tall

found

he hadn't come.

esme had laid there for hours and he hadn't come.

it was dark now, the last of the sun's fighting rays still being pulled down into the horizon.

she had given up.

there was no point on living if it was going to be like this.

she couldn't bear to think about how school would be like if she had to ignore him.

ignore his perfect, immaculate face with his chocolate hair and multifaceted green eyes.

she would ache so badly she would cave in on herself and spontaneously combust into thin air.

and no one would care if she was gone.

the last thing she saw before she embraced the darkness and closed her eyes to stop the images racing across the movie reel in her mind was the silhouette of a tall guy.

the last thing she thought about was

him.

-

tristan had played along with amy's games long enough.

he couldn't hurt esme any longer.

she started to deepen the kiss and pulled his body closer to hers, but he pushed away.

he looked into her eyes and saw what he had been missing since freshman year- the clouds of malice and deceit graying her clear blue eyes.

he pushed himself to speak. he pushed his lips to move, to explain why he was about to do what he was going to do, and they painstakingly formed the words,

"i thought i knew love when i met you. i thought you were perfect. even through all of our trials, even when i thought our relationship had crumbled to nothing, i still came back to you. i thought you were remarkable; the only shining star during the darkest, murkiest night.

but i was wrong.

i didn't know i could ever love another until i met her.

and then i realized i never actually loved you; i convinced myself you were the only one. i convinced myself that i knew what love was like; that it was slamming car doors and late nights arguing. that it was blue eyes and small feet; that it was harsh words and sharp hands. that it was you.

then i saw an angel, and i realized it was a lie all along."

he never touched her again.

not even when she grabbed his arm.

not even as he flung upon the door of the bathroom, amy clinging to his hand and begging him to stop.

not even when she started to cry and barrage him with empty promises and hollow lies as he wound through the halls.

not even when she started to hit him and made him feel how cruel and biting she was to esme.

that pushed him to the breaking point.

when he felt her pain and remembered what he had done to her. when he saw the betrayed look on her face as amy leaned in; when she ran out of the door, giving him one last glimpse of what heaven looked like.

he looked at her one last time, swore in his heart he wouldn't ever speak to her again, even if she called him 1000 times, even if she threatened to hurt him, even if she followed him at school, even if she threatened esme.

he stopped for a second and chuckled to himself, running a hand through his hair.

if she threatened esme, they would talk. but only then.

he pushed open the door to the school and stepped out into the dusk air.

the last hints of light were fading into the west as he saw the footprint in the mulch and followed the muddy trail to the right sidewalk leading to the winding suburbia connected to the school.

he scratched his chest and swore he could feel his heart about to tear a hole and jump out, leaving him behind as just a shell, not letting him live with what he had done.

he followed the footprints along the sidewalk lined with silent soldiers until they stopped.

he saw esme laying on her right side beneath his feet and stood stock still.

he saw her blink her chocolate eyes, her glasses sliding down her nose; her dirty blonde hair falling almost completely out of its braid.

he felt a wind sweep his hair and heart into knots as she closed her eyes, tears still falling like rapids down her face, her flawless lips purple in the dying light.

even when she slept, she was still beautiful.

esme slightly whimpered and curled further into herself, causing him to snap out of his trance. a car's headlights shone on the both of them and continued on, leaving them both to remake what they once had, if only for a fleeting second.

he knelt down beside her and started whispering into her ear what he should have said the first day when he saw her in the halls. before he got sick, before amy found out, before she was broken three times and beaten and ran away twice.

tristan knelt down beside her and started to heal her broken heart.

—————————-

a/n: i don't normally end chapters with tristan's pov, but here we are! that's how you know there's a biggg event coming up next...

enjoy this longer chapter :) hope you are enjoying all my quick uploads! i think i'll finish this story by tonight if i'm being honest. love you guys!

song: you belong with me by taylor swift