Love-Love || OLD DRAFT

ten - eleven

"You have pyrokinesis?"

I looked down at my bare hands that laid on my lap. "Yeah."

"Then why... why didn't you ever use it against me?" Aspen asked.

"I can't control it," I whispered, more to myself than to him.

There was a slight pause on his end. "The fire at Haynorr? You killed those people?"

"I said I can't control it, Aspen," I cried, finally looking up at him.

Ever since he got back to his senses, he had been pacing the length of the room and texting people. He now stood leaning against a wall, his hands folded over his chest as he interrogated me. "If you could control it, Ridge, would you still have killed them?"

I gritted my teeth. "Yes."

Aspen let out a sigh and rubbed his forehead. "You've got to help me here, Ridge! You've got to convince me that not handing you over to the cops was the right decision –"

"Well, it wasn't," I sneered. I got to my feet and stood facing him. "I'm a bad guy, alright? Ridge and Gravel are very different people. It would do well if you just got it."

I expected a scoff-like reaction. Instead, he pushed off the wall and walked up to me, so close it killed me.

"But I don't get it," he whispered. He reached out with a gloved hand to hold me. "The Ridge I know is so much more than just killing and stealing."

I looked away and meant to step back but he held me in place with both his hands on either side of my face.

"Hey," he said, forcing me to look at him. "Like it or not, I'm not giving up on you. It's your fault, too. You should've thought twice before coming to flirt with me that night at the party."

I pursed my lips at him. "You can't hold that against me. I barely remember it."

He chuckled and then leaned in to press his lips against mine. Whatever Gravel persona was left in me vanished immediately and I was reduced to a love-sick mess, kissing him back sloppily because everything about the kiss was so honest, I didn't want it to be perfect. With Linden, it was always perfection - precision, control - but Aspen was smiling against my lips and everything about the kiss was soft and patient and kind.

He was the one who broke away, but I caught him by the collar, my fingers fisting around his rough turquoise costume (Satan, I had always wanted to do that) and pulled him into another kiss. He had almost given into it completely, but suddenly changed his mind and took a step back.

"Not," he said, slightly breathless, "now. I have to go save the city."

"Fuck the city," I said, stepping closer to him.

Aspen smiled and shook his head. "I can't."

"Yes, you can," I insisted. "You don't have to clean up others' messes all the time."

He opened his mouth to say something but froze and closed it again. He stepped back, letting go of me and walked towards the table at the center of the room where a map of the city was glowing. "Tell me about Plant-Boy," he said instead, eyes on the map.