One of us is lonely

Chapter 9

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ARES HELD WATCH AS RED SLOWLY LOWERED HER BODY FROM HIS WINDOW ONTO THE SMALL ROOF. He leaned on the windowsill, his eyes scanning his front porch while his ears listened for any sound coming from inside the house. He did not feel like explaining to his father why this strange girl, dressed in his clothes, was escaping from his room through his window. That was one more thing he did not have the strength for today. Especially because having to explain to his father would lead to having to explain to his mother which, eventually and inevitably, would lead to having to explain to Céline and that last one, in particular, was out of the question. 

"Hurry the fuck up." He hissed at Red who had finally managed to slide all the way down the roof in complete and utter silence. So, in return, she shot him a look. 

"Stop rushing me." She growled. She turned back to her magnificant escape attempt, switching her body from sitting down on her butt to sitting on her knees so she could look over the drain and towards the pipe that would be her one-way ticket out of there. The thing was as old as the house itself but it seemed to be in pretty good condition or at least good enough to hold her while she slid to her freedom.

"I must say, Reed..." Ares lingered  as Red hovered over the edge of the roof, her hands holding onto the rim while her knees dug into the roof tiles. "The view from up  here is pretty damn good." The pair of shorts Ares had given Red were pretty big on her and while she was bend over like that, he could see more of her than she'd like. 

"For God sake, Blythe!" Red turned around in one swift movement, shooting him a glare that, if possible, could have killed him. Only with her sudden movement she lost the safe grip she had on the tiles, her feet slid from underneath her and before she could progress it, she found herself quickly sliding down the roof. She could hear Ares gasp and calling her name in a harsh whisper while her small hands tried to hold onto the tiles. She managed to grab ahold of the drain and avoid a very painful fall. Only now she was hanging from the old metal using every bit of strength she had left in her still weak body. 

"Red!" Ares moved as far out of the window as he possibly could, so that he could see her hanging. "Are you alright?" He asked as a feeling of relief washed over him. A girl escaping from his room was one thing to explain, a girl breaking her neck by falling off his roof was a whole different thing. 

"No, you dick. I'm not." She growled, stating the obvious. "Now get down here." 

"What?"

"Get down here. You need to catch me." She groaned. "And hurry the fuck up, I won't last much longer." There was no time for argueing, so with a big sigh and eye roll Ares swung both his legs over his windowsill and onto the roof. He made sure to carefully slide down until he'd reached the drain Red was hanging from. 

"Can't I just pull you up?" He questioned, but Red shook her head. 

"I busted my ankle." She explained. "I can't jump down." 

"I thought I was done with saving your life." Ares murmured as he lowered himself down the drainpipe. Red wanted to tell him to shut up, but a more pressing manner was at hand. She felt her muscles become soar, her fingers ached. Any second now she'd lose her grip and fall a good ten feet down. 

"Ares!" She breathed out his name as her muscles gave in and her fingers slid from the cold metal of the drain. She felt her heart pounding in her chest for a split second and then, with a hard thud, landed in Are's arms as he stumbled backwards. 

"I got you." He reassured her. "I got you." 

Finn sat on the front porch of the Adkins Mansion. He was dressed in nothing more than an old grey bathrobe that had once belonged to his father. His curly hair was a tousled mess and the dark circles underneath his eyes gave away the rough night he had had. It was probably the better kind of rough than Red had to endure. He sipped from his cup of coffee and looked up from the newspaper that he had balanced on his knee as he saw his sister limping over the grass. 

"Finally! He exclaimed. He didn't bother to get up, even though it was perfectly clear that something was preventing Red from walking any faster. "You know, nowadays people have this thing. It's called a phone. You use it to let your family know you won't make it home during a thunderstorm." With the mention of her phone, Red realised that in all her hurry to get out of the Blythe's household, she had left all of her belongings behind. Her phone, her clothes, her wallet and even her house keys. They were all safely tucked away somewhere in Ares' room. "Where have you been?" Finn continued, Red had almost made it towards the porch and still had not spoken a word to her brother. "And what are you w--" Finn's words fell silent and Red turned around to see what had caught his attention. 

"Ares." She bit. "I told you to go home." The all too familiar silhouette of the blonde Southsider walked into frame, a menacing smile pressed on his perfectly shaped lips. He knew perfectly well what he was doing and how this would look to Finn and he enjoyed every second of it. 

"Just making sure you got home safe, baby girl." Finn chuckled and Red shot both of them a warning glare. 

"Go. Away." She growled. Ares held his hands up in defense and backed away slowly. The keys of his convertible dangling between his fingers. 

"By the way, love," he added, before completely turning around and vanishing behind the gates. "That's three favors now." Red groaned and rolled her eyes. She had spend far too much time with Ares. A lot more than she'd originally planned on. Admittedly, most of it was her own fault. She had promised herself that she wouldn't see him more than she needed to, but on that note, she also still needed to figure out a way to get her stuff back without having to deal with his idiotic face. And him being part of their friend group now would not make the not-seeing-him part any easier. 

"I have to say sis," Finn ran his tongue across his teeth in a cheeky grin. " I was not expecting that." Red plopped down in the chair next to her brother, snatched the newspaper from his lap and hid her face behind it. 

"It's not like that, Finn. We didn't--"

"Really, no need to explain yourself. I mean, I haven't been a saint either last night." 

"Ew." Red scrunched up her nose in disgust. "I don't want to hear that shit." Finn laughed, sipping from his coffee again. The liquid inside the porcelain cup had cooled down. It had been sitting there for some time now. Mixed with the cool after-storm air it was now not even lukewarm anymore. He drank it nonetheless, caffeine being the only fuel he'd survive on that day. 

"I'm just saying, kiddo. He's got a girlfriend. You know you're just a game to him." His voice softened, turning into that big-brother tone. "Don't let him break your heart." 

"He's not going to because we didn't-- I would never-- We--" Red stumbled on her words and eventually threw the newspaper she was holding to the ground. "Forget it, okay." She shot up from her chair and headed inside. She hurried up to her room and slammed the door shut. Her brother insinuating that she had spend the night between Ares' sheets was nauseating to her, but it was better than him finding out the truth. It was better than him knowing she'd been inches from death that night on the beach. Eventually the truth would come out, but for now she liked the fact that he was oblivious. No kid there would speak a word about what happened that night. No one would want their parents to find out about the underage drinking, the sex, the drugs or how they all stood by as they watched a girl drown. 

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Leave me your lovely thoughts. Stay safe during these trying times, I'm here for you all ♡