The Distance Between Us | Eric Coulter

twenty-five

two years ago

Eric

Pain shot up my arm as I let another punch fly, but I ignored it. My knuckles connect with Lucas Grant's incredibly punchable face with a sickening crunch.

Lucas groans in pain at my attack, standing no chance against my anger and the blood pouring from his nose was a testament to that.

Fisting the collar of his, now crumbled- Erudite blue blazer, I jerk him towards me so that he could see the deadly threat in my eyes.

"You and your stupid fucking friends better stay the fuck away from her, you understand me?" I growled through gritted teeth, "You so much as breathe in her direction again, and I'll fucking end you, Lucas. That's a promise."

Satisfied that the guy looks about damn ready to piss himself, I let him go, dropping him unceremoniously like a sack of potatoes onto the ground.

Turning on my heels, I don't spare him another glance and start to make my way down the hallway and to the roof garden where I knew Rory would be.

True to my suspicions, I find Rory sitting on a bench towards the back, shielded away by all of the bushes hugging her knees to her chest.

The sight of her wracks me because she looks absolutely miserable.

Her eyes are puffy and red from crying, and the sound of her sobs does quite a number to my heart.

I let the door swing shut behind me, purposefully not being gentle with it to alert Rory of my presence.

She wipes her tears away with her sleeves the moment she hears the intrusion and straightens up as if she hasn't been balling her eyes out just seconds ago.

Wordlessly, I approached her and took a seat next to her.

Evidence of her crying was still written on her face from her red nose and swollen eyes and I reached over to take her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Rory gasps when her eyes fall onto my battered knuckles, "Eric, what did you do?" She exclaims, clutching my hand in her smaller ones to examine it.

"Don't worry about it," I tell her dismissively.

"Eric..." She sighs, "I don't need you to fight my battles for me."

"They made you cry," I tried to reason.

A sad smile falls upon her lips as she looks up at me looking heartbreakingly broken, but still every bit as beautiful.

"I wasn't crying because of what Lucas said about me," She admits.

Perhaps she wasn't, but I could tell that his comment still upset her. He called her worthless- a dumb blonde that nobody would ever take interest in, which I knew wasn't true because Rory had every single ounce of my attention the moment I laid eyes on her.

"Okay, then tell me who else I'll have to set straight."

Her smile widens at my overprotective act and it makes my heart leap a little in my chest.

"As much as I appreciate the sentiment, I don't think you can beat up my mum."

Anger brews in my chest at the mention of Giuliana Caddel. The witch was a piece of work- and not in a good way. She's had it out for me since she noticed me hanging around Rory.

I would've been fine with her animosity if it were stemming from a place of concern for her daughter, but no. All Giuliana wanted was to have control of Rory and to make sure she didn't bring shame onto the Caddel name. If she'd known Rory the way that I did, she would've known that that wasn't possible.

Desperate to make her feel better, I reached into my pocket and pulled out a small box I'd been saving for her birthday.

"For you," I say as I present it to her.

Rory's face lights up in an instant and she guesses, "Is this an early birthday present?"

I smile at how well she knows me and nod, "It comes with one condition, though."

"What?" She asks, already sounding cheerier as she takes the box into her hands.

"You can't open it yet."

She frowns, pausing just as she starts to undo the red bow secured on it. "What? Why?"

The pout on her face is adorable and I can't help but chuckle, "It's a surprise." I point to the little card I made for her on it, "There's instructions written on there stating when to open it."

"I'd much rather open it now."

I laugh again. Typical Rory.

"Promise me you'll wait to open it," I tell her, trusting that she will before she even responds.

Rory narrows her eyes on me, looking like she's going to deny me but eventually nods.

"I promise."

Holding her gift close to her chest like it was the most precious thing in the world, she scoots closer to me and leans in to kiss me on the cheek.

"Thank you, Eric," She whispers, "I haven't seen it yet, but I already love it."

I can't help the smile that falls upon my lips as she leans her head on my shoulder and together, we stay just like that on the balcony, watching the sunset together.

After, I walked her to her apartment like I always do, making sure she was safely home.

Rory didn't let me leave before throwing her arms around my neck in a tight hug, telling me again how much she loved her present and how I was the best friend in the world.

With my choosing ceremony fast approaching, I was left with an onslaught of uncertainty. I'm not sure why that was since I've always known from the moment Rory entered my life that I could never leave her. But this moment, as I held her in my arms secured it for me. Rory and I were meant to be together, regardless of whether that was platonically or not...though, if I were being honest, I hoped it wouldn't be.

As I watched Rory shut her apartment door behind her, I turned to walk home, never feeling more certain about my choice to stay in my entire life.

Unfortunately for me, it was foolish of me to believe that things could ever be this smooth sailing.

Because, that night, instead of feeling the sense of contentment that I experienced for that brief moment of perfection, I walked into my apartment to find Giuliana Caddel standing over my sobbing mother and instead, I felt the last thing I ever expected myself to feel today; betrayal.