- SINS POV-

"So, little red, what are we doing today?" I ask Lina, with a gleam in my eye. It's January 5th, and apart from my room becoming a confessional, nothing interesting has happened in my life.

When I say a confessional, I meant Lina and I were the priest thingys and Rhiannon and Brandon were those talking. They are keeping their baby, and the word baby has been spoken far too much.

Lina crosses her arms, to match her already crossed legs, and looks at me intently. "Why would I do anything with you?"

Her stubborness never fails to amuse me and a chuckle escapes my mouth.

"Let's see. Rhiannon and Brandon are all baby baby baby, Arianna is all loved up with Delilah, and you secretly can't stand Jagger, bless him, you openly can't stand Paige, and I can't stand Patrick. That leaves you and me, sweetheart. And anyway, we've gone out together before, and you love spending time with me."

She rolls her eyes. "First of all, Jagger isn't that bad, he's just a bit... special? He's warming on me. And second of all, why should I care if you can't stand Patrick? That's not exactly my problem, is it? That's a you issue."

Saltier than ever. But I don't care, because although she may not remember, I do. And she wanted me.

And I want her- but only for sex purposes, obviously. Definitely. Yep.

Her red hair is pulled into a high ponytail, and this lipgloss she's wearing is making her lips jump out at me, like they are calling my name. She's wearing a black skull t-shirt and ripped black jeans, then the necklace she always wears.

"Please, Lina?" I bat my eyelashes at her and pout, because I know how much she hates it.

She elbows me, then sighs.

Bingo.

"Fine. But it better be fun, because I'm not in the mood for any boring shit today."

A grin plasters across my face, and I have a very contagious smile, so a small one appears on hers, but she quickly evaporates it.

"Have you ever been to Go Ape?" I say with a grin, and she bites her lip.

"Never. What is it? Is that the tree thing?"

I nod and her eyes light up, a sight that is starting to make my heart warm slightly, for some apparent unknown reason.

"I've always wanted to go there! What are you waiting for, piss-pants? Get ready!"

She rushes round the room, grabbing this and that.

It's so weird, she's been like a zoned out zombie for days and then suddenly... BOOM. It's like she's found the energy in her.

This always happens. And in the mix of her zoned out zombie days, those nightmares she has always come back. It's worrying, it's like a mix of PTSD and bipolar. Is that possible?

I quickly grab my money and a rucksack. We have to get the bus, because although we've both started our drivers lessons, neither of us can drive yet.

I want to have fun today, lessons start up again tomorrow and I'm really not in the mood for it.

"You ready, little red?"

She opens the door and smiles. "Lead the way, bitch."

*****
"Are you sure this is safe?" I check with the instructor for the third time as he fastens our harnesses.

Lina rolls her eyes. "Your such a pussy. What are you scared of, falling?"

I nod.

"Yes idiot, that's exactly what I'm scared of."

Lina laughs, as the man hooks her onto the thing that harnesses get hooked on, he told us the name but I am struggling to remember.

She looks carefree as she begins to walk down the first part of the treetops course.

The man hooks me on and I take a deep breath, then begin to walk.

"Come on, slowcoach!" Lina calls, turning around to look at me.

I nod, and take another step, but my foot wobbles and that leg ends up dangling. I quickly pull myself back up, but I can feel my arm shaking.

"I don't feel well, Lina, I think I'm going to back out!" I yell, and she starts laughing.

"Bad boy Sin, scared of heights? Isn't this hilarious!" She claps her hands together and I roll my eyes.

Haha, very funny.

She walks closer to me and sighs, before putting a hand out. I look at in confusion, but I also admire her long, painted black nails.

"Hold it, you dipshit, it's not out for you to examine."

I grab her hand, which feels like a fucking ice cube, and feel slightly more at ease. I walk to catch up with her, the way this course is set up it has two lines, so luckily we can be beside each other.

"Thank you."

Lina shrugs, "I'm not a bitch all the time, you know."

I think back to when she told me about how her mother took her to the zoo, and I think back to when we kissed.

"I know."

She looks at me weirdly. "Are you cold? Your cheeks have gone red. How can you be cold? I'm boiling."

Shit.

"Nah, it's just the um, heights. Yeah. My hands are warm, aren't they?"

She nods, squeezing my hand slightly tighter, clearly trying to borrow some of that warmth.

How can her hands feel like fucking Elsa from Frozen, yet she says she's boiling?

We walk along the trail, having to let go of each other's hands for some as they involve climbing, but always grabbing the others after. Lina must be in a nice mood, because she even slows down for me a few times.

When we reach the end of the circuit, she smiles. "That was so much fun!"

Her curly hair is now down to her waist as she took the ponytail out. Her mascara has smudged slightly, and her lipgloss has came off, but she's still as enchanting as ever. She bites her lip and scratches at her arm, and I realise my staring has scared her.

"It was, wasn't it? Now, do you wanna go to my pub? I get discount on food cause I work there."

She laughs, a noise when I first met her I barely heard, but the past few weeks she's been doing a lot more.

"How chivalrous of you. But if your paying, then sure, let's go." She winks at me, but I know she's joking, as whenever I pay for things I get told she's not a 'charity case' and have my ear bitten off.

Sadly, I mean metaphorically, not literally.

When we arrive at the pub, the guys welcome me with a handshake, and welcome Lina with a whistle.

"Mate, she's hot," my co-worker Zachary (who goes by Zach) comments, "how could you pull her?"

I roll my eyes. "I haven't pulled her, Zach. She's my friend."

"So if she's your friend, you won't mind if I fuck her?"

I tense my jaw, and look at him in silence.

He raises his arms. "Chill bro, chill. I won't touch your pretty little thing, she's all yours. But damn, the spanish get me, styll. I mean, I've seen a few peng tings innit, fucked my fair share too but damn, she's next level."

I practically growl to shut him up. He's a nice guy, but when it comes to woman, that's a completely different story.

"Don't think about, Zachary."

I head back to the table, and sit with Lina.

"Your friend seems like a nice guy." She says with her eyebrows raised, and I chuckle.

"You mean a pervert?"

Lina pretends to gasp. "What are you, a mind-reader?"

It feels strange being in the pub and not working. It's a decent place; it's got a huge ass tv for football and other sport games, a good karaoke bar, a decent pool table and a good games area.

"You any good at darts?" I ask Lina, thinking of things to do whilst we wait for our food.

She leans forward, smirking. I try and read her thoughts through her eyes, a trick Missy taught me, but they are empty, almost as if she is soulless.

"Only the fucking best."

We stand up, rising to the challenge, and head over to the darts area.

I go first, but my luck is off today, as I don't hit bullseye.

Lina takes a dart and stands an appropriate distance away. She throws it with such precision and effort, yet makes it look like nothing as it hits the yellow dot in the centre.

"How did you-"

She shrugs. "Benefits of having an alcoholic sperm donor, you grow up in these sort of places."

The food comes, and we tuck in. Lina ordered a halloumi, cucumber and lettuce wrap that comes with sweet chilli sauce, and I ordered a burger and fries.

"So, how come you didn't live with your grandparents? I mean, if you know who your parents are, then surely..." I trail off as I notice her unease to answer my question.

"Sorry. I'm being noisy."

She shakes her head, and swallows the sip she just took from her strawberry milkshake.

"It's fine. I'm the queen of curiosity. My um, abuelo and abuela didn't like my fa- sperm donor. They hates him, actually," she laughs awkwardly before continuing, "so they stopped contact with my mum. And then, I don't want anything to do with Paul's family, for all I care they can all rot in hell."

I gulp, clearly something happened with her father. I desperately want to know more, but I know when I've pushed a limit, and that is now.

"My dad doesn't know I exist. I found that out. I don't know how the carehome knew that, but it was on my file. I could have siblings, and I wouldn't know. I mean, same with my mum, but she's the one who chose to leave me, so it's different."

Lina nods uncomfortably, clearly she isn't one for deep talk. Normally, neither am I, but I just felt like talking to her about it. God knows why.

"Well, this is fun." I say cheerfully, and she laughs.

"Oh yeah, I'm having the time of life."

I throw a chip at her face. "You're rude."

"And you're annoying, why are we stating the obvious here?"

We finish our food, and just as we're about to leave it begins to rain. Honestly, I was getting kinda worried, a day in England and it hadn't rained yet.

"We can wait it out." I tell Lina, and she looks at me with confusion.

"Don't tell me your afraid of rain as-well?"

She steps out the door and I watch her from the entrance of the pub as she spins round in the car park, despite the looks she's getting from those parking.

"You're crazy." I yell at her, and she stops spinning and smiles at me.

"Again, you're boring, and you're pointing out the obvious."

Fuck it.

I step out into the rain and start spinning, just how she is. "If you think this makes me less boring, then so do it."

She watches me spin, but doesn't join me, instead sits down, looking like a zoned out zombie again.

"Lina? Lina, are you okay?"

She looks up at me and nods slowly, but the glint in her eye is gone and she's back to being soulless. I put my hand in her pocket and pull out a zoot, she always has one in her pocket. I light it for her and hand it to her and she inhales.

"Thank you, Sin. But it's raining. It's going to go out."

And she's right, it goes out within a minute, so she puts it back in her pocket and stands up.

I remember seeing something in a movie, something you're meant to do when it's raining. I grab her hand and run into the road behind the car park, which is no longer accesible to anyone.

"Lay down."

She lays down, and I lay beside her, as the rain pours onto our face, and soaks through out clothes, yet luckily our phones are protected in the bag that is under my arm.

"Your not that bad, Sin." Lina whispers, and I grin.

I can take that.

********
okay but i loved this chapter
and i think it's the longest? i'm not sure.

what are your thoughts?

till next time,

anonymous a x