To say I was annoyed with Steven didn’t cover the half of it. Alright, I was glad that he had finally shown his anger at Dad, but I wish that he would leave George alone. Steven had always been like this. Every day someone else fell in love with him, and he would return their affections, leading them on. Finally, once he had had enough, he gave up on them, leaving them behind with broken hearts. But while he was always falling in love and being fallen in love with, I remained alone. I built a wall between my true self and the others around me, and never let others see what really bothered me. And now I was getting to the point where I desperately needed someone to break through that, and force me to show them my real self. Whereas Steven had a boyfriend and was stringing along a dozen guys at a time. Seeing him bite his lip playfully made my temper flare up again.
I brushed away from everyone else and stood alone. Breathing heavily, I tried to calm myself and repress the feelings; wait for them to pass, like something rather than someone. Steven spoke in my ear, surprising me, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…you know. I don’t know why exactly, but it obviously upset you more than you want me to know.” I sighed, turning to face him. “It isn’t anything you’ve done wrong, you shouldn’t apologise. It’s me; I just feel-”
The last of my words were snatched away by a deafening bang that split the atmosphere. I felt myself being thrown backwards, my limbs weak and floppy, and I just saw Steven soaring in the opposite direction before a bright light forced me to close my eyes. “It’s a flash bomb!” someone cried loudly. Suddenly I landed on the floor, feeling several bones cracking ominously and the breath rushing out of my body. “Oh my god, like, are you okay?” Rikku squealed, and I tugged my eyes open to see her peering down at me. I nodded, but even that small effort sent pain shocking through me, and I winced. Rikku went to crouch down next to me, but I dragged myself up until I swayed unsteadily on my feet.
“Have you seen Steven?” I choked, oblivious to Rikku’s concerns. She shook her head fearfully, and I leapt away from her. “Steven?! Steven? Steven!” I called repeatedly, praying that I would find him soon. I heard a heavy coughing nearby, followed by a weak, “Charlotte?” Staring around, I looked for the splash of red that would be his shirt. The ceiling of the building had collapsed in places, and smoke was streaming from several nearly contained fires, but that wasn’t important to me. I needed to find Steven, and fast. I scanned the rubble and debris until my eyes landed on a pale face and a slash of black. “Steven!” I gasped, kneeling down next to my big brother. His face cracked into a small smile, but he was even whiter than usual. He had been buried under a concrete cinderblock from the wall, and as I pushed it away with a burst of adrenaline, I saw why. The brick had punctured his skin, and he was bleeding profusely from his stomach. “It’ll be okay,” I reassured him constantly while I heaved him up into my arms. His body was limp and doll-like as I sprinted towards the exit. I took the steps two at a time, and sighed with relief at the sirens wailing, announcing the many ambulances that were there.
Two paramedics came rushing over and I placed Steven carefully onto the stretcher between them. I followed them over to one of the ambulances. Nearby, Georgina wasn’t visibly injured, but she was sobbing heavily. “My b-brother, George…he was here…he’s not o-o-o-out y-yet!” she wailed. Steven gasped and clenched my hand. “Where is he then?” I shook my head, not sure what to say or how to act. “I need to know he’s safe,” he panted, his voice getting smaller with every word. I sighed, “Fine. But I am not dying for this guy!” Steven nodded gently and I commanded Georgina to go with him in the ambulance. “I’ll follow with George, I promise!” I called as I ran back to the building.
The firemen hadn’t arrived yet, so nobody was there to stop me from entering the hall again. I jumped down the stairs, painfully aware of how smoky the room had become since I left. “George!” I screamed, breathing through one very torn sleevelet to try and prevent the smoke from getting to my lungs. “George!” I ran around, jumping over piles of rubbish and ducking away from fires. Several Al Bhed were still fighting the flames, and they were finally petering out, but smoke was still issuing heavily from the remnants. Finally I spotted a pair of white eyes, contrasting with the grime-coated face of our new friend George. I stumbled over to him, falling next to him and coughing heavily. “Let’s get you out,” I wheezed, pulling him to his feet and supporting him. Thankfully, he didn’t seem harmed at all, just very dazed and dirty.
We managed to reach the door and I pushed George towards one of the ambulances, pausing to let out another barrage of coughs. Once it was over, I tried to step forward, but felt something tug me back. Looking back, I cursed loudly. My voluminous skirts had been trapped under the heavy doors, which had closed and been locked since I left. I pulled at the underskirt, willing it to free itself, rip or tear – anything! But the dress had been very well made, and it didn’t let up at all. My arms grew heavy and I started coughing more frequently. Eventually I felt my eyes begin to force themselves closed, and my body started to shut down. I fought against it for as long as I could, but finally my reflexes won and I collapsed in a crumpled heap, still hearing screaming sirens as the last of the ambulances screeched away.
I turned my head to Georgina, who was sobbing quietly, and smiled softly. “With Charlotte there… he’ll be okay…” She nodded slightly, and squeezed my hand. I knew it was harsh to do so, but I had a question I needed to ask. “Does George… I mean, is he… he’s gay, right?” Georgina nodded and I blushed slightly. “Oh god… Don’t tell me… He likes me?” She nodded again, smiling softly. “He said that when you walked over to introduce yourself, everyone else disappeared from the room, and all he saw was the most beautiful boy he’d ever seen walking towards him…” I bit my lip, immediately wishing I hadn’t as the pain seared across my face.
The ambulance rushed to a nearby hospital, and I noted the staff was all Al Bhed. The patients were, too. As I was rushed into A&E, I saw several people from the party looking around anxiously, and as was pushed around a corner I caught a glimpse of an ashen-faced George. I looked around frantically in that fraction of a second, darting my eyes like mad to get a glimpse of Charlotte… but she was nowhere to be seen. An Al Bhed doctor came and began to treat me, but I wasn’t going to accept it. “Get Rin. Please, get Rin!” The doctor looked confused, but ran off, and in a few minutes returned with Rin at his side. Rin’s face contorted in a combination of fear, concern and anger. “Oh no… You’re going to be okay, Steven, you’ll be fine…” I shook my head, looking into his eyes and trying to express my worry. “Charlotte’s not come back. She’s still in the building!”
