How To Save A Life [A Robert Downey Jr. Fan-Fic]

Chapter 36: Changes

The next days passed by in a hurry.
Robert had been to the mall with Tom and Liz to buy some new furniture for the house. He had decided to spend New Year's Eve with them at our house and therefore he needed to build up everything he had destroyed earlier.
Of course, he had been surrounded by the press and curious paparazzi as soon as he had reached the shopping mall. At least, it was one of the rare moments he was in public after that one night.
Everyone wanted to get the best picture of him while he just wanted to escape their presence.
But he managed everything pretty well. He stayed calm, didn't shout at anyone although some of them really provoked him. But he stayed strong, professional as he was.

Later, when they arrived at home, Tom helped Robert to assemble everything correctly.
It was quite funny to watch them because none of them has ever assembled a shelf on his own before. That's why Liz had to help them in the end, much to their embarrassment.
But seeing Robert laugh and enjoy life again- yeah, that's what has really brightened my day.
He was no longer that self destructive man I had left behind in a cruel world. He started to live his life again, he started to enjoy each of the moments he spent with Tom and Liz.
He was changing.
Changing back to the man I had fallen in love with so madly. Changing back to the man with that heartwarming smile that always made his eyes crinkle in this absolutely adorable way. Changing back to Robert, my Robbie.
It almost seemed like his broken heart had started to heal again. Slowly, yet effectively.
The darkness that had ruled his life for so long slowly seemed to be enlightened by beacons of light, beacons of hope. His heavy heart seemed to find relief, eventually. And his eyes that had been marked by this sad and dark expression seemed to finally light up again, showing the sparkles of his fluid caramel orbs.
And all he and his broken heart needed to heal was time and a hand to hold, a hand to guide him.

It still was a long road up to recovery. But he was on his way. And he'd make it.
I was sure of that.

As much as I enjoyed seeing Robert's broken heart heal, I was afraid of what was going to happen to me next.
The moment I had feared for so long seemed to be getting closer and closer. It had started the evening he and Liz had visited me at the cemetery. At first, I didn't even recognize it but now...
I was fading, fading away.
With every step he made towards the light, I was pulled into a darker and quieter place. It was like some kind of undertow slowly pulled me away from Robert. And by now, it took more and more power to be close to him.
But I wouldn't give up, no for sure.
I'd stay with him as long as possible. I wouldn't leave him as long as there was the slightest chance to be by his side.
But it was undeniable and inexorable.
Sooner or later, I'd have to leave him. The moment, I feared the most.
My inevitable ending.

"So, we'll see you later, right? 8 o'clock?", Tom asked as they waited in front of the door, Robert nonchalantly leaning in the doorframe.

"8 o'clock", he agreed with a weak smile on his lips, "I'll be expecting you."

"We'll be there", Liz assured smirkingly before they waved goodbye and drove away in Tom's black car.

Robert kept waiting in the doorway for a while before he entered the house again and shut the door.

Then, he went upstairs and quickly changed his clothes to some black sweatpants, a grey shirt with the matching grey beanie.

He hesitated in the bathroom, staring at his own face in the mirror before he looked down at his shivering hands, quickly clenching his fists.

It was the alcohol that his body was missing. He had made a cut and now his body was fighting.

Robert closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Breathe and hold, breathe and hold...", he mumbled quietly, concentrating on his breath, "Breathe and hold."

After a few seconds, his whole body relaxed again and he uttered a sigh, opening his eyes again.