Hey guys! Apparently no one liked the fact that there was no dialogue, so sorry! I just wanted a chance to put in some background, let you guys know what happened and what was going on. Hope you guys like this part better. Lyrics are in italics and I can't remember the name of the song so I'll try to figure it out and let you all know.
"Martin, are you here?" Ruthie called out, as she entered the apartment and began turning on lights.
Hearing no answer she headed down the hall towards the bedrooms. Walking in her room she flipped on her light and looked through the bathroom to find Martin's room completely dark.
That's weird, she thought to herself, he should be home by now.
She walked into the bathroom and turned on the light, glancing into his room to make sure he wasn't sleeping. The room was empty though and she shook her head before she began getting ready for bed.
Once she had gotten her pajamas on she heard a knock on the door. Calling out that she'd be there in a second, she turned the lights off in the bathroom and went to open the front door.
"Who is it?" She called out as she placed her hand on the knob.
"It's me. My arms are full. Hurry up, Ruthie." Martin ordered, the irritation evident in his voice.
"Sorry, where were you?" Ruthie inquired as she let him inside.
"The grocery store." He said slowly, as he headed towards the kitchen with the bags.
"What's your problem? Have a bad practice?" Ruthie asked, as she helped him put the stuff away.
"I'm fine." He answered curtly, "And practice was fine. Everything is fine." He said coldly as he turned and left her in the kitchen to finish.
Shaking her head Ruthie simply finished and then locked up before heading back towards her room. Martin usually had a good reason for being moody and she almost always ended up getting it out of him eventually but tonight she just wasn't in the mood.
The phone rang interrupting her thoughts and she picked it up absentmindedly, "Hello."
"Hey Ruthie, how's it going?" Simon's voice said on the other line.
"Good, everything's good. How about you?" Ruthie asked, her voice brightening at Simon's voice.
"I'm great. I just wanted to call and check up on you. How's the job? And classes?" Simon inquired, a matching smile on his own face.
Ruthie and Simon talked for a good half-hour, catching up on everything until Simon told her that he really should get to sleep. Ruthie hung up in a much better mood and decided that she would take a chance and try to get Martin to talk to her again.
"Hey Martin." She greeted, as she sat down on the end of his bed.
He was lying on his back in his bed listening to music with his eyes closed and for a few minutes he didn't even acknowledge her presence. Refusing to be bothered by this she simply grabbed one of the pillows off the end of the bed and laid down next to him, not saying anything else.
Standing on top of the edge it feels like it's going down.
Everything stays in my mind feeling in a daze on the ground.
Feels like it's gonna give, life's too hard to live anymore.
Think I've had enough things too tough, I'm out the door.
"Ruthie, I'm sorry about snapping at you earlier." Martin said softly.
All in all it's just another day now.
Falling down what you gonna do?
Standing on top of the world tonight
And no one's looking back at you.
"It's okay, what's wrong?" Ruthie whispered, surprised that he had spoken at all.
Stand tall it's going on, it's going on.
It's gonna be just fine, you're holding on, holding on today.
Things don't stop and the others announce their moving on.
Salt and tears in the minds and mouth of a bad decision.
"My dad called me today. Told me that his new girlfriend is moving in with him. He wants to come visit soon so I can meet her." Martin shared, his voice carefully controlled and yet tired.
Too late for another mistake it's bringing you down.
With all your faults it isn't your fault what's going on.
So you found yourself.
So you lost your way.
"It's okay for you to be upset, Martin. It's just going to take some time for you to get used to your dad dating. But no one will ever take your mother's place, for you or your dad. You know that." Ruthie assured him, rolling over onto her side so she could look at him.
Found life through someone else.
And you threw it all away.
All in all it's just another day now,
Falling down what you gonna do?
"You just don't understand." Martin said coldly, rolling on his side to escape the look of hurt that he knew would cross her face.
Standing on top of the world tonight.
And no one's looking back at you.
Stand tall it's going on, it's going on,
It's gonna be just fine, you're holding on, holding on today.
"Maybe I don't." Ruthie said as she turned to face the wall, the hurt evident in her voice making him feel even worse.
Times rolling on, rolling on today.
It's going on, going on today.
Martin wanted to say something but he couldn't get the words out. He wanted to apologize and tell her he hadn't meant what he said, because he didn't. But he was afraid if he did say something he would just make it worse, because right now he was just ready to lash out at anyone, however undeserving they may be.
Almost an hour later Martin finally decided to turn the radio and lights off. He had been surprised that Ruthie hadn't retreated to her room after his callous comment, but instead just lain there next to him silent.
When he rolled over he noticed that she was sleeping peacefully, the hurt look gone from her face although he could see the residual tear tracks still on her cheeks. If he could have kicked his own ass at the moment he would have, because there was absolutely nothing worse to him than being the cause of her unhappiness, much less her tears.
He couldn't believe that he hadn't heard her crying and was extremely appalled with himself for not apologizing to begin with. But he couldn't help the happiness that he felt knowing that despite what he had said and how he'd acted that she had stayed with him anyways.
He was also grateful that their friendship was so strong that it could endure moments and nights like these. He wasn't exactly sure when their bond had become so resilient or when he had become so comfortable and sure of her that he had allowed himself to trust that she would always be there. But he was glad that he could lean on her as she did on him at times.
Promising himself right then that he would make it up to her tomorrow and apologize first thing in the morning he arranged the blankets making sure she had enough before allowing himself to drift off the sleep. His last thought was that he hoped he hadn't really hurt her feelings too bad and that she would forgive without too much groveling on his part.