Chapter Thirty-Seven: Days In Color// Colors

Kait Rokowski — "Nothing ever ends poetically. It ends and we turn it into poetry. All that blood was never once beautiful. It was just red."

Súton: (n.) twilight. Dusk. The approach of death or the end of something. 

**********************************

He met me early that day. When I dragged myself out of bed, there were numerous messages on my phone. I sighed, opening them up and making a quick mental note to pay my cellphone bill. It couldn't be late like last month.

Hey. I just woke up. Sorry, give me a min. I'll be there in a couple hours.

I shoved my hair out of my face and grabbed a towel, heading off to take a quick shower. It was nine-thirty. If I wanted to make it there by noon, I'd have to be quick.

Twenty minutes later, I walked out in a towel, patting my dripping hair with a dry T-shirt when I couldn't find another towel. There were murmurs downstairs and I frowned. Dad was out. Or...should have been. So Aaron... was talking to someone else?

My heart rate picked up and I swung open my bedroom door, going to the staircase.

"And then the tiny dinosaur lived happily ever—"

Lyon's head jerked up and he blinked before looking away. "Hey."

My face burned. "Hi. Sorry, I'll be right back. I didn't know who'd come in."

"Yeah, Aaron let me in."

I sighed and rolled my eyes. "Aaron don't do that," I said, walking back to my room.

"But it's just Lyon."

"Still, Aaron. You don't open the door. Ever. Okay?" I called.

"Okay."

I locked my bedroom door and sighed, flopping on my bed as the towel loosened around my body. My muscles hurt and I wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. I inhaled the cool morning air, trying to calm the discomfort in my chest. I'd been through quite a bit. Even if I meet his girlfriend, or his friends hate me, I'd been through worse. I'd live.

I left my room wearing jeans and a T-shirt, my hair up in a loose ponytail. I tried. Kind of.

We dropped off Aaron at the neighbor's house to play and walked down to the pancake place.

"It's a pancake day," he shrugged.

The walk there was mostly filled with silence, punctuated with random small talk.

"Hey look at that."

He turned. "What?"
"That pretty red leaf." I snorted. "Oh wait, you can't see it."

He laughed. "Jerk."

I smiled lazily. No matter how long it had been, he easily fit back into the little space in my heart. Just his presence was soothing, and I pushed away the nagging feeling that this wouldn't last long. He wasn't mine to keep. But maybe for a few minutes, I could pretend he was.

When we arrived at the diner, we met up with Drew, Antoine, Anna and... and Shannon. Lyon's eyes lit up and he moved over to give her a peck on the cheek. I looked away, nodding at Anna and giving her a terse smile. She gave me a bright smile and a wink.

"Hey!"

"Hi."

My eyes connected with Drew's and he watched me carefully, his eyes flicking over to Lyon and then me. Lightning McQueen. I smiled. He didn't.

"Let me show you something." Antoine took a stack of cards out of his pocket and held them out in front of me. Anna groaned and hit his shoulder.

"You do that same stupid card trick for everyone. It's so old!" She looked at me. "Don't, Cecilia. Please."

I bit my lip, stopping a smile as I looked up at Antoine's earnest eyes. He gave me his trademark grin that made all the girls at our school swoon. I placed a finger on a card.

"C'mon, take it out."

I slid it out, waiting. Anna swatted his head with a menu. He shoved her hand away and flipped over the cards, shuffling them. "Okay now put it back."
"He's just trying to impress you. 'Cause he's lame."

"Tch. Shut up you."

A laugh slipped out from my lips and I slid my card back into his stack. He shuffled them again and pulled one out. "The Queen of Hearts."

I nodded, pressing my lips together to stop the smile from spreading across my face. Anna laughed. "You looked at the card before you gave it to her, you jerk."

"No I didn't."

She grinned at me. "Not so impressive, is he?"

"I did not!"

"Cheater, cheater, cheat— ah!"

Lunch passed the same way, with Antoine and Anna having petty arguments and Drew making commentary when he wasn't on his phone. Antoine switched seats so he was sitting beside me and Anna scooted over, preferring to face me. Lyon sat on my other side, Shannon next to him. Drew watched from the other side of Anna.

It was so strange, how these kids grew up in my neighborhood but I hadn't really talked to them until the end of highschool. We were always in different social circles.

When we got out, he took his keys out of his pocket and tossed them in the air.

"My brother's in town and his motorbike is here. There's three. Let's go biking."
I hung back, in awe of how they never even questioned him.

Antoine turned around. "You coming?"

Anna smiled and I opened my mouth.

"Of course she is." Lyon swung an arm around my shoulders and I frowned, stepping away. I could feel Shannon's cool gaze and I didn't want it.

"Who said you could make decisions for me?"

He looked thrown before blinking and smiling at me. "I assumed, Cece. Sorry. Come on, you can ride with me."

"But—" I looked over at Shannon and she smiled.

"No, go ahead. I'll just be with this sucker for a bit." She jerked her head at Drew.

I pursed my lips. "Okay."

Drew's house was only a short walk away from the diner and he immediately tossed out keys to Antoine and Lyon. Anna grabbed the keys out of the air and stuck her tongue out at Antoine, who looked at her in surprise.

"I'm driving, bish."

I turned away to hide my smile. My general nervousness was making it hard to really relax around a bunch of almost strangers.

Lyon tugged my hand over to a red motorbike and handed me a helmet.

"Hop on."

"But—"
He grinned, his dimple showing through as he winked at me. "Don't worry. I've done this before."
He sat down and started the engine as Drew called out the path they were taking. He looked at me when he finished.

"It's just a couple of rounds. And then we'll be back."
I nodded, slipping on a helmet. Lyon looked over his shoulder. "Hold on tight."

"Uh..."
He chuckled and reached back to take my arms, wrapping them around his waist. "Hold on tight, Cece."

I nodded, the butterflies in my stomach getting stronger. He smelled like vanilla. Wait, I shouldn't be noticing that. I turned my face away, watching Drew and Shannon take off, Antoine and Anna right behind them. Antoine waved at me from behind Anna. I smiled and turned back to Lyon. All I could see was his shirt and the back of his helmet. He was still for a moment.

"You okay?"

He turned around and took off his helmet, slipping off his sunglasses as well and squinting when the light hurt his eyes. He gave me a long look.

"I've missed you."

I smiled, blinking back tears. "Me too."

He took a deep breath and slipped on his helmet again, clearing his throat. "I learned to drive a motorcycle."

I snorted. "No! Really? Wouldn't have guessed, sitting behind you on one."
"Tch, shut up."
"Let's go then."

He nodded and revved the engine and it roared to life. I squealed and held on tighter, feeling him laugh. "Don't let go."

I squeezed my eyes shut, not sure whether I should keep them closed or open. And we were off, flying.

I didn't look around until we stopped at a traffic light. Watching him look up, I frowned. "You can't see color."

"But red is always on top and green is on the bottom. I just wait for the light at the bottom. Green means go, right?"

"Oh. Right."
The light changed and he took his foot off the brake. "Go."

My stomach flipped and I hung on tightly, laying my head against his back as the wind whipped through my hair and clothes. Lyon said something I couldn't hear over the noise.

"What?" I called.
"I'm gonna cut a different way to catch up with them! We're behind."

"Uh...okay."
"How's Mason Street? It cuts across that place beside where you worked...It'll take us to the front of the park, right?"

"Uh.." I squinted. Something wasn't right. "Yeah...I think."

The small pit in my stomach grew bigger and I swallowed.

"I've never ridden the bike down there, but I guess we'll find out in a second."
The world slanted and I shrieked, burying my face into his shirt as we turned onto Mason Street. My blood turned to ice as I remembered something. The light was sideways.
"Wait, the streetlight—"
Lyon shouted, jerking the motorbike to the side.

We hit a jagged bump and my world flipped upside down, passing by in a blur. I screamed, seeing green all around me. Tree branches snagged at my skin and there was a crash somewhere close to me. I covered my face with my arms, my eyes burning with tears and dirt.

Then I came to a stop, lying facedown in the dirt. I tried to get up, gritting my teeth against the burning pain in my shoulder.

Lyon.

Blood flooded my mouth and I spat it out, wiping my face. It came away wet and I looked around frantically. He was lying face down beside the upside down motorcycle, its wheels still spinning in the air.

"Lyon!"

I dragged myself over to him, my legs burning. He groaned and I flipped him over. His eyes were misty and he smiled dully at me.

"I'm sorry Cece."

"What, no. It's not... "

My eyes slid down to the short jagged metal pole protruding from his chest, crimson blood all over him. "No."

Bile climbed up my throat and I turned my face away to throw up.

"I'm sorry." He coughed and I slapped his cheek lightly.

"For what, Lyon. You didn't do anything wrong. And you're gonna be okay." My voice cracked. I searched my pockets for my phone, hissing at the pain in my shoulder.

He smiled softly. "No. I'm not, Cece."

"Yes you are." I glared down at him. "That's no way to talk."

He shook his head and my search became frantic. "I can't find my phone. Where's yours?"
He coughed again, and swallowed. Coughed up blood. I gently picked up his head and slid my legs underneath, to give him some leverage.

"Jacket."

I slid my hands around, ignoring the warm blood seeping onto my hands. "You're gonna be fine. You're gonna be fine."

"It's strange."

"What is?" I mumbled, pressing 9-1-1.

"The sky."

"911. What's your emergency?"

"I've got... there's been an accident. M-motorcycle. There's a man with me. He's been... impaled. Please. Help me." My eyes stung and I pulled the phone away from my face to spit out the taste of my own vomit.

Lyon groaned. "It hurts, Cece."
I caressed his cheek. "I know, honey. Give them a minute."

He tried to move and grunted. "I don't... wanna die," he slurred.

"You won't! Don't even say that, you hear me? You'll be okay!"

I put the phone back to my ear. "Huh? yes. We're right off Mason street, hurry!"

"I think I loved her."

"Who, Shannon? Yes, go tell her that yourself, Lyon. You'll make it."

"But I think... I also loved you. First."

My heart stopped cold and I smiled at him through blurry eyes. "This isn't how I thought I'd ever hear that."

 A teardrop fell on his cheek and I wiped it away, kissing his forehead. "I... I loved you too. Why'd you leave me?"

He smiled back at me, weakly. "We had a nice run, you know. And you were right."

"About?"

"The sky... really is blue."

"What are you talking about? Of course it is, babe. Now shh..."

He turned to me. "Your eyes are a color I've never seen before. They're beautiful, Cece."

"Hazel." I smiled down at him, wiping my nose. "And shut up."

He tried to laugh and shut his eyes. 

"No, no. Stay with me. You hear me Lyon? You can't give up yet! Open your eyes, stay with me!"

Please God, not another one. Don't take him too.

He went limp and I shook him frantically, my heart in my throat.

"No no no! No! Come back! Come back!"

A scream ripped from my throat and I let myself be torn apart as my world flashed into color and faded away.

Come back. 

********************************

A/N: I've known entirely too many people who've died in car accidents. Please, every single one of you...Stay safe. Don't speed. Keep your seat-belt on. Your entire life isn't worth throwing away because of a few seconds of recklessness. Your family doesn't deserve to lose you, your friends don't want to lose you, and YOU owe it to yourself to stay put here. This world may be broken, but it's a little brighter with you in it. Stay safe. 

On a...different (albeit only slightly less somber) note, what did you think? This chapter is the last of the Days in Color timeline. Are you crying yet? *cackles* 

I'll be updating EVERY DAY until this book ends from now on. My computer is fixed, and I'm finally in a..sort of....carefully normal mindset again. I'm ready to finish this book and bring it on home. Care to join me? ;) 

Please leave a vote/comment if you enjoyed it! I really appreciate it and I love hearing what you all think!! <3 

Cheers! 

-Autumn

◇Some references for Lyon: