Ruin // Danger Days (Book 3)

18.

Storm wanted to keep digging around on the BLI database. He wanted to find what he'd been looking at the other night before he'd fallen asleep. Maybe it had been something important that would help the army...

But he couldn't bring himself to.

He couldn't think. The events of the night before plagued his mind. The feeling of Riptide's hand in Storm's hair, the feeling of his hand on Storm's chest, the pure emotion that radiated from the other boy as he pressed his lips to Storm's.

And the devastated look on his face when he was pulled away.

Does he actually... care about me?

He was a total dick. He lied about me to everyone. Thank Destroya for Rev; without them, I would have been up against the entire army. But the look on his face...

That changes everything.

He could have just been messing around. He may have just wanted to have sex or something... but he looked so sad when I left.

It wasn't disappointed, as if he'd just lost his chance to get laid. He looked sad.

As if he actually wanted to be with me.

He said he only said that stuff because it entertained him and he wanted to see what would happen. All he wants is power. He'll do anything, manipulate anyone, to get what he wants.

But something about the way he acted seemed genuine. It sounds so stupid; he's never been that way before, according to Rev, but... it just was.

Oh my god, what am I doing?

There was a knock at Storm's bedroom door, as if on cue. He shot up off of his bed (which he'd been laying in all morning, staring at the ceiling) and groaned. "Yeah?"

The door opened, and Revolution poked their head inside. "Hey," they greeted, looking slightly worried. "Are you okay? I mean, you weren't crashed on your desk, so that's good, but--"

"Can I ask you something?" Storm asked, relying on instinct. "It's alright if you don't want to tell me but... can you tell me more about Riptide?"

Their face scrunched up in disgust. "I thought you would never want to hear about him again after last night," they said. "But I guess I could tell you a bit. What do you wanna know?"

Storm thought for a moment as they came in and sat on his bed. He sat down next to them. "Has he ever cared about anyone? In, like, a romantic way? Or at least, that you know of?"

They chuckled. "No! He does not give a shit about anyone or anything."

"Why?"

"He was raised in an orphanage," they told him. "They were shit to the kids there, and the only way he knew how to deal with the abandonment he felt was by taking it out on other people. I'm just assuming this, by the way. He told me he would always make fun of people in school and that he was raised in an orphanage. But I know how to read people. Anyway, then when he became a rebel, he wanted to take the violence out on BLI, so he joined the Riot straight off the bat. Well, after he spent some time in the Lobby. That's where I met him. All he's ever known is violence, so he doesn't even know how to care about people."

"Jeez," Storm muttered to himself. "So... what would happen if he did start to... you know, like someone?"

They thought for a second. "He'd probably just think he wants to sleep with them and go with it. And then if it was a one-night-stand, he'd keep chasing after them, and all that. He'd probably have no clue what to do with it." they paused for a second. "So, why do you ask? Is there something you're not telling me?"