Thank for putting up with my bull and waiting so patiently! That is all!
"I-Ib?! Did you just...talk?" Garry had a look of utter shock. Ib giggled slightly before becoming serious again.
"Y-yes, Garry." She smiled slightly.
"But...why? After all this time? Why now?" His face still held the pain of his past, mixed with the confusion of the present. The scar on his eyelid shone brightly against his pallid face. Ivory on pale white.
"I realized that my problems weren't as bad as I thought. Besides, you're my friend, Garry. I just w-wanted to prove it to you." She answered, her voice hoarse and whispy after staying silent for so long. She watched a flurry of emotions flit across Garry's face, almost too fast to follow. Confusion, disbelief, relief, happiness, sadness, and fright were evident in the blue-violet depths of his eyes. Tears threatened to flee his eyes as the dam of emotion he'd held back for so long started to crack right down the middle. He smiled a watery smile that she returned eagerly before hugging him tightly. He held onto her just as tight, maybe even tighter.
"Thank you, Ib" He whispered into her shoulder. She didn't answer, just held him. A strong feeling of protectiveness settled in her heart. This poor, broken, unstable boy, hidden behind the carefree exterior of a happy teen. A mask painted to perfection and worn by a professional who practiced in the mirror each morning. It made her heart break.
Ib could feel Garry beginning to calm down and she let go of him gently. He made no effort to stop her, which was good she guessed.
"Sorry. I don't usually break down like that." He apologized, embarrassed. His eyes were still watery and red. She shook her head.
"Garry, it's okay. Everybody deserves to let go once in a while." She said in her quiet voice.
"Still, it's not fair to burden you with my problems. Especially since my problems can't be fixed..." He smiled ironically. She deadpanned at him. Then she smacked him lightly in the center of the forehead. He jumped in surprise.
"What was that for?"
"You're an idiot." She said plainly, smiling. He stared at her; she was happy to see that the haunted look was gone from Garry's eyes. "Your problems a-aren't a burden. And we may n-not be able to fix them but we can make them better!" She whispered. His smile returned, no longer bitter. He nodded and put a hand on her head, a comforting and welcome gesture on her part. It reminded her of when they first met and it even brought up a foggy memory of her father. She sighed happily and shut her eyes to the sun.
"We should probably get going. It's getting pretty dark out." Garry suddenly spoke up. Ib opened her eyes and saw that where the sun had been shining only a few moments ago (or at last, that's how it felt to her) clouds of the deepest grey colored every inch of the sky, along with a red sun. She hummed her agreement and sat up, she realized, from Garry's lap.
"You fell asleep and I didn't want to wake you." He explained. Well, that explained the sudden weather change. She nodded and asked quietly,
"Are you okay? I mean, after everything you had to tell me?"
"...Yeah. It happens often, so i'm used to it." He smiled, before getting up from his position on the ground. He dusted off his ever-present coat and stuck out his hand to help her up. She took it and was soon dusting herself off as well. They set off for the orphanage.
"Oh, there you two are! I was about to lock up for the night! Do you have any idea how worried we were getting?" Glinda chided.
Ib looked over at Garry, who had an expression that screamed 'Obviously, not very much'.
"I want you to go to your dorms, immediately. Curfew was 15 minutes ago, and the Headmaster will be angry if he sees you out of your rooms. Now GO!" She pointed to the stairs.
Garry strode past her like she had suddenly become part of the horribly patterned wall and climbed the creaky steps. Ib tried to follow but was stopped by Glinda's hand on her shoulder.
"Ib...be careful, okay? I love what you're doing to help that boy, but he's still very mentally unstable. Don't get yourself hurt, understand?" Glinda's blue eyes bore into Ib's crimson ones. Ib jerked her shoulder away from Glinda and nodded coldly, her face stonily impassive. Didn't they understand that alienating Garry would only make him worse? That he needed friendship? Of course they didn't. They couldn't. They don't care. They never care.
Ib climbed the stairs and walked down the dark corridor. She turned a corner and noticed a shadowed figure standing in the middle of the hallway. She walked closer hesitantly, until she noticed that the person was wearing a floor length teal coat with raggedy edges. Sighing with relief, she walked toward Garry, intent on berating him for waiting for her. But, as she got closer, she noticed that he was creepily not moving, with hands clenched into fists, breathing heavily. She got directly in front of him and saw that he was staring off into space. His eyes kept flitting around the hall, but they were empty and weren't actually focusing on anything.
"Garry?" She asked quietly, when he didn't respond she tried again, only louder. "Garry?!" She grabbed his hand. He started violently and jerked away from her, wrenching his hand from hers. Crounching on the ground, he covered his ears with his arms, mumbling "Stop talking. You're not real. Not real. Not real." He kept repeating it over and over. Ib noticed he was crying as she walked over to him again.
She knelt next to him and put her arm around his shoulder and the other around his front to hug him.
"Garry"
He stopped his mantra and looked over at her, tears streaming down his now ivory face.
"I-Ib? W-where am- " His eyes flooded with understanding and his face dusted pink. The terror and pain left his gaze.
"It happened again." He whispered, horrified, whether at himself or the situation Ib couldn't tell.
"It's okay." She said. "You can't h-help it." She pulled out her handkerchief and caught the tears that escaped his curiously blue-purple eyes, now shiny with unshed fear.
"They're getting worse. It drives me insane." He whispered again, his face openly frightened and anxious. Ib's heart broke at the sight. Why had he been affected like this?
"What's going on here?" A loud voice made them both jump. They looked up in unison to see the Warden standing not 4 feet away from them, holding a high powered flashlight that burned Ib's eyes to the core.
"It's my fault." Garry immediately answered, all traces of fear and tears gone. His mask of indifference was in place now.
Ib stared at him. This wasn't his fault! He couldn't control the attacks! The Warden was also staring at him, gauging his sentence.
"What do you mean, it's your fault?" He asked after a moment.
"I asked her to stay out with me and we missed curfew. Garry said nothing about his previous state. Ib continued to stare. While it was the truth, it wasn't necessarily true.
"Care to explain why you two are leaning against the wall of a deserted hallway?" His voice hinted disgust, as if his mind had already jumped to a very farfetched conclusion.
"I collapsed. My leg had been hurting me for a bit and Ib found me on the ground." Lies poured smoothly through Garry's lips like a verbal cup of tea. "I'm feeling better now, though. I can head off to my dorm on my own." He looked over at Ib and shook his head ever so slightly. So, he didn't want to headmaster to know about his panic attacks? That was alright with her.
"Though I find your story hard to believe, I will accept it for now. And I will be accompanying you to your dorm, regardless of your physical wellness." The Warden said coldly. "Ib, you may continue to your dorm. It is right around the corner, correct?"
She nodded slowly. Helping Garry up, he pretended to limp on one leg. Leaning on her shoulder, he whispered "thank you" to her and pulled away.
"Goodnight, Ib" He said cheerfully as they walked off, he with a slight limp and the Warden in a stalking manner. She waved slightly before turning around and walking toward her dorm.
"It's getting worse." Wasn't that what he'd said? Were his "visions" getting more vivid? How could anybody live with that? She hoped with every fiber of her being that she could help his panic attacks go away.
Before long she stood outside her dorm. She let herself in quietly and shut the door. She was suddenly exausted, mentally and physically. Flopping on the bed, still fully clothed, she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the cold sheets.
Thank you sooooooooooo much! I hated leaving you guys for so long, I really did! T_T My life was just really busy for a while. Also, let me know what you think. Sometimes I believe I rush t too often. See you in the next one!
