The Innocent Can Never Last

What Happened To Our Love?

Emma's POV

This wasn't happening. Billie and me...over? It couldn't be. Had he really just broken up with me? I hung up the kitchen phone and walked blindly up to my bedroom, hardly paying any attention to where I was going. When I reached my room, I closed my door behind me and sat down on the bed. I was too shocked even to cry. Billie breaking up with me had been so sudden that it had left me completely numb, unable to comprehend anything. I sat there for a few minutes, thinking, until a small voice began echoing in my head. "This is your fault..." it said.

I began to shake, as I realized that the voice was right. If I hadn't treated Billie so awfully, he wouldn't have broken up with me. I had just ruined my friendship with the sweetest boy I had ever known. A shiver ran down my spine, as reality began to dawn on me. I let out a choked sob, before walking over to the phone and dialling Mike's number. The phone rang and rang, but nobody ever answered. Finally, the answering machine picked up, and I left Mike a shaky, tearful message. "Hey, Mike, it's Emma," I said. "Call me when you get this, okay? I really need to talk to you..."

I hung up the phone and sat down on the bed, as the tears finally came. They were slow at first, but then they really started coming down hard. I mean hard. I was crying so hard that huge, racking sobs were filling the space of my room, making me tremble uncontrollably. I had been sitting there for quite a while, when suddenly, the bedroom door opened, and Melly came hurrying into the room, saying, "Emmy, what's wrong?!?"
I choked back several sobs, and wailed, "B-B-Billie broke up with me!"

Melly's face dropped. She had been mad at me for the past day or so, but just then, I couldn't tell, as she came up to me and wrapped her arms around me. "Why?" she asked.
"He...said that...he needed some time...to make it on his own. He says that when I'm around...he leans on me too much...and he wants to do something on his own..." I sobbed.
"Well, that's not so bad...maybe he'll get back together with you later on," Melly said, in her best comforting tone.
"He said he'd call me if he changed his mind," I said.
"See, it'll work out. Just give him a few days, then he'll start missing you, and he'll come crawling back to you, Em," Melly said.
"No, he won't, Mel! He won't! He's mad at me for overreacting so much the other day, that's why he's doing this! It's. Over. He. Hates. Me." I was crying harder now, and Melanie pulled me closer to her.

I hugged her to me like a teddy bear, as Melly whispered in my ear, "Relax, Emmy, it's okay. It'll work itself out...you and Bill are meant for each other, nothing can tear you guys apart."
I let out a low sob, wondering how any twelve year-old could be so incredibly sweet. It was pretty sad: I had resorted to my little sister to pull me through this. "I love him, Melly..." I said. "I mean I really love him, you know? When I'm not with him, he's all I can think about. And now he's gone, and I've got no one to blame but myself. I love him."
"I know that, Emma. He loves you, too," Melly said, just as the phone rang.
Melanie got up off the bed and walked over to my dresser to pick up the phone. "Hello?" she said, before holding it out to me. "It's for you."
"Hello?" I said tentatively.
"Emma?"
It was Mike. "H-hey, Mikey," I said. "Thanks for calling."
"Well, you sounded kind of desperate over the phone, so I figured I'd better call," Mike said. "What happened?"

So, once again, I was forced to tearfully explain the painful phone conversation that I just had with Billie. When I was finished, Mike sighed, and said, "I'm coming over, is that okay?"
"Yeah, you can come over," I said.
"Allright, I'm on my way. See you in a few?"
"Y-yeah," I answered.
"Okay, bye."
"Bye."
I hung up the phone and sat down on the bed next to Melly. I wiped my streaming eyes on the sleeve of my hoodie, and said, "Thanks, Melly...you're a lifesaver."
"And you're my sister. It's my job to look out for you," Melly said. "You always look out for me."
I gave Melly a watery smile and said, "I love you, Mel."
"I love you, too, Emmy."
There was a bit of an awkward silence, but Melly broke it by saying, "Is Mike coming over?"
"Yeah, he should be here soon enough," I replied.

Melly nodded, and I let out an almighty sniff. The tears were still coming down, but not as hard as they had been. I just couldn't seem to make them stop, no matter how hard I tried.
Several minutes later, I heard the front door open, and a shout of "Anybody home?" echoed up the stairs.
Apparently Mike had found it suitable just to let himself in, because I hadn't heard a knock.
"We're up here, Mikey!" Melly yelled, and Mike's heavy footsteps could presently be heard as he clobbered his way up the stairs.
Mike entered the room and took one look at my tear-streaked face, before rushing towards me, saying, "Oh, Emma...you're heartbroken, aren't you?"

A new wave of tears made their appearance as Mike wrapped me tightly into one of his bear hugs, mumbling his condolences and running his fingers gently through my hair. "I miss him, Mike..." I whined.
"I know, Emma, I know. We'll find a way to fix it..."

Billie's POV

The next morning when I woke up, I became instantly aware of somebody's arm draped heavily across my waist, as well as the heat of another body lying next to me. I opened my eyes and found myself staring at the wall on the opposite side of the room. I attempted to sit up, but fell back down almost instantly, becoming suddenly aware of a terrible pain behind my eyes, and a queasy feeling in my gut. I moaned, and a voice next to me said, "What's the matter, darlin'?"
I rolled over, and found myself staring into Ruby's dark eyes. I blinked a few times to make sure she was actually there, before saying, "What happened last night?"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Ruby asked, with a smile.
"Um...I broke up with Emma, and then you came upstairs with me and we started making out...then we went back downstairs, and I started drinking...it's all a blur after that..." I said.
"Well, you got really drunk, and you asked me to come upstairs with you...and now here we are," Ruby said, as she reached over and began stroking my hair.
"We didn't have sex, did we?" I asked.
Ruby grinned, and said, "No, we didn't have sex. I figured it would be rude to take advantage of you while you were drunk."
"Thanks," I said.
"You're welcome, love," Ruby said, moving closer to me and kissing my cheek.

I wrapped my arms around her slender waist and closed my eyes for a few minutes, before reopening my eyes and saying, "Do you have any aspirin?"
"Yeah, but it's downstairs in my purse," Ruby said. "I'll go get it."
Ruby climbed out of the bed, and I realized that all she was wearing was a pair of lacy black underwear and a matching bra. I was just admiring how amazing she looked, when she suddenly opened my bedroom door and walked out into the hallway just as she was; in a bra and panties. My first reaction was shock, but then I remembered that she had probably slept with just about every guy in the house, so it wasn't like anybody was seeing anything new. I suddenly remembered Roan's warning, about how Ruby was nothing but trouble, and I wondered if I should really be getting involved with her. Maybe I should have just stuck with Emma...that probably would have been the right thing to do. But living in such a twisted world, how was anybody ever supposed to know what was right? I sighed, just as Ruby re-entered the room. She must have been able to see something in my face, because she looked at me, slightly concerned, and said, "What's wrong, hon? You look sad..."

I quickly snapped out of my confused thoughts and said, "Oh, um...no, I'm fine. My head just hurts really bad...too much booze last night."
"Oh, okay," Ruby said, sitting down next to me on the bed and handing me a bottle of water and two aspirin tablets.

I swallowed the pills and laid back down on the bed, somehow not as content as I thought I would be...