This Love Is A Sin

Chapter Five

"Pssst! Sleeping Beauty, wake up!" I hear a voice as I am repeatedly poked in the head.

"Fuck off..." I groan.

"Well we gotta leave now so we can go on a five hour drive so you can see your loverboy..." Katrina says.

I sit up and hold my throbbing head in my hands.

"Okay, okay, I'm up!" I grumble.

Katrina throws some clothes at me and points towards the bathroom. She's already dressed. I glance at the digital clock on the end table next to the couch I slept on. It's 7:56 a.m. and way too fucking early for this. I walk into the bathroom and start getting dressed in what she threw at me.

I pull on black skinny jeans with rips in them and a dark red t-shirt with my dusty black boots.

I try to avoid looking at my reflection, but I need to do something to my hair. I focus only on brushing my hair. But my mismatched eyes catch my reflection.

My cuts from the beer bottle are either scabbed over or healed. But I have green-tan bruises mottling my pale skin.

I walk away from the mirror.

"Welp, time to go, Rossie!" She chirps.

My heart pangs at the nickname. That's what Zavier called me. I wonder what he's doing right now.

***

"Are we there yet?" I ask again.

"For fuck's sake, Ross... If you ask that one more time you are walking back to Monroeville!" She sounds annoyed.

Maybe if she's annoyed she'll go faster...

"I'm bored," I inform her.

"Good for you," She replies, gritting her teeth.

Yea, she's annoyed.

"Tell me a story." I demand.

"Once upon a time, there was a boy named Ross. His friend Katrina told him to SHUT THE FUCK UP and he did. Then they lived happily ever after!" She says sarcastically.

So I decide to pout like a 3 year old for a little while.

***

"Katrina?"

"Yes, Ross?"

"I need to pee..."

"GOD FUCKING DAMNIT, Ross!" She shouts.

Now she's mad.

But I need to pee.

"Didn't you think of peeing before we left the house?" She growls.

"But I didn't have to pee then," I reply simply.

She shoots me a glare and pulls into the break down lane.

"Kay, those are some trees and nature and shit. Go pee." She says.

"But I can't pee there!" I gasp.

"You're a dude, Ross, you can pee wherever!"

"Just because I can doesn't mean I want to!"

"Fine!" She replies and pulls back onto the highway.

I still need to pee.

***

"I'M A CREEEEEP! I'M A WEIRDOOOO! WHAT THE THE HELL AM I DOING HEREEEEE? I DON'T BELONGGGG HEREEEEE!"

"Ross I SWEAR TO GOD IF YOU EVEN WHISPER ONE MORE LINE OF THAT SONG I WILL PUSH YOU OUT OF THIS MOVING CAR!"

"But... I like this song... 'Creep' by Radiohead..." I whine.

She glares at me, so I shut up.

I still need to pee...

***

"I am going to piss my pants," I announce.

"I told you to pee earlier," She replies.

"But lookieeeee!!! It's one of those rest stop thingies that usually have bathrooms!" I point.

She sighs heavily, but pulls into the rest stop. As soon as she stops, I run from the car and into the men's bathroom.

***

It's 1:19 p.m. by the time Katrina's car pulls into Zavier's driveway. Zavier's parents' cars aren't there, so that's good.

"I wanna meet him!" She says, grinning.

I smile at her and walk up to the door. Katrina is right behind me. I knock on the door.

Roughly 7 seconds later, the door is basically ripped open.

Zavier stands there looking a mess. His shoulder-length brown waves are knotted and some of it is sticking up. His eyeliner and mascara runs down his cheeks and is more or less smeared all over his face where he wiped away tears. His beautiful blue eyes are red and bloodshot. He looks skinnier than usual, and is a sickly pale. His entire body shakes. He's wearing the black t-shirt I left here, but I think he washed it because it's blood-free, along with the pair of skinny jeans I let him borrow.

Despite the look of depression and exhaustion, his entire face lights up when he sees me.

"Rossie!" He shouts in happiness.

I open my arms and he jumps up on me, instantly kissing me. I don't think he's brushed his teeth today but I don't really care. His legs wrap around my waist and he clings to me, as if I could disappear at any second. He kisses me over and over again, mumbling incoherant things. I think it's my name, or something.

His legs detach from my waist and he releases me as he pulls away from our kiss for air.

Tears are freely streaming down his face. His make up looks even worse now. But fuck, am I glad that he's not mad at me. I would do anything for this kid.

"I-I thought t-that... that you were... d-dead!" He cries, wrapping his arms around me again, sobbing into my chest.

I hold him close to me.

"Why?" I ask him, one hand stroking his hair, trying to calm him down.

He hiccups.

"J-Jesse told 911 t-that you jumped off of a cliff at the coast," He stammmers.

"Wait, what?" Jesse did what?

"He told 911 that you came him, distraught, and he and you took a drive to his family's home on the beach. He says that when you were there, you went up to a cliff and jumped off. He says he tried to stop you, and he didn't know where your body went!" Zavier explains, clutching tightly to me.

"W-when was this?" I whisper.

"Wednesday... and they put it on the news. A lot of people think you're dead... I did too..." He replies.

I kiss him again, desperately. He kisses me back immediately.

"Ummm... Want me to leave now?" I hear Katrina ask.

"Rossie, who's this?" Zavier asks when he pulls away from our kiss.

"I'm Katrina. I found Ross wandering the streets of Albany, not knowing the date or his location. He looked pretty beat up, too." Katrina explains briefly.

"Okay... Both of you come in. I need to know what happened," Zavier says, ushering Katrina and I inside.