A Story (Stephen & Rory) fanfic

Chapter 1

"I can't," He said.

"You have to, or else we'll be stuck in here for who knows how long." I answered.

Sid and Sadie got us. All of us. Then, they divided us into pairs and put each pair in an empty room. Callum and Boo. Thorpe and Freddie. Stephen and I. They instructed us to do just one thing in order to get out of here: To tell the other three things we don't want them to know. I have no idea how they knew to pair us up like that. This was the perfect combination for no one telling anything. What happened yesterday wasn't helping our situation either.

I woke up yesterday on the living room couch like everyday lately, because i didn't have a bed nor a room at the small apartment that contained four people, two beds and a mattress. Boo was in Callum's room, sleeping on the mattress, so I got the couch. It was a small couch, a little too short even for a short person like me. I could feel the wooden bars beneath my back. I didn't complain though. I was thankful they let me stay there.

So, yesterday morning, before I even got to drink some coffee, Stephen and I had another fight, just like the ones we were having for the past week. Only that time was the worst one yet. He said, again, that I needed to go back to my parents, back to America. Of course Thorpe had told him that those requests were irrational, because it would only make it easier for Sid and Sadie to find me. Then, Stephen wanted to go look for them, to just walk around London, looking for two people that are very good at hiding. Thankfully, Boo and Callum stopped him.

He wasn't acting rationally. And Stephen is all about logic.

I don't know what was different yesterday, but Stephen just snapped.

"Go home!" He said, " Be safe! There is nothing for you here! Go to your old friends and to a place that is warm!"

From the words he said, it was understood that he cares about me, but he said them wrong. A bit too forceful. From the way he spoke, it sounded like he didn't care about what I wanted.

In the first four times we fought I tried to answer, explain why I had to stay in London. After that I gave up and stayed quiet anytime this argument started. Hoping eventually, he will give up.

Stephen and I didn't talk about anything other than our fight for two weeks now.

"Why don't you start then? Tell me three secrets, and i will do the same right after you." Stephen said, brining me back to the here and now.

"Well, I don't have three things I can think of right now." I answered. I could only think about one. I was head over heels in love with a jerk. A smart beautiful jerk.

We shared an intense gaze, that i broke out of first.

"What if we do this another way? We can just talk and slide our secrets into the conversation." I suggested. It had worked in the past, we always start talking and slowly feel more comfortable with each other.

He sighed, knowing that i had a point, sat down on the floor and said "Fine."

The situation felt a bit off, a bit too artificial. Would Stephen actually tell me secrets of his he didn't want me to know? Would he lie?

"So," I said, starting a conversation and sitting down infront of him. "What happened yesterday? You were more... assertive than usual."

He was quiet for a few seconds and I begun wondering whether he had changed his mind, thinking that he wasn't going to tell me anything after all, but then he let out a breath and opened his mouth.

"For you to fully understand, I'd have to tell you those three secrets."

I was surprised. What could his secrets be? We sat there in quiet for a few moments more, with no idea of what to say.

"You have to promise me a few things, if you want me to go along with this." He said, "First, you will not tell anyone anything of what I will say. Second, I do care about you, keep that in your mind, please. And third, remember things have been hard for me too. I do believe I owe you an apology, maybe me telling you why I've been acting anomalously could be one. Anyway, I'm sorry."

I stared at him, speechless, and nodded.

"I've talked to you about my childhood before, I won't do that again today, mainly because I can't deal with that right now. My sister's name was Regina. Her death's anniversary was yesterday. I suppose I was more vulnerable." He couldn't look me in the eyes anymore so he stared down at his hands. I immediately felt like I shouldn't have asked that. I wanted to tell him that he didn't have to tell me his secrets, but that wasn't true, and I was way too curious.

"Which brings me to my first secret..." He continued, "I do have feelings, a lot of them, I'm just particularly good at hiding them."

I almost said that everyone has feelings, it's not a secret, but he started talking again before I had a chance at getting anything out of my mouth.

"I know what you think. I know what you want to say. That it's ridiculous, that it's not a secret. But it is when no one knows just how deep those feelings are. I cried three day ago. I don't even know why. But I've never cried over Regina. I didn't go to her funeral. I've never been to her grave. And that makes me feel so guilty. When everything becomes a little too much I... I..."

He held out his left arm and pulled his sleeve up, revealing thin white lines. Two of them were still red. It took me a few seconds to realize what i was looking at, but when I did, I gasped and immediately regretted it. He winced and pulled down his sleeve. "It helps a bit sometimes." He said, his voice barely a whisper.

He cleared his throat. "The second secret is that I remember. I remember what happened when you came to save me, to bring me back. We were in a diner. I saw your house, the one in America." He tried to smile but it looked like it was hurting him. "There I told you I was a part of the Shadow Cabinet, I told you I don't know everything about it, but my job is to keep the termini safe. You did the math and figured that I came after you and crushed my car into Jane's because you are a terminus. Then Sid and Sadie showed up and we never got to finish that conversation."

I think he could sense that something was wrong, and boy, everything was wrong at that moment. A wave of memories hit my brain. There was a roaring sound in my ears, deafening me momentarily. I was furious. I wanted to scream. Is that the reason why he kissed me back in his dad's flat? So it would be easier for him to watch over me? My heart sank. I felt so dumb.

"No!" He said hurriedly, begging, catching my eyes. "You promised! I do care about you! Please just listen to me until the end. Please!"

He was pleading but all I could see was black. Ugly blinding black.

"Rory, please." His voice cracked, softening the blackness.

I couldn't speak. I didn't even want to know what would leave my mouth if I'd open it, but I nodded. I'd listen to him. It can't all be a lie, Can it? He looked at his hands once again.

"My third secret is... You."

What.

"I'm terrified of not knowing, but with you it can be exciting. When I'm insecure I just think of how much trust you have -had,- in me. Whenever I'm near you I want to run away, but at the same time I want to be as close to you as you'd let me be. I love you, Rory. I hate it. I love it. I'm terrified of it. I wish I was lying, but I'm not. I love you."

It was all way too much in one day, so when he looked up to glance at my face, all he could see was was my blank expression. I could see the exact moment his heart was shuttered into a million pieces. His pain was palpable. I had just broke Stephen's heart. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but that was what happened. Strange how things turned out. Instead of screaming " I love you too" or kissing him, i continued sitting down, blinking.

Then the door was abruptly opened.