little bird // r.keene

iii. the hair tie.

"Hey."

"Hey." Robby replied softly, looking up from one of Wren's books when she walked in the door, closing it gently behind her. Mr James had been glad she left her room, he had been just closing up the shop when she came back and told her he was heading home. He made sure to lock the door behind him.

Wren's eyes raked over Robby, he had her blanket draped over his shoulders and he had been sat with the window open but the blinds down, looking through the slats at the people walking by the shop below.

Hiding from the world in Wren's little corner of her own.

He stood and neatly folded the blanket on the chair, walking over to her, he shoved his hands in his pockets. Wren put both hands on the counter and leaned with her back against the side, facing him. Robby gave her a gentle smile, stopping in front of her, Wren sighed and reached out, raking her fingers through his hair, smoothing down the top.

"Remind me to never give you a haircut again." She uttered under her breath, flattening the final strand and she stepped back to admire her work. It would be a lie if she said she didn't miss Robby's long hair but when he had asked her to cut it for him- she didn't hesitate if that was what he wanted.

"You did a better job than I would have." He told her, shaking his head playfully, messing up the strands she had just smoothed down moments ago deliberately to annoy her but it looked better slightly messy anyway. "I should probably give you this back, I don't think I'll be needing it anymore." He took his hands out of his pockets and pulled a hair tie off his wrist, extending it to Wren. "I took it from your desk the morning of the All Valley, I didn't think you would mind and I've been forgetting to give it back to you." He said, Wren gave him a small smile.

She hadn't even known it was missing, though she had spotted it was on his wrist, she would never assume it had been hers.

"You've had it on your wrist this whole time?" She asked him gently, Robby gave a small nod of confirmation. Wren took the hair tie from him but instead of putting it on her own wrist or chucking it back on her desk, instead she took ahold of Robby's wrist and threaded it gently over his hand so it rested where it had been these past few months on his right wrist.

"You had better hold onto it." She looked up at him, still holding his wrist in both hands, "I'm always losing things." He smiled at that and Wren did too.

The pair of them, smiling like idiots.

Wren suddenly felt a lump in her throat and her smile faded slightly, Robby noticed instantly, he had always been rather good at reading Wren but this past week- he now felt like he could read her mind off her body language alone. Everytime she picked at her skin, bit her lip, clenched her fists, she was angry, annoyed or nervous. Everytime her smile faded, he knew she was thinking about something important and he could guess what the subject was.

"Who did you see when you were out?" He asked, his wrist fell back to his side and Wren licked her lips before folding her arms as if coiling back into herself.

"John Kreese." She answered flatly.

"What did he tell you?" He asked softly.

"That if I hadn't grabbed Miguel over the railing," Wren instinctively unfolded her arms and let her fingers trail over her hips. Her bruises from the collision with the metal railing had faded, in their place were smooth yellow stains, they were still healing but didn't hurt anymore. "He might have landed on his back or head and if he had-" She broke herself off, Robby knew what would have happened if Miguel had landed on his back or neck from that height.

He didn't want to hear her say it.

"Because of you, he landed on his feet..." Robby finished for her, his eyes wide and firm in realisation, Wren nodded, confirming his theory. "You saved his life." Robby whispered, running a hand through his hair before slinging his hands back in his pockets and looking back to his feet.

"No, they just-" Wren began but she didn't know what to say, all words of denial or confirmation alike were lodged in her throat.

"Wren." Robby said flatly, he took another step towards her, closing the gap between them and he engulfed her in a hug. Wren gratefully wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him tightly against her as his arms snaked around her shoulders. Wren pressed her cheek firmly against his chest and shivered as she felt him trace circles with his thumb on her back- their way of comforting each other.

"Robby." She mumbled his name into the cotton of his t-shirt.

Robby didn't say her name back, he took a sharp inhale through his nose, soaking in the smell of her hair, his eyes closed as if he were dreaming. "Without you," He whispered into her neck, "I'd be a murderer." Wren's knees felt weak at the statment, she only squeezed him tighter.

"Listen to me." She uttered, neither making any motion to pull away from the other, "It wasn't your fault." Wren said quietly but firmly, "It never has been and it never will be your fault." She breathed him in as if he was the air she needed to survive.

Robby held onto her words with everything he had and held onto her a little bit more.

Wren shifted slightly and Robby's arms moved around her waist so that hers could rest around his neck. Their heads resting against the other's, their noses almost touching. "Look at me." She whispered, her hands moving from the back of his neck to cup his face on each side, Robby opened his eyes to find hers already staring up at him, her eyes wide and meaningful.

"I will protect you with everything I am." Those words meant everything to him. Everyone in his life, his mom, dad, Daniel, Sam, his old friends. All had come and gone, leaving him in the dust.

Wren knew what that felt like and despite hating to see her in pain. He was glad she knew what he felt. He was eternally thankful she understood and that he had her in his life. Nothing would ever replace the warm, tingling sensation flooding his chest when he saw her lips curve into a small smile, "You hear me, Keene?"

Robby's hands didn't move. He didn't let her go when he realised that Wren knew all his secrets, except one: that was in love with her.
He smiled, closing his eyes once more and remembering what he had thought back at the beach club:

Wren was sunsets and tired eyes and messy hair and baggy jeans and late night laughter and spilt coffee and the smell right before it rained and badly rolled joints and sleepless nights and bad 90's movies and new music and old books and whispers at 3 am and ice cream and denim and drives with no destinations and Sunday morning lie ins.

He wanted all of that. All of her. Her flaws. her mistakes. Her imperfections. He wanted her, and only her.

She was a mess of gorgeous chaos and now so was he.

"Yeah, Evans. I hear you."