To Come Home (Stormy/Closed)

He was always running away.

From everything.

All the strength in the world, and he couldn't solve any of his own problems. And time and time again, he would always deny he even had them in the first place. He always tried his best to look immaculate, to appear bulletproof.

Even the name 'Valo' was him running away from who he really was. A scared, timid boy who made many mistakes and couldn't own up to them how he wanted to.

It's been six months...

The last time he had ever seen Stormy was in that hospital room, following the attacks on the city by the black mist six months ago. He managed to pull her unconscious body away from the fighting and get her to a hospital, but one day, he showed up to visit her and she was gone.

No one knew where she was. No doctor could tell him what had happened. They didn't have any mutual friends that he could question, and asking around the school did him no good. People thought a problem girl like her disappearing was good riddance.

But he knew her. He knew she wasn't a problem. There was a girl underneath that tough exterior that he fell in love with.

But she was gone.

Six months later, and he found himself thinking about her again. First it was the dreams, starting a couple of weeks back. Some of them were good, like memories of the couple of good dates they had, or even being together in a city that wasn't plagued by death and despair. Some of them were nightmares, like she had died in his arms before he could get her to the hospital, or that he was the monster who took her life.

Then came the reminders and the thoughts that began to haunt him. He couldn't even ride his motorcycle without thinking about how much she loved them. The color red began to bother him. Endearing names only put him off. He wasn't sure if it was because he felt guilty that he stopped looking, or that he had become complacent with someone else, even if only temporary and now she was gone too. Or maybe he was afraid that because he left her side, she had died when he wasn't there, and everyone kept the truth from him.

She's tougher than that...

Stumbling through the district streets, he seemed almost drunk, though his movements were sluggish all out of the depression he couldn't crawl out of. Why was it taking a grip on him? Why now? Why did time decide to bury it away, only to dig it up worse later?

You let her die...

It was his implant playing on his memories, trying to make him weak... it had to be.

Falling and tripping over a trash can, Adrian would fall to the ground, groaning lightly in pain. He would stay there for a few moments before slowly pushing himself up, feeling as though he had no strength in his body. Standing up to his feet, he leaned against the wall as he kept walking, soon finding himself walking through the nearest door.

It was a vacant building, but he'd make his way up the stairs slowly, falling on occasion and hurting his knees or palms on whatever he fell on. Eventually, he'd find himself coming out of the rooftop exit, and he'd push the door open as he stepped out.

The sun was setting, and the air felt nice. He'd take steps forward slowly, seeing the school in the distance.

"It was a rooftop, much like this... it was that rooftop..."

He'd speak quietly, standing up on the edge of the building weakly as he looked over to the school, and then down to the ground below. It wasn't a very far drop, and it probably wouldn't even break a bone of his, but something about it made the ground feel so far away.

Sometimes, he wondered what it'd be like to be a bird, flying in the sky. Even if it was only for a little while.

SPOILER: Click to show

Tag: Stormy Paxton
You get the first showing of a depressed Valo in a long time, whoops.
Didn't help I was listening to this when I was writing the thread.