Ruin (boyxboy)

Be my saviour, not my Ruin

And the Mr. Insensitive award goes to… Austin Carlile. I. Am. An. Ass.

-Austin-

 What was I supposed to say to that? What could I say?

"It was an accident. You can rarely prepare for death, you know?" He shook his head. Sadly, he wasn't right in that regard. You could prepare and I knew from firsthand experience that it didn't make it any easier, but I wasn't about to tell him that. It wasn't the time.

"You were close to your parents?"

"As close as you can be in high school."

 "What happened?" I assumed it was a car crash or something sudden that took them.

 "They drowned."

 "What?" I sat down next to him on the concrete. "How?"

 "Cave diving." He sighed. "They were risk takers, unlike me. I was afraid of my own shadow until last year."

 I chuckled and wrapped my arm around him.

"Because we lived in a small town just outside Los Angeles they used to travel to the coast of California, for another one of their diving trips. I don't know exactly what happened, but I do know they were careful. I never thought about the risks because they were always so safe." His voice got really quiet. "I got in a huge fight with both of them over the phone. I wanted to go to a party and they said no. I told them I hated them and didn't want to ever see them again."

 Shit.

 "They died three hours later. Their bodies were recovered miles inside the cave they were exploring. The safety ropes were tattered as if they'd been ripped in half. The police thought that maybe the surf came in sooner than my parents expected, causing the rope to rub against the sharp rocks."

 Alan wiped at a few stray tears. "I can't imagine. It kills me to know that their last moments were spent lost in a dark watery hole. It's not as if you can go to the surface. It just seems so miserable, and I was powerless to do anything to stop them."

 Risking getting myself slapped or worse, I slightly smiled and said, "Alan, I think you're looking at it the wrong way." I could feel his muscles tense beneath my touch. It was as if I'd just told him I was going to hunt him and I wanted him to run, every single part of his body pulled away, getting ready to bolt.

 "Hear me out," I whispered. "They loved cave diving, right?"

 "Yeah." His voice was small and weak but at least he was still sitting by me, not slapping or running.

 "And they knew the risks involved in it?"

 "Of course!"

 "Close your eyes."

 "What? No." He tried to pull away from me, but I held him firm.

 "Alan, just close your eyes." He shivered and huffed, then closed his eyes.

 "Listen to my voice," I whispered against his ear. "Imagine the story differently. Your parents get off the phone with you, both irritated but not really upset. I mean, you were, what? Fifteen? All fifteen-year-olds go through those stages."

 "How would you know?"

 "I'm a fifteen-year-old girl trapped inside this body." I chuckled against his ear. "And I know because I used to mentor at the youth center. Believe me, fifteen-year-olds are terrifying."

 His shoulders relaxed.

 "So they get off the phone with you, shake their heads, have a good sigh, and hold hands as they walk across the beach. They put on their gear, check and double check their air and the ropes and then go into the cave. Something happens. maybe it was just the perfect storm of the elements. The cave was so beautiful that they went farther and farther in, not realizing they didn't have enough air to get back. Or maybe they didn't realize the ropes were no longer attached to the way out." His breathing was erratic as I continued my story and rubbed his back.