Firecracker

Chapter 4

The walk back to the flat was awkward to say the least. The other boys chattered amongst themselves and we all scrambled inside and wiped our shoes on the little rug at the door. I kept my head down as they lead me upstairs and Rye was unusually silent too. The other boys kept giving us awkward glances and kept looking at me with pitiful eyes.
"So uh, this is the flat, make yourself at home Sky" Rye said, in a nervous voice.
I wish he would stop calling me Sky because everytime he says it butterflies erupt in my stomach. The flat was small but cosy. The boys ushered me into the living room/bedroom. We were all dripping wet due to the rain and everyone was shivering like mad. I didn't really feel the cold though, I don't know if it was still the shock of it all or not but to be honest I felt kind of numb to the situation. Rye awkwardly coughed and looked at the boys
'Why don't we go make some tea eh?'
Andy said, sensing the tension between myself and Rye. Quickly the other boys caught on and they all scurried out of the room before giving Rye a look, almost as if to say 'good luck' and giving me small smiles.

Silence. Dreadful, dreadful silence. I had so much to say, trust me I wanted nothing more then to scream and shout and let it all out about how much I hated him and how much I missed him but that would be a lie because I don't hate him...I could never hate him no matter how much I wanted to. He's been there for me through so much and seeing him here, standing right in front of me after so long makes me so emotional. I don't trust myself to say anything in fear that I'll burst into tears and I can't do that. I wish I was as tough as I was back before I left, that Skylar would know what to do in this situation, she'd probably crack a joke and make everyone laugh or make a sarcastic comment to loosen the tension, but that Skylar isn't here anymore, instead I'm just a weak girl who needs her best friend more than anything. But I can't let that show. I looked up at Rye and saw him staring straight at me. He had a look of sorrow on his face and I decided in that minute that I wasn't going to leave this flat without answers. I sucked up all my self pride and took a deep breath
'What did I do?' I whispered, my voice sounded shaky but I didn't care.
'What?' He whispered back.
'What did I do wrong, what did I do to deserve to be ignored for all these months, surely I did something wrong' I said back, louder this time.
'You did nothing wrong Skylar I promise, it was my fault and I swear  if you let me explain you'll understand why it happened, I didn't want to stop talking to you, trust me it broke my heart but I did it to protect you and I'm so so sorry Sky.' He said in a pleading voice. I looked up at him with tears brimming my eyes.
'You have 5 minutes to explain everything' I said, gaining back some of my confidence.

~Rye's POV~ ;)

I have 5 minutes to explain to My best friend why I stopped talking to her. 5 minutes to persuade her that I didn't mean to hurt her and that it was all for her own good, 5 minutes to try win her back. I took a deep breath let the words flow from my mouth. I started at the start a few months after she left for America and let the story tell itself from there
'After you left, it got pretty lonely around here, I realised that music was all I had to express self, I didn't have you when it was 2am and I was sitting on the park swings by myself and for a while I was alone. Until I met Andy and we became a 2 piece band, Blair agreed to manage me and eventually Brooklyn and mikey came along and we became 'Roadtrip' we grew pretty quickly and we gained loads of fans and Blair said it would work better if we deactivated all of our individual accounts to make the band accounts. I had to change my number because everyone from school knew it and I was afraid they would leak it. I wanted nothing more then to talk to you but I was afraid you would be mad at me. At this stage it was 1 month since we spoke last. I got so caught up with the band, I didn't even have time for myself anymore, I thought you would be better off without me, I felt like you deserved way more then someone who doesn't even have the time to text you back.. I felt so bad and I thought that maybe if I didn't contact you, you would forget about me and find a better friend who can give you all the time in the world. I didn't think you would miss me, I thought you'd be having the time of your life in America with your mum and I didn't want you to be worrying over me. Trust me Sky , these months without you have been so hard. I've honestly missed you so much and I just want you back, please, please forgive me.'

By the end of my story I was breathless. I love her. I need her. I can't live without her. She's always been the one to help me, we were there for eachother it's what we did and I just want that back. I want her back in my arms, I want to be the one to help her because just by looking into her eyes I can tell that she's not the same Skylar that left for America last year, she's changed and she just looks so...sad. It pains me that I'm the cause of that and I have to make it up to her. I remember the first day I saw Skylar, she was sitting across from me in class, laughing her head off at something that her friend had said, she was gorgeous and funny and she wasn't fake like half the girls in this school. She had her own opinions and I liked that about her, she didn't care what other people thought about her and made her even better. After a few months we got really close and for a while everyone thought we were dating, that's just the kind of relationship we had, I won't deny the fact that I have feelings for her and that everytime she looks at me I get nervous and stuttery but I messed up any chance I ever had with her by being so stupid and letting her go.. I never should have let her go. I snapped out of my thoughts and looked up at her.
'Man have I missed you' she said and lightly giggled,
I breathed out a sigh of relief
'So you forgive me?' I asked hopefully
'Yeah..yeah I guess I do, I'm just so relieved that I didn't do anything wrong and that you don't hate me'
' I could never hate you Sky, never forget that, I said offering her a small smile.
She smiled back and shook herself off
'This conversation has been way to emotional for my liking' she said while nervously laughing. Man have I missed her laugh..