Chapter Two

Rick walked down the college campus street, his shoulders slumped and his head bent forward as the icy winter winds cut through his furred face.
I KNEW SHE’D CALL SOONER OR LATER
HONESTLY, SHE WAITED LONGER TO GET THIS OVER WITH THAN I’D FIGURED
Rick looked upward, glancing down the black paved street, seeing where it led off to a small, wooden bridge built over a slow running creek. Standing upon the bridge was a solitary figure, a slender girl with the visage of a white mouse, her raven black hair wafting in the cold wind, her cold blue eyes cast downward. Rick felt his feet become heavy, and his shoulders heavier still. His heart ached to see her there, and for a brief moment, he wanted to walk away.
AT THIS MOMENT, I’D RATHER NEVER SEE HER AGAIN THAN HAVE TO GO THROUGH WITH THIS
BUT THEN I’D BE AN EVEN GREATER FOOL
Slowly, Rick began to move forward again, walking onto the bridge. The girl felt the vibrations of his foot steps through the wood beneath her soles, turning tensely to face him.
"Hi, Ariel," Rick said, his mouth feeling very dry.
"Rick," Ariel greeted in an almost emotionless tone, here eyes still cast downward.
For nearly a minute, they both stood there, unmoving and silent.
THERE ISN’T ANYTHING LEFT TO SAY
Rick swallowed the dry gunk in his mouth down his throat, looking to Ariel.
BESIDES THE OBVIOUS
"Ariel, I’m sorry," Rick told her, the words burning as they escaped his throat. "You have every right to hate me for this. I wish I could have told you, but I didn’t know if I could-" Rick stopped himself, realizing what he almost said to her.
"If you could trust me?" Ariel asked coldly, still not looking at him. Rick found his own eyes casting downward, shamed.
"I did trust you, Ariel," Rick told her, finding the words he wanted to say become increasingly more difficult to express. "It wasn’t about trust. I was just... afraid. Afraid of what you’d think of me."
"What I’d think?" Ariel’s voice cracked as she raised her gaze to him, her face looking pained. "I’d think you were out of your mind. I’d think- that you need professional help." Ariel began to shake her head sadly. "Most of all, I’d think of you as one of the last people I’d ever want to be around."
Rick looked visibly pained, holding out a hand toward her. "Ariel..."
"I knew you were lying to me, Rick," Ariel continued, stepping away from him. "But... THIS. THIS?! Rick, this is beyond a LIE!" Ariel looked at him emphatically. "You’ve been living a double life! A life-" Ariel turned and supported herself on the railing of the bridge. "God, I don’t even know what kind of a life it is!"
Rick paused, then looked back up at her. "You’re not wrong. I kept a very big part of my life from you. And I more than understand if it scares you... it scares me more than you’d believe. But the only thing through all of the criminals and monsters I’ve faced that’s kept me grounded in the real world... is you. YOU are the only happiness I have, Ariel. You’re the reason I even BOTHER getting out of bed... you’ve made me happy in ways I didn’t know I could be."
Rick stepped closer to her, uneasily placing his free hand on her tense shoulder. "You were my first, Ariel. That means something to me...despite everything, doesn’t it mean something to you, too?"
Ariel bit her lip, her eyes beginning to water. "Of course it does. I’d be lying if I said you didn’t make me happy too, Rick.. If our nights together weren’t... the most wonderful of my life." Ariel’s head tilted down, the tears rolling down her lily-white fur. "But what you’re doing, Rick... being a vigilante... becoming the law... I can’t tolerate that. No matter what I feel."
Ariel looked back up at him, the sorrow in her face almost hurting him to see. "You know I want to become a police officer. You know who my father is- the law MEANS something to me, it has my entire life. What you’re doing- I can’t be WITH you, and tolerate that. I’d be... such a hypocrite... don’t you understand?"
Ariel stepped closer to him, her eyes yearning to see something in his. "I want to be with you so much, Rick. But not with this between us. Not with you... being who and what you are."
Rick looked away, trying to center his vision on the horizon beyond the city. "Ariel... please... don’t do this. Don’t make me choose. I can’t choose between you..." his voice became a hoarse whisper. "...and what I am."
Ariel wrapped her arms around his left arm, hugging herself to him and resting her head on his shoulder, small sobs interrupting her speech. "Then I’m the one who has to make the choice."
Rick leaned his face towards hers, almost desperately breathing in her scent, always sweet to his senses. "I’ll never tell anyone your secret, Rick. I can do that much for you." She slid her arms free of his, stepping backwards away from him. "But you and I... we’re done."
Before Rick was aware of it, Ariel was already gone, walking down the street of the campus, furiously wiping the tears from her eyes. Rick’s vision blurred as he stood stiffly upon the bridge, feeling paralyzed.
I LOVE HER
I LOVE HER, AND I NEVER SAID IT
I MAY NEVER GET TO
Rick turned his attention back to the horizon, the icy winds almost burning into his teary eyes.
I COULDN’T LET HER GO... AND I CAN’T CHANGE WHO I AM
IT REALLY WASN’T MY CHOICE TO MAKE, WAS IT?