Chapter 6:

Chapter 4: Hopeless Optimism (Part 2)

Heart </3 Breaker


Cromwell sat there on the line with rage he couldn’t express. He looked over at one of the Heart Breaker guards dressed up in a tuxedo that he has on constant watch. He gave him a notion to go meet Ben at the door. The guard left having sat in on Gail and Cromwell’s communication the whole time.

“Execute order: 183” Cromwell said, Gail not understanding what that meant, and Ben and Sarah had finally arrived to the castle. Ben got out of the car as Sarah started doing the same.

“You stay in the car. Just in case we have to leave fast.” Ben said.

“What does that mean?” Sarah said confused.

“It means it’s dangerous.” Ben said as he left her.

“Sir what is going on?” Gail said.

“Thank you for bringing this to my attention Gail. Though I am not sure why you refrained from telling me this. You don’t need to be dealt with too do?” Cromwell said as he walked to the mansions ballroom.

“Uh no sir.” Gail said worried and as Ben opened the door to the mansion, greeted by the Heart Breaker in a Tux that Cromwell had sent.

“Good.” Cromwell said before cutting communication with him.

“Oh no! I have to warn Ben!” Gail said as he focused on trying to gain communications with Ben but he felt his communications being blocked. “What the hell?! Is he in the mansion? Should that even make a difference?” Gail then said as he tried to talk to Cromwell again.

“Blocked! Oh shit! But I was just talking to him!” Gail said as he frantically tried again.

“It may be no use.” Tina said from behind Gail. “If Cromwell doesn’t want to be disturbed he can cut communications from in or out of the mansion.”

“No shit!?”

“Precisely. If Ben is in there, he is in there alone and unaware.”

Ben stepped inside as he grabbed his head for a moment. He felt a very brief and passing sharp pain in his head. It felt familiar to him. As if he were being contacted. He looked back at the door as the Heart Breaker in the tuxedo waited patiently. He reluctantly ignored it, and turned around to meet the Heart Breaker.

“Ben/Brea?” said the Heart Breaker in the tux.

“Ben is fine.” Ben said back.

“Yes, Ben. Quite good. Cromwell would like to speak to you in the ballroom.”

“That giant ass room. Why?” Ben uneasily asked.

“He wants to discuss terms with you.”

“Uh, okay.” Ben said.

The tuxedo wearing Heart Breaker pointed in the direction of the ballroom. He started walking with the expectation that Ben would follow him. And when Ben didn’t the other Heart Breaker snapped his fingers and grunted. Ben then aversely followed. As they walked slowly through the halls of Cromwell’s mansion the whole place seemed different. The red carpet, and drapes loomed. The primo décor and glorious paintings looked as if they were watching Ben, and the vibe of the whole mansion seemed oh so sinister.

As they neared their destination, Ben felt himself walking even slower than before. He felt this odd sensation of confusion taking over him. He didn’t know what to expect when he got to the ballroom. He doesn’t even know how they were expecting him. But the mood seemed civil enough so he trudged along. It wasn’t long before he and the tuxedo adorning Heart Breaker made acquaintance with a tall wooden door with detailed swivels that arced in a way that made them look like dangerous squid tentacle, pulling Ben inside.

“Cromwell waits for you behind this door.”

“Alright…” Ben said as he reached for the handle. He found it strange that he couldn’t feel a single presence until he opened the door.

And there Cromwell stood in the middle of the ballroom. Ben stood looking at him with a hint of skepticism. He was casually invited in by Cromwell’s hand as he took his first steps into the room. Quickly the doors behind Ben were shut violently by two more Heart Breakers in tuxedos. That action startled Ben but the rest of the mood still felt peaceful. So with a beat of sweat Ben turned back to face Cromwell as he walked slowly towards Cromwell.

“How good of you to join us, I was informed by Gail that you wanted to talk to me about something important.” Ben then stopped in his tracks.

“What!? Gail told you! What’d he say?”

“He said enough. Why don’t you come over here and talk with me for a while. We can discuss this civilly and like adults.” Cromwell said as Ben glanced back at the two Heart Breakers guarding the door. “Don’t tell me you are thinking about leaving? We haven’t even discussed your situation yet!”

Ben slowly started walking towards Cromwell as a gentle and inviting smile spread across Cromwell’s face. It was a warm smile, much like the ones he sometimes carries, almost as if he isn’t a Heart Breaker. Then Ben ponders that Cromwell may not be a Heart Breaker. No, he knows he isn’t. Unless in some weird way Cromwell was doing the exact same thing. Putting up the façade that Heart Breakers do with their prey.

“Am I his… prey?” Ben thought as he kept walking.

“So about this vixen of yours.” Ben once again stopped walking. “You want to protect her right? Don’t be afraid, come over here.” Cromwell said as Ben walked the rest of the way. “Good, good. See there isn’t anything to fear?”

“It seems so…”

“Now I know you’re confused, about all of this. When you came to me the last year I worried for you. So I had Gail keep an eye on you, and Timmy keep an eye on him. Both of them had moderately good things to say about your condition.”

“Where are you going with this sir?”

“Where I am going with this is I still think you are redeemable.”

“Redeemable?”

“Yes redeemable, I want you to do your duty as a Heart Breaker. You are a valuable cog in this machine and are rather exhausting to replace so, I am giving you a second chance.”

“A second chance? That isn’t why I am here sir!”

“I know… you are here because you think I am going to let you parade around with a girl who is bearing a Heart Swallow as we speak, and protect her until the Heart Fiend hatches. And you thought I would be okay with that?” Cromwell laughed. “So what will it be? She’s already in love with you I bet. It would be real easy to kill that Heart Swallow now, and for you continue with your duties as a Heart Breaker.”

Ben looked down into the sparkly, shiny and reflective checkered floor of the ballroom. He saw his reflection and as he first glanced at it he could have sworn he saw Michael instead of himself. Now looking at his white haired self he was confronted with that question again. The simple question of “Who am I?” and “What am I?” It wasn’t a question he knew the answer now. But it reminded him of another question. Why he was protecting Sarah.

“I am sorry sir. I can’t do that. It wouldn’t be her heart that gets broken if I finish her off. It would be mine.” Ben said as he stared Cromwell down confidently.

“That is unfortunate. Oh well, it isn’t like you can’t be replaced.” Cromwell said as he grabbed Ben by the throat.

Ben was shocked by the tremendous strength that was wrapping around his neck. Cromwell was only using his left land as Ben struggled trying to pull the ridiculously powerful grip off his neck. Cromwell holds him up as Ben starts kicking Cromwell’s face. Aggravated Cromwell pulls his right hand back and thrusts it forward into Ben’s gut, letting go with his left as he did that.

As Ben flew through the air so didn’t a lot of the spit from his mouth. As he sat up he felt the spot around his neck that Cromwell had in his steel grip. He felt saliva falling out of his mouth as he choked. He looked up as Cromwell was already up in his face. Ben bolted to the left but was soon struck in the face by Cromwell’s arm, sending him straight into a marble column. The column cracked as ben’s back hit it, causing for a bit of blood to be coughed up by Ben.

“What a stupid boy! You can’t just go around playing human! There are certain guidelines that must be followed, and now I have to destroy you!” Cromwell said as Ben choked.

“He is way too fast! I need more speed!” Ben thought.

Ben jumped up as Cromwell pounced after him. Ben thought back to his fight with Kyle/Kayla. He quickly switched over to Brea to gain that speed boost and it aided in her evading Cromwell’s last attack as Cromwell plunged forward missing. Brea ran even faster as she did a double take at the door to see it was still guarded by two Heart Breakers. In the couple seconds that Brea took to observe the door she found herself smacking head first into Cromwell’s chest who was now towering over her.

“That is impossible! You were just behind me!” Brea yelled.

“Fool! Die!” Cromwell screamed as he got into a battle stance.

Cromwell put forth his both sporting fancy white gloves. Blue flames emerged from both. Brea looked at the flames confused. She wondered what Cromwell planned to do with them. She jumped back on her feet. She anticipated that Cromwell would likely use the flames to blind her as she charged forward. Cromwell burst the flames forth giving no indication that he was going to run after Brea.

“I’ll be fine! Blue Heart Breaker flames can’t hurt other Heart Breakers, so I’ll keep my cool and strike first!” Brea thought as the flames collided with her.

“Hot!” Brea screamed as the flames pushed her back.

The flames were pushing her up into the air, and at the same time was burning her real bad. Brea felt the flames encumber around her as she shot flames back, resulting in a beam struggle. Suddenly the flow stopped and Brea found herself stuck in mid-flight. Cromwell ran in fast and as he did he was shooting several blue embers at Brea. The embers exploded upon contact, Brea being burned by these tiny pockets of explosions.

Brea fell chest first onto the ground. She felt a sharp chain in her chest as she starts coughing out copious amounts of blood. Brea with no control over the change switched back to Ben. Ben lay on the ground with a steady stream of blood around his mouth, and flowing down his cheek. He looked up to see the menacing figure of Cromwell.

“Just know that you did this to yourself Ben. You can’t allow a creature like the Heart Fiends to be born into this earth for even a minute. Their existence equals guaranteed collateral damage, and you shouldn’t being helping one get created.” Cromwell told Ben as Ben tried getting up but failed.

“You know? I haven’t had the opportunity to fight a Heart Breaker in such a long time. I wonder if it is still satisfying to beat one of you silly and or until you are crippled? Let me see!”

Cromwell once again grabbed the already choking Ben by the neck again. Prompting to carry him over to the nearest wall as Ben’s tired feet were dragged across the nice checkered floor. Ben could see clearly see he was getting carried off by Cromwell but hadn’t the strength to do anything about it. Cromwell lifted Ben up into the air and then slammed him with full force into the wall! Allowing for Ben to be stuck in it.

Cromwell then start pulverizing Ben with his fists. Ben was hit in every possible location in only about thirty seconds. He felt blood stream out of his eyes, mouth, nose, and even his very pores. Helpless to the barrage of incoming punches and kicks. Whilst laughing Cromwell grabbed Ben by the hair and pulled him away from the wall.

Cromwell spun ben back out onto the floor as Ben deliriously stumbled and fought just to stand up. He felt his knees weaken and they were shaking as he fought to stay standing. Cromwell walked slowly towards him with a smile as he cracked his knuckles. Ben stood watching with heavy breathing as he tried to formulate a stratagem.

Then in a small yet speedy burst Cromwell was right up on Ben. In the only amount of time Ben had to react with he was only able to stumble backwards a few steps before he was feeling the wrath of Cromwell. He was getting left hooked then right hooked. Left crossed then right crossed. Then elbowed in the stomach as he vomited saliva and blood. Cromwell then grabbed Ben by the hair, and kneed him in the face, cause for more blood to pour out of Ben’s nose as some of it fell to the floor, gleaming on the checkered floor.

Ben coughed while on his knees. He looked up very slowly and in much pain. He looked up at Cromwell who was like the devil. Ben looked back down at his reflection in the checkered floor. Upon seeing his reflection, he saw the same in himself. He saw a devil. The only difference was why. Cromwell simply enjoyed beating his victim to a bloody mess. Ben on the other hand was jeopardizing human lives to save a girl over a simple promise.

Ben in that moment figured it may be best to just give up. But soon his perspective would change, because a promise was a promise. The sun was gleamed in through the windows high up in the ballroom. The windows resided above the columned pillars, and were too high to reach even for a Heart Breaker without the proper momentum. But even so the sunlit rays were most definitely rays of hope. Escape meant what the universe beyond the sun meant, absolute freedom.

Ben knew that to gain the momentum he needed to jump out of this place he wouldn’t only need to run, but also need to fight. He started struggling to stand. His arms and knees were shaking and screaming at the very idea of standing up. But that was the hardest part. Ben knew that standing up would be the hardest part. Then he would be able to fight his way out of there. He gritted his teeth trying to stand as Cromwell laughs.

“Come on Ben! Do you think in your current state that you can still fight?! I can’t believe it! I guess you are incapable of redemption after all. Die!” Cromwell said as he threw a powerful punch Ben’s way.

Ben garnished all the last second momentum he needed to stand, and just as he gained that momentum he gained the will to fight! And as he gained the will to fight he threw forward the palm of his hand, catching Cromwell’s fist like a baseball. Baffled, Cromwell threw another punch, only for the same scenario to play out. With both hands tucked and gripped into Ben’s palms Ben pulled his head back. Bursting forward to smack Cromwell in the forehead.

In Cromwell’s brief moment of disorientation Ben found himself running around the ballroom. He knew even if pushed and jumped off from one of the columns he would garnish the speed and height to bust out of the mansion and through the window. But Ben had a good feeling and a very good plan for escape.

As he ran he could feel Cromwell very quickly gaining on him. Ben soared forward as he felt his feet hit the marble column. Much like how Tina was pushing off from the trees in the battle with the Heart Swallow II, Ben did the same. He flew passed Cromwell who had just caught up to him and left him back at the column. He could see the angle in which he needed to go in order to blast through the window.

It was like a brilliant general that Ben was able to guess his opponents next move. Ben maneuvered in mid-air to face Cromwell directly. Angrily (yet as expected) Cromwell began blasting blue flames at Ben. Ben blast blue flames back but just enough to keep Cromwell’s from burning him. He then let the flow and force of Cromwell’s blue flames to push him back as he gained the momentum to bust through the window, and Ben was home free!

Ben felt his feet blasting off shingles as he slid. Ben then quickly rallied his thoughts as he stood out in the sunlight. He felt the warm glow and with it freedom. Cromwell angrily ordered Heart Breakers via telecommunication to go after Sarah in the car who Cromwell could sense due to the Heart Swallow. Cromwell then ran after her himself. Ben anticipated as much as he switched to a she in the form of Brea.

“I have to get to her fast! Sarah!” Brea yelled as she ran.

Brea blasted right off that roof, destroying a few more shingles along the way. Sarah was sitting comfortably in the car. She fought to find a radio station that wasn’t all frizzy and full of annoying static. As she searched she would adjust the volume since some were an ear sore. She got real frustrated, smacking the radio when out of the corner of her eye she could see a man in tuxedo running unusually fast toward her.

“Ben!” She screamed looking around frantically.

Soon the man in the tux tried opening the door, and after a few rough clicks of the car door he ripped the button off. He then decided to rip the door right off as Sarah screamed her lungs off. As the man reached in after her Brea screamed “Sarah!!!” in an angry high pitched voice. The Heart Breaker pulled his head out of the car door to catch a glimpse of Brea. Instead he caught a fist right after he saw a blue flame flicker and Ben punched him right in the face. Ben was to this Heart Breaker that Cromwell was to Ben. The tuxedo wearing Heart Breaker flew into the face of tree, chipping all the brown bark away.

“Are you okay!?” Ben as he quickly scoped the area with quick glances.

“Yeah I am” Sarah said scared. “are you?” she said pointing out his severe injuries.

“I am fine!” Ben shouted as he jumped in the front with no door and slammed the pedal.

“What’s going on!?” Sarah asked.

“NO TIME!!!” Ben yelled ferociously.

Ben slammed the pedal the hardest he has ever, thinking that it will make a difference. He doesn’t have a side mirror of but he does have a rear view. It was a bit cracked up but that didn’t stop him from seeing a distorted Cromwell being reflected. Enraged Ben throws his hand up, creating a fist that shook and twitched violently. Sarah was scared at first but she quickly grew terrified when she took noticed Cromwell, and two suited goons running faster than the car toppled with the fact that a massive blue fireball burst forth upon Ben’s fingertips.

“What’s going on!?” Sarah asked but her question was ignored.

“Take the wheel!”

“But”

“Don’t argue!”

Sarah did just that and took the wheel. The car shook a bit as Sarah took over but Ben didn’t waver. Still keeping his foot on the pedal he then managed to pull his entire upper body out of the side of the car. Chest and hands facing Cromwell and his men who could barely keep up at that point as Ben pointed the blaze in their direction. Ben screamed a bloody war cry as the blood from earlier was still present on his face and arms along with his tattered shirt and pants.

Ben still screaming unleashed the daunting blue inferno upon his enemies. It was the biggest burst he had ever created and he felt it may be his limit. Knowing it wouldn’t physically injure them, Cromwell and his crew ignored the blast despite it being like a big blue wave falling on them as if it were a wave falling back into the deep blue ocean. Though it slowed them down from confusion alone, it wasn’t sufficient in redirecting them.

After the clearing of the blue blaze, Cromwell was still just a few steps behind Ben. Ben knew he just needed to keep a few steps ahead. He looked over at Sarah who while gasping rapidly almost seemed as though she were in shock. He felt her pulse and vitals seemed normal. He noticed in the corner of his eyes his bowling bag. He had a bowling bag amongst various other sports and miscellaneous activity-based equipment in the trunk just in case his “prey” was ever into any of those activities. He remembered a large bucket of golf balls as well as others.

“What are you doing with those!?” Sarah asked as Ben grabbed for the bag with two bowling balls, and bringing them up to the front.

“Alleviating the load!”

Ben grabbed one of the two balls. He glanced back at the road to make sure there weren’t any sudden turns before redirecting his attention to Cromwell. He wasn’t really worried about traffic because behind him there wasn’t any notable locations apart from Cromwell’s Victorian styled mansion. He put his fingers into the holes of the bowling ball, and as he swung his arm back he really flung it forward with all his might.

The bowling barreled through Ben’s backseat and trunk. The ball flew right for Cromwell and with a quick tilt of the head the ball narrowly missed, only to hit one of the other Heart Breakers that followed behind Cromwell. Almost right after the first, Ben flings the second bowling ball through the other half of the trunk, and all the other equipment goes spilling out.

This time both Cromwell, and his goon dodged the spiraling, and spinning bowling ball not being reduced to pins on a lane like the guy before. Though the second goon wiped out after slipping from the bombardment of golf balls that came rolling towards them. And despite the golf ball dilemma not stopping Cromwell, luckily they slowed him down forcing him to dash and dodge as he ran.

And luckily it was a drastic change in speed on Cromwell’s part with no sign of the other Heart Breakers, and all the weight Ben lost in the car also helps. This gave Ben another minute to think. He sat there oblivious to his next move. Oblivious until he recognized the road. He knew there was a railing with a massive drop off coming up.

“I’ve got it!” Ben yelled as he straightened out his driving. “I am going over the edge!”

“Metaphorically right!?” Sarah asked shaking in fear.

“Not exactly! Unbuckle, and huddle next to me!” Ben ordered, and without questions Sarah did just that, and huddling right next to him, holding his arm at the same time. Ben used his foot to jam the gas pedal so it kept driving at top speed, and Ben made sure he angled the car perfectly as he then jammed the wheel. He made ripped out the passenger side seatbelt as he came up to the edge of the road, and the aforementioned railing.

Ben scooted his chair back as well as scooted himself forward to make room for Sarah. Sarah scooted behind Ben and got on him piggyback style. Ben then used the seatbelt he ripped out to tie Sarah to him for extra support. At that time the car was right on track with the railing. The drop was incredibly steep, and the trees were too far away to jump to from the road so if this worked then Ben and Sarah would be back in business.

Ben looked back and saw Cromwell was almost touching distance from the car. It shocked Ben because it was surprisingly fast, and Cromwell was there quicker than expected. Right as the car was about to burst through the railing, Sarah braced herself for the impact as Cromwell grabbed the cars bumper. Thanks to damage the bumper had sustained from the bowling ball trick it was ripped right off as Cromwell lost his momentum and stopped in place.

The car flew of the cliff, flying forward, far, and fast. It may have been arching downwards but Ben had the whole thing planned out. He saw the nearest tree branch that looked as though it could support two people, or a human and a Heart Breaker. He kicked off from the car (thankfully the door was already missing) as the car flew in the opposite direction as them due to the kick. They flew through the air and suddenly all Sarah’s fear fled her body. She was given this wonderful freeing sensation from flying through the air that calmed her incredibly tense nerves.

“So this is what it’s like? To be a super hero!” Sarah thought to herself, blushing as she hugged Ben’s warm back in the wild wind tightly, getting a speckle of Ben’s blood on her arm.

Though the momentary flight only lasted a few seconds it felt like it was all in slow motion. And after an eternity of flight, Sarah and Ben finally hit touchdown on the sturdiest tree branch Ben could find. Then like a squirrel escaping a hawk Ben dashed through the trees. Luckily the hawk chasing Ben and Sarah couldn’t fly.

“Damn it!!” Cromwell yelled, glaring out past the abundance of trees and wildlife.

“Want us to run down there sir!?” one of the two Heart Breakers who had caught back up with Cromwell asked. And after a few seconds of stillness Cromwell shook his head.

“Don’t bother. They’re gone now.”

“What is our next order sir?”

“You put every Heart Breaker in the country. No! The continent on alert for Ben/Brea the white haired Heart Breaker! And sick the Ningyo Corps on them!” Cromwell ordered.

“Yes sir!”

Back in the woods, Ben continued to jump in the westward direction. Thanks to the seatbelt that fastened Sarah to Ben, Sarah was able to hold on with no effort whatsoever. She was amazed as Ben dashed from tree to tree carrying her. She felt a wet sensation that were little beads of liquid rolling onto her arm but she thought nothing of it, must be sweat she thought. She just focused on the fresh scent of eastern shore pine trees, an unusual spot for pine trees indeed.

“This is amazing!” Sarah said with a childlike wonder as Ben stayed silent.

“You are being awfully quiet. Are you okay?” She asked worriedly.

“I-I… am fine.” Ben said a bit choked up.

“Wouldn’t it be faster to do this as Brea, and not Ben?” Sarah suggested.

“N-no, not exactly” Ben coughs “I ne-need m-more leg-leg strength for the-these jumps.”

“Oh my god, are you sure you are okay!?” Sarah said as she saw his pure white hair stained with red.

The blood was blowing back into his hair from the force of the wind and Sarah gasped upon noticing just how hurt Ben was. She realized the liquid sticking to her arm that had the texture of syrup was blood. It was from that gasp she made that Ben was spooked as he cracked, and broke one of the branches he landed on. Due to that he smacked the left side of his face into the base of the tree with much force.

They started falling rapidly and flipping forward from the tall tree. Ben yelled “brace yourself!” as Sarah did. They were slowed by branches they flew into as Ben made sure to take the full force of every blow. He even tried grabbing onto one of those branches and though it reduced descent they didn’t stop due the branch snapping as if it were a twig and not a branch. It was then Ben and Sarah hit the ground as Ben took the full frontal fall. And the rest of the damage as Ben used his arm to flip forward as it was Sarah’s turn to take damage.

But Ben didn’t allow that. His arm snapped out of place upon contact with the ground. And as he tried standing his leg twisted and it broke all momentum as well as his leg, landing on his side, scrapping his arm. And as they had been falling, Sarah shrieked with every cracking noise Ben’s bones made. As they lay peacefully and Ben almost unconscious Sarah began to cry, and it was even louder than her drunken first night at Ben’s place.

“Why!?!? Why did you do all this for me!?!?” Sarah screamed with massive tears.

“Why was I worth it?! Look at yourself! You’re a mess!” Sarah said as she got out of the makeshift seatbelt harness and held Ben in her arms.

“Because…” a bloody and battered Ben musters.

“Because why?!”

“Because… y-you” Ben barely has the strength to say.

“Because why!? A promise!? Forget the stupid promise! I have a monster brewing inside me as you lay there dying for me! What kind of ending is that!? Just do away with me!” Sarah said as she held Ben, Ben repeating “Because you…” as he lay in her arms like a bloody, and broken puppy. “You have no reason to keep doing this! I would be better off if you killed me and got your old life back!”

“BECAUSE YOU ARE MY FRIEND!!!” Ben said as he pushed up, his bones making disheartening cracking noises as he forced himself upright, and then grabbed one of her shoulders.

“I don’t have anything if you die! NOTHING!!! This is more than a promise! A protector is who I am! You are my very identity!” Ben yells now standing, defying all odds.

Ben then gritted his teeth and grabbed his distorted, out of place arm. He pulled at it like trying to force a puzzle piece until it snapped very painfully back into place. Ben gave off a roar of pain as Sarah whispered “But why?!” as Ben the grabbed at his twisted leg he was standing on. He gritted his teeth once again. And with a swift rip he pulled that back into place too with another painful scream as a result.

“I’ll tell you why! I don’t know who I really am! Hell, I’m not even sure WHAT I really am! You give me a purpose! I couldn’t live without you!” Ben screamed.

“Look beyond that hill! Without you I wouldn’t have the strength climb it! I know over it there may be some new pasture waiting for me!” Ben yelled forcing himself to calm to down in the presence of Sarah whom was still shedding tears.

“But I cannot get there alone.” Ben said calmly as he pointed towards a steep hill.

“Then I’ll go with you!” Sarah said crying and wiping her tears away.

Ben smiled and said “Let’s go together then.” As Sarah smiled back.

“It’s a date!” Sarah then still snorted and snuffed from crying.

Ben extended his hand outward towards Sarah for her to take it. As she did they started walking as Ben felt a sharp pain and fell to one knee. He coughed as Sarah freaked out and caught him. She put his arm around her shoulder as they both smiled at each other. Ben looked into Sarah’s red, blushing face brimming with tear tracks as Sarah looked into his bloody, swollen face as Ben could barely keep his eyes open. They started limping to that hill they aspired for together. It wasn’t long before they reached the literal hill but it would be a while before they made it to the real hill they wanted to reach. The one just before the sunset off in the distance.