How To Save A Life

Chapter 8

Kylie woke up early the next morning for work. She glances beside her and smiles. She kisses Malia softly on her forehead before getting up. She looks around and doesn't see Ruby anywhere. Didn't she sleep with them? Or was she dreaming? She leaves Malia to sleep and goes to the living room. "Ruby?" "Kitchen." She hears a soft voice. She goes to the kitchen and sees Ruby sipping coffee. "Hey, how you feeling?" Ruby shrugs. "I'm alright." Kylie sighs. "Rube, I'm so sorry. I've been so busy with Malia, i completely forgot about you."

Ruby shakes her head. "Don't be sorry. You're not responsible for me getting better. And you're not responsible for Malia either, i know it may seem like that sometimes but i promise, you aren't. It's up to me to get better and it's up to Malia. You can take us to therapy, which failed me and Mel, you can take us out for the day, Disney, shopping, whatever. But at the end of the day, we're back at home, alone in our rooms and our thoughts. There's nothing you can do about that, it's up to us to get ourselves better." Kylie stares at her. "You're right. I can't magically make you feel better. I can't take away your depression. But i can at least try. I'm not about to sit back and watch you become Mel." Ruby looks at her. "You think I'm next? That i would do that? That i would break my promise to her? Need i remind you, i wasn't the one you found on that bridge. So how about you focus on your little girlfriend and not me. You've been doing it for the past few weeks anyways." Ruby stands and pours the rest of her coffee in the sink before leaving it beside the green mug. She pauses. That damn mug.

She grabs her keys and puts on her shoes. "I'm going out." She grabs the doorknob and pauses. She sighs. "It's not that I'm not happy for you. I am. But I'm worried about you." "Why?" "Cause I don't want you to end up like me." Ruby opens the door and leaves without another word. Kylie is left with her thoughts for a moment until she hears her bedroom door open. Malia walks out and looks around. "Hey, there you are." "Hey." Malia rubs her arm. "You ok?" "Malia, when was the last time you thought about....you know....?" "Oh, uh.... I'm not sure." Kylie nods. "Have you ever tried therapy?" Malia shrugs. "I mean, not really. Money was tight so i never had the chance to get the help that i needed but i mean, i feel fine right now."

Kylie sighs. "Yeah, right now. Why?" "I guess cause i was feeling lonely? Like no one cared about me?" Malia guessed. "Malia, i can't be your only reason for living. What if we fight? What if we never see each other again?" Kylie looks at her. "But that won't happen." "But it could. I need you to fight for yourself. Not just us. I need you to want to live, for yourself. Because if anything ever happens to me, to us, I don't want you to go back down that dark path. I want to show you that there's more to this world but that doesn't mean that i want to end up being your whole world. Look what happened to Ruby." Malia sighs and nods. "I get it, i do." Kylie holds her hands. "I know we haven't really talked about what we are but you mean a lot to me, Malia. But i need to go and find Ruby before she does something she'll regret. Promise me that you'll be ok." She looks into her eyes. "Well, i can come with you?" "No, no. Malia, i need to do this alone. And I don't want you to become co-dependent on me. Like i said, you need to be able to take care of yourself. I'm trusting you to be in this apartment alone, ok?" Malia nods. "Ok." "Nothing is locked up anymore. So i mean, I'm trusting you." Malia nods once again. "Go find Ruby." "I hope i do before it's too late." Kylie grabs her keys and heads towards the door. "I'll be back as soon as i can." As she walks out, Malia realizes that she's all alone now. For the first time in weeks, she's alone.