#my wtiting

You didn’t mind cutting the grass for your parents, considering it gave you something to do during the day when your friends were busy at work. The weekends were boring for you, considering the moment you turned eighteen, your parents left every weekend. Now that you were in your twenties, they were still going. You didn’t mind all too much—in fact, you loved having privacy and time to yourself. You dragged the lawnmower out of your garage, wanting to get it over with as fast as you could. You hated how hot it was outside, but as you were putting your earbuds in, you were surprised to see your neighbor outside on her patio. You wondered if she was going to go into her pool, but you shook the thoughts out of your head as you turned your music on and started the lawnmower.

You did the front of your lawn first, which was the worst in your opinion. After twenty minutes, you stopped, rushing into your house through the backyard to get something to drink. You wished you had brought it outside with you in the first place. Before you could go through the back door, your neighbor waved at you as she made her way to the fence.

You pulled out an earbud, walking up to the fence just as she put her arms on the top of it. She smiled at you, and you gave her a small smile back. You hated how awkward you felt—wiping your forehead before speaking up.

“Is everything okay, Ma Vidal?” You asked, looking behind her instead of at her. You hoped that she didn’t notice.

“Please, you can call me ‘Rio’.” Rio stated. “I can’t believe you’re out in this heat.”

You chuckled, “The lawn isn’t going to cut itself.”

Rio nodded, “Well, when you’re done, you’re more than welcome to come join me. Your parents won’t be back until Monday, yeah?”

“Yeah, like each time.” You stated, not realizing that it sounded like you snapped at her. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to—“

Rio cut you off. “No need to apologize, I get it. If you ever want to come over when they’re gone, you’re more than welcome.”

You stood there silently, forgetting that you were going in to get something to drink. Rio stayed in place as well; her eyes lingered a little too long. The silence was awkward, unsure of what to say next.

“Well, I’m going to get something to drink and finish the lawn.” You stated.

“Think about my offer!” Rio called after you.

You gave her a thumbs-up as you walked into your house. You grabbed a water bottle and headed back outside with it, not wanting to waste any more time. You took a few sips before putting it on the porch.

You finished the front and back in an hour and a half, only stopping to take sips. You were surprised to see Rio was still outside, but she was working on her garden. Once you put the lawnmower away, you took a deep breath. You were bored, and your girlfriend, Kate, was still at work. What’s the worst that could happen?

You made your way to the part of the fence that she was closest to, clearing your throat to get her attention. “Hey, is it okay if I take a shower and then come hang out for a bit? It’s hot, and I’m all nasty.”

“No.”

You gave Rio a confused look. What did she mean by ‘no’? At first you thought she was joking, but the way she was glaring told you otherwise.

“No?”

“No, you can’t take a shower.”

You let out a laugh, trying to cut through some of the tension.

“What’s so funny?” Rio asked, crossing her arms.

You stopped laughing as panic started to set in. Did you do or say something wrong? Or did something ruin her good mood?

“No—nothing, I thought—“ you began, but Rio started to laugh.

You were left confused as she laughed, holding her stomach as she finally calmed her laughter down.

“Oh, you should have seen your face!” Rio cried out as she shook her head. “I was fucking with you, darling. Go take your shower, and if I’m not out here, please knock on the front door.”

You slowly nodded, but when you processed what she had said, you felt your face heat up. You walked away, trying your best not to rush as you still felt her eyes on you. When you were inside, you grabbed some clean clothes and went straight for the bathroom.

She had called you darling.

She wasn’t flirting with you.

Of course not.

You took your time in the shower, listening to music at the highest volume since your parents were gone. You weren’t sure what they did Friday to Monday, but they always made sure you had food and money. As you scrubbed your body, you wondered why Rio was now just talking to you. The two of you had been neighbors since you turned nineteen, and now that you were in your twenties, she randomly offered to hang out with you. You shook your head, realizing that that sounded odd. Normally when you left the house, it was to hang out with your friends or go to work, so you never saw her much.

When you got out of the shower, you dried yourself and quickly put your clothes on after using your deodorant. You turned your music off when you were done getting ready, wanting to be over at Rio’s house as quickly as possible. You grabbed your phone and keys before heading to her house. You were thankful she was next door, hating how hot it was outside.

You checked her backyard, and she wasn’t there, so you quickly made your way towards her front yard. You took a deep breath as you made your way up the stairs, knocking ever so lightly. You scrolled on your phone, trying to kill time as you waited for her to answer the door. Too busy with watching some video, you hadn’t noticed her opening the door.

“Hey!” Rio shouted.

“Ah—“ you gasped, almost dropping your phone. You got a better grip of it just as Rio moved to the side so you could come in.

“Please don’t sneak up on me again like that.” You frowned.

Rio let out a sigh, “I’m sorry.”

“I forgive you this time.” You said with a smile as she led you to her living room.

You couldn’t help but look around; her house layout intrigued you. You also loved that she had things all over. Before you could continue to admire her house, Rio brought you back from your thoughts.

“Make yourself comfortable, and I promise you that you can ask for anything; you’re not a bother.” Rio smiled, sitting down across from you on the other couch.

“Thank you,” you said, giving her a small smile.

“So… you got a boyfriend?” Rio asked, causing you to choke on spit.

You weren’t expecting her to ask that randomly, but you shook your head when you composed yourself.

“Absolutely not.” You chuckled. “I do have a girlfriend, though.”

Rio leaned back in her spot, and with an eyebrow raised, she asked, “Oh? Is that so?”

You nod, “Yeah! Her name is Kate, and we’ve been together for about two years now. She’s an amazing person, and she’s actually my first girlfriend.”

Rio gave you a soft smile. “I’m so happy for you.”

“Thank you.”

You watched as Rio got up and made her way to her kitchen.

“Want something to drink?” Rio asked as she opened her fridge.

“I’ll take a water if that’s okay.” You said, and for a second, you thought you heard Rio laugh.

“More than okay.”

When she handed you the water bottle, you smiled and said thank you before opening it. The two of you sat in a comfortable silence when your phone went off. You took it out of your pocket and smiled when you saw that it was Kate.

“Hey,” you said, answering your phone.

You smiled, taking a sip of your water as Kate continued to talk. “Yeah! I’m just at my neighbor’s if you want to pick me up?”

You hummed, too focused on your conversation with Kate to notice that Rio was now glaring at you.

“I’ll see you in twenty minutes. I love you.” You said.

When Kate said it back, you hung up and turned your attention back to Rio, who was smiling. You were too oblivious to notice that it was a fake smile, but Rio couldn’t help but enjoy that about you.

“I’m sorry I’ll be having to cut this short; Kate just got off work, and she wants to go see the new movie that just came out.” You admit, but Rio’s expression didn’t change.

“That’s okay. Tomorrow, if you want to, you can come over and check out my physical media collection.” Rio suggested.

You nodded excitedly, “I would love that! I love looking at people’s collections.”

“Good, good.” Rio continued. “If you wanted to, you’re more than welcome to stay here until she gets here.”

“Thank you, I appreciate you.”

His pulse had thundered so hard in his ears, the horror of one careless movement that undid hours of her labour catching up to him. That had felt, in its moment, like the end of the world.

It was not.

He learns the difference on a day when the sky was a flawless blue, and the sun sat mild and unthreatening above the roofs of Lumière.

You were only a few steps away, admiring a street painter's work with that particular tilt of your head he had grown so fond of; brows drawn in, corners of your mouth lifted ever so slightly, the way they always did when you got curious.

He turned around for no more than a mere handful of seconds, the coins in his palm had long grown warm. Sneakily, he was considering whether he'd manage to get away with stealing a bite of the sandwich he was buying you. Maybe she'll let me off the hook if I promise to play the piano for her later, he thought, a little smirk playing on his lips.

He did not really notice when the gentle warm breeze started to gradually dial down, and then dropped entirely, like someone just cupped a hand over the whole place. He was too busy, humming in thought while he decided between the creamy butter and turkey ham, or the herby tomato with goat cheese. Mmm, his mouth watered slightly at the smells. Everything was normal for a moment, idle sounds of life continued to fill the air from every direction around him; people chatted, and joked, and laughed.

The corner of the red cloth, hanging above the food stall, began to stir, catching Verso's eye. What started as a few sways as the wind returned with a colder touch, slowly picked up, and then the cloth was pushed, swinging to the side, wavering up and down against gravity. His hair was pushed back and away from his face too, the dark strands brushing the shells of his ears.

Above the rooftops, the sunlight dimmed.

"Hm?" Verso looked up, a frown pulling at his features. The weather was clear a moment ago, so what was this? But he couldn't find a cloud that blocked out the sun and cast it's shadow over them. It was like the sky had thickened with something else, something dark.

He hadn't had the chance to properly process the change, when suddenly, a low, distant groan, too long to be thunder, rose from all around, from the very air itself. His heart, which had been beating at a steady, ordinary pace, gave a hard thud.

Something was wrong, it dawned onto him. 

He twisted around, eyes darting frantically for you. He could've sworn you were right behind him, you were right there.

The crowd was thicker now, people had slowed down to look up, hands lifting to shield above their eyes.

Putain, where--

His lips parted with your name, but he'd barely managed to call out, when the ground rumbled beneath him, shaking. His arms rose at once, one foot stepping to the side and legs bending at the knees to steady himself. He'd only just regained his balance, then in the very next moment, a man, wild-eyed and panicked, came pelting through, shoulder slamming into his chest with the force of a thrown flour sack.

Verso grunted and hissed through gritted teeth as the edge of the table dug into his back. His hands flew out, fingers clamping around stall's edge before he could go down completely. The coins, long forgotten, clattered somewhere at his feet.

A brief moment passed, when suddenly he didn't feel the ache of the impact anymore, taken away by the faces of his family flashing behind his eyes. His fear for them flared harder than any pain.

Maman. Papa. Clea. Alicia. They were back at the Manor right now. His chest pressed in with concern for their safety. He imagined his mother's open worry, his older sister's internal panic, his younger sister's quiet fear. His father would protect them, Verso was sure of that. His father would never let anything happen to them. You resurfaced into his thoughts and he was brought back, the unpleasant thumping of his own pulse roared in his ears, as loud as it had been in childhood before his mother's easel--

He tightened his grip and hauled himself upright, vision briefly blurred.

Where are you?Where are you?Where are you?

The painter's stand was half-obscured by the shifting knot of bodies and you were still nowhere in sight. He took two hurried steps in that direction, then you came into view a second later, squeezing sideways through the press of coats and elbows, just three stalls away.

Someone shoved past you and you flinched away, one hand catching a crate nearby to brace yourself. Your eyes were wide, darting over the chaos with a stunned, uncomprehending look that twisted something under Verso's ribs. 

It took you a few seconds, but you finally found him.

Relief hit with such force it was almost painful. He could've fallen to his knees with it. The world was breaking around him, and yet there you were, and as long as you were there, he believed that nothing truly irreparable could happen.

He ran, and you moved too, at the same time he did. In that one, suspended instant, everything seemed to have pivoted around the space between you. It was just you and him, reaching out for each other through the parted sea of bodies. And then you collided.

His arms came around you firmly, and you clung on just as hard, so tightly, he thought for a second that you might've fused right then and there, became one shape in the middle of this whole mess.

"Verso--" Your voice broke. You drew back just enough to see his face, hands fisted in his collar. "What's happening?"

He did not know. And how could he? When his own heart was beating too hard, and his thoughts came in insufficient, useless bits and pieces. He knew only this; that terror had its claws in you, and that he would sooner let the world fall on his own head than see it sink any deeper into yours.

So, he smiled. So lightly, and so, so softly.

The kind of smile he used on quiet evenings when you worried over small things and he wished to make them smaller still. It didn't quite reach his eyes, but dear God, he prayed you wouldn't notice.

He let his hand rise, knuckles brushing your cheek. A stray strand of hair had slipped forward, he tucked it back with care, fingertips lingering against your skin. For that small second it was as if nothing had changed. This was just an ordinary afternoon, and he was only touching you because he wished to.

"It's probably just..." His eyes flicked up, then came back to you. The words died halfway. "It will pass, mon coeur."

The sky, however, didn't seem to like his answer. In response, sudden light above you fractured, followed by a loud crack! A hot white pain flashed in your ears, leaving behind an ache and an awful, high-pitched ringing.

Your body jerked in a flinch, fingers seizing in the fabric at Verso's shoulders and digging in hard. A distant part of you worried that he would bruise there later--if later still existed.

Between one breath and another, there was nothing but muffled sounds, like you were drifting underwater.

Then it all crashed back in at once.

The street erupted. Men shouted for their wives. Women screamed out names you don't linger on. Children shrieked for parents, for siblings, for the pets they refused to leave behind. Their throats were never made for this kind of panic.

The noises piled on themselves, layer upon layer, until they stopped sounding like individual people and became one continuous shriek.

A thin, dark break cracked in the stone. Your eyes followed it as it zigzagged rapidly along the path, to fast and too narrow to be perceived under the feet of people who didn't have time to look down. 

A blurry movement of hair and a bright orange skirt ran past, the woman's hands outstretched, reaching for a small boy, no more than six or seven. The boy turned towards her at the sound of his name, thick tears streaked down his flushed cheeks. Her fingers almost brushed his sleeve... almost--

--the ground dropped out from under her, widening from the once small crack.

The boy yelled and fell backward as his mother? sister? aunt?--it could've been anyone--leaped forward with a short, raw sound, catching the crumbling edge with both hands. It was only for a few fleeting seconds that she hung there, legs dangling above the dark, but it felt like an eternity. Her scream tore through you like lightning. Her fingernails scraped through dust and grit as she struggled to cling onto something, anything, until she couldn't hold on any more.

And then she was gone. Swallowed by whatever waited below.

Your arms shot out on instinct, tearing free of Verso's hold as if, from several paces away, you could possibly catch her. As if you could reach down into that hole and pull her back into the light by sheer force of will.

Her scream faded into the general roar, but it did not leave. It went on inside your skull, looping, catching, refusing to finish properly.

"Stay with me."

Verso's voice was the only thing that pushed through it all, thinner than you've ever heard it, a small tremor running under the words, and your gaze dragged back to him.

His chest ached with this strange, helpless fury in him, at the sheer size of what was happening. At his own smallness. If he could stand between you and the sky, he would. If he could argue the earth into stillness, he would talk until his throat bled.

But he couldn"t do any of that. He could only hold you.

So he gathered you again, arms wrapping around you with such desperation. One hand cradled the back of your head, pressing your face into the warm hollow under his jaw. The other spanned the small of your back up to your shoulder blades, pulling you close enough that your spine curved into him.

He tried, stupidly, to make of his body a shell.

His nose buried into your hair, finding the warm, familiar scent of vanilla soap from this morning. He closed his eyes and pressed a kiss to the crown of your head. It was a small, reverent thing, an apology.

"Hey, it's okay, my love.." He whispered the first words of comfort that sat on his tongue. "It's okay. You're okay."

You could feel his heartbeat hammering where his chest pressed against yours, proof that he did not believe his own words, but you clung to them anyway, because you had nothing else.

Above you, another ripple tore straight across the sky. Verso flinched under your cheek, the jolt running through his muscles and into yours. His hold tightened until it almost hurt, and he let his eyes slide shut. Black filled his vision.

If the world must fall away, let it fall in darkness. So long as in that darkness, my last sensation was the feel of you in my arms.