Snippet #2462162

Memory turned to Ryan when he stopped, a confused smile on her face. His smile and touch was welcomed happily. But when he embraced her she could feel something was wrong. Despite her feeling, the smile continued. When he stepped back and began to speak however, that same smile that she had worked so hard to recover began to fade slowly from her face. The first tear brought a small sense of panic to her. She moved forwards slightly, wanting to comfort him, hold him, but the look on his face made her take a step back instead. His next words cut like a knife to her heart.

"I was scared, you know? I didn't want to get in the way, I didn't want to be a hindrance, and I didn't want to make anyone upset. I don't have to worry about that anymore. I'm not a real option to you. I get it. I'm like... a pleasant distraction, something to keep you busy. You didn't have to beat around the bush with me. You didn't need to play the flirting game, you didn't need to pretend anything to get close to me. I'm sixteen, not stupid. If this is just a game, then you win, let's not play anymore. I liked you, I really did, I still do."

Memory opened her mouth to protest but couldn't get a word out. She took a moment to pause and regain her composure from Ryan's sudden outburst. Taking a deep breath, she tried again.
"R-Ryan, it's... it's not like tha-" Before the sentence could be finished her hand was pulled up and pressed to his forehead. She was a telepath, when concerning memories, but she couldn't bring herself to send her mind into his. However, after he once again accused her of playing him, she took a shaky, but determined, breath and let her mind slip from herself and drift into his own.

When she opened her eyes she was standing in his corridors, staring at the doors as they flew past, the entire mental world moving and twisting to get her to the room required. She saw and felt everything from his memory in the hall. But before she could do anything else, the floor was once again like a conveyor belt pulling her along to where she needed to go. Whenever it stopped the doors before her burst open revealing everything to her. One minute Ryan was watching her as she walked by, the same feelings he had been feeling now felt by the projection of Memory in his mind, the next minute he was lying in his bed trying to find any way to make her notice him. Ways to impress her. Ways to show her that he was more than just a kid. A crippling sadness washed over her mind. For what felt like hours she couldn't move.

The display of memories went past simple doors and corridors. Images flashed before her eyes when she finally opened them in the real world. Emotions penetrated her mind. The onslaught as every memory he recalled ripped through her brain like a bullet nearly made her cry out in pain. The agony of it tearing through her brain was almost too much. She had felt similar with her ability to see and feel the echoes of memories imprinted on objects. But this was a fusion of her two abilities, picking up his memories with the intensity and ferociousness of the other aspect of her powers.

When he finally let go of her hand, she stumbled back slightly, her knees ready to buckle. The words he spoke didn't even register in her mind. She let her body regain its balance and ability to remain upright before turning her eyes on the now sobbing Ryan. Her breathing was still a little heavy out of both anger and pain. Before she could stop herself a surge of emotion pushed her forward. She pulled his hands away from his face quickly, but gently, then slapped him hard. A pained frown settled on her face as her eyes began to tear up. She watched him like this for a moment, unable to think of anything to say that would sum up what she felt. And so, in a moment of clarity, she pressed her palms against his temples and sent her mind forwards. But, instead of going for his memories, she gripped his mind and dragged him into her own.

She let her projection fade from his mind's view and began to show him memory after memory of all the times she had thought of him, and watched him and tried her hardest to let him in to her life and heart. The floor was a conveyor belt again as it dragged him around her memories. She bombarded him with just as many thoughts, feelings and sounds as he had given her, though without the pain. That was something only she could feel from them overwhelming her thanks to her abilities. He could experience them in her mind, but he'd never get the same kind of effect that another's memories has on her.

Every second her mind was screaming at her, pleading with her, commanding her to stop, to expel him from her mind and locked up the doors within but she resisted. Memory let everything concerning her feelings for Ryan crash into him like a tsunami. Al the questions she had asked herself about how she truly felt, and that realisation that she may just be starting to learn to let people in and love them again all thanks to him. She countered every word about her "playing him" before finally letting him go, severing the connection between their minds. Back in the real world, Memory opened her eyes to Ryan. She wiped away the few tears that had slid down her cheeks and inhaled deeply before speaking.

"This was never a game, Ryan. Not once." Her words were sincere and gentle, but had a sharp edge to them. The held a threat. She dared him to try and claim she had been messing with him this whole time. She hoped he would so she could hit him again. "You weren't being stupid in the hall, but you are now for thinking that you were just some toy for me." The frown on her face continued for a few seconds before fading away to a sad smile. Now he knew how she really felt about him and she waited for him to speak.