Desolate

Chapter Four

I laughed as Dylan came into sight. He was perched on a green bench, an island of safety from the blankets of snow. He had on a big winter coat and a wooly hat that I assumed his Aunty made him wear. Overall, he looked out of place on the kiddy bench situated in the children's park.

"Well then," I began, clapping my glove clad hands and walking towards him. He looked up when he noticed my presence and smiled. "When you told me this was an urgent matter I wasn't expecting to find you in a children's park in oversized winter clothes with an extremely creepy smile on your face."

His smile somehow widened even more as he stood up. He took my hands in his own and twirled me around as he said, "Why of course it's an urgent matter! I want to spend time with my best friend, silly."

"Oh really?" I laughed, "And we couldn't have spent this oh so precious time inside of a, let's say, warm and heated building?"

He scoffed at my words, "Don't be such an amateur. Mae, look around you!" He gestured to the snow on the ground, but I failed to see its importance.

"Wow. Snow." I said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. I turned around to see if the local Café was open. It wasn't the best, and definitely didn't top Martha's coffee shop, but it supplied hot drinks nonetheless. A smile formed in my face as I seen the small neon 'Open' sign flashing.

However, my smile was wiped right off my face when I turned around to see Dylan, only to be met by a giant snowball sliding down my face. I couldn't move at first, it was so extremely cold that it burnt. I could hear Dylan's obnoxious laugh in the background and could only imagine him on the floor laughing.

I slowly wiped the snow off my face and bent down to make my own contraption. Slightly satisfied, I threw it at Dylan's still laughing face. It took him a few moments to realize what hit him before we both started laughing. It didn't take long for us to both start making more, shamelessly throwing one after another. We were at it for a few moments until I was so distracted I hadn't realized I had walked straight into someone, tripped over and falling butt first into the snow.

I was actually grateful for the snow at that moment. Dylan was by my side helping me up in no time and I looked up to meet who I had walked into. My heart stopped for the second time that day when i saw the same empty, cold grey eyes.

"Maybe you should watch where you're going." His deep, accented voice rasped. I was actually shocked that he had spoke, never mind that he had a slight accent. His voice was smooth, but also deep and sharp like it could cut.

I also noticed he had changed since earlier. His dark hoodie swapped for just a simple black Tshirt which left me wondering how he hadn't froze to death. I could also see the beginning of a tattoo on his right arm that left me imagining. I finally looked up to meet his cold eyes, staring right back at me and daring me to speak.

"I-I'm so sorry, I wasn-" I began to stutter, finally realizing I hadn't spoken yet. I was stopped by Dylan's warm hand stopping me, stepping in front of me protectively.

"Hey don't talk to her like that." He said, not caring about his obvious distaste in the stranger. "It was only an accident."

I could imagine Dylan's eyebrows being furrowed but since I was behind him I was left to my imagination. I hadn't seen Dylan angry very often, but when he was, he was extremely scary. However, the strange man seemed to find this situation humorous and smirked at Dylan's stressed state.

"Well maybe you should keep her on a leash like your own," The stranger finally met Dylan's eyes as his smirk seemed to expand "Cucciolo."

Dylan's body became tense and I could feel anger radiating off of him in waves. I frowned when I heard what sounded like a low growl vibrate through his body and I placed my hand softly on his bicep. He immediately seemed to calm down and we moved slightly out the way as the strange, amused man passed us, walking out of sight.

I walked to stand in front of Dylan as I placed my hands on his shoulders, "Hey, what was that all about?" I asked in a whisper, afraid that even though he had disappeared, the stranger could still hear me.

Dylan shook his head, pushing my hands off his shoulders. I felt rejected, despite him being my best friend. I felt like he was becoming cold again like last time and I hoped that this wouldn't be a repeat of him ignoring me.

He began to walk in the direction of my house and I jogged up to catch him. "Dylan," I tried, reaching out to grab his hand. He immediately shook my hand off and I paused momentarily feeling hurt as he carried on walking.

"Dyll," I tried again catching up, but failed again in my attempt at catching his attention. I felt the familiar sting behind my eyes, wounded at the thought of him being mad at me. I was completely confused as to what just happened, and wondered what caused him to be so angry.

I stopped walking completely and when he was only a few feet in front of me I screamed, "You said you wouldn't leave me!"

Dylan's body froze at the realization of me crying. He turned around with wide eyes, staring at my flushed, wet cheeks. He met my flooded eyes, drowning in the sorrow of losing my best friend.
He reached out for me, but I stood back.

He looked hurt for a moment, but that was a fraction of the hurt he had caused me. "You said you wouldn't leave me," I said defeatedly as a lone tear dripped down the side of my face. "You said you wouldn't hurt me after everything that had happened."

My voice cracked and I could see the regret on Dylan's face. Every time he went to speak, he closed his mouth. I hated how vulnerable and dependent I had become on him. He could see that I was fragile,  scared to say anything incase I broke more and I was honestly disappointed in myself.

"You knew I was only a phone call aw-" he began but I cut him off. "Oh don't give me that bûllshït Dylan. You know full well I hate mobile communications and it isn't the same as seeing someone face to face."

He looked defeated and furrowed his eyebrows, "I was busy, Uncle Tom-" I cut him off once again.

"Why're you making excuses?" I narrowed my eyes accusingly, "Home school, Public school- they last the same time. Besides location, what really changed? It's like you were trying to get rid of me."

My face and stomach dropped at the thought, "Oh my gosh, is that what it was? You don't care about me anymore." I looked down.

"What?" His face paled as he walked to grip my arms. "Mae are you hearing yourself right now? Stop being so stupid, you mean the world to me and I wouldn't just drop you like that for no reason. I wish I could tell you, but you wouldn't understand."

"Wouldn't understand?" My head snapped towards his and I instantly felt angry. "I'll tell you what I don't understand. I don't understand why my father would attempt to kill himself. Why he would decide to leave me in this cruel world as an orphan. I'd be the girl everyone would pity. I'd have no where to go and no one to turn because my best friend thought I wouldn't understand. You know how much it killed me to see his almost lifeless body on that floor, surrounded in a pool of his own blood. I felt like I had no one else to turn to after his recovery. I haven't spoke to him once about it, but I can still see the pain etched onto his face."

By then I was a blubbering mess and even a small tear had threatened to roll down his cheek as he looked down ashamed. "Do you remember the promise you made me, Dylan?" I asked quietly.

"Yeah I remember." He croaked out. "I promised you I would never leave you. I promised I would never leave you, like your father almost did. Like your mother already had done."

"Yeah, that's right. But do you want to know the worst part?" I said stiffly. I looked up to meet his beautifully tragic brown eyes. "I've included you on that list for a while, and I can honestly say I've never felt so alone."