Lily Of The Valley (Aris x Reader)

19) A Little Too Far

“I told you to stop being stupid.”

“You said idiotic,”He corrected, still proudly standing on top of the vehicle.

“Oh, now you remember what I say?”I scoffed.

“You're literally with me,”He pointed out, hopping from the roof of one car to the back of another.

“What else am I supposed to do? Keep walking?”I shot back, doing the same, grabbing his arm for balance for a moment before standing upright.

“You could. If I remember correctly, you're supposed to be about five miles away by now, finally realizing you miss me.”

“Oh, yeah. However, could I forget that?”

“Glad you agree, darling.”

Rolling my eyes, I walked up the trunk to the roof of the car with him staring out at the world. Or what was left of it.

“What do you think this place was?”

“I think it was some kind of apartment or living area. It's hard to tell now,”He trailed off.

“Yeah. It is.”

It's depressing to say the least. A world that had once been so full of life was now so empty. What could be a place of kids playing outside and people watching from their windows was now a bunch of rusted automobiles and ruined buildings. It was essentially a graveyard now, a reminder of what could have been. It could have been better. It should be better.

“Don't,”He said firmly.

“What?”

“You know what. The world was not going to be saved by five teenagers.”

“But-”
“No but’s. That wasn't our mess to be in, and you know it.”

I do. I also know we could have grown up though. Then, we could have done more. We could have-
“No,”He repeated, grabbing my hand, locking our fingers together. Letting out a sigh, I laid my head on his shoulder, closing my eyes to avoid witnessing this mess of a planet.

“Not your fault, darling. It wasn't your burden to carry.”

It would take a lot for me to feel truly better. To make the guilt go away. Probably some intense therapy and years of acceptance.

I’ll settle for Aris understanding. I’ll settle for someone who knows what to say to make sure I don't resent myself for it.

“Yeah. I know.”

“Good. In that case,”He trailed off, grinning at me as he let go of my hand. Swiftly going to the hood of the car, he waited a moment to make sure he was properly balanced before making his way to the next one. Following his lead, I landed an inch further than him, too close for comfort to being on the back window. He might be willing to cut himself on them, but I will not be joining in on that madness any time soon.

“This still isn't the smartest idea,”I reiterated.

“Maybe not. You're having fun though.”

“That doesn't make it any smarter.”

“Again. It's fun,”He shrugged, stepping on the top of it, overlooking everything. I, against my great judgement, did the same, standing beside him and taking in everything again.

Maybe these were perfectly organized once. Maybe they were all nice and lined out, right in sight for the owner to find. Maybe they were in this order, but it actually made sense.

Maybe they were abandoned like this when everything went wrong. The Cranks, the sun, all of it.

We'll never know. Not when all that's left is sunken buildings, cars with cracked windows, and sand.