This oneshot is inspired by the song Play Crack The Sky by Brand New. I was listening to it at work today and this kind of just came to me. Enjoy!
She hugged her knees closer to her body as the cold wind ripped at her hair. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck to keep the December chill out. A single tear escaped the cages of her eyes and slid down her rosy cheeks. Eight months of happiness, eight months smiles, eight months of hugs and kisses; they were now washing away to the furthest shores of her mind. Her first real love.
She stood slowly, gently wiping at the tear, refusing to look vulnerable. Gemma placed her hands in the pockets of the oversized sweater that hung from her frail body looking past the shore and out to the horizon. It was the only one he had forgotten when he left her. The soft gray fabric still held the faint traces of his scent. In the back of her mind she called it the Remainder. He had taken his records. He had taken his guitar. He had taken back every single loving word he had ever said to her. This dirty, threadbare sweater was the only thing she had left of him.
Their last conversation played over and over in her head like a skipping record day after day after day since the break up. The day that it happened the sun was setting in just the right place, leaving pink and orange stains in the darkening sky. Kevin’s hand hung loosely around Gemma’s as they sat on the oceanside dock and the summer breeze toyed with her dark ringlets, tossing them around in the salty air. Little sailboats looked like little white gumdrops in the Pacific. The waves crashed against shore in a circadian rhythm leaving Gemma’s mind transfixed on nothing but the sound they were causing, she was calmed only by their noise and by the feeling of Kevin’s warm hand wrapped around her own.
Kevin let go of her hand and wrung it around his own nervously, his eyes never straying from the clouds that dotted the dusking sky. In that moment it felt like time had slowed down to a complete stand still. “We need to talk,” he said, his voice quavering. He knew what he was about to say would crush her. She’d feel like she was drowning. She’d feel as if there were no escape from the pain, and it killed him to have to put her through that kind of torture.
The solemn look on Kevin’s face told Gemma that he wanted to be serious. The smile that was playing on her lips was erased only to be replaced by a furrowed brow and her intense blue eyes focused in on his beautiful browns. “What is it?” she asked skeptically.
He sighed as he crossed his dangling ankles and took her hand in his yet again, trying to find the words that would get his feelings across, yet cause her minimal damage. “I think we need some time apart.”
He could see her falling apart before his eyes. Her face faltered, her eyes, normally full of life and laughter, went flat and blank at his words. She nodded her head. “If that’s what you want,” was all she said. She began walking away and Kevin’s voice echoed around her.
“Gemma! Wait! Can we please talk about it? I want to make sure you’re alright.” He put both hands on her shoulders to face her square on.
“I don’t need an explanation, Kevin,” she said sadly. She was on the verge of tears, but she didn’t let any emotion out. She remained stoic and poised throughout the break up, knowing that it would only cause more pain if she really let on.
Gemma knew that falling in love was a risk. She had remained on the words he had fed her throughout the relationship to give her assurance that everything was okay. She never realized that the words she had spoken, I love you, would end up meaning near to nothing in the end.
