Scorpio

I watched helplessly as Cancer turned away from me, disappearing into the darkness, before my composure fell away and I dropped to my knees, tears steaming down my face, my arms touching the ground. I left him, I thought helplessly. I left him and he died and I didn't care as much as I should have.

As the sobs shook my body, I felt familiar hands wrap around my shoulders. "Scorpio, are you okay?" Libra asked, crouching down beside me. "What-"

"Get off me!" I yelled, pushing her away. As I stood, I realised Libra had fallen backwards and was now righting herself as well, still adamant to console me. "Scorpio, listen to me-"

"No, you listen to me, Libra. Falling for you has been the biggest mistake of my life. You made me reckless and you made me forget about Cancer and you're the reason I haven't noticed that my best friend was living with me this whole time! You're the reason I didn't mourn Cancer properly. The reason I didn't search every corner of this Earth for him on the off-chance that he'd survived his surgery." I took a deep breath, feeling the blood rush to my face.

"You ruined everything. You ruined my life!"

Libra blinked. "You... really think so?"

In that moment, the rush I was on collapsed. As I watched the girl I loved break down in front of me, it was clear to me that this time, I had gone too far. "If that's how you feel..."

She turned away, head ducked, tears freely falling, the sound of her sniffles deafeningly soft in my ears. She turned back momentarily, lips parted, almost as if she expected me to say something or to defend myself, but even I knew it was useless. Nothing I said or did would fix this. Ever. And if I was completely honest, something inside me knew that I'd screwed it all up to the point of no return.

And yet I had to try.

"Libra, wait-"

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm sorry I ruined your life, Scorpio. I never meant to-"

"No! You didn't ruin me. You didn't. I did that all by myself, and I need to take responsibility for it. I can't- I can't do this to you. Libra, you- you don't realise what you deserve. You deserve to be adored. To be cared for. To be protected, to be cherished, to be someone's one and only thought and desire. You shouldn't have to put up with my fits and the things I say when I'm angry and all the trouble I get myself into. You deserve the world, Libra, and you know I can't give it to you, so I guess I... I guess I'm going to leave. Thank you for everything.

"I'm sorry."

I turned toward my bike, pulling my helmet over my head, when I felt long fingers wrap around my wrist.

"You are my world, Scorpio, and you may think I deserve 'better' than you, but the truth is, Scorpio, it's not about that. I don't need protection and pampering. What I need is you. I need you because- because I love you.

"Your fits do hurt me, and sometimes it is hard to sort out your messes, but... you're self aware now, Scorpio. You understand what it means to hurt someone, and you know how to apologise. And honestly? That's good enough for me.

"So please, don't run away from this like you ran last time. Don't run away from us. Stay here, and fight."

I looked at Libra, tears in my eyes.

"Did you just say you love me?"

"I- yes. I did. I love you, Scorpio."

"Well, I love you too. And you didn't ruin my life, you made it better. You gave me something to live for. You were there for me at my lowest, and you celebrated with me at my highest points in life. You didn't abandon me. You were always right by my side, and I wasn't always by yours, and I'm sorry."

"It's okay Scorpio. You made my life better too just by being in it. Now let's go find our runaway boy, okay?"

I nodded, melting into Libra's warm embrace. "Can we just... can we stay like this for a bit?" I mumbled when Libra gently freed herself from my arms. "We have to find Ca-Will," she replied, hesitating. "We can't lose him."

"Not again." I finished, handing Libra the second helmet for my bike. "Let's go."

As we drove off into the night to search for Cancer, Libra's words turned over in my head.

Don't run away from us. Stay here, and fight.

After spending my whole life running, I was ready to finally stop and take a good look at all the problems around me.

I was ready to hold my ground against them.

And I was ready to fight for Libra, for my freedom, for my best friend.

I was ready to fight for Cancer.