Steel City Cafe

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash quickly got up and yanked the guy off of Ari. His hand flew to his pocket but his fingers didn't brush any metal. Dammit, he snapped silently. Because he was running out of options and couldn't see anything, Crash felt around until his hand found Ari's, stood up, then ran to the storage closet he knew was in the back. Shoving Ari in first, he shuffled inside and closed the door, locking it while he tried to catch his breath. Gunshots could be heard from outside.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari cringed into the back of Crash's shirt, wincing every time there was a gunshot. "When do we know it's safe?" she asked, speaking as softly as possible.

[Crash Bandicoot]

"...When the shots stop", Crash mumbled, though he was unsure himself. Even if the shots did stop, that didn't necessarily mean that the psycho was gone. And the fact that the power went out in this stupid run-down piece of crap made things even better. With a sigh, Crash looked back at Ari. "Suppose you expect me to apologize, right?"

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari looked at him, confused. "For what? For saving my life? I certainly hope not..."

[Crash Bandicoot]

"For bringing us back here cuz I left my damn wallet on the table. Technically, this is my fault, so all I wanna know is whether or not you blame me." He looked at Ari, soon realizing the closet didn't have a lot of space and sat down, his legs bent upwards.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari kneeled down too, scooting back as to not knock Crash over. She put her hands over her head and curled into a ball. "No, I don't blame you," she said, smiling a little. "And technically, it's the guy's fault because he decided to bring a gun in here."

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash lifted his eyes to her, then sighed and looked away. "But I'm the one who left my fucking wallet on the table. I mean what the hell? Who does that? Maybe if I'd've realized I didn't have it on me just a little while later, this wouldn't have happened." He bit the inside of his cheek.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari sighed. "We can argue about whose fault this is later... we've gotta get out of here alive first."

[Crash Bandicoot]

For some reason, her words set him on edge. Why couldn't she just let him vent? He didn't see the problem, so the next thing he said to her was in a harsh tone and cut throat. "Fine. How do you propose we do that, huh? Some psycho asshole is out there waving a fucking gun!"

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari cringed, ducking back further into the closet. "I don't know..." she took a deep breath, trying not to cry. "What's on your mind?" she whispered, waiting for the worst.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash blinked, taken back by the question. He sighed a little and looked away, at one of the boxes propped against the wall. "You...and me...and Ace..." Anger was coursing through him to the point where he thought he was gonna burst. "And how everything is your fault." He mumbled that last part but not so low that she couldn't hear it.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari closed her eyes, dragging in a ragged breath. "Excuse me?" she asked, not hearing the last part but knowing that he said something.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash didn't say anything for a while. Should he really be blaming her? The answer came to him almost as quickly as he thought the question. "I said everything is all your damn fault." He still wouldn't look at her.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ouch. Ari bit her lip and sighed. The exact same thoughts had been running through her head since the break-up three days ago. Crash was right- it was her fault. The kiss, the break up... everything. Her own damn fault. But, like a masochist, she needed to hear someone else say it before it finally sunk in; almost like she enjoyed the pain. In her own twisted way, she needed both to hear it for herself and to let Crash vent all of his frustrations to her. She closed her eyes and spoke through her teeth. "Go on."

[Crash Bandicoot]

And it was like the words just tumbled out, like he'd been waiting to get everything off his chest for a while and never got the chance until just now. "If you saw that things with Ace weren't going well, maybe you should've just broken it off with the kid way before now when everything blew up in your vulnerable little face. And what about me, huh?" His voice grew angrier here, colder. "You kiss me back and tell me all the shit that came out of your mouth that day and then turn around and say that you and Ace weren't gonna break up?! What the hell is that?! Yeah, you guys broke up later on but what the fuck did you think you were talking about when you told me you felt the same way I did?!" He leaned against the door, making sure that Ari had no escape until she gave him an answer. He wanted to torture her. At least give her a taste of what he was feeling right now.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari sobbed at Crash's words, every syllable cutting into her like a knife. He was right- of course, he was right. Every word rang true- she should have broken it off with Ace sooner, she shouldn't have been a coward, and she certainly should not have treated Crash's feelings like they were something to be used then thrown away. She was turning into a monster- not the kind that hurt people physically, but emotionally.

What had happened to her? She couldn't even recognize herself. Ari used to count herself as cautious, analyzing every move before she made it and trying to make sure that no one got hurt in the process. Now... now she was completely different- putting herself first without acknowledging any of the consequences of her actions. Everything she had done- to both Ace and Crash- came flying through her mind, causing her to start sobbing hysterically. She put her fist in her mouth as to not alert the person outside to their wearabouts.

"Crash," she was able to mumble semi-coherently through her tears, "I- I am s-s-so so-so-sor-sorry. You're right... you're completely right. I should-shouldn't have d-done that to either you or A-Ace." Another sob came out when she said Ace's name for the first time. "I-I-I should have br-broken it of-off months ago and n-not toyed with your feelings. I-I'm so so-sorry..." She trailed off, holding her face in her hands.

(Oh gosh... I feel so bad for the both of them... now I see why Bella started bawling in Eclipse... craaap I just put my prized character in a Twilight situation!!! Ahhhhh!)

[Crash Bandicoot]

((I knoooooooow!! I did not like writing that, Court! Made me feel bad! Haha...yeah, it is like Twilight It's funny! Haha))

Ari was crying hysterically. It was surprising that the maniac hadn't found where they were by now, what with his screaming and Ari's uncontrollable sobbing. Maybe he robbed the place and left. Her cries were making him feel a little better though. Was that bad? He decided to worry about that later and listened to her try and get out her apology. His eyes narrowed more and more after every word she said, to the point where eventually, he looked like a snake. He knew he was right. He was completely right. At least she admitted it. Crash had half a mind to crawl over to Ari and try to comfort her but forced himself to hold back. Not yet. He wasn't finished.

He sighed, scratching the back of his head. "You're apologizing. At least you're sorry. I know you are. But guess what? I'm still completely screwed over because I have no idea what I'm doing anymore. So how about you give me an answer right now, huh? Clear something up for me. What do you think of me? How do you feel about me?" He reached over to her, grabbing her wrists in his hands and pulling them away from her face, making her look at him. His eyes bored into hers. "Don't you think you owe me that much?" he whispered.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari looked at him and nodded slowly. "I do. I do owe you that much. I just... I want to give you an answer, but I can't... which is really scary because I honestly don't know HOW I feel about you. You mean more to me than a friend, more than a best friend, and I do like you... but beyond that, I have no freaking idea. I'm sorry that I can't give you more than that," she said, gulping back her tears and calming down a little.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash was taken back by her answer. He'd planned on screaming at her until they were found out but that seemed to be failing miserably because...he didn't want to scream anymore. Swallowing the lump in his throat and abruptly dropping the subject, he cautiously stood up and turned towards the door, unlocking it so he could peek out. The place was a wreck. The psycho was gone..."Come on", Crash mumbled, her answer unsatisfying him as he stepped outside, carefully trying to manuver around the dark cafe. The only source of light coming in came from the outside. "We can finally get out of here."

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari sighed, thankful that he didn't press anymore. She couldn't deal with any more questions. She followed Crash out of the cafe, her head hung down and her sunglasses back on her face to hide her tears.

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash slowly made his way out, going towards the car. "Y'know what would make me feel better about this?" he asked, his voice harboring a twinge of hate.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari shrugged her shoulders. "A sandwich?" she suggested miserably.

[Crash Bandicoot]

He glared at a spot in front of him, her answer making him all the more pissed. "Why don't you say your sorry a hundred thousand times?" Crash wouldn't look at her but he was dead serious.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari closed her eyes, choosing not to respond. She knew that Crash was going to be like this for a while; she might as well let him vent at her rather than try to fix anything while he was in this mood.

[Crash Bandicoot]

When she didn't respond, he clenched his hands into tight fists and just unlocked his car doors, sliding into the driver's seat and buckling in quite violently. A vein jumped in his jaw as he spoke to her, keeping his eyes locked in front of him. "Go on. I'm waiting."

[Arianna Rivers]

"Crash," Ari started, sighing. "You know I could say it a million times and you still wouldn't accept it."

[Crash Bandicoot]

"How do you know? We never really know things until we try, right? So how about you just do it?" This time, he looked up at her.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari stared at the road in front of her. "Alright. Look, Crash, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I led you on. I'm sorry I dumped my love life on you. I'm sorry that I kissed you back. I'm sorry I didn't break up with Ace sooner. I'm sorry I didn't tell you how I'm feeling. I'm sorry that I can't tell you how I'm feeling. I'm sorry that I came to the cafe. I'm sorry that I'm in your car. And I am so fucking sorry that I was the one person on Earth who you were stuck in a closet with while a murderer killed everyone in sight. I am so sorry for everything and I know that you won't ever forgive me, but if I have to apologize every day for the rest of my life, I will."

[Crash Bandicoot]

Crash just looked ahead of him, shook his head, and pulled out of the lot, driving away from the cafe. "Great. Now you've only got about 99,990 more times to go." He sighed and stopped once he got to a red light. Maybe he was being stupid about this...Was he really gonna make Ari apologize until her lungs gave out? That's what he wanted...initially. "Ya sure you got enough air in your lungs?" He looked away from her and propped his elbow on the window so he could lean his chin on his hand.

[Arianna Rivers]

Ari smiled a little and just looked at him, shaking her head. "I went through years where I didn't talk to anyone. I'm sure I have some air stored up from then."