forum Under The Painted Sky (O/O CLOSED)

Started March 18, 2019 by Deleted user

tune

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Eden shrugged. “I’ll be doing that, too,” she murmured. “After I take the test in February. I’m not very worried about my score. Do excuse this narcissist.”

Sterling chuckled as they pulled into the school parking lot. “Honestly, I’m not worried either, but I do still hope I do well.”

“Oh, there’s school,” Eden sighed, unbuckling her seatbelt. “And we have about… oh, uh, four minutes to get to class. We have PE.”

Sterling clicked his tongue and quickly parked the car. “All right. Get out of my car and get to class now,” he laughed, climbing out himself.

Eden rolled her eyes, staying put in her seat, straight at her boyfriend straight in the eyes. The fun part of PE was that since you needed to change into PE clothes… you had about ten minutes. “Make me, Ainsley.”

Sterling’s gaze flashed, and he leaned forward with his forearms against the doorframe. “Dangerous words, McArthur,” he murmured, his voice warningly low.

Eden shivered under his intense gaze, her fingers gripping the seatbelt tightly. Holy frick, he looked incredibly attractive.

“Are they?” Eden purred, tilting her head to the side. “See, I live for danger. How else do you think I survived this far?”

Sterling smirked, staring down at her. “Oh, I’m aware, sweetheart. But if you want to get to class on time, if you want me to get to class on time, then you’ll get out of the car and come over here,” he chuckled, shutting the door before she could respond. If she didn’t get out, then he would simply leave her in there to think about what he would do to her if she let him.

Eden sighed when he shut the door, rubbing her head. Gosh, that was meant to distract her. She felt an itch in her skin, the same feeling she got when she wanted to hurt herself. She hadn’t felt that in a while, but this whole situation… was remembering Adrien…

Eden immediately unbuckled her seatbelt and stepped out of the car, putting on a calm expression.

“All right,” she murmured as she shut the door. “Let’s go, Sterling. We don’t want you getting a tardy.”

She didn’t lookas affected as Sterling thought she would be… In fact, she looked calm. Eerily so. Did he say something wrong? If so, what?

“E? What’s up?” he asked softly, offering her his arm.

Eden blinked at him, though she wasn’t surprised. But that feeling of want, Eden knew she couldn’t fake that. So she simply ignored his arm and looped hers around his neck, briefly pressing their lips together.

“The sky,” she murmured against his mouth cheekily before she pulled away. “C’mon now, pretty boy. Those gym clothes aren’t going to dress themselves.”

Sterling huffed and tugged her closer by her waist. “Tease,” he chuckled, pressing their lips together again for another brief moment. “All right. Let’s get to class, beautiful.”

When they reached the girl’s changing room, Eden turned to Sterling again and smiled.

“Well, I will be seeing you later,” she winked at him, though they’d be seeing each other in a few minutes. “Here’s to hoping whatever we play today, we’re a team. Otherwise I’m kicking your butt.”

“You wish, McArthur,” Sterling laughed, winking as he moved toward the boys’ locker room. “But yes, let’s hope we are on a team. We’ll dominate the other team.”

Eden merely snorted, turning her back against him as she walked inside the changing room, a sigh escaping her lips.

I’m sorry, Sterling…

Ten minutes later, Eden was climbing the wall, jumping to the other side and dusting her hands. She sighed. Sterling was going to be so angry… disappointed, irritated, but he had to understand. Right?

She slipped out her phone, donning her book bag over her shoulder, leaning against the wall. She tapped on Sterling’s chat before she began to type up her message.

EDEN: I’m sorry. I needed some time to myself. I’m fine, though. Just got a lot I need to think about. It wasn’t anything you said, so you don’t need to worry about that. I will see you later on. Have fun, love. [^ • ^ ]/

Sterling didn’t see Eden the whole class. He hadn’t caught even one glimpse of her since she had walked into the locker room, and that worried him. He didn’t know where she was or what she was doing. She didn’t need to report to him of her whereabouts, but if he expected her to be in a place, then he would definitely be worried if she didn’t show up.

As soon as class was over, he grabbed his phone to call her. And saw a message from her before he could…

He sighed heavily and leaned back against the lockers, dialing her number.

Eden felt the wind in her face and she inhaled deeply, her eyes closed. Maybe a park, sitting on a swing, wasn’t exactly the best place to be, but it was something. She liked it; liked the cold wind in her face, the goosebumps it sent through her body, and the calm it washed over her. When… things had been rough, she used to spend some of her time here. Some, in another place. She couldn’t go there—not anymore, so now it was just the rooftop.

Eden didn’t know how much she’d be itching for a fight. To feel her fist connect with another, to feel the pulsing pain, to feel a punch… she missed it. After all, why wouldn’t she be? It helped. It helped a lot. Maybe too much, to the point where it became like a drug. And now she was forcing herself away from it and it was hard. It was so hard, because she knew she couldn’t hide the bruises. He’d know, and he’d… he’d be disappointed.

So come rain on my parade,
‘Cause I wanna feel it.
Come shove me over the edge,
‘Cause my head is in overdrive.
I'm sorry but it's too late,
And it's not worth saving
So come rain on my parade—

Eden’s eyes snapped open when her phone began to ring, Doomed finding her ears. She sighed, slipped it out to see Sterling as the caller ID. He was definitely upset, wasn’t he?

Eden answered the call after a few seconds. “Hi.”

“Where are you? What are you doing? And why weren’t you in class?” Sterling asked quietly, rubbing at his forehead with his hand. “I had no idea where you were. I’m worried, E. It worries me when you disappear without a trace. Could you at least let me know beforehand next time?”

Eden winced at his questions and at the tone of his voice. She was expecting a lot of disapproving questions, but not that quiet voice. That made it a lot more… intimidating.

“So many questions,” she murmured, swinging back and forth. “I am… okay. I was just thinking. I didn’t get into a fight. I wasn't in class because I wanted to clear out my thoughts. I wanted to be alone. I’m sorry about that. I should have warned you before. Sometimes I disappear without a trace, but I did leave you a message. I didn’t mean to worry you. And I didn’t tell you because either you would have stopped me, convinced me to stay, or would have skipped with me. And really, I don’t want you skipping classes because your girlfriend feels like she wants some time to sort herself out.”

Sterling sighed and shook his head, dragging his hand down his face before pushing it through his hair. “Okay. I’m glad you’re safe and not hurt or anything. And thank you for texting me at all, even though I didn’t get it until just now. If you need time to sort yourself out… Then I guess you should have it,” he sighed, shaking his head. “Just please be careful. And come back soon. And safe. I’ll even drive you home. Or come pick you up if I need to.”

Eden smiled at his worry, swinging her legs back and forth on the swing. She grabbed one chain and leaned back, phone pressed to her ear.

“Come pick me up?” she said hesitantly. “If it’s not much trouble.”

“I can do that. Where are you so I can know where I’m going?” Sterling asked as he pulled his clothes out of his locker. He put his phone on speaker, turning it down so he was the only one who could hear, and started changing.

“I can send you my location,” Eden answered with a shrug before she paused, hearing the shuffling of clothes. “Sterling… are you changing right now?”

“Mmhm. Why?” Sterling asked, pulling his shirt over his head. “Yes, you’re on speakerphone, but the locker room is mostly empty now and the volume is low.”

Eden rubbed her face with her free hand, eyes closed. “That wasn’t—that wasn’t what I meant,” she muttered under her breath, inhaling deeply at the thought of her boyfriend. “Er, so I should probably text you my location. So you can find me.”

“Yeah, please. I’ll come get you as soon as I’m done here,” Sterling said as he pulled his new shirt on and then finished changing his pants.

“All right,” Eden murmured. “See you in a few.”

She hung up and pulled out her messages, sending Sterling the address of the park she was at. Then she slipped her phone back in her pocket and closed her eyes.

Sterling’s phone beeped just as he finished changing. He grabbed it and put the address into his GPS, then started it to his car. A few minutes later, he was on his way to pick Eden up.

Eden browsed through her song, tapping on Mother Tongue by Bring Me The Horizon. She breathed in deeply, exhaling softly. She was really a piece of work, wasn’t she?

About five minutes later, Sterling pulled up to the address Eden had give him. He parked, then got out of the car and looked around. With a smile, he saw that she was sitting on a swing, and he made his way over.

“Hey,” he said softly when he had reached her.