Promises

Chapter 15

-IVORY

"Hey Remi," I say as I walk up to him at his locker.

"Oh, hey Ivory, you scared me."

"I had the worst dream last night, I don't know what's going on," I explained to him. He smiled.

"Good to know I'm not alone," he whispered in my ear.

"I had a bad dream too and got mad at my dad," he explained.

"Yeah, I'm not talking to my mom."

We walk to class together. I try grab his hand. My hand being the perfect size to wrap around just one finger, his pinky. He laughs at me and kisses the top of my head. People in the halls were staring at us.

"No one wants to see you two being all lovey dovey, this is a school," a teacher stops to tell us.

"Jealous?" Remi says with a grin.

I hold in my giggle. We walk off smiling. We turn a corner and he puts me against the wall.

"I'm not anything like my dad you know that right?" he asks, scared of my response.

"Yes, I know Remi, and I'm not like my mom, I'll be by you whenever you need me," I reassure him.

We kiss like there's no tomorrow. His soft lips against mine. He puts his hand on my cheek and rubs it gently with his thumb. I feel myself getting pink as I start to smile. I hold it in.

"Woah, I missed that feeling," he looks into my eyes and smiles.

At this point I'm as red as a tomato and my jaw hurts from smiling. I cover my face using my sleeve.

He tickles me and I burst out laughing. I tickle him back. We were both in a corner on our own, the halls were empty and me and him roar with laughter while we tickled each other.

"Stop, stop," he says while laughing uncontrollably. I don't want to stop, I want this moment to last a life time. The way his laugh echoed through the hall. I could listen to him laughing forever. I can't even imagine losing him. No wonder Ive liked him forever, I always knew there was a nice smile hiding behind the intimidating face everyone knows him as.

Remi grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hall. I hold onto his hand tighter and almost tripped over my own feet by the surprising outburst. We run down to the end of the hall near a fire exit.

"Uhm, why exactly are we here?"

"Trust me, just hold onto me tight, we will be going fast," he looks deep into my eyes and I feel everything in my stomach jumble up as I forget how to speak.

"A-oh-right-ye hehe," I stutter.

He laughs at me. I can tell he enjoys the power he has over me. He loves when I get nervous around him because it makes him feel powerful. Something he doesn't feel at home.

He pulls the fire alarm and pulls me out the fire exit as fast as he can. Me following behind him, so distracted I almost crash into the door. Are we seriously running away again?

"Where the fuck are we going Remi,"

"Nowhere, or anywhere." He didn't seem to know himself. He just wanted to get out of school.

"You are really slow, hurry up silly," he bullies me as he swoops me off the ground and carries me bridal style.

I plant a kiss on his cheek and then his neck. He tries to hold back a smile but he couldn't hide it from me. I had a power over him too and I knew that.

-REMI

I wish I could tell her I was braking more and more every day. That one day I might not be here. That's my goal for today, to tell her my feelings. Tell her about my past, my dream, why I am who I am. But I'm scared. Terrified. I can't lose her and I can't leave her alone, I wouldn't want to see her with anyone other than me. I want her to myself forever.

"I can't begin to explain how much I love you," I tell her, holding back the tears that were burning behind my eyes.

"I love you too silly," she smiled at me.

"I LOVE YOU MORE," we both rush to say at the same time.

"I said it first," I tell her.

"Nooo I did." She pulled a jokingly mad face. I can't even begin to imagine what she actually looks like mad. She always looks so happy, always smiling, always giggling.

That's my girl.

I stopped running. A car rushed before us and I felt the wind blow my hair back and force the tears that I was holding back to fall.

"Wait, what's wrong?"

"Just the wind from the car, sensitive eyes," I lied.

"Ok." She smiled. Her smile could melt me instantly. The way her mouth widens and her teeth peak through. The way her eyes glisten and her loving character reveals itself. Fuck I'm such a sucker for her love.

We walked the rest of the way, arm in arm. She hugged herself closer to me, she said it makes her feel safer. She knows what she's doing.

"What did you dream last night?" she asked me.

"Well, it wasn't really a dream, it was a memory."

"Thats crazy, me too," she smiled an empty smile. I hated it, I want her real, happy smile. The one filled with kindness and love.

"It was the day I lost my mom, when she finally had enough of my dad." I start explaining.

"I can vividly imagine all the scars and bruises left on her face that day, and it haunts me every day." I stop for a second. A lump forming in my throat making it harder to talk. I try to swallow it but that's not how this works. I have to allow myself to be vulnerable.

"I see it every time I close my eyes, her face, covered in bruises. One around her right eye, another under her left, her busted lip and the cut slashing through her eyebrow," I cry.

She hugs me tight and wipes the tear off my cheek with her sleeve. She pulls my mouth into a smile. I couldn't help but smile then. She knows just how to make me happy again.

"That sounds terrible, I am so sorry," she says as sorrow fills her now glossy eyes.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

We continue on about both of our dreams. She explains that her dad had a sudden death, how her mom left before she could even say her last goodbyes. How her dad explained how much he loved the woman who abandoned him at his last few minutes. She told me how she will never forget that, and she will never forgive it either.

"I hate seeing you like this, so promise me one thing," I whisper to her as I look at her lips.

"Promise me you will never lose this beautiful smile of yours." I put my thumb on her lip and lean in to kiss her.

"I promise," she slips in before we kiss and I feel her hold back a smile as we kiss in the setting sun.