Days of futures past

[Ellsbells]

Sorry once again for taking so long. Life really gets in the way

Chapter 10

As the night wore on Ebony’s tears began to cease, more due to lack of fluids than lack of force. She could see out her window that the sun had long set and the stars twinkled in the skies above her. It was one thing Ebony still found amusing since the virus, she had grown up in cities as was not used to the lack of light pollution allowing her to see the cosmic rays in all their glory. She didn’t know what to do now. Bray was lost to her, and without him she just didn’t know her place in this world. She did know that whatever she felt there was one place her solitude was more comforting.

She grabbed her coat and walked silently to the beach, she sat in the sand, taking off her shoes at the edge of the water and let the waves lap at her feet. The moon was settled just over the distant water and sitting like this made Ebony feel like her problems were small in the big wide world. She hugged her knees to her chest and placed her head on her knees. Just as she closed her eyes the hair on her neck stood up on end. She could feel someone behind her, someone trying to ensure they were not seen or heard. Her warrior queen instincts took over and in one swift movement she was on her feet and had pulled her attacker to the floor. She pinned him down.

“Is that any way to treat an old friend?” the attacker stated in a familiar voice. It took her a few minutes before her mind clicked.

“Slade?”

“Hi honey, nice to see you”

She climbed off him, “what are you doing here?” she exclaimed.

“Just passing through. I arrived today. Stopped on my way through. I looked out the window and saw you walking down the beach. I thought I was seeing things, I had to follow.”

Ebony took in the sight in front of her. He looked different, his hair was longer, and he looked slimmer, but he was still the same Slade. Same cheeky smile and same piercing eyes. She couldn’t believe her eyes. She flung her arms around him, “it’s so good to see you”.

Every nerve in Slade’s body tingled as she surprisingly flung herself into his arms. It took a moment for him to respond. She may look the same – the braids were there, the leather outfit was still there but this was not the same Ebony he once knew.

But still she was so beautiful, and she felt so right in his arms, he wanted to stand there forever just holding her.

Over the past two years he had never lost hope of finding her again. She had left a note in his pocket before she had left. She explained she couldn’t live amongst people who knew her past mistakes anymore. She needed time to figure out who she was and what she really needed. She needed time to escape her history and live purely as herself. She had begged him to forgive her for abandoning him and that she hoped he would find someone to give all his love to. But in those two years his love for her never dwindled and it was only a few weeks after that he had decided to revert back to his loner ways and leave the Mall Rats. He was never built for the tribal life.

But here she was. He was angry at her for leaving but deep down he understood. And he had hoped that she had found peace. And then he saw her on the beach looking so peaceful and he had been unable to contain his feelings. He had to be near her again.

She pulled away from him, “Slade, I am so sorry for what I did. You were so good to me. I wish I could have been so good to you in turn”

“It’s ok. We’re here now. The past is the past, we can’t change it.” he shrugged, he lifted her chin to look at him. “but we can seize the future.”

They stayed up all night talking about everything that had happened over the last two years. She learnt that Ram and Ruby had hooked up after she had left and the Mall Rats had decided to keep moving. He learnt about her life in this town, how she had found acceptance and comfort in the warmth of the people here. But she didn’t mention Bray, she didn’t tell him that Bray was the main reason she had stayed this long. She couldn’t even bear to mention his name, it ached in her heart to think about him for even a second. And she enjoyed the distraction that Slade presented, she felt almost care free again.

As the sun rose she edged closer to him. “so,” he finally tried to broach, “are you seeing anyone.” her heart skipped a beat.

“no,” she finally replied.

“You sure? Took you a long time to reply.”

She looked up and him and smiled brightly, “yes, I am sure.”

He moved closer to her and lent into her. Her heart raced, it hadn’t even been 24 hours since Bray had ended things with her. Bray – there went the pain again. Dam it, she just wanted to feel something other than pain. His she met his kiss she could forget for just a moment.

Bray watched out the window as Ebony sat cuddled up with the new stranger. As he watched their eyes and then their lips meet he felt his heart rip in two.

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Bray and Ebony avoided each other like the plague, but he watched her from afar. He watched her flick her braids and bat her eyelids at this new stranger. He watched as she laughed at his jokes and he placed his hand on her arm or her back. He knew deep down that it should be him she was laughing at, that it should be his arm around her and every moment he saw them together his heart broke a little more.

“Who is this loser?” he asked Tess as they stood fixing a loose board in his house. Ebony stood by the guy’s motorbike laughing and smiling like she didn’t have a care in the world.

“Apparently he’s called Slade. New dude in town I guess. Seems to have taken a shine to Ebony though don’t you think?”

Slade, that name rung a bell.

“you’re happy for her right? You wouldn’t want her to be alone and miserable would you?” Tess looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

“No I guess not.” He shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t know what he wanted he has just been surprised at how quickly she had moved on. In just a few short days it seemed as if she had completely forgotten him.

Ebony could see feel Brays eyes on her, it sent a shiver down her spine. To be honest she had hooked up with Slade just to feel some comfort but as she days went by she had begun to remember why she had fallen for him in first place. Whilst Bray had always instilled in her a feeling of excitement and passion with Slade it was very different. Their relationship was quiet and with that came a feeling of safety and security that she never felt with anyone else. A feeling that he would never hurt her. His wit and humour made her laugh constantly and this light relationship was just what she needed after being hurt so badly. She knew she would never feel the tingles she felt with Bray or the endless need to be together but that was fine with her. With great love came great heartbreak and so if she never felt that again that was just fine with her.

“That guy is staring at you.” Slade motioned his head towards Bray, “he’s always staring at you. What is he some kind of a creep.”

Ebony smiled, “something like that.”

“you know him well?” he asked. She nodded “uhuh” pretending to be paying attention to a loose threat on the bike seat. This made Slade even more suspicious, “does he have a name?”

“erm, Bray.”

“Bray.” A memory sparked in his head. “As in THE Bray, ex-leader of the Mall Rats? Amber’s Bray?” he noticed her flinch when he said that. “Did something happen between you two before I arrived.”

“not really.” He raised his eyebrows and without a second thought she knew he didn’t believe her. “I thought there might have been but I was wrong I guess.”

“He’s an idiot” Slade told her shortly, “I don’t know how any guy could resist you.”

Later that night Ebony knocked on Slade’s door. He had told her to be ready at 7 but he wasn’t opening the door. She gently pushed it open and was met with the sight of a table, lit up with candles and rose petals spread over the table and bed. As she walked in butterflies formed in her stomach. At that moment the bathroom door opened and Slade came out in just a towel, his body dripping with water and his hair falling onto his shoulders. Ebony could feel the heat rising in her.

“Oh no I am so sorry I am running so behind.” He stumbled over his words. “I wanted to make this romantic, the dinners not cooked yet and I am well….”

Ebony strode over him purposely, “it’s ok” she told him, “it’s perfect.” She put a hand behind his head and pulled him in for a kiss. “It’s perfect” was the mantra she told herself as he took her to bed. This was the way it was meant to be. She couldn’t deny that he knew how to push all the right buttons but one thing she knew for sure, he wasn’t Bray. She tried to push the memories away of that night in the woods outside the city. The night she had given herself to the man she loved more than anyone in the world. She tried to live for now, to just feel. “It’s perfect” she told herself, “this is how it is supposed to be.”

Bray sat on the beach at midnight, behind a rock where the waves lapped at his feet. It was a place where he had spent many a night over the last year, mainly with Ebony by his side talking the night away before falling asleep together watching the sunrise. It was private there and no one could see him from the main camp. He could see movement out of the corner of his eye and turned his head to see Ebony walking down the beach. She was carrying a pair of high heeled stilettos in her hand and her clothes and hair were in disarray as if she had dressed quickly the dark. He watched her come closer but it wasn’t until she was just feet away that he stood up allowing her to catch sight of him.

“oh” she stopped. “sorry I didn’t know you were here. I’ll go” she turned to leave.

“No wait” he called, “it’s ok. Stay. It’s a beautiful night.”

She looked at his quizzically for a second. “ok”.

He moved towards her, “I’ve missed you.” He regretted the words as soon as they were out of his mouth. She looked at him surprised.

“I missed you too.” He moved towards her.

“Ebony.” He whispered her name. But suddenly it hit him. She wasn’t walking from the direction of her villa. She had been walking back from Slade’s, at midnight. clothes all in disarray. It hit him like a thunderbolt. “I am surprised”. He told her his heart suddenly feeling as though it had been frozen. “Doesn’t seem like you cared.”

Confusion swept her face, “Of course I care. I love you Bray. You know I do. Always have. Always Will.”

“Well you moved on fast enough didn’t you?” Bray didn’t know where this anger was coming from but it threatened to boil over.

“Bray don’t do this.” She began to walk away.

“I don’t know what I expected of someone like you. Miss Ice Maiden. You only ever care about yourself”.

She stopped in her tracks, it felt like someone had stabbed her in the heart. She swirled around, “You don’t get to do that.” She told him coldly.

“What.”

“You don’t get to criticise me for my choices. The choices I made to make myself feel better. YOU chose to walk away from me. You were the one that broke your promise. It was YOU that broke MY heart. So you don’t get to criticise me. You don’t get a say. You gave up that prerogative. I do what makes me feel good. What helps me to heal from the damage YOU caused and you don’t get an opinion on that.”

And with that she stormed off leaving Bray in her dust.