Play Crack The Sky(Chi) {Finished}

[chihiro]

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

Chi shoved her hands into the pockets of her vest, pressing her lips together into a frown. She could tell he wasn't too pleased by her words, but she wasn't sure what she could say. Above everything else, she didn't want to hurt him again. When they broke up and she left for Philadelphia, the thought that kept playing in her mind was that it was for the best. If she completely left Long Beach for good then there was no way she could ever hurt him again.

But she was back, and here they were, and granted, one part of her did still care about him a lot. But she didn't know whether it was as a friend or otherwise. There was a lot of uncertainty in her life, a whole hell of a lot, but it would be a relief to know that there was one thing that could remain constant without adding additional expectation or pressure in return. Her heart was cold, it was stone. There was no room for additional heartache right now.

"But you mean a lot to me, Aureus. You really do. You've seen what I'm like, you know everything. There are very few people who I can say the same about. Actually there are probably none. So you just have to trust me, okay?"

[Aureus]

He was scared and slowly Aureus thought he was beginning to understand why. After Chi had left and he started his rehab and everything else that went with it to mend his screwed up head, the Pillar thought he was over her. Sure, at first he missed her a lot, but after a while he saw it as something that just happened. The reality was they didn't work, or something, and it wasn't that big a deal. There were other girls around, and it was just life. He was completely fine with it. But now that she was back, she brought out all these emotions in him, and not to mention these new expectations and responsibilities. If he hadn't gotten over things by now, would he ever? Why couldn't he let it go?

To make matters worse, even though she was the pregnant one, the one asking him for help, Chi seemed so...in control. He was the one that needed reassuring and he hated it. He didn't want to need support, not from anyone.

"Chi, I don't know what I want to hear. Whether we can go back to the way things were, or that I'm finally over you. Either way, don't bother yourself worrying about me. I'll try to help you if I can." The brown eyed boy said sternly after standing up and looking into the nothingness that was the field. Something about it seemed so appealing at the moment.

[chihiro]

Chi nodded silently at his words, they both set her at ease and sent her into turmoil. They would have a lot of talking to do, about the past, about now, about the future. It was something both of them really didn't care to do, but they were growing up, and it was a part of life. Sometimes you had to do things you didn't want to.

She stifled a yawn, checking her watch before turning to her old friend.

"It's getting late, I'm going to head home I think. Thank you for everything, Aur, I really mean it."

One step, two step, she walked to him, giving him a hug. It wasn't gushy and it wasn't stiff. It was a firm hug, an appreciative hug. She appreciated him and all that he did for her, all that he promised he'd do. It was probably very hard to see your ex-girlfriend pregnant and still offering to help her and be there for her, and Chi realized this. In a way it saddened her to drag him into this once again when he could be living his own life, but he was all she had right now. She didn't have anyone else to turn to, anyone else she trusted as much as him.

[Aureus]

To some degree he was mad at her. Why was he doing this? Looking back on their relationship he wasn't sure if it had been worth it, or more trouble than he had imagined at the time. He didn't owe her anything, but then again he had walked out on her and the times he had been happiest he owed to her. Argh, he didn't know what to think.

"Nah, you're my friend. It's alright." He said, voice steady. He would overlook his anger as best as possible. Her hug caught him off guard, but he braced himself against it. It was the most passive aggressive action he would allow himself. "Be careful, Chi." With that he would start off through the field, gloves ignited when he was half way through.

There was a slight chill in the air, but it didn't strike him as cold exactly. It was simply there. Aureus forced himself numb against it and everything else for the time being.

So...he had figured out just what was bothering him, but what was there to do about it? For the last few months he thought that needy shit was something he had left behind him, yet it still gnawed at him with Chi's return. Of course it wouldn't be better to be completely detached like he was so long ago, but this was just something he couldn't accept. It was stupid and immature.

And so the Senior chewed these thoughts over until he was sick to death of them. He had been circling his block for a half an hour by then, and finally headed home. A drink would've been really good, but he didn't want to relapse. Hopefully he'd be able to control himself.

Fortunately it was all he could manage to get up the stairs and into his bed. Dropping down onto it, he was asleep in no time at all.

[chihiro]

Chi felt Aureus stiffen when she hugged him, and she frowned slightly when she pulled away. It was going to be difficult, that was for certain. She didn't know where to start but they couldn't avoid each other and they couldn't just pretend everything was okay, because it wasn't. It was a lot to work on, and honestly, he didn't have to do any of this. Chi could do this on her own, but she chose not to.

"You too, Aureus. Thanks."

She shoved her hands in her pockets and headed in the opposite direction. The streetlights cast a dim glow on the sidewalk. Normally women weren't encouraged to walk alone at night, but Chi had been trained to kill remember? If some thug tried messing with her he would be down for the count before he even touched her. Not to say that she killed at every opportunity, she preferred stunned to dead, and knew enough pressure points and tricks of the trade to take her opposition out harmlessly and effectively.

Some people had heard about the bad ass that had returned to town, though others were blissfully unaware. A small group of high school thugs came up behind her as she crossed the street a black away from her apartment. She saw their shadows and heard their grumblings even before they approached. One particularly brazen one jogged up, arm outstretched to whip her around before hassling her for her wallet. Before his fingers brushed her arm, the arm rose sharply, jabbing backward in an elbow strike, breaking his nose. The thug screamed, clutching his face and falling back. Chi turned around, her eyes narrowed, her mouth indifferent, jaw set in a 'just you try it' sort of way. The rest hesitated but another stepped forward, ready to start a fight. A quick jab to his windpipe and a pressure point and he was down as well.

The kids took off in an awful hurry, leaving their unconscious comrade, the broken nose kid bleeding all over his shirt as he ran. Chi shook her head and turned back around, finishing the block until she reached her apartment. Up three flights of stairs, she took her key from her pocket and unlocked the door, disabling the custom security alarm she'd installed in the apartment when she moved in. It was just about as ostentatious as her custom car alarm she'd installed back in Philly, but once you got into the habit of securing your things, it's unthinkable to go back to before.

Some habits die hard.