Tobias

I watch the boiling coffee fill up the mug, in front of me. She sits next to me, holding another blue mug in her hand. My head is pounding. My eyelids are heavy. "I want to see her." She says. I look at her, with a confused look. "Elite, I mean. I want to see her. I want us to talk." She sips her coffee. "About?" I ask. She looks at me. "I feel like I own it to her, Tobias." She shrugs. "It doesn't change anything." I look at the mug. The steam is rising above it. "It does, to me." Her hand touches mine. "I think this is it. This is when I am supposed to leave her." I say. "Fate isn't so good to us, is it?" Her head falls on my shoulder. She's right.

Fate hasn't been in our favor.

The apartment is quite. The room is open and empty. She must have went to work. I enter the messy room. The bed is full of used tissues. Her dress is laying on the ground. I pick it up and toss it on the bed. I change out of the tight shirt in a grey one. I pull some jeans up my waist and leave grabbing on my jacket.

Natalie's blond head serves coffee and a cookie to a customer as I jiggle the bell on my way in. "Hey, you look well tired, Mr Woods." She says, meeting my face. I take off my jacket. "I am alright. I just didn't get enough sleep." I lie, giving her a weak smile. She smiles back, taking her phone out of her back pocket. I pull on the auburn around my waist. Last night keeps flicking through my mind. I feel guilt wash me, as I remember yelling at El last night. Even yelling at Ruby. I shake my head, hoping it would throw the memories away.

Night falls leaving the shop, almost empty, since people are home. "Mr Woods?" Natalie says. I look at her as she slides her long arms into her leather jacket's sleeves. "Yes?" I say. "I wanted to tell you that I won't be coming the next two weeks. My finals are starting, you know." She shrugs, after covering her head with a black beanie. "Of course. Good luck." I smile at her. I didn't get the chance to go to college. No family to actually pay for it, I refused letting El's parents pay for it, either. I started to work in a coffee shop, learning it. As Elite was graduating, I had enough money of my own to buy a small shop. This shop. "Thanks." She waves on her way out of the shop. I check the clock on the wall. One more hour before closing.

I walk into the apartment. "El?" I call throughout the place. Silence greets me as I enter the room. It's cleaner. The bed is made. I walk up to the nightstand, that lies at my side of the bed. There is a letter. My name is written neatly on top of it. I slide my finger through the paper, opening the letter.

Dear Tobias,

I know. I am taking a while to forgive you. I am even happy, you found what you were looking for. I don't want to hold you back. You know I will always be your friend. Maybe we were not made for each other. Maybe love isn't what is connecting us. But, I will always love you. I will always be there. I think I might have found someone who loves me the way, I love you. I hope we're both happy with our choices in the end.

Love,
El

My eyes water as they land on her name. I smile at the letter. I sit at the side of the bed, reading it again and again. Elite Mia Benne. My very first best friend. I do love her. I love her so much. I love her as my friend. My best friend. Memories flood my mind, as I recall every single one we shared together.

10 years-old El, in two pigtails and a yellow dress runs after her dog, Dildo. "You can never catch him." I laugh as she tries harder. She stops in her place, catching her breath. "Do it then, if your so smart." She says, hands on her hips. "Dildo, boy!" I clap my hand, whistling for him. The golden shepherd puppy comes skipping into my arms. "Hey! That's cheating!" She says. I laugh as I pet the dog.

I smile at the memory. I plant a kiss on the paper, smiling. She went through things with me, no one can even imagine. She was there when my own father shot my mother.

The tears blur my vision, as I scrub the blood out of the floor. "Tobias?" She says from beside me. I look at her. Her hands are red with blood. My mother's blood. A couple of drops fly to stain her face, as she scrubs. "Stop." I say, leaving the brush. "We have to finish. He said we have to-" "I don't care what he said! He killed her!" I cry. I feel her arms around my neck, hugging me for the tenth time now or so. "I am so sorry, Tobias. But, he's a bad man. He will hurt us." She whispers. I know she's crying, even as she does it silently.

The tears that formed in my eyes, fall. That night, we both spent it, scrubbing my mother's blood, off our floor. Tessa was away with her friends. Dad told her, when she came back, threatening that if she told anyone, her fate wouldn't be any different. I was a kid. I still wanted to protect my mother. From him. From that monster.

I zip up the suitcase that has my clothes and stuff, stuffed within it. I should leave. This is El's place. She needs space, where she can heal, from the wounds I caused her. I sight as I take a last look on the place, leaving it behind.