To Trust Again- A RATLD FanFiction

Stay With Me

(A/N: Yaaay, finally some Rayaari bits whoop whoop! And yes, if I could pick a song for the start of this chapter, I'd totally pick 'Stay With Me' by Sam Smith, and I totally took some inspo from a scene from one of The Hunger Games movies 😏)

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(*time skip*)

(Raya's POV)

I wake up fighting with my sleeping bag, drenched in sweat, my heart threatning to thump right out of my chest. Getting back to sleep is almost impossible, as more flashbacks replay before my eyes. It's still pouring down outside, which doesn't help.

"Raya? What's going on?" Namaari sits bolt upright in her own sleeping bag, rubbing her eyes.

"Oh, nothing, just had a nightmare."

"Yeah, I get them too."

"Really?"

"Yeah." She wriggles back down, about to fall asleep again.

"Namaari?"

"Yeah?"

"Will you, will you stay with me?"

She shifts her sleeping bag real close to mine. "Sure."

Don't do this Raya, remember, she betrayed you twice!

Oh shut up brain.

I nuzzle my cheek into Namaari's shoulder, and she holds me close as we fall asleep. 

(Namaari's POV)

Huh, who knew I'd be cuddling with the girl I once hated so much? Never though it'd happen.

She looks so peaceful, her eyes shut, delicate strands of hair falling over her face. I could run my fingers through it all day if she'd let me.

Sisu mumbles something in her sleep and rolls over, but I can't sleep, not yet. So instead I watch Raya breathe in and out, one hand curled up near her face, almost in a fist shape. 

(*a couple of hours later...*)

I must've fallen asleep eventually, because when Raya shakes me awake as gently as she can, it's stopped raining and daylight is coming through the tent door in a tiny trickle.

"Morning dep'la"

"Morning, what's with the shaking me awake?"

"C'mon, there's something I wanna show you."

She leads me outside. The grass is so soaked that my bare feet are wet in seconds. Her hands are put over my eyes. "Right this way." 

When she takes her hands off, we're standing on the hilltop where we were yesterday, before the rain. The sun is rising behind the distant dusky purple mountians, leaving behind wisps of lilac clouds, and a pale orange sky.

"Woah."

"Pretty cool, right?"

"You can say that again."

"Pretty cool, right?"

I start laughing and giver her a tiny shove. But then my laughter screeches to a halt, as I remember something I should have done weeks ago.

"Namaari, you okay?"

I inhale, exhale, take both her hands in mine. "Listen, dep'la, I have something to say to you."

"I'm listening."

"I'm sorry, dep'la, for everything."

"I'm sorry too, and I never thought I'd say this, but I forgive you."

I look deep in to her eyes, the words I've been wanting to say for days escape my lips before I can stop them. "I-I love you."

"You, you love me? Not as in a friend love?" 

I nod, casting my head down. Oh God, what if she runs away?

"I love you too."

My heart explodes like a fire cracker whizzing in the air, sparking and twisting for all to see.

She bites her lip, breathes in, out. "Promise you'll never hurt me again?"

".... I promise."

My hand slips under her hair so that my fingertips touch her neck, and her lips are on mine, and it's everything I've ever dreamed of.

(Raya's POV)

I'd never really been one for love (apart from a brief romance at fourteen, with a dark haired, pale boy from Talon who wore long sleeves to hide scars he inflicted on his arm.). I never felt that I needed it, that I would be incomplete without it.

But, kissing Namaari, holding her hand, her strong arms around my waist, oh yes, this feels right. 

I don't know how long we'll last, if we'll even make it past three months, but, to be honest, I don't care. All I want to focus on at the moment is loving her, right here, right now.

We draw apart when Sisu's head of wild hair comes bobbing towards us, and it's like we're putting on masks, pretending to be friends when, below the surface, there's something much more.

(A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for voting! so thank you thank you thank you, thank you thank you, and a thousand more thank yous. Have a lovely day, and see you guys next chapter. 😁)