Summer Rain

XXIII ~ Fight For Us

{Light Up The Dark - Gabrielle Aplin}

...You don't always have to question why there's pleasure and pain, 'cause there's no truth for you to find...

----

June 28th

      It took all of my strength not to push Benjamin over the edge of the railing. It took every breath to remain standing up and not crumbling at the thought of everything I had with Elliot being jeopardised for Benjamin's own agenda.

  "Why would you do this?" I spat at him, his grip on my arm still depriving my fingers of blood flow.

  "Call it insurance. Sometimes to get what you want, you have to be willing to break a few hearts in the process." He sneered.

      He had transformed into someone I did not recognise, nor did I want to. He was disgustingly slimy in the way his eyes travelled up and down every inch of me like I was a dirty picture he relished at the sight of. He was unnerving. This threat only showed the true extent of what he was capable of.

  "Break a few hearts?" I spoke incredulously.

  "I never said I'd break my own. Don't think I haven't noticed you running off to see him every chance you can get! It's sad, really. You're worth so much more than that good-for-nothing waiter whose goal in life is to be some second-rate entertainer. God knows what you see in him." 

     He laughed at his words, my own heart beating out of my chest in fear of the unravelling of his demeanour. As much as I wanted to slap him for his comments about Elliot, he had the upper hand here, and I was in no place to be calling the shots.

  "How long do I have to think about this... Offer?" My words were slow, calculating, shaky as I tried to miss his stare as it bore into the side of my face as I focused on the water.

  "Until tomorrow. Sundown."

      Then, as quickly as he had appeared on the pier, he detached his hands from my arm, and left me in the winds near the water, becoming stormier and stormier with every step he took away from me.

----

      The needle of the vinyl player spun the track as music emerged from the box while I watched Elliot dance. His body moved effortlessly, as though he were born for nothing else. Everything in that room, every energy, flowed through him. I had sat watching him, my mind caught in the thorns that twisted every innocent thought until all I could think of was the sight of Elliot and me on Benjamin's phone, the threat that loomed in the air and the countdown to the moment I would have no secret left to keep. I could have gone anywhere but, perhaps, unfortunately, for my state of mind, the only place I knew I truly wanted to be was with the boy who I was almost fated to lose.

   "So I was thinking of getting Poppy to measure you for a dress and stuff for the competition. She has some nice patterns, and we could you fix up with something not too shabby, or you could wear something of yours. I mean I'm useless with dresses and colours so I guess I should leave it to you two to decide." Elliot's body stilled to his naturalistic swagger as he made his way to the record player, taking the needle away from the vinyl, the room going quiet.

     He could have been speaking Japanese to me at this rate; I was barely even there.

  "Sure." I nodded. Do I tell him?

  "And I was thinking of going over some lighting. Obviously, since you're still not okay with telling your parents about us dancing together, among other things, we can do it after hours, or I can do it myself?" he continued, his face turning to me in puzzlement.