Everything I've Wanted (ellie the whale x fem oc)

Chapter 12- Turning Moment?

THIS CHAPTER WILL INTRODUCE A NON-BINARY CHARACTER SO PLEASE IF YOU EVER SEE ME ADDRESSING THEM WITH ANY PRONOUNS BESIDES THEY/THEM PLEASE COMMENT AND TELL ME

Sleep wasn't something that came easy to Heather. It wasn't like she never pursued it, she tried endlessly yet sleep just always seemed to outrun her. The girl often spent her nights twisting and turning in her bed, plagued by worries and the guilty knot that twisted in her stomach whenever she thought about her deceased best friend and love of her life. She knew the moment she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep she would have to suffer with a nightmare of a ghostly pale Aspen blaming Heather once again.

Aspen was one of the most important people in her life, ever since the two had met Heather's protective nature flourished. She wanted nothing more than to keep Aspen safe and the lengths she went were drastic. Heather saw that the girl was bullied by the seniors on the soccer team, so what did Heather do? She let her anger get the better of her and used her natural fighting skills to make sure those who bullied Aspen would never even look at her again.

But Heather didn't realize she was too late. The words of the seniors weren't even what caused Aspen to do what she did, they were just the tipping point. Their inhumane taunts and occasional beatings just further proved the already existing thoughts in Aspen's mind that maybe the world was better off without her.

The days where Aspen would experience the worst of the bullying were when Heather's parents "had to" pick up her and her sister from school at a later hour so Heather would walk over to the nearby middle school and play in the playground with Eve until their parents finally arrived. Heather left Aspen all alone, completely unaware of the seniors who always took this as their opportunity to make Aspen's life so much harder than it already was.

Aspen was always jealous of Heather and Eve's relationship. She was an only child and didn't have anyone to stand in and be like the sister she never had. And it wasn't like her parents babied her for being their only child, it was quite the opposite actually. They never failed to remind Aspen about her being in an accident and how if they could have afforded it at the time, they wouldn't have hesitated to abort her in an instant.

Even as she grew older and her family pulled themselves out of financial struggles, their resentment towards Aspen never went away. In their minds she was just an extra mouth to feed, another room in their house filled with nonsense, more useless clothes to wash, and more oxygen wasted in their newly bought house.

Heather blamed herself nonstop since that day. She loved Aspen and was supposed to protect her. SHe didn't even think about why Aspen always avoided hanging out at her house even though they had been best friends for years. Heather was supposed to see the signs but they always grazed her slightly while the rest went right through her mind. Heather was supposed to protect Aspen with everything in her. But she didn't, the one person she wanted to protect more than anyone was gone.

And it was all her fault.

Heather stayed in her own mind all night, crying and telling herself everything that had happened to Aspen was her own fault. All of the name calling, the slurs Aspen was called, the bruises that tinted her supple skin, it was all her fault. She should've been able to see it a lot sooner. Heather stared at her all the damn time, so why couldn't she notice how she'd flinch when their teammates on the soccer team slapped her on the back after she made a bad play to 'cheer her up'? Why couldn't she see the way she looked at the ground and hide herself when certain people walked by them in the hallways? Why couldn't her stupid fucking brain not ask and pray and beg about why she always avoided talking about her family like it was the plague?

She should've seen the signs. Maybe if she had, Aspen would still be here. They would hopefully be going to college together as a couple and living together with Eve. Every single day Heather would wake up to Aspen softly kissing her face and brightly smiling when Heather would finally open her eyes, greeting her in the dorkiest and nerdiest way possible. Heather would return the smile, shaking her head while calling her a ned, and kiss her nose, then Heather would try to kiss her lips, only for Aspen to push her back, whining about her having morning breath.