[center][img]https://fontmeme.com/permalink/180920/589552944720fd94944c91a52bd02274.png[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/NCmrcZg.png[/img] [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R1N-8SoqcM][i][color=EC008C]Lovin' you is like a fairytale I just can't pick up the phone again This time, I'll be on my own, my friend One more time, I'm all alone again[/color] [color=D11717]Sex with you is like I'm dreamin', and I just wanna hear you scream again Now you're gone, I can't believe it[/color] [color=EC008C]Time I spent with you deceivin' me[/color] [color=D11717]I don't care if you believe in me I still wonder why you're leavin' me I don't care if you believe me[/color] [color=EC008C]I still wonder why you tease me[/color][/i][/url] [img]https://hss3h35b565tn8dj-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/png-divider-lines-divider-line-png-2665.png[/img][/center] [indent]After leaving Beatrice to think about the mindblowing kiss she’d just received courtesy of the devil himself, the signature arrogant smirk was back on Diablo's handsome face as he took a moment to look around his surroundings to see what was happening. When he looked up at the balcony that lead to his bedroom, he was expecting to find it either empty or full of his friends from the island acting like the animals they were. What he [i]wasn’t[/i] expecting was to find his grey eyes on none other than April herself, who gave him her most burning death glare before storming away . The young man let out a groan. He had definitely fucked up now. Cursing under his breath, Diablo made his way around the group of party-goers and up to his bedroom. He had just enough time to close the door behind him before April went off on him, basically calling him ungrateful and asking him if she was just not good enough for him anymore. All throughout her tirade, Santiago kept his head down and listened to her, hoping to appear sorry for his behavior. However, her love confession hit him like an unexpected punch to the gut. His previously hanging head snapped up, and he suddenly looked up at her like a deer caught up in the headlights. If there was anything about him that she knew well, it was that the particular word she’d yelled out at him made his blood turn to ice. Being in love meant commitment, and commitment meant kissing his casanova life goodbye. And he knew in his heart that, no matter how much of a jewel April was, he was much too young to do something like that. [color=D11717]“Fuck, Lils…”[/color] Diablo muttered, running a frustrated hand through his shortly-cropped hair. He had absolutely no idea about how the hell he was supposed to handle the situation. This was the reason he didn't get into anything serious in the first place, [i]puñeta[/i]! It always came back to bite him in the ass. [color=D11717]"Look, I didn’t know you were here already, alright? As far as I knew you were back at your place getting ready, and I didn’t get a text from you saying you were here. And you knew fully well getting into this that getting attached was out of the question. You fucking [i]promised[/i] me you wouldn’t get attached after the last time! You knew I was despicable or whatever the hell you want to call me long before you decided to give this shit a try again, so don't come throwing that in my face now, April!"[/color] It was true. April had known that this...whatever this was between them, it wasn’t a commitment. And yet, even knowing that, April couldn’t seem to sway her feelings that had been present for as long as she’d known Santi. Intimate contact had a way of drawing two people together. The two of them had been through everything together since the first day of high school when their eyes met in the hallway. Everything from the drama that was the pair of them in their early days, to the tough times at school that brought them together. They had been inseparable at one point. It was evident that she knew what he was saying was right, simply by the fact she’d gone silent since he’d stopped talking. April wasn’t one who typically backed down from an argument. [color=EC008C]“Yes! Yes I promised I wouldn’t get attached to you. I promised that three years ago and I bit my tongue every time that the thought came into my mind. But things change! People change! We’ve been doing this for so long, Santi. You text, we get together, we sleep together, and then nothing! Just nothing more than a meaningless fuck fest. You wouldn’t let me in, not even to support you when your grandmother died. It’s like there’s nothing between the two of us, not even as proper friends.”[/color] The brunette slumped onto the bed and held her face in her hands, breathing shakily as she tried to calm herself down. The blood she’d drawn from her palms gently stained her cheeks, watered down by the trails of a few tears. [color=EC008C]“I-I...I’m trying so hard…to have something more between us. Something more than just the meaningless sex.”[/color] April's hands shook as she pulled them away from her face, placing them on her thighs to steady herself. [color=EC008C]“What is this to you Santi? What we have here? H-how do you see it?”[/color] Her tone now wasn't harsh or angry anymore, but genuine. She wanted to know. No, she needed to know. Now it was his turn to shut up and listen to what she had to say, because she was right in some things. It was absolutely true that he hadn’t given her the chance to really get to know him, but not because she was doing anything wrong. He knew that the second he let anyone in, he would be vulnerable, and that was a risk he wasn’t willing to take just yet. On the other hand, it was [i]not[/i] true that she was just meaningless sex to him. Had she been any other girl, things between them would have ended back in freshman year after their initial break-up. Yet here she was, three years later and still on the grind. If that didn’t tell her that he certainly felt some type of way about her, then he truly didn’t know what to do. Changing who he was was not an option. Bottom line? This whole situation over a stupid kiss was giving him a migraine. [color=D11717]“Why the fuck are you doing this to me, Lils?”[/color] Diablo asked her in a low voice, pleading to not have to answer her questions. [color=D11717]“Why do you do this to yourself? To us? You do mean something to me, but maybe it's just not in the way you want me to right now! Lils, you may not believe me, but you really are my best friend. We have a good thing going on. Why can't we just keep things how they are?”[/color] April took in a shaky breath, looking down at the floor as he spoke. [color=EC008C]“The way they are right now...”[/color] The brunette stood from her seat and faced him from across the bed, one hand placed on the footboard of the bed to steady herself. [color=EC008C]“H-how are we best friends if all we do together is…best friends do more than just fuck, Santi! Best friends talk to each other, support each other through thick and thin, hang out at more than just every other party!”[/color] April was almost shouting now, her voice slowly breaking over the course of their argument. [color=EC008C]“I want to be there for you when you need me! I want to help you through everything you need me for, be the shoulder you can lean on for support.”[/color]She carefully wiped a tear from her eye, taking care to not mess up the carefully applied eyeliner that only made her look more saddened in this moment. [color=EC008C]“Right now it feels like it’s all I can do to just talk to you! I don’t even know what you want to do after high school, what you want to do with the rest of your life! How are we friends if I don’t even know that?!”[/color] If there was one thing in the world that could always make Santiago truly weak, it was seeing the woman that he cared about in tears for whatever sad reason. He'd died on the inside when her grandmother saw him on her deathbed and burst out into tears at possibly not living long enough to see him become the successful young man she knew he would be. His heart had broken when he saw his mother sob uncontrollably after her mother's passing. And now here was his best friend, tears streaming down her beautiful face in the same place he had made her feel so good before. God, he hated seeing April cry… And knowing that he was the reason behind it made him feel like more of a piece of shit than he already was. But his stupid pride was above anything and everything else. [color=D11717]“So what do you want me to do, huh?”[/color] he asked her, feeling truly lost about what to do. Even though he wanted nothing more than to fix the situation, Diablo was growing frustrated and incredibly resentful at having been put into this position in the first place. [color=D11717]“Tell you all about me and my secrets and all that shit? Because I can do that, sure. But don't ask me to get tied down, because that's not the kind of man I am, and you know it!”[/color] [color=ec008c] “I want you to [i]try[/i] Santi, there’s no effort from you between us! You don’t try to be a friend, you just sit there and use me, thinking I won’t be hurt if I see you with someone else.”[/color] April was feeling defeated. It seemed like he didn’t understand that there was a difference in being her friend and being her boyfriend. [color=ec008c]“I...Santi I need a break from all this…”[/color] April could hardly believe those words had come from her own mouth, but it was true. She was tired of constantly trying to make it work with Santiago only to have absolutely nothing given back in return. [color=ec008c]“I need some time away...s-some time to figure out what I really want.”[/color] April had no idea what to say otherwise, the conversation would just keep looping back to her trying to get through to Santi. And it wasn’t working, not one bit. Her efforts had been in vain thus far it didn’t seem like that was going to change. It wasn’t something she’d wanted to say. In an ideal world, Santi would come around and they’d run off into the sunset. But this wasn’t a fairy tale. The second Diablo heard April say the words ‘break’ and ‘time away’, he knew it was time to pull out the big guns if he had any chance left to not further mess things up with her. Even if he wouldn’t commit to her it didn’t mean he [i]didn’t[/i] care about her, much less wanted to set her free and risk the chance of seeing her with somebody else. Call him the biggest hypocrite in the world, but if [i]his[/i] Lils ended up in the arms of some other fucker out there, he didn’t know what he would be capable of. [color=D11717]“Babe, wait,”[/color] he said, closing the distance between them and cupping her face with both of his hands. He was hoping his gray eyes would, as usual, be able to give his words the extra boost of convincing needed for April to disregard what she’d just said and give him another chance. [color=D11717]“Lils, I’m sorry, okay? I’m an asshole, and I’m sorry. Gimme a chance to make things better for us. I promise I’ll try my best to do whatever it is you think is we’ll need to be okay. I can’t fucking lose you too.”[/color] [color=ec008c]“What is it exactly that you mean when you say you can’t lose me? You never [i]had[/i] me. Have you been listening to anything I’ve said?”[/color] April clenched her jaw as tears began to roll down her face once again, taking in a deep breath in a futile attempt to calm herself before she spoke once again. [color=ec008c]“I need a break Santi. I need t-time to think...I’m not sure how long I can keep doing this...without any reciprocation.”[/color] And with that, April turned to grab her leather jacket--she’d apparently forgotten to grab it when she left to get ready for the party--before she paced towards the door. Her lips quivered as she breathed shakily, standing at the door a moment to see if he’d say anything. One last chance. One more moment to say the right words. [color=D11717]“Babe, [i]please[/i],”[/color] Santiago begged, but made no motion to approach her again. April just silently shook her head, twisted the door handle with a trembling hand and left the room without another word. She took care to take the less traveled hallways in the house in an effort to save herself from embarrassment, before finally making it to where she’d parked her car. After closing the door, the brunette put her face into her hands and wept softly. April was never one to handle emotion well and tonight had been especially taxing. If the ride to the party was awkward, the ride home to Chanel’s and Julie’s places would be tenfold. April quickly texted the pair before trying to pull herself together. [i][color=ec008c]“Hey party animals, ready to head home? I’m in my car”[/color][/i][/indent]