Who We Are

The Past.

When sky darkened and the streetlights came on, I climbed under Ronnie’s covers. The TV flashed the only light into the room, sending colors across our faces. Ronnie sat next to me, leaning against the wall with his legs stretched out in front of him. He glanced down at me and caught my gaze when I tilted my head to look at him, taking in his messy hair and wrinkled shirt. I looked back to the TV as he chuckled quietly.

“You look tired,” he whispered, “You can go to sleep.”

I nodded with my cheek against his pillow. “I know,” I replied softly, “But I don’t want to.” I pulled the thick blanket back into place and met his eyes through the dark.

He licked his lips before he moved so that he was laying down next to me. He laid facing me, his arm folded under his head. “How come?” he asked once he was situated, “I promise I’ll stay on this side of the bed.”

“No, no,” I replied, shaking my head, “I’m not worried about you. I just don’t want it to be morning.”

He just barely smiled as he reached out and touched the bruise around my eye. “I can’t believe she hit you,” he whispered. He clenched his jaw and closed his eyes as if he couldn’t look at me.

I frowned. I cupped his jaw with my hand and urged him to open his eyes. “Look at me, Ronnie,” I said softly, “Look at me.”

He opened his eyes and moved closer all at once. Within a second his arm was around my waist and his weight was leaning against me. His eyes peered straight down into mine and his mouth hovered just above my lips. “This doesn’t end in the morning,” he said, changing the topic back, “I’m always going to be right here, Kat, and I promise that I’ll never let anyone else lay a hand on you.”

“That’s not your job,” I replied, shaking my head, “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself, Ronnie.” I touched his jaw softly, my lip pulled between my teeth as my eyes wandered towards his.

“I’m the reason you’re in so much trouble, so I’m going to be the one to keep you from getting hurt again,” he whispered, his head dropping just a fraction of an inch closer to mine.

“You can’t always be around,” I replied, trying to make him realize that it wasn’t his responsibility to babysit me. “You’ve got your own issues and I’ve got mine.”

“A jealous teenage girl and her old brother,” he sneered, rolling his eyes at the thought of Nate and I together. “I’m definitely going to have a chat with both of them,” he grunted.

I cupped his cheeks with my hands and looked him in the eye. “Don’t do anything stupid,” I instructed, “I don’t even want to see you talking to Sal tomorrow. He’s not worth it.” I put pressure on his shoulder until he was laying beside me instead of hovering over me. He fell down next to me and wrapped his colored arms around my waist, pulling my side against his chest.

“I’m just going to have a simple conversation with the guy,” Ronnie replied, shrugging his shoulders against me. “It’ll be completely harmless and if I see Emily, I’ll drop by and have a little chat with her too.”

“No,” I stated, pushing him away by his chest so that I could look him in the eye, “You’re not going to talk to him at all because I know you and if you even go near Emily she’ll start screaming and get you'll suspended.”

Ronnie slipped his arm under the blanket and I felt his cool skin against my stomach and his fingertips against my back. “What does that mean?” he asked, giving me a look at suggested he was offended.

I looked at him right back. “I’m not answering that,” I murmured.

He watched me as I scooted down and closed my eyes before they could close themselves. His fingers drew patterns on my back as I got comfortable, still hyper-aware of the dark-haired boy next to me as he laid in an old t’shirt and a pair of shorts.

He was silent as I listened to the sounds in his house, listening for his brothers in the rooms outside his door. The sounds of another TV were coming from somewhere down the hall, but I couldn’t tell if it was coming from Brad or Riley’s room. Ronnie’s TV played quietly in the room but neither of us were paying much attention to it as another more came to the end.

I felt Ronnie shift next to me and I groaned softly, wanting him to move back to where he was before. “Ronnie,” I whined, grabbing a fistful of his disheveled t’shirt so I could try to pull him back into place.

“What?” he asked, chuckling softly, his fingers trying to loosen mine from his shirt.

“I was comfortable,” I replied without opening my eyes. I pull on his shirt again and he moved back. Instead of laying on his side, he laid on his back and wrapped his arm around my shoulders.

“Come on,” he muttered, pulling me against his chest.

His shirt rode up in the back and I could feel his skin against the palm of my hand. My hair fell down my back and he tangled his fingers in it. “You’re more comfortable,” I whispered, my cheek against his shirt.

“More comfortable than my pillow?” he questioned, a smile in his voice.

I nodded against his shoulder.

“Katerina,” he said my name softly, the words just a whisper coming out of his mouth. “Kat,” he repeated, attempting to pull me away from the brink of sleep.

“What?” I grumbled, my brain teetering on the edge of consciousness.

He shifted just slightly before he spoke. “I’m going to kiss you,” he whispered, running his fingers through my hair, “Is that okay?”

I didn’t have time to wake up before his mouth was on mine. My eyes didn’t open, but my mind came back to present as his thick hair ran against my cheek. I tucked his hair back and kissed him just a little bit harder, more awake than I'd been all night.

"What was that for?" I asked when he laid back down next to me. My eyes were wide awake as he pulled his comforter over his shoulders.

"I don't know," he replied, tucking loose strands of my hair behind my ear as his own hung in his eyes.

I grabbed his hand and tangled my fingers with his before he could put it back under the blanket. "You woke me up for no reason?" I asked, smiling a close-lipped smile.

He shrugged, a tired smirk on his face. "I might've had a reason."

"And you're not going to tell me?"

He shook his head, his hair matting against the pillowcase. "It's nothing really," he added when he saw the look on my face, "I just felt like it.” He grinned a mixture of tiredness and pure happiness.

I smiled before I pushed closer and pushed my mouth against his. It was little moments like this that made me stay interested in him once I got past the obvious reasons. It was his simple gestures and the smile he smiled when he felt something real, something beyond what others saw. He was more than the quiet, in-charge boy I saw at school. He was more than Max's best friend and the trouble-maker that teachers dreaded having in class. It was the honest smile and groggy voice that told me everything I needed to know about him.

"You can go back to sleep now," he whispered, "I'd say that I'm sorry I woke you up, but I'm really not."

"Me neither," I admitted, adding after a few moments, "I didn't think that I'd ever be here right now."

"Me neither," he echoed, "I didn't ever think that I'd have Katerina Silverstein sleeping in my bed." He grinned as I glared at the innuendo.

"I used to imagine the kind of girls you had in your bed," I said honestly, remembering the lies that the girls at school spread about how they'd all been in this very place, "Everyone at school used to brag about sleeping with you."

Interest flickered in his eyes. "You didn't believe them, did you?" he questioned, sitting up on his elbow.

I shook my head, matting my hair. "I live next door," I replied in an obvious tone, "I would've seen them leaving your house, don't you think?"

"If I can sneak them past my dad, I'm pretty sure I could get them out without you seeing them," he stated, raising an eyebrow at me.

I frowned, imaginary images of girls laying in this spot, feeling the way I did just minutes ago. In the back of my mind, part of me wondered just how unique I really was.

"Kat."

I looked up to his dark eyes. My smile was gone and my thoughts were running away.

Ronnie frowned, too, aware of exactly what I was frowning about. He pressed the pads of his fingers against my cheek and I could feel the callouses from his guitar.. "I've been with other girls," he stated, "I'm not going to lie to you about that, but they've never been here and I..." he trailed off, his eyes trailing over my face. "Well, honestly," he continued, "I never really cared if I was with them or not. They were just because I didn't have anyone else."

I didn't want to, but I couldn't help but ask, "What about Vanna?" When the words were out of my mouth, I felt vulnerable and childish, reminded of what Ronnie had told me earlier about not caring if I’d been with anyone else.

With the shake of his head, I felt like Ronnie'd pulled a pile of bricks off of my chest. The image of Ronnie and Vanna together was hard to imagine and even harder to accept. She'd been the one person who noticed me when I entered high school, but she wasn't interested in being my friend, instead I was the butt of her jokes and the ugly-step sister to her Cinderella story. Although, now it seemed our roles were reversed.

I didn't ask more about Ronnie's life before, because honestly, it didn't matter. I didn’t care about the other girls he’d been with, as long as I didn’t have to listen to them and see them in my classes.

He pulled me against his chest and curled his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder and pressed his lips against my neck. He promised that he'd wake me up in time to get to school before my sisters and I fell asleep, feeling more out of place and more comfortable than I had in awhile.
♠ ♠ ♠
A crappy chapter. I know.
It took me all day just to get this out.
Comment. :)
& thanks for all the other ones, too.

Check out my other stories!

Here's the list of them.
Chocolate Eyes - Brian Haner Jr.
Death-Wish Kids - Gerard Way
Infinite - Ronnie Radke
Flight Risk - Zacky Vengeance
Never Surrender - Max Green
Hugely Invisible - Original (about self-esteem issues)