Fate| ray.

chapter 8

"I want you to fool Yin and Emma." By now you're resisting all urge to barge in and slap him. He trusted you; you trusted him. And now he's pulling such an asshole move that it makes you want to leave so bad you could throw up. But knowing him, maybe, just maybe he'll tell Norman why he wants you to hate him, why he used Chris. If he was the spy all along, why didn't he tell mom about you? Why?

"I admit Yin's plan was almost perfect, it's always been- all her plans have been immaculate. Truthfully, I can't take credit for everything, the only reason I got so far was because of her. Honestly, she's so reckless it makes me want to bang my head up a wall. The way she's so...warm, she makes me feel, you know? And I broke her, so that she could stay safe, if she stayed away from me, mom wouldn't ship her out. It kills me every day to know I hurt her, the only person I could actually see myself with, the only person I'd kill myself for.

You know, Norman? Before Chris died, he made me promise to protect her. To keep her safe, to ensure she's living well, eating well, drinking tons of water and laughing. You wanna know why I used him? He wanted me to. So that all of us had a chance at life." His voice slowly becomes quite as you slide down the wall, the tears wouldn't stop.

Damn him! Damn him for caring so much! Damn him for making himself go through so much! Damn him for not trusting you! Damn him for keeping it all inside!

You choke out a sob, and then you bolt to the library.

"What I'm trying to say is, even though Yin's plan was the best course of action I still believe it's too risky. After leaving the kids back home, you can't guarantee they won't be shipped out right away, don't think they're not capable of doing that. Besides even if we do tell one of them, you can't be sure they'll believe it. Actually, fine, we'll go through with that plan- but we won't be coming back.

This is my way of helping you out. If you want to continue to refuse my offers, then fine by me, walk straight to your deaths with yin, emma and the others."

"...Didn't you want us to survive?"

"If you're gonna die after escaping then I'd much rather you die here by getting shipped out. So? What will it be? You in this?"

"Fine." Norman agrees.

"If that just now was a lie." Ray warns, walking up to Norman and pressing his shoulder. His way of saying 'break our agreement and you won't like what I do next'.

"I know." Norman assures.

With that Ray walks out. He stands by the door and exhales a breath he didn't know he'd been holding. He didn't mean to reveal so much, didn't mean to let his emotions get to him. He's about to head to the library hoping he'd be able to avoid you when his eyes catch a glimpse of the clip he gifted you on your 7th birthday to help tame that unruly hair of yours. Then he hurt you, so he assumed you threw it away- all this while, you had it with you?

Then it hits him. Fuck! You heard everything! You were there, listening! You weren't supposed to find out like that! He was supposed to get another week or so of you tolerating him!

Ray runs, he runs to the library knowing full well you'd be there. Knowingly or not, that's where you always are when you have a moment of weakness. That's how he always checked up on you, made sure you weren't pushing yourself too hard.

When he walked in, he was out of breath. There you were, in your usual place. You probably cried yourself to sleep, the dried tears serving as evidence. God. Just how much had you been crying? He settled himself beside you, placed your head on his lap and caressed your stupid, beautiful, unruly hair.

You looked so vulnerable now. His heart clenched at this sight of you. He'd give up anything for you. Give up his own life if it ever came down to it. He hums the soft tune he's always adored ever since he was young, even dedicated it to you.