss her, that's all." I miss her smile, her jokes, her hot chocolates, her warm hands.I miss sitting outside, watching every meteor shower with her, hearing her call me Emmy, looking in her eyes and seeing the stars inside them, her laugh, her braiding my hair. I miss her teaching me the names of constellations. I miss her stories of princes flying to the moon and bringing home stars for their princesses, her inability to cook bacon, her homemade applesauce waffles, her voice when she woke up, her wild, red hair in the wind, her singing when I couldn't sleep. I miss her waking me up early and watching the sunset on the roof. I miss that light in her eyes when she said goodnight. I miss her voice, telling me I could be anything, I could do anything, telling me that I would find a prince that would bring me a galaxy, telling me I was special, telling me that everything was going to be okay; that she loved me.
I felt the tears then, and they wouldn't stop.
"God, I-I'm sorry," I hiccuped, wiping at my eyes, "I t-tried not to...but it j-just h-happened." His strong arms encircled me gently and brought me close to him. I responded by throwing my own arms around him and sobbing heavily against his plastron.
"I miss her," I whimpered. Raph just tightened the embrace, allowing me to hear the calming beat of his heart. Words weren't spoken, and they weren't needed. It was enough knowing that he cared.
AN: YAYYY ya'll got to see their soft sides! Aw lol they're so cute already, I'm in love with this 'lil relationship they have.
Anyways, kind of a longer chapter!
What did you guys think?
Do you like them shorter? Longer?
Let me know! :)
Also, is the chapter title a bit too fruity? XD I kinda based it off the line in the song 'there was a distance, between you and I' is it a bit much? Lol lemme know :)
