I couldn't just leave you hanging with that ending! I had to put up chapter 51 to follow right away. I'm not mean in that sense, I guess- although...
Damn it! I hate feeling like crap...it tends to happen when my characters get all mopey. Anyway, this is chapter 51!
Please review and don't hate me.
He knew, judging by the expression her face held that she was completely serious. Sybil was going and not ever turning back. At least, not unless he did something to change it.
And so, Lawliet quickly pulled the key from his pocket and unlocked the metal object from around his wrist, clamping it down around the arm of a chair. Then, he took off after Sybil with the full intent of apologizing like crazy and repeating 'I love you' over and over again as well as showering her with compliments.
He had put the case too high above their relationship that when he had suggested that he had done it- for no reason, it was cause for her to finally snap. In her perspective, or so he believed, it meant that he was also giving up on her. On them.
Lawliet should've known this would happen, but- he didn't and now he had the small chance of fixing that mistake or losing everything forever.
"Sybil!" He called out to her, and she hesitated in her steps.
She didn't stop, but the hesitation was enough for him to catch up, reach out, and wrap his fingers gently around her slender wrist. It was then that she stopped and it was then that he saw how hard her shoulders were shaking.
"Please. Let go. I- don't want to- I can't do this anymore. It hurts that- you can't love me. That you don't love me. Not anymore. I'm- not going to force you into this anymore. I'll just go about life as I did before. As if we never even met. Like I wish we never did."
"Sybil, I- love you." Quickly, she yanked her wrist free from his grip, whirled around on him, and before he could even get another word out-
SLAP.
Lawliet stumbled backwards in surprise, but reached out and tightened down his grip back down on her wrist. He used his other hand to touch to his stinging, red cheek, all the while staring at her pleadingly.
"Sybil. I love you."
"Stop lying to me! You don't love me. You might have loved me once, but- not anymore. Admit it. You're bored of me. You think I'm ugly. You don't even talk to me anymore. You used to sneak your hand over to hold mine when no one was looking. You- you let Light hold me when you both came with me to the hospital to see my father laying lifeless in a hospital bed! You let Light hold me! You don't love me anymore." And despite the fact that L knew Sybil wanted to cry, she wouldn't.
"You saw me cry. You saw me at my most vulnerable moments. You know things about me that even my own family don't know about. You know all this shit about me, but- you still keep lying and you- you expect me to lie too." Her shoulders continued to shake as she bit down hard on her lip to keep herself from crying.
Lawliet frowned deeply at this.
She was once so accustomed to crying in front of him. He knew he had been neglecting her, but this much?
He reached out and hugged her tightly to his chest, expecting her to punch him several times and then take off. What surprised him was that she didn't. Sybil allowed him to hold her, and in fact, allowed her own arms to slink around his waist as she buried her face into his shoulder.
However, she still refused to cry.
"I'm not like you. I've tried to be, it doesn't work. I've got low self-esteem. I need comfort. I need someone in general." She pulled away, her expression crest-fallen.
"You- don't need me. You don't want me. Unfortunately- I want you and I feel as though I need you. I need to spare myself anymore mental agony. My mother's dead because my father shot her. My father will be dead because he was ironically hit by a drunk and is now laying comatose in a hospital on life support. My brothers' understand each other more than they understand me and Trisha- she- she could never understand. Ryuuzaki, you don't love me anymore. And, as much as I feel as though I can't live without you, you- you-"
"I can't live without you either and- I'm afraid to lose you. I was very well aware that I wasn't paying enough attention to you. That I wasn't giving you what you obviously needed. However, I- I must also admit that I am not a very sociable person, but you left me for nine days and I was distraught. I cannot picture any more of my life without you." And so, he gently took her left hand in both of his in an attempt to offer her the comfort she needed.
Sybil stared at him, her green eyes glazed over as she continued to fight her tears. Her expression was that of confliction.
L squeezed her hand gently before guiding her over to the wall and pinning her against it. The female detective then allowed tears to squeeze through her eyes as he placed a soft kiss on the base of her neck.
"Do you really mean that? I mean- I might have blown the entire thing out of proportion-" Again, he hugged her.
His chin rested on her shoulder, his breath gently tickling her ear.
"Not at all. Do not think that. Your feelings are indeed important. You are hardly blowing this situation out of proportion."
"Law- Ryuuzaki, I'm- sorry. I- I'm-" She couldn't get the words out as she continued to cry and L continued to hold her, making promises of forever without saying anything.
It was during this time that Sybil forgot entirely about the promise of her short, short life coming to an end in just a few weeks. She was too filled with emotion to remember any such things.
***
Geof was quick to shut the monitors off when he saw the fight that was about to take place. No one on the Task Force needed to see that L obviously had feelings towards Sybil when they already suspected. It was probably a fight out of jealousy towards Light anyway.
"Hey, why'd you do that?" Matsuda asked.
Geof merely looked towards him, dull expression in grey orbs.
"I didn't want to see grown men play KungFu Master. I'd rather do what I can to stop Kira than see a fight anyway." Fang sighed.
"She's miserable." Geof ignored him as he sat back down at his laptop and began to look back at the line graph on the screen.
"If that detective doesn't do something to pick up her mood, I'll kill him." Geof glared at the shinigami from the corner of his eye.
Fang grunted.
"Well, maybe that was an exaggeration. I couldn't kill the bastard. She'd be more miserable if he was dead than if he didn't care about her."
"Hmm."
"I'm pretty much talking to myself, aren't I?" The silence that followed was Fang's answer.
This human was boring.
***
"I take it you fixed things?" Light asked as L returned to Misa's room looking semi-relaxed.
"This has nothing to do with you, Light. Please stay out of my personal business." The detective glanced to Misa.
"I would appreciate it if you left Shizu alone for the day. She is currently undergoing a severe amount of stress."
"Hmph. You ask me to do this after you destroy my room?!" L sighed.
"Light and I will clean up this mess we made." And then he'd return to Sybil when he attached Light to the arm of a chair in the investigation room.
After all, L was quick at learning things. He was a genius and therefore knew exactly what mistakes he would never make again. Sybil needed to know he would be there for her. It was who she was and he had long ago accepted everything about her.
But, obviously there were still some things he would have to learn about this relationship thing. He never wanted to come that close to losing her again.