A Photograph of You & I

"What do you want?" Bam spat venomously at Jonna. I cast him a sidelong glance that he chose to ignore as his eyes demanded an answer. He had never, not liked Jonna, he had just never liked the effect she had on me.

"It's something I'd rather discuss with Ville first, Bam."

His eyes narrowed when she spoke his name, as if she was suddenly without a right to.

"Come on Jonna." I mumbled, gesturing for her to come in. She stepped through earnestly but with a hint of triumph shone in her eyes as she passed Bam.

His eyes widened in protest but I chose to ignore him

She smiled briefly and I felt a pull on my heartstrings, although, it wasn't because of the woman standing before me. It was because of the woman I was undoubtedly going to have to hurt tonight.

Just when I had finally begun to win her back...

"Which room are you in?" Jonna asked quietly and I looked at her blankly for a few seconds.

"Same one as always."

She nodded, smiling to herself because of something unfathomable. I couldn't find it in me to smile.

I felt a rough jerk as I began to climb the stairs. I whipped around to find Bam clinging to my shoulder with a desperate look in his eyes. My eyebrows knitted together in confusion and I looked up to Jonna who has stopped also.

"I'll be up in a moment, make yourself comfortable." I said, politely as I could manage. I wanted to make sure that things between us remained polite and nothing more.

"What is it Bam?" I asked as soon as she was out of earshot.

"Aina just pulled up with her mom." He hissed between his teeth.

'Good God, it is not my day.' I thought as I pinched the bridge of my nose with my thumb and index finger.

Aina's P.O.V

"Bye Mum!" I called once I'd reached the front door, laden with shopping backs and other things I'd picked up from home.

She beeped twice in response and waved to me as she drove down the driveway. With a content sigh I fumbled with my bags to open the door, finally deciding that knocking on it with my knee would prove far more effective.

The door flew open and Bam looked rather flustered when he saw me. "A-Aina...come with me." He grabbed my arm and thrust me inside the door, I would have gone flying face first to the floor had Ryan not been there to catch me.

"Hey thanks, Ry."

"No problem Ai," He grinned to himself, most likely because he'd been able to rhyme our sentences. I looked back to Bam who was not looking amused at all. His gaze kept shifting toward the main room.

"What got shoved in your ass?" I asked, chuckling to myself. He was wound tight and not bothering to hide it.

"Nothing," He murmured, taking hold of some of my things and walking them to the living room where he set them down.

"Oh I'll just take them upstairs Bam." I volunteered but he abruptly shook his head.

"No, you can't go up there!"

"Why not?"

"We uh..." Bam was fighting for excuses and I feared another surprise.

"We moved your shit to another room..." Ryan scrambled with his answer and Bam looked to him gratefully. Something was going on.

"What's wrong with Ville's room?" I asked, putting my things down and placing my hands on my hips.

"There's a vermin problem in there..." Ryan mumbled, almost sounding as though he were joking. I raised an eyebrow and looked to Bam for confirmation. He simply nodded.

"Alright, well which room?"

They both exchanged glances and it was then that I knew for a fact they were hiding something.

"The uh...tower."

"Oh...okay, well I'll go change now."

"NO!" They screamed at the same time and I looked at them knowingly. They gulped and stared at each other.

"What is there an alien problem in there?"

"Rake is in there clipping his toenails." Bam answered quickly. I cringed at the thought.

"Okay, well I'll just go upstairs and take a shower."

"You can't."

"Why not?" I asked, turning around to face them, growing increasingly aggravated.

'What was on the next floor that they didn't want me to see?'

"Someone's in there." They answered.

"I don't hear the water running."

They only looked at me, their minds were obviously buzzing in an attempt to find another reason why I couldn't climb that staircase.

"What the hell are you two hiding?"

"Nothing." They replied quickly.

"Oh really?" I asked slyly, making a dash for the stairs before I'd even finished my remark. They took off like rockets after me, but I was already running up the stairs two at a time.

Suddenly a grip caught my ankle as I reached the top step and I went flying downward, this time, no one could catch me as I fell.

I let out a yelp as my chin collided with the hard floor and I glared back venomously at Bam, who had been the one to grab my ankle.

"What the fuck Bam!" I screamed.

"Aina, you can't go up there!"

"Where's Ville?" I yelled.

"In his room." Ryan confessed.

"Oh you mean the one with all the vermin?" I asked sarcastically.

"Aina, just trust us when we tell you - you cannot go up there." Bam's tone softened, as did his cerulean eyes. "Please. I don't want to see you hurt..."

His comment only heightened my curiosity.

"Then tell me what you don't want me to see." My tone remained guarded but I'd taken it down a few octaves.

Bam glanced back anxiously at Ryan who had obviously realized we had been lying on the stairs when perfectly capable of standing. He rubbed his sore knees and looked up to see Bam's pleading stare.

"Aina, come downstairs with us and we'll explain." He offered. I thought about his offer and nodded. They only had my best interests at heart and who was I to deny them.

"Alright..." I mumbled, starting to stand. Bam released his grip on my ankle and stood as well, reaching for my hand. I gave it to him and we began to walk down the stairs.

Suddenly, a loud yell exploded from Ville's room and we all stopped dead in our tracks.

"You're WHAT?!" Ville's voice tore through the silence and we all turned to look back at the heavy wooden door as the golden knob turned.

Bam released his grip the he had on my hand only to grab my waist and throw me over his shoulder as he sprinted down the stairs.

"BAM!" I screamed when he ran outside into the cold. I was so grateful that I hadn't removed my black pea coat when I'd come back to the house.

"Aina, trust me." He replied. I pinched his shoulder as hard as I could and he let out a loud yelp.

"WHAT THE FUCK!"

"Oh come on, you've taken worse than that."

"Still fuckin' hurts." He said, setting me down in the snow.

"What the hell was that all about?" I asked, gesturing to the house with a sweep of my arm. "And whose car is that?" I pointed to an unfamiliar red car.

"It's uh..."

"Just tell me Bammie." I pressed, using the most sickeningly pathetic voice I could manage.

"You aren't going to like it..."

"Tell me anyway."

"It's Jonna's." Ville called as he walked outside, barefoot and looking close to irate or sick. I looked at him, my eyebrows knitted in confusion but he couldn't bring himself to look at me.

"What?" My voice was more disbelieving than I'd meant for it to be.

"It's Jonna's. My fiancée."

"Don't you mean 'ex'?" Bam interjected.

Ville only shook his head and a sob escaped his lips. His head dropped so far that his chin nearly touched his chest. It was then that I saw a small tear trickle off the tip of his nose.

"What?" I hated the redundancy I was taking on.

"Aina, she's -" He broke off, his voice shook and he kept shaking his head, mumbling to himself. Ryan moved closer to all of us and it was then that I realized he hadn't left us.

"She's what Ville?" My voice was trembling just as much, if not more, than his was. I took his chin in my tiny fingers and forced him to look at me.

"She's pregnant..." His voice was disbelieving as fresh tears piled in his eyes. I heard Bam curse and then there was a sound as though he'd punched a vehicle.

I dropped my hand to my side as my entire body erupted in a fresh wave of quaking. I looked at the raw pain in Ville's eyes and felt frozen tears, to match his own, tumble down my face.

"Oh, Kulta..." He opened his arms to me, intending to take me into a hug but I backed away from him.

"Don't you call me that, Ville Valo." I was surprised by the malice in my voice. I continued backing away until I was nearly fifty feet from all of them. I stopped dead when I noticed the unfamiliar silhouette of a woman. Upon closer inspection, I realized she was grinned widely as I ran away from Ville as he crumpled to his knees.