A Photograph of You & I

Bam unfortunately, wouldn't let me get away as easily as I would have liked for him too. I knew he had been watching the entire event take place and I knew he would have been just as shocked as Ville had been when I took off.

"AINA MARIANI GET BACK HERE!" He screamed as I bolted even faster. It was with a horrible wrenching feeling that I realized two things.

One: He would eventually catch me. And two: Bam had driven me here and it was a long way to walk to my house from here.

I stopped in my tracks after a minute of contemplating how quickly I could dash inside and get any set of keys I could find. It wasn't likely that Id be able to pull it off.

"Aina!" Bam breathed heavily as he stopped in front of me. I stood as one waiting to be condemned, knowing that I was about to receive a barrage of questions that I couldn't have answered because I didn't know the answers myself.

"I'm sorry Bam." I said quietly. His hard look instantly softened but still remained somewhat severe.

"Aina, what the fuck." He said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "This wasn't supposed to happen this way."

"I told you Bam. I'm not setting Ville or myself up to get hurt. Not like this." I told him, keeping my eyes away from his gaze.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOURE DOING NOW!?" He shouted, getting in my face. I pushed him back and looked at him with fire in my eyes.

"I'm keeping him safe, Bam. I'm doing what you obviously won't do for either of us." I spat, teeth clenched.

"Oh, so you're keeping him safe by kissing him and running away after?" He shot back.

"I got caught in the moment." I half-heartedly explained. He looked at me incredulously.

"Go back inside." He ordered quietly. I complied only because I had nowhere else to go. He followed slowly behind me and I felt his eyes drilling holes through my being as we made our way to the house.

As we approached the kitchen door, I peered in to and waited for Bam to reach me. When he did his expression was a mixture of anger and annoyance.

"That conversation isn't over." He told me.

"What?"

"You're explaining everything to Ville. Right now."

The fire inside me burned with even more fury. "You aren't my fucking father Bam."

"No, I'm not but if he were here right now he'd tell you the same damn thing. That you can't just shatter someone like that after everything that he's already dealing with."

"He's not fucking shattered! If he's upset then he's upset because of whatever happened with his fiancee, not because of me. I know that's all he's upset over." I retorted.

"You don't know him at all then." He said quietly as he opened the door and grasped my hand tightly in his, leading me toward the staircase.

I had no choice but to go with him. I resented every step of the way that he led me toward the bedrooms where Ville had undoubtedly retreated after the incident. I could have sworn I heard Bam swearing under his breath at me and my slow pace but I chose to ignore it until we got to the bedroom door. Ville's acoustic guitar could be heard inside playing a rather mournful tune.

'Its not because of me' I kept telling myself in my head though my conscience knew that wasn't the case at all.

"Get in there. I'll be waiting out here." Bam said knocking and opening the door before shoving me through. I glared back at him until he shut the door and then I turned my gaze to a tear stained Ville. Instantly I softened and went slowly to him, careful to keep a good distance between us.

"Ville-" I said helplessly, wanting to help but knowing it would only make things worse.

He looked at me with hurt eyes and I finally had to break the hold his eyes had on mine. He carefully put the guitar on the bed and hesitantly walked toward me, as if I'd disappear.

"Aina- I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" He began. That is...I shouldn't have kissed you unless I knew for sure that you wanted it."

My heart throbbed inside my chest so hard I feared it would burst. The sensation sent waves of actual physical and emotional pain coursing through my body.

"If friends is all you want to remain, then I'll deal with that." He continued quietly. I looked up at him trying to keep my expression unreadable. Those damn waves of pain brought tears to my eyes that I both wanted and didn't.

Slowly, I went closer to him until I could lean my head against his chest and try to listen for any sign that his heart was being as erratic as mine. It was. I sighed as his arms encased me and he pressed his lips to the top of my head tenderly.

"Just know that no matter what you want us to be, and even if you give your heart to someone else...I'll always belong to you."

Those five last words were what broke me and those hot tears that had been building in my eyes escaped their confines and slid quickly down my pale cheeks, wetting the dark T-shirt he wore.

"Darling, what's wrong?" Ville's alarm rose as soon as he felt the moisture penetrate the thin material of his shirt. I began shaking as I tried to hold in my sobs. He released me and knelt in front of me, looking at my pathetic face as I broke down.

I couldn't speak. My cries absolutely engulfed my voice and soon the door opened and Bam came running in.

"What the-" He said taking my shoulders and leading me to the bed so I could sit. Ville took his kneeling position in front of me again and grasped both of my hands as Bam tucked my head into his chest.

"Sweetheart, please...please don't be upset." Ville told me, unreadable emotions dripping from his voice.

"What happened?" Bam demanded. Ville just looked at him blankly.

Ville's P.O.V

When Aina had finally quieted Bam and I discovered that she'd fallen asleep against Bam's chest. I sighed and released her tiny hands and picked her up from the edge of the bed and laid her in the middle of it. Bam took the liberty of removing her shoes and covering her.

"I shouldn't have said that to her." I told Bam, as we crept out of the darkened room. Neither of us noticed the party that had spilled upstairs.

"What did you say?"

"I told her, that I'd always belong to her. That no matter what she decided, I'd always be hers." I admitted quietly.

"And she just freaked?"

"She hugged me and then she just broke down...she couldn't talk because she was crying so hard."

Bam just shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why would you tell her that? That's giving her the option to leave you again, Ville."

"It's her choice to make Bammie. Not ours." I said gently as I made my way downstairs to find some alcohol and my cigarettes.

"Well damnit, Vil! If we don't make it for her we all know she's going to make the wrong decision." Bam yelled after me.

I looked up at him for a moment before responding. "Then let her realize that on her own."