I have the rest of the story written, I just need to type it! I'm sorry, don't throw things at me ):
Thanks to: LovelyOdette, May, and Vampcraze1 for their reviews!
I woke up with a start. My body wracked in cold shivers, an ice sweat flooding from my skin. Glancing at my alarm clock, I saw it was 4:14. The sky was a navy blue, with the sun's rays barely peaking out behind the treetops. I lay back down, squeezing my eyes shut.
"Kyou! Let's go!" she gripped my hand, pulling us toward the park swings. Her smile was radiant, and her legs moved effortlessly. As we got closer, I noticed all the swings were broken except for the last one. She let go of my hand, running to the swings. I wanted to run after her, but my legs couldn't run; only walk. It began to snow.
"Kyou! You have to hurry!" She called out, sitting on the swing. "Before it's too late!" I couldn't run, but I was getting closer. I could see the snowflakes resting on her hair, on her eyelashes. I was close, only ten or so feet from her. Then, Emery was there by her side, as if he had appeared from the snow. His hand gripped the swing's chain.
"Kyou!" She called out. I reached the swings, but they were gone.
I got up. I'd spent eighteen years sleeping alone, and just one night of holding Tohru made my bed seem way too big. It felt like there was supposed to be someone else in my bed with me. We had talked about the annulment, and she agreed to it, but I think she was afraid of hurting Emery's feelings. She doesn't even care about her feelings, I thought. I looked at Kyoko's picture.
"Must be hard for her, hm?" I asked. Kyoko said nothing. I continued, staring out onto the balcony. "She must be so conflicted, trying to find a balance so she could avoid hurting Emery's and my own feelings." What am I doing? I asked myself, placing my face in my hands. I'm talking to a picture.
That…must be lonely.
I looked at Kyoko again. She smiled at me. I remembered how angry I was, and how she had called me Jari, since I wouldn't give out my real name. Maybe I was just embarrassed 'cause hers was so close to mine. I reached out my hand, picking Kyoko up.
"You'd know what to do, wouldn't you?" I asked, holding her to my chest.
The first thing I noticed about her on Monday was that she looked pale and unsettled. Her eyes were wide, with big bags underneath them.
"Are you alright?" I asked her, once I got the chance. She glanced around the room. That Yankee and crazy psychic were talking with that rat.
"No," she replied weakly. I furrowed my eyebrows in concern.
"Well, what's wrong?" I asked. She tapped her finger on the table.
"Arisa and Saki are angry with me," she said slowly. She looked like she might cry.
"Why are they angry? What did you do?" She hugged herself.
"They are angry because I did not tell them about Emery… or you… or anything else…" she paused. "I didn't want to burden them," She said quietly.
"Hey, s'okay, Tohru. I know you didn't mean any harm." I said. I patted her arm.
"Arisa said that if I were really their friend, I wouldn't keep secrets from them. I-I… I tried to apologize, but they wouldn't accept it." A few tears slipped from her eyes. I was worried she'd start causing a scene right here in class, but the bell rang and the class quickly emptied. She did not begin sobbing. She simply covered her face with her hands.
"Did you tell anyone? I mean… about…" She asked. I pulled her hands from her face.
"No, of course not." I said, a mild smile on my face. She smiled through her tears.
"Thank you, Kyou." She whispered.
Between her schedule and Emery's, we ended up having to wait over a month until she could get free to see me outside of school. Today we were at home, sipping tea on the porch. We were talking about graduation, and plans. I didn't know what mine were, and she said Emery wanted her at home. Whenever Tohru was around me, she always looked uneasy. Today, though, she was distracted, and her brain seemed elsewhere.
"Is everything okay?" I asked her, finally. She answered me with a light nod and faint smile. "You're not fooling me, ya know…" I said, brushing her hair out from her face. She squeezed her eyes shut.
"I'm late," she said suddenly.
"What?" I asked. My brain began racing.
"I… er… I'm not bleeding…" she said. My brain could only produce one answer for what she was talking about, but I didn't want to believe it.
"You're… pregnant…" She burst out in tears. I looked at my hands. "Whose the father?" I whispered. There was a fifty-fifty chance. Either me or him.
"I… I… don't…" She was choking on her words.
"You don't know…"
"No," she sniffed.
What have I gotten myself into? I asked myself. I ran a hand through my hair.
"I'll… have to tell him that it's his, you know…" She said. "No matter whose it really is…" She couldn't stop crying. I took her hands in my own and looked her deep in the eyes.
"Tohru," I began, my voice as soothing as possible. "I will love you no matter what. No matter whose baby it is. If that baby comes out and has red hair or crimson eyes, he'll hate it. And he'll hate you. He'll leave you both. But I'd be there for you, for you both. Even if your baby has blonde hair, or freckles. I'll love you both no matter what." At this point she was pouring tears.
"Tohru, the annulment is what we need to be happy." I pleaded. "Please, Tohru, the Sohmas have a lot of money, and it's mine too. I can find us our own place, and we can be happy! Tohru, he doesn't love you. Even if he did, he'd never come close to loving you as much as I do. I love you so incredibly much; you're the only thing I ever think of, all I ever want. I was meant to be with you. I was born to love you. Never had I thought that anyone would truly love me, and you proved me wrong, even when you saw my true form: who I really was. Tohru, you belong with me, you know it's true." She kept her head low, her body convulsed with sobs. I stroked her hair.
"I know it, Kyou," she said quietly and unmoving. "I will always, always love you. But I think sometimes I have to put aside what I know is right and go with what my family wants. So here I am, stuck at a fork in the road…" she couldn't say anymore since she was crying so much. I kissed her head.
"I understand how you feel, Tohru." I said. "But you know your family. And the only one who sees how amazing you are is your grandfather. He could understand. I've met him, and he knows you're like Kyoko." Tohru looked up at me, her eyes swollen. "He knows it's wrong." I whispered. She rested her head on my chest.
"I love you," she said quietly. I rested my hand on her head.
"And I love you," I said. It was silent.
Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound that made us both jump. She reached into her pocket, pulling out a gray cell phone.
"Hello?" She answered hesitantly.
"Where are you?" He said loudly. She stared at me wide-eyed. I mouthed the words for her to repeat to him.
"I was taking a walk around the park, since I was feeling so cooped up. I didn't realize the time, I'll be home soon." She sighed.
"Okay, well, hurry home. Bye." He hung up. She closed the phone.
"I have to go, Kyou!" She said getting up. We kissed goodbye and she ran off, disappearing into the trees. Hurry home?I thought. She is home, you bastard.
