The Sky Is Falling On My Head!

21. A Very Long Ending, I Swear.

I couldn't stop the frown that took over my face, and before I could erase it, Keith noticed.

He danced me off to his room, and closed the door on us, before frowning deeper than me.

"Hey, hey... What's wrong?" He touched my face, and when he pulled his hand back, I was surprised to find that it was wet.

"Nothing. I'm fine." I mumbled, very unconvincingly.

"No, you're not. You're crying. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Keith." I tried pushing past him, but Keith was fast. Before I could even blink, he'd wrapped his arms around me and pulled me flush against him in a hug.

"Well, if that's the case," he buried his face in my hair. "And you want to lie to me, then you'll have no problem when I tell your parents."

A wave of panic swelled inside me, and I yanked myself away from Keith.

"Don't you dare."

"Don't you dare try hiding stuff from me."

"I'm not hiding anything, Keith. I swear."

"Then what's wrong?" He asked. His voice sounded pleading- desparate almost.

The dam broke, and the river came flooding out.

"I don't know. I'm just..." I hated those words.

'I'm just...' they'd win the competition for the most hopeless words ever. I hated them. Yet, they were all I could come up with, right then.

"I don't know." I said, again. "I don't know."

A sob escaped before I could stop it, and Keith wrapped me in a hug. I stood there, in his warm embrace, waiting for that feeling of electricity to spark around me, like it always did, but it never came.

Wave after wave of misery washed over me, but the electricity never came.

~~~~~~

I lived the next two days on autopilot. Smiling when I needed to, laughing when I had to, and pretending to be happy when all I felt was empty.

I didn't want to do anything, except lie in bed with my covers pulled above me, while I sobbed me heart out for no apparent reason.

I was sick and tired of having to deal with this everytime it hit.

I turned over in bed, letting my eyes trace over Keith's handsome face. Each perfect curve, and each perfect angle. And suddenly, I had to bite down on the urge to hit him.

What?

All he'd done for the past few days was make sure I was okay. My thoughts made me sick, and it made me wish more than ever, I could erase this stupid feeling.

Or the lack of it.

~~~~~~

Half way through my conversation with Ryder, I had a sudden urge to smile. Really, really widely.

I embraced it completely, knowing what it meant.

And this time, when Keith asked if I was alright, I didn't lie. Because I was fine, and the cloud had passed.

"Yes, I am. I'm perfectly okay!" I grinned at Keith, and all his worry seemed to evaporate. He smiled back at me, and wrapped his hand around mine.

Ryder groaned from beside us.

"Could you guys like get a room or something? We're in a public place. People don't need to see your PDA."

Keith smirked.