"Can you come out? I'm already outside."
Gabrielle sprinted out of the house letting the air cover her with raindrops. It was bouncing from every hard surface, leaving almost harmonic noises along with the neon glow from the street lights. The water hit her skin as it would go straight through it.
Water running down his face created a much more appealing image than ever. She felt her heart jump a little when they crashed into each other's arms; it felt like home.
"You're so wet," she brushed away sticky hair strings away from his perfectly shaped face.
He kept silent, expression hard to read: not because the wet mist was blurring it. The pale sharp face was colliding with secure arms around her: she couldn't help but sense only emptiness flowing from his embrace. She examined his face, searching for any hint clarifying all the doubts. The coldness crept under her clothes, spreading across the skin.
"Is something wrong? Did something happen at the recording studio?"
His fingers moved along her cheek and returned the smile on her face but only for a brief moment. The roughness of his skin felt almost like lacy ice: even though his thumb followed the traces raindrops left, it still felt distant. Meaningless motions scared her, forcing the body to react with shivers.
"Do you remember the one manager that helped me to record my first songs? Charlotte introduced us and he made my very first songs to reach the radio stations," his whispers were as cold as the weather. "I spent night after night creating my future in the studio and he promised something big for me very soon. You were there. Do you remember that huge studio?"
How could she forget? His breaths were full only when the recording nights were sleepless. It was clear, that his soothing yet powerful voice was nothing but grace. That was the time she learned what true happiness meant to him. It replaced her customary noble grin into a radiant smile, showing exploding emotions she never thought she had.
"As you know after the songs have hit the radio stations he went back to England but the songs kept getting more and more popular. It made such a huge jump so fast. Probably the best thing that happened to me since you."
Her smile found a narrow way back to her lips. As others were creating conspiracies, about his pride growing without notice, she stayed by his side.
But now, when she looked him straight in the eye she saw nothing. His arms accepted her only for a short time: he grabbed her shoulders and placed her steadily in front. Gabrielle froze. The lightning struck revealing sharp facial features and she shivered.
"Gabrielle...The same producer reached out to me again. While I was recording with Charlotte, he listened to my demos and offered me an actual contract," Gabrielle couldn't force herself to smile. "But...they don't know exactly for how long. Could be months. Could be years. But I would have my own recording room. My own team. I could create something beautiful...You know it's everything I ever wished for and it could be mine," his eyes were flashing with sparkles and it raised Gabrielle's pulse."I can get it if I want to. And I do. Very much."
Her lungs became a steel trap, paralyzing the body as it felt numb with his fingers sinking into her shoulders. As it applied more pressure, she could see her body levitating and crashing hard into the same ocean as him. But she was the only one who was drowning with no escape while he was ready to swim further.
"If I say yes, she will take me to him. And I'll get all I want. With a price," he took a small pause to lock his look to her so she sees every small flinch in his face. "I must go with Charlotte to England. It's where the studio is placed. She is his assistant and would be mine as well. That is why she also must come with me and stay for the whole contract time. The studio has the equipment and everything a starting singer would need. England would a place for me to bring dreams into reality. But... I have to leave... In few days... "
"What are you saying? You would leave just in few days? Just like this?" His silence announced the verdict and she felt the first piece of her being ripped out. "But...What does this mean for us? You know I can't go with you. I have school, I have a family, I have..."
"I know."
The deadly silence laid on her skin like a poison. It crept under her skin paralyzing the brain, traveling into the limbs as he released her. He just wished to disappear. Gabrielle started at those already so dark eyes as her heart fell silent: she couldn't will the lips as if she would be stuck underwater.
The darkness that shrouded them both was far more than just an absence of light. It was thick and heavy, almost unnatural, and the most painful. It hung in the air like a suspended moment before shattering on the ground like a falling glass.
"No...You can't leave me..." her voice cut the air, stepping closer to him. With each step coming closer, he stepped back. "You can't leave me like that...We have to figure something out...Just don't walk away like that, please..."
Rain and tears mingled on her face, salty tracks blending into the flesh. Everything was blurry at this point, her eyes only recognizing his perfect shape. Her fingers reached for his elbow, already physically feeling her heart shattering into aching pieces yet still sorely beating. It still craved for even the smallest taste of his presence.
"Please stay..." her fingers slid up his arm.
"I have to start planning the trip and announce it to the school and prepare some papers. Plus the packing... I just came here to say a fast..."
The words cut through his throat as he couldn't finish the sentence, leaving the burning taste on the tongue. Gabrielle desperately looked for any signs of compassion, a glimpse of the same pain. Each emotion was covered with ignorance, leaving nothing but spasming sadness.
"You can't simply walk away like that! You promised you would stay if this happens! You promised..."
The thunder mixed with the salty water, slowly filling her with the bitterness she couldn't control. No longer she felt the ground under her feet, the mind devoid of the light he had given. Her thoughts fell into an endlessly repeating loop of questions and made promises that were broken within a minute.
"You promised...You said you would love me no matter what...you said you would..." words could barely leave her mouth not wanting to admit the truth. "You don't get to break those promises! You don't get to say you love me and then walk away!"
He still looked at her with the same blank expression and she let out a scream. As it would make everything better or at least easier and threw herself at him: tiny fists containing great pain should have pained him but muscular hands caught it with no effort and pressed it hard. He forced her to face him and she saw nothing but rage. But she wasn't afraid. There was no place in her heart for fear. All the feelings were stolen from her, piece by piece until she was nothing but a deep dark void.
"You are going to regret this very much. I promise you, one day you will look back again but I'm not going to be there." she naively waited for a response but there was nothing but haunting silence. In a time of a second, she made the same decision as him. "If you walk away now, I'm not going to chase you. There will be no us again," all the worst ideas were crossing her head banging into her doors. The unreasonable explanations were waiting and she let them in. "Just please promise me...Promise me it's only the studio, music. Because if Charlotte plays a bigger role here than you tell me..."
The face was now petrified and the mute answer was more than enough to eliminate the oxygen in Gabrielle's lungs. Charlotte entered her mind, burning all the memories and dreams, turning everything into nightmares. It came in crashing waves, with one second promising a pleasing relief, and the other hitting with toxins.
His fingers released letting her hit the ground, but it wasn't as solid as his silence. Only a lover could cut so deep. That was the greatest heartache, to know he is the tool to her overwhelming pain. Any other torment would come and go and she would still bounce right back. But he accomplished to do far worse with just a few sentences. A part of her knew he didn't mean it, but in a way, it all made worse.
"One day you're going to remember me and how much I loved you. And then you're going to hate yourself for leaving me like that," the cries overtook the storm looking straight to him. "I promise, you're going to look back at me and wonder why you walked away!"
He stood still watching her shaking and bleeding from fresh wounds. For a moment she thought she saw that spark of qualm, ready to melt her heart but it was gone within the second. He turned away leaving her broken into a million shards. The devastation was absolute, forcing the raw pain as his shadow disappeared taking her happiness in his pocket. Gabrielle stained the ground with salty water, choking on the air as her head hang low, heavy as the thoughts of him.
