The City - PewdieCry

21: Forgiveness

 My eyes shot open, the gunshot still ringing in my ears.

I sat up abruptly, panting, and reaching a hand to my sweating forehead. I brushed my blonde hair out of my eyes, still panting and sweating. This wasn't the first time I had recalled the last Grouping night, and I hoped that it would be the last. Cry's face, twisted in anger, his decision to shoot the man, kill him even. His decision to kill a man so quickly scared me, and I could only wonder who Wilson was. He must be important, but was he enough to end the one tradition that kept everything in the city at peace when it was needed?

Even Michael had been in disarray, and from what I knew he hadn't sent anyone out. Then again, it had been in the morning, and I was not one to wake up early enough to pay attention to these things. I sat up, taking a deep breath and running a hand through my hair. It had been several days since I'd opted to go on a scout mission, and I had been spending most of my time in the library, researching. I needed to, but it was also a good place to get away from everyone.

I had finally read over my blueprints, and the other documents. If anything I needed to be on scout patrols so that I could get promoted. The next place that I needed to sneak into was the basement where I was pretty sure everything was happening. All I needed was proof, and then I needed to start getting people out of the city. Starting with Cry.

Cry.

Would I even have the willpower to face him? I had just resolved the emotions I had for him. All the days that I had spent thinking about him, all his kindness towards me, it had been for a reason, and one that I liked. I was looking forward to that night when I would get to sit with him, kiss him, cuddle against the cold. How did everything change so quickly? I didn't think that my feelings changed for him, but rather I was just afraid. Afraid of what he could do, afraid of him when he got angry, afraid of his decisions. What if he didn't want to see me anymore?

There was a knock at my door that caught my attention, and I looked up with curiosity. Covert peeked his head around the corner, and I beckoned him in. He shut it behind him, pulling the chair over from the desk and looking at me, cigar in hand. I stared at the little book that I'd been writing in, much like a journal, and put it away for the time being.

"Pewdie, you look like you haven't slept in ages." Covert noted, and I flinched. I half expected him to say my name, and I realized just how much I wanted to hear Cry say it. I wanted to listen to his smooth voice again, I wanted him to comfort me. "Pewdie?"

"I haven't, I've been having weird dreams." I admitted, and Covert nodded, blowing smoke off to the side as to not make me breathe it in.

"Its a little unsettling." Covert said, and I looked at him as he stared out the window. "As long as I've been alive we've had Groupings at that building. Its nearly in the middle of the city, and it's always been a place of peace. Gangs that argue usually go there as a reminder that the place they are at is sacred, and fighting is not allowed. For Cry to break that rule for such a stupid reason-."

"Stupid is a word that wouldn't suit him." I growled, surprising myself by my sudden defense of the masked man. Covert glanced at me, just as taken aback. "He's an honorable man, he always has been. He wouldn't do something like this unless he felt it was absolutely necessary." I wasn't sure at this point if I was trying to convince myself or Covert at this point, but Covert simply stared at me with a blank face, flicking his cigar's ashes onto the ground and stomping them out.

"Wow, you're really head over heels for this guy if you're defending him for murder." Covert mused, and I flinched at this. He glanced at me. "Sorry, bad joke." I sighed, staring at my hands again and unsure of what to do with myself. Nothing at this point was making any sense in my head, and it was hard to tell what was right. My brain told me that murder was wrong, and that Cry had ruined one of the only good things in this city. My heart told me that there was something I didn't quite understand yet, and I sighed once more, not knowing what was stronger; what should I listen to most? "C'mon, time to get you some food." Covert said, putting his cigar in his mouth and helping me to my feet. "I'm not gonna let you sit in here and sulk all day, let's go."