Rosy Cheeks

discussings; 3.01

The girl twisted to look at him, her jaw falling open slightly, with confusion set upon her face. She squeezed her arms tighter against him and shook her head frantically.

"There's nothing wrong with you." She protested, her eye brows furrowed.

He sighed deeply and ran a hand through his slightly overgrown hair. "Of course there is." He muttered.  "Don't pretend like you don't notice how much of a mess I am."

"Rosy Cheeks, what are you going on about?" The girl asked, twisting her body to search his eyes with her pale ones. "You're not a mess, you just.. Your brain works differently than others. So does mine."

"Exactly! I'm different. I'm a nutjob." He replied, his husky voice raising. "I have wonderful friends, the sweetest and prettiest girlfriend. So why do I feel like I should be dead half the time I'm awake? Why do I go to a cliff, wanting to join the waves? Why do I look a pills and razors differently?" He paused for a while, choking back a sob. "No sane person has thoughts like this."

The girl tried to hold back tears of her own and rested her head in the crook of his neck. "Who even decides what's normal?" She mumbled again his skin, trying to think of what to say. "I.. You..." She sighed. "Maybe you aren't 'normal'.Maybe you having thoughts like you do makes you.. different. But that doesn't make you any less of a person. In fact, I think it shows how strong and brave you are, and I think that's the difference between you and someone who doesn't have depression. Everyday, you go through life and you kick it's ass, proving that you can do it, just like anyone else can. There's just a couple more obstacles in your way."

The boy was silent and motionless, other than his breathing. His eyes were trained on the girl, who was still resting a top him, watching as she battled for words. He wanted to believe them so much. But he just felt so hopeless, so worthless, so alone (although he could feel her heart beating, that proved he wasn't).

Still silence. Until the girl couldn't stand it anymore.

"Why aren't you taking your medicine? " She asked quietly, lightly tracing a circle into his back with her forefinger.

He leaned his head back with his eyes squeezed shut tightly, swallowed loudly, and she watched as his Adam's apple bobbed. Abruptly, his eyes snapped open and met with hers.

"Because I'm not crazy.." He mumbled, his chocolate eyes still watery. "I don't need them."

The girl frowned and stayed silent for a moment before speaking, "I know you're not crazy, Mr. Cheeks. But, don't they help you feel better?"

The boy shook his head, biting at his lower lip. "I can't sleep when I'm on them." He whispered. "And they make me feel so numb... Worse."

The girl couldn't help the tears that started to roll slowly down her cheeks. She wanted so desperately to just fix all his problems with a snap of her fingers or a hug. And it frustrated her so greatly that she couldn't.

The boy hesitantly reached his arm up and held her face gently in his hand, blaming himself for making her feel sad, like he did. Pale Eyes leaned into his hand and peered up at from under her lashes.

"We're going to find a way to help you, okay? Whether is be that we work on excerising, eating healthier than we do now, getting away when you need to. If you need me to just sit here and watch stupid movies, or draw or.. If we have to go to your doctor and try new meds, or whatever else we can find that helps, we'll do it okay? I won't give up on you, I promise. You just need to be willing and open to trying things." The girl said. "I can't fix you. That's not how it works. You need to help yourself, but please remember you aren't alone. You have so many people who love you and will support you. You aren't worthless or crazy. You're Rosy Cheeks. And you're good enough for you; and for me too."

And when she finished speaking the boy cried harder, hugging her tightly to his chest. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt a bit of peace and comfort in his life.

When he'd begun to settle down, the girl got up and made them tea and heated up some leftovers she'd found in the fridge. Then she brought them to where the boy was curled up against his beanbag, put a movie in his DVD player and grabbed a blanket, before returning to their earlier position.

They stayed there the remainder of the night, both still a bit sad, but soon they'd fallen asleep with the movie playing in the background and their arms wound around each other. But before he'd fallen asleep, with the girl dozing off, he placed a kiss to her forehead.

"How lucky am I, to be falling for a girl like you?" He whispered so softly, so sleepily his eyes fluttering shut.

----

Bella's note: Reeeeeally unedited, whoops. Idk if I like this chapter. I realized I missed a chapter before 3.00. I was going to add it but I thought it'd be too confusing. So I decided to add it to the book I'm going to be posting soon of their memories :-)

I'm almost done with school and that most likely means daily updates! But none from June 1-6 sorry! Exam week :-(

Question of the chapter: What's been your favorite part of Rosy Cheeks?

Mine has probably been all your support :-) And maybe their date? I dunno.

I HAVE A SURPRISE FOR YOU GUYS (and idk if its a good one or not):

I'm going to be writing prequels for Rosy Cheeks, one about the girl and one about the boy. They can be read as standalones, but theyre about their lives when things started going bad for them and why. Sad stuff, but :-(

Would you read them?

Love you all, were #7!! What??

-xx

(P.s. what do you think of the new cover? Do you like the other one better?)