The Ruby Riot Series: Box Set Part 81

"March."

"Oh. A long time."

His eyes reflect my thoughts. Too long.

Will stiffens and crosses his arms, looking past me. I glance behind. Shaun walks across the hallway to the nearby court entrance. Involuntarily, I step closer to Will who steadies me and mutters something under his breath. Then he seizes hold of me. "I'm sorry this happened. Sorry I didn't protect you. I love you and the thought of anything happening to you..."

Will's intense. Too intense. Was he better off burying himself in random hook-ups than becoming solidly attached to a girl?

"I should go." I pull away and fasten my knee-length black coat. I spot the concern on Will's face. "My parents are over there talking to my lawyer. I'm okay."

Will's eyes glint for a moment before he seizes my head in both hands and pushes his mouth on mine. In surprise, I grab his hands and step back, pulling them away. "Don't..." I breathe the words, flas.h.i.+ng back to the afternoon in Shaun's office. My heart rate peaked when I saw Will anyway; this hasn't helped. "Don't do that."

"s.h.i.+t!" He runs a hand through his hair and grips. "I didn't think."

I fight back the tears and tiptoe to place my mouth gently on his. Will touches my lips with his fingertip. "I'm gonna wait for you. Five days, five weeks, five years, I'll wait."

"I wouldn't do that to you."

"Don't fade away, Fleur."

"No."

But I know I'm lying. We will fade, but I'll never forget.

41.

FLEUR.

Christmas was h.e.l.l.

I was dragged into a 21st celebration I didn't want; where it was obvious that people avoided talking to me about the situation with Shaun and Will.

I spent the first week home with my parents aching inside, hating Shaun, and wanting Will. The grief over the death of my relations.h.i.+p with Will shocked me; I've never cried until my stomach ached the next day, or woken and not wanted to face the world. Will is missing from my life, but he hasn't left my heart.

The tears aren't just caused by Will. A part of my life has been killed; I fell in love with the wrong guy and trusted in a future I had mapped out. Both fell apart in front of my eyes.

At first, I keep in contact with Will, but the awkward phone calls became strained texts until the time difference when he's away in the States became the perfect excuse to stop.

Stop.

Finish.

End of.

I won't let go of the other aspect of my life; the need to throw myself harder into my studies is a blessing. The frustrating part is the need to begin the final two semesters again because of the transfer. The story is known by the staff at York, but n.o.body else. My name is recognised by one or two people. I hear the whispers; but it's months since mine and Will's relations.h.i.+p ended, and I'm forgotten.

The court cases were both difficult. I don't know if seeing Will again or Shaun was hardest. Both times, I left the courts before anybody could talk to me, terrified I'd be pulled back into the nightmare I've spent months avoiding. I had to revisit the events in the courtroom, the last thing I could cope with is press intrusion too. Will's case was a minor news story, as Ruby Riot continues the invasion of the world Will dreamed of.

Will and me spoke after his court case. We hadn't spoken for over a month, with Will busy on tour and our relations.h.i.+p ending, and the reunion was awkward for both of us. Later in the day, we exchanged texts and engaged in another uncomfortable phone conversation in an attempt to arrange a meet up. Will isn't in London for longer than a day, and I can't meet him before he leaves. Again, our stars don't align and we part before we've had a chance to talk.

How much of this is fate driving us apart, and how much is the world telling us we deluded ourselves this could work? I fill my mind with 'what ifs', battle the ache resurfacing when I think about the Will and Fleur from four months ago. If this is meant to be, life would give us a break.

Will sets off on a promotional tour of the UK. When I see Ruby Riot on the internet, there's a strange mix of pride and disappointment. My stomach lurches each time I see a photo of one of the twins out with a girl, but it's always Nate. I share Will's smiles if I see photos of his performances, and his frown when ha.s.sled on days he only wants to walk to the car or shops.

The price of fame he spoke about.

Jax and Tegan still attract the same amount of scrutiny, and media-spun lies. Both are randomly linked to other people, but that headline changes so often it couldn't be true. Would me and Will have been subjected to that if we'd continued?

Then the thought train races along the tracks to what could've been, to the guy who loved me and I loved, the inner belief we could have a future together.

Is he waiting for me, the way I am for him?

42.

WILL.

I'm a lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Instead of jail, I'm served a suspended sentence. If I touch somebody again, I'm f.u.c.ked. I slink off to anger management sessions, talk through why I did it, but I can't accept there's a problem. I'm not an angry person, or abusive; this was a one off, and a reaction to a situation. Maybe whatever provoked the outburst is buried deep; the counsellor I visit can't pull anything out of my past to explain why.

The event almost ruined my life. Why would I want to repeat the behaviour?

When Fleur admitted she's frightened of me, it hurt. Bad. I could never, ever hurt a woman. Especially not the one I loved.

Nowadays, I'm exhausted, but on a constant high. Ruby Riot grow faster than anybody imagined, and the day our alb.u.m was lauded by Rolling Stone was the day Jax ran around the hotel screaming, before ending the evening drunk in a corner. Me and Nate weren't far behind because we knew this was the day we've waited for. The day the critics stood up and took notice.

The day I call Fleur again.

Every time I have a few beers inside me, I summon up the courage to phone her and, each time, talk myself out of it. When I was away on the press circuit last year, when we were together, I shared every moment, and Fleur's pride matched mine. An accolade from Rolling Stone is huge, and I want to share this moment with her too.

I want Fleur with me, but again I lose my nerve and don't call her.

Why am I not over Fleur? Why does she slip into my head at least once a day? I believe what I told her that day: underneath the rock star and the academic; the rough around the edges guy and neatly smoothed girl are two people whose lives crossed and knotted. Undoing the knot to her is hard; every time I loosen it, the knot tightens again.

If none of the s.h.i.+t had happened with Shaun, our relations.h.i.+p would've been stable when I left on tour. Instead, it was non-existent. We attempted to stay in touch by text and occasional phone conversations, but how can we fix what pulled us apart when we're not in the same country? Now I'm back, I'm determined to give this another go.

If we meet and one of us feels nothing, I'll accept this is over. Back from our tour of the States, the pull to her grows. When I was overseas, I closed off from my life in England and hid from my feelings for Fleur; but now I'm back, she should be with me.

Fleur lives on campus in York, back into Halls like a first year. She's on her own for a new start Fleur didn't want. If Fleur lived in London, I'd have more chance to see her and try again.

A week after we finish the tour of the States, I'm in York for a gig, and I can't leave again without seeing Fleur. Knowing she's in the same city, a few miles from my hotel, pulls me further into my memories and the cord between us shortens.

I fully expect Fleur to refuse to see me when I call. This phone call is the first time we've spoken in a couple of months and a glimmer of hope s.h.i.+nes when Fleur agrees to meet up. The conversation is stiff, business-like, and I can't read what Fleur's thinking; but at least, she didn't say no.

As Ruby Riot grow in popularity, it's increasingly difficult for me to go out alone. Fleur hates scrutiny, that was an issue for her a couple of months ago; and as I don't want to scare her off, I arrange to meet Fleur on campus where I blend in more.

I wait outside the large, concrete building, the environment a world away from the converted brick houses of the department at UCL. I watch every student walk out of the door, searching pa.s.sers-by for Fleur's distinctive hair.

Finally, Fleur walks into my world again, the sun s.h.i.+ning on her blonde hair and the blue cotton summer dress shaping against her. The world falls away, as the awareness of everything around leaves.

At first, Fleur doesn't see me. I'm not exactly disguised but half-hidden beneath a baseball cap, tattooed arms covered in a grey jacket. I stand and she turns her head. The moment she notices me, time rewinds to the day I told Fleur I loved her.

Nothing's changed apart from everything.

I stride over, ready to take hold of Fleur, not giving a s.h.i.+t who sees. But Fleur steps back, and s.h.i.+fts her look away. I halt. Don't screw this up.

"Hey, Fleur."

She fiddles with the zip on her bag and looks back at me. "h.e.l.lo."

I push my hands into my jeans' pockets to stop myself touching her. "Thanks for meeting me."

"Of course."

She's formal Fleur, controlled, and not the pa.s.sionate girl who gave her all to me. Fleur is a million miles away, but I'd walk twice as far to reach her.

Other students pa.s.s, and when two girls stop close by, I indicate to Fleur with my head we should walk away. The summer sun beats down as we cross away from the buildings to an open green area, where the sun dapples on the ground around wooden benches. Some students lie on the gra.s.s, or sit together chatting. A couple nearby are wrapped in each other, in their own world, and jealousy stabs.

In an unspoken joint decision, we sit on the bench; the awareness of the small gap between us is as painful as when we're in different countries.

"I should've bought us coffees," I say.

"I have water." Fleur delves into her bag and pulls a bottle out. Her hair sweeps forward exposing the curve of her neck and my breath catches again. How can she have this effect as suddenly and as totally? I woke this morning to a bright day, with Fleur in my afternoon I'm dazzled.

"I did it," I say.

"Did what?" She offers me the open bottle and I shake my head.

"You told me to come back and tell you when Ruby Riot win an award and hit the top of the charts."

"I don't remember saying that."

"I do. I remember everything. You said you'd agree I was special then."

Fleur focuses on the bottle. "You were always special, Will. You're a unique guy."

"One of a pair."

She turns to look at me. "No, unique."

In her eyes, I capture a sense of what she's holding back; I've looked into them enough to know how she feels. Her face has always been an open book to me, and I'm sure mine is to her. We can communicate without words. How many couples do that?

Couples.

I sit on my hands and resist the temptation to touch her. "I missed you."

Fleur's breath catches before she says the words I need to hear. "I miss you, Will."

"We don't need to." I take her hand. "We can put this behind us and try again."

"How long are you in York?"

"Until tomorrow."

"Then you're wrong. We'll miss each other again; after today, our lives are going in different directions."

I stare at the blue sky, the clouds threatening to hide the sun. "I won't be away all the time."

"I don't want to hurt again the way I did at Christmas. That was h.e.l.l, Will. If things were different "

"We're different to other people. Isn't that what we always said?" I s.h.i.+ft closer and touch Fleur's face. "I've thought about you every day."

"Why did you stop texting me?"

"That was you."

"No. You."

"Okay, both of us; but now I'm here, I want to fix this."

"I want to forget." My heart twists at her words. "No, Will. I mean I want to forget what happened with Shaun and move on. I don't want to forget about you. I doubt I ever could."

"So you think we try again?"

Fleur curls her slender fingers around where mine rest on her cheek. "Are you still in London when you're in the UK?"

"Yeah, I'm based there."

"What about touring? Are you going anywhere else?"

"We're doing the festival circuit in Europe, and there's a bigger tour planned later in the year."

"So you won't be around much?" she says, and her voice cracks with disappointment.