Heart Key (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 26: Human

Song: Human

By: Christina Perri

"Okay, I seriously feel as if this is kidnapping." I comment for the third time as I'm forcefully dragged onto a motorcycle halfway through lunch. "I should seriously go back in, I'm hungry and missing class for me is like a dog missing a tummy rub, it'd be disastrous to say the least." I tell Blake as he holds me in place to put a helmet on my head.

"I'll pick you something up." He tells me as he literally scoops me off my feet and onto the motorcycle. "That doesn't help me with not missing class." I point out as I attempt to get myself off the motorcycle, only to have Blake jump on and start it up before I can.

 "Yeah, you'll be missing the rest of your classes today!" He shouts over the roar of the engine and I feel dread run through me. "Yeah, I'd rather not have my dad rant to me about how poor excuse I am of a daughter!" I shout back and he lets out a laugh. "Who cares what your dad thinks?!" He looks at me, waiting for me to respond as I mentally agree with him.

He abandoned me, what's the point of following his rules? With that thought I wrap my arms around Blake's waist and he immediately takes off. I close my eyes to shut out the fear of falling off and to my death, but don't close them for long because within five minutes, we've reached our destination.

I look up and an immediate smile comes to my face. "I love this place!" I squeal as Blake turns the motorcycle off and he jumps in surprise. "You've been here before?" He asks curiously and I quickly nod as I jump off and rip the helmet off. Without looking back I dart into the ice cream parlor, shouting, "Grandma Cream!" 

The frail lady looks up at me in surprise as I shoot her a wide grin. "Oh, dear, it's been a while. Where in the world have you been?" She asks as she gives me a disappointed look and I immediately feel guilty for my unexplained absence as I look down at my shoes in shame.

"I'm sorry, I've been caught up in a lot, but I'll do my best to come around more often for your delicious ice cream!" I declare and she lets out a bell-like laugh that makes me smile. "Good, I was starting to worry that something had happened since your cousins moved in." She tells me as she walks off to make my ice cream.

Actually, a LOT has happened since my cousins have moved in, but I don't think I could fit that all in right now. I smile as I watch her make the ice cream, completely forgetting about Blake until his voice in my ear has me jumping three feet. "So I see you've met my grandma." 

I look at him in shock as I look between him and Grandma Cream. Grandma Cream looks up at the sound of Blake's voice and smiles. "My sweet boy! I wasn't expecting you today! That's, Marcy, the girl I've been telling you so much about. I told you she's pretty." She coos as she brings my ice cream over.

Blake looks back to me in surprise as his mouth slowly opens and closes. "Y-Your the girl who my Grandma wanted me to go on a date with." I nod before replying, "And your the boy who wouldn't go on a date with me because our schools are rivals in football." He visibly swallows nervously and I almost laugh as I walk over to pay for the ice cream.

I'm stopped as Blake holds out money and pays for me. His Grandma gives him a weird look before shaking her head. "Blake, sweetie, you know you don't have to pay, and now that you've met Marcy and seen how wonderful she is, she doesn't have to pay either because she might as well already be my granddaughter in-law." She says all of this quickly and we're both left staring as she quickly walks away before we can even attempt to pay.

We both stand there for a moment before Blake lets out a sigh and hops over the counter. I watch as he opens the cash register, placing the money he had offered inside before shutting it and turning. I lean against the counter as I watch him move around, quickly making himself an ice cream before hopping back over. 

He motions for me to follow him as he leads me to the back room that I normally go to. We walk up the steps and I immediately walk to my seat, setting my ice cream on the table in front of me as I do and staring out at the view.

"I'm guessing you've been here before as well." Blake laughs and I simply nod as I take a bite of ice cream. I hear him let out a sigh at my response as he comes to sit across from me, setting his ice cream on the table as well. "The reason I didn't want to go on a date with you is because I didn't want to be with anyone at the time. The whole football rivalry was just an excuse for my grandma. I love her, but she's very persistent on matters she cares about. One of them being me finding a girlfriend." He explains and I turn to watch him as he talks.

I smile when he talks about his grandma, seeing that he truly loves her. "It's alright, the only reason I had agreed was because it was your grandma asking me." I tell him with a small smile. He nods, laughing softly as he turns to look out the window. I stare at him for a moment longer before looking back out the window. 

We sit in silence for a few moments until Blake says, "I live with her, you know?" I look at him in surprise as I raise an eyebrow, curious as to why he's telling me this. He doesn't look away from the window as he swallows nervously before continuing, "My parents died in a car wreck a few years ago and since then I've been with my grandma." 

I stare at him and blink a few times as he looks at me. He doesn't look too sad, meaning he's accepted the death, but that still doesn't explain the reason he told me about this. "I figured if I got to know something personal about your family, you might as well know something about mine." He tells me and I smile. 

I turn to look out the window for a moment before working up the courage to say, "My mom died a while ago from cancer. My dad left her right before she died. I live with him and one of the many wives he's had over the years. He's a monster." He watches me as I talk and I meet his eyes with a shrug, failing to bring a smile back onto my face.

"I'm going to leave this summer. My friends refuse to believe it and try to get me to stay but I won't. I have to leave or I'll never be happy." I tell him, desperate for him to understand as he looks at me with no sign of what he's thinking or feeling. 

We stare at one another for a few moments before he says, "When people love you, they don't want to lose you. It's like you're taking apart of you with them and it hurts to think that that part will be missing forever." 

I think about his words, knowing they're true from experience as I slowly shake my head. "I have to leave before anyone loves me too much or I love anyone else too much. One of us will get ripped away eventually, leaving the other in shambles." I tell him but he's already shaking his head at me.

"I'm afraid it's too late for that. The people who love you now have already grown so attached that the thought of you leaving hurts them. They know why you want to leave but they desperately want to give you a reason to stay as well. No matter if you stay or leave, someone will be hurt." He tells me and I fell pain course through me.

I don't want anyone to be hurt by my actions, but staying here every day feels like knives coursing through my heart. I lean back in my seat and let out a sigh as I look at Blake and shrug. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but would it really make anyone happy if I'm stuck here, miserable?" I ask and Blake shakes his head.

"No one wants to see you miserable, Marcy. But they do want to see you." He tells me and I lean forward resting my head on my hands with another sigh. "Why are you telling me all of this Blake? I barely know you and you seem more invested in getting me to stay than anyone else, even if you won't say it outright." I ask curiously.

He hesitates to answer as he looks down at his melting ice cream, causing me to look down at my own as well. I see the sad state of how melted it is and immediately push it away. Blake does the same before saying, "Believe it or not, from the short amount of time I've known you, I've already started falling for you." 

I stare at him in shock before quickly standing to my feet and shaking my head. "Love can't come that fast, I know that much." I tell him as I quickly head for the door out of the attic. "Falling in love is different than love for a friend or family member. It comes when and where you least expect it in the blink of an eye at times." He tells me, stopping me in my tracks as I glance over at him. 

I pause for a moment before replying, "I highly doubt that."