(PLEASE LISTEN TO THE AUDIO ABOVE WHILE READING)

we pυlled oυт all тнe cordѕ, and тнe love we called мυѕιc, ѕтopped.

we ѕeparaтed like a υnғιnιѕнed pυzzle υnтιl we were worldѕ aparт.

we crιed, leттιng тнe laυgнтer rυn cold.

we ѕcreaмed υnтιl тнe leaveѕ ғell вare ғroм тнe нallowѕ. we ѕalvaged, ѕcared тo crow. we leт тιмe ѕυѕpend υѕ υnтιl we were dorмanт ιn oυr growтн.

we were wιnтer; нearтѕ мade oғ ιce, вleedιng ιn тнe ѕnow.
ι crιed, readιng oυr ѕтory.
yoυ тold мe тнaт waѕ тнe мeanιng oғ naтυre...

(Ｆｅａｔｈｅｒ'ｓ Ｐｏｖ)

My tears came in stagnant and slow, soaking his shirt, as Paul rocked me in his arms. I held on for support, as he kept my head from going under. He threw me into the empty cold voids of space and left me hanging without a lining.

Paul looked at sadly, the shame smeared all over his face like the shit he was, "I slept with your brother" he sulked quietly.

His hands moved nervously as he looked past me, "it was....,"he made a feeble attempt to explain.

I couldn't hear anything after those words, because for every action there is an equal or opposite reaction.

All I could do was feel. My lips trembled as I looked at Figs begging him to tell me it was a lie, but his silence confirmed it.

"No!" I quivered, in denial, "you wouldn't do that to me!"I sobbed.

I looked at the faces of the people around me. My brothers with his wide brown eyes, and Paul's slightly shaded greens. I was searching for something that would help me withstand this truth.

"Thanks for telling her, you fucktart!" Figs snarled pushing Paul against the car.

I watched them fight, in this civil war. They faded like the stains on our clothes, they moved driven by the ferocity of their anger. The lines snarled tightly on their skin, like the front lines in which soldiers defend. They wore their heart above their head, like stones; blow for blow.

Paul screamed, Figs yelled, and in grief and death we walked the bloody road. My heart was buried in their trenches, strung out in pain. They pushed, and kicked, exploding like shells, shriveled by the way they hurt me. Paul destroyed us in the wreckage, leaving blood beneath my toes, so I can soak into him.

I looked for the hope of tomorrow like the troops did the tattered white flag.

"STOP FIGHTING!" I screamed closing my eyes.

It was all too much, didn't they know that the devastation of a war hurt everyone?

The tears poured quickly, first in trickles, and then in heavy drops that clouded my vision. Last to come was uncontrollable hysterical sobs. The pain came in like a wrecking ball, swinging dangerously close to my heart, crushing my ribs into my spine until I disemboweled my core.

I wailed, like a pod of Orca whales beached out and dying on the shores.

Paul sighed, they stopped bickering. He grabbed me forcibly, "I'm sorry" he repeated, "I'm so sorry Feather" he promised, hugging me tightly.

I looked up at him startled, I looked at his rugged features and saw what I couldn't see before because love had made me blind.

For the first time, I noticed the cuts, the scars, and the unsmooth edges of his mind. My brother had been right about Paul, he was nothing more than his circumstances.

Figs held my hair back, pulling the tips of my curls back and forth between his fingers in a rhythmic and repetitive pattern like he use to when we were kids. At the time, I was afraid of the dark and it's malice monsters. It was a soothing technique that would usually calm me down.

I pushed his hand away angrily, "Stay away from me!" I screamed.

I could see the tension on his face. It clenched together tightly like our dreams, as Figs looked away to keep from crying. Brick by brick we were tearing each other down.

My tears were soaking the seams of Paul's shirt as I let my heart speak.

"Why..Why..why?" I stammered above my coughs and fits.

Paul shook his head, his voice rumbled like thunder in his anguish, "I told you..." he hesitated, "I wanted to love you but I never felt worthy enough. So the first chance I got to fuck up a good thing I took it, because truly fear is the enemy of love" he whispered.

I watched his shoulders collapse as Paul covered his face, "I mess things up, Feather. My dad, Ed, and now you guys" he confessed.

I took a deep breath trying to control my overwhelming emotions. I rested my hand against the smooth contours of his olive face.

I slapped him hard, "You idiot! You would rather be scared your whole life and live with the sad story you tell yourself instead of trying to change?" I shrieked in frustration.

Paul shrugged, his eyes smoldered over like the dark lungs of August, "people are afraid of change Feather...I'm afraid to have something I don't believe I deserve. I'm afraid to allow myself to feel love because I won't survive if you take it back" he grumbled.

Paul had the mentality that you fuck the world before it fuck'd you. It was a terrible way to see the world, and deep down inside I knew it was partly my fault but I couldn't let this go.

Suddenly, a sharp jolt traveled up the center of my chest, causing me to cringe and ball up in the fetal position.

"It hurts!" I screamed, the tears pouring down my red blotchy eyes as I withered, and convulsed.

Sadness is like drowning in an endless loop. Each wave that takes you, brings you to a place you can't possibly fathom. Sadness is deeper than human suffering, it's bigger than the wars we fight, and the bodies that fill up the cemetery.

It is the only human experience that the mind can't make sense of. It goes behind our back to comfort us while sucking our souls and wasting our time. It has the power to change you into someone you never recognize.

I wished I did not love.

Paul checked me over. I felt his fingers trace the scar on my chest as my machine ticked slowly. "Is everything okay?! Are you feeling faint again?" he asked frantically.

I sat up slowly, drying my eyes. Underneath the hard layer of numbness that traveled through my body, I was still sore, "No" I responded calmly, " but I am nothing to you now" I whispered blankly.

I took a deep breath and got into the car.

Figs tried to reach for my hand, "please Feather, don't become like us, hardened and bitter by our hate" he pleaded.

I put my hair in a bun, "we should get Ed now," I replied frankly, an eerie rigidness pressed against my chest.

Paul looked around hesitantly, I could tell there was so much he wanted to say, but he just opened the door of the car, closing it behind him angrily.

We drove through the darkness like a torpedo. The wheels of the car shredded in silence as we felt nothing but the weariness of being utterly tired. Tired of the lies we told ourselves to feel better, and the way we loved and how in the end it didn't matter.

The world stretched out in sadness, like the tears that trickled from my eyes along the bumpy ride.

"We're here," Figs said pulling up to a big house.

I looked around we were in the middle of nowhere, this was dangerous. I could feel the energy shifting, lingering in wild anxious austere.

I had a feeling that once we went in, there was no looking back. The place was like an old abandoned castle. Two iron gates separated the world from the debauchery that lingered like a ghost in the shadows. There was no color, and the structure was grey and rustic, like our souls as it sat behind the opaque sky.

Tall trees and shrubs paved the long road leading to the entrance, like a veil, making the setting more spooky. Even the temperature shifted, a cold draft blew in from the south, tickling our spines as we looked around cautiously.

"What's the plan?" Figs asked looking up at Paul.

We huddled around the car, making sure to stay hidden behind a great Oak tree, as we conversed.

"I go in and get Ed, and if I don't come out in two hours you guys never look for me" Paul explained.

I spoke up confused, "wait isn't the officer we went to see, going to help?" I asked.

Paul shrugged, "He isn't someone I can trust," he said vaguely. I couldn't help but get the impression that Paul was still keeping secrets from me.

He shoved a tiny paper in Figs hands, "if anything unexpected happens call this number, tell my dad" he grumbled.

Figs nodded, extending his hands, "this is goodbye then..." he patted Paul back warmly.

Paul shook his hand and then turned to me, "I'm sorry Feather" he whispered.

He tried to hug me but I took a step back, "I already said goodbye" I told him coldly. My heart was aching more than Paul would ever understand, I was deformed and limp in his selfish cruelty. He had built a city of dreams for me and then tore it down.

Paul had stolen the burning stars from the sky only to hurl them right through my chest, leaving a hole, so wide and dark like matter. If he believed an apology would suffice, he was mistaken.

Paul looked at me sadly, his teal eyes dipped into the ocean drowning out the green lights, that eluded the love before us until we were currents of the past.

He raised my skin with a simple touch on my shoulder. I shivered under such delicacy, if only he had held my heart like that too...

Paul's body language begged me with earnest to hear him out, "I never..I didn't..." he stopped flustered by the words he couldn't say, "goodbye..." he finally got out.

My brother and I watched Paul walk farther and farther away from us, "we can't leave him" he told me, "I was wrong when I said you caring was your weakness. Right now Paul needs you more than he will ever say" he shrugged throwing me the keys.

"You can stay or you can go, but I'm going after my friend," Figs said.

I crossed my hands, "he doesn't deserve me! Why do I have to lose so much and still do the right thing?" I sniffled.

Figs hugged me, his body was a warm welcome in the cold, "because that's what love is sometimes" he whispered, "blame me, not him. But if you don't come now, the regret will destroy you" he warned.

I watched Figs disappear between the outline of the house, my feet planted stubbornly. I had a choice to make and perhaps coming could reset everything that had gone wrong. Perhaps I could still love someone who had hurt me this much.

My heart twinged like a spider moving along the silk, just the thought of him and my brother burned me deeper than the smoldering char of a leftover bonfire.

I bit my lip, looking at the eerie tower-like building, imagining the fate of those who were inside.

I hiccuped the keys jingling in my hand, it was now or never to have love and hope again.

"I'm sorry I can't" I whimpered getting into the car.

Sometimes it hurts too much to try again.

(Paul POV)

I made a mistake but I wasn't prepared to see the consequences of it. Watching Feather break down and knowing that it was me who hurt her was more than unbearable, that's why I had decided to do this by myself.

I could hear the twigs and leaves crunching behind me, and I turned around in a panic. I was being followed.

"Wait for me, you wanna-be hero!" Figs whispered through his teeth.

I sighed, remembering to breathe, "what the hell are you doing here?" I groaned.

We crept stealthily, keeping our bodies along the wall. If we could somehow sneak in through a window or something then we would have the element of surprise.

"You think we would leave you?" Figs asked, his eyes round with surprise, "Stop being a bitch, and running from your problems or running head first into danger to avoid dealing with issues" he lectured.

I raised an eyebrow, "where's your twin?" I asked.

Figs shrugged, "she'll come, she loves you" he whispered but he didn't sound sure.

I grabbed him angrily, "Don't you get it?" I snarled, "I want her to leave. I want her to despise the ground I walk on so she never follows my path. I want her to do so much better than me because that's how much I love her" I confessed.

My lip trembled as the truth flooded out, "I can't put her in danger, I would rather have Feather hate me then see her dead" I reasoned.

Figs motioned to a side window, it was open a crack, "If you knew anything about love, you would run to her, and face the dangers together" he advised.

We looked around it was strangely quiet, and after checking our surroundings we decided to take the risk and break in.

The window popped open effortlessly, and I dragged Figs in first, he climbed on top of my shoulders to give him a boost. We shared a smile in victory, we had gotten in undetected and that was the first good thing all day.

"I know Ed's here," I said moving quickly through the empty rooms, "I just feel it" I whispered to Figs.

Figs never responded, so I looked back.

"You're not wrong" Mayor Dewine snickered.

He was holding Figs in a strong chokehold. I was horrified as I watched his face quickly turn red as he wiggled and struggled for oxygen.

My heart raced, as I took a step forward, "let him go!" I snarled.

Mayor Dewine moved his hands around his neck, "one move and he's gone" he warned.

He motioned to me, still holding on to Figs tightly, "come let's talk downstairs" he laughed callously.

I followed helplessly, the game was just beginning, and from the limp twitch in Figs face, I knew I had to play my next move smartly.

I reached for the blade in my back pocket, this was part of the plan I never mentioned to my friends because I knew they would never agree. I was going to take justice into my own hands even if I got blood on it.

Mayor Dewine feet clanked against the tile floor as he strode through the hallways with his back turned to me. My face scowled in determination as beads of sweat dribbled down my jaw.

I held the pocket knife firmly in my grip, arching my knees as I lunged forward. The back of his neck was open and exposed, all I had to do was hit the main artery and this would all be over.

"For Feather!" I told myself raising the knife.

"You know they say never turn your back on a friend," Mayor DeWine said as he sidestepped my attempt with ease.

The cold hard ground greeting me as I skidded across the floor, the tip of the knife cutting my skin.

Another man stepped out the shadows, presumably his bodyguard. The tall bulky man aimed his gun at my head.

The Mayor let go of Figs who collapsed weakly beside me, gasping with each hard breath.

His cold eyes lingered on me with hatred, his as he stepped forward to crush me.

The Mayor snapped his fingers, shrugging, "How disappointing and here I am just wanting to talk" he said sweetly, pretending to be offended.

"Kill, Ed," he instructed his bodyguard.

He leaned over my shaking body, caressing my chin, "let's talk" he said pointing to a chair.

I cried, using all my strength to stand up, blood spilling onto the floor, "please have mercy on Ed! A life for a life, take mine!" I bargained, putting my hands up to surrender.

I feel before his knees, swollen and discouraged, "please Mayor I'll do anything" I swore looking at Figs still body spread across the floor.

An odious grin spread against his dry face as I fought for my friends.

Sometimes the way we love is all we will ever know...

Authors Note: Wow, I hope Paul can save the day and the people he loves! Sorry for the pause between updates, I've been sick but to make up for it there will be another update this weekend!

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