Someone Like You (Rhyma)

Karma sat in the clock tower, her eyes sad as she looked up at the stars. She'd avoided all of them since she got back from break. She was alone. Again

Kama wasn't allowing her to recess anymore, and that chat she'd had with Ethon by the lake had really helped her.

She wasn't going to face them. Not yet.

She could just sit here and watch the stars.

"God, you look pathetic,"

Rhys leaned against the door frame, arms crossed against his chest. There was spitefulness in his voice, but it never really transferred to his face. He repressed to much for that to happen.

"What? Are you too tired from stealing my best friend?" he took a step forward calmly, "Whoring yourself out usually takes a lot of energy, you know,"

Karma winced at the sound of his voice, but her eyes didn't leave the sky. "I didn't steal your best friend." She said. "He's still there." She didn't say anything else, just looked upward, her eyes tracing the familiar constellations.

Stars were made of fire too.

She dropped her gaze as if the stars had burned from miles, wrapping her arms around herself. "Why are you here, Rhys? Came to gloat?" she asked, her voice tired. "Go on. Get it over with."

Rhys placed a hand on her shoulder, trying ever so hard to contain himself. He didn't want to hurt her, he really didn't. That would make the terrors come back.

"You stole him. He's not mine anymore. He's yours and I can never have him back," he sighed, "He was the only person you couldn't have, Karma! Why the hell did you have to take my only friend!?"

He took a deep breath, repressing everything again. Squeezing her shoulder softly, he whispered, "If yo're talking about Aria, I'm not gloating. She's not some prize. She's a person- the best damn person in my life,"

Karma laughed, harshly, and placed her hand over his. "Did you ever think it wasn't about you?" She asked softly. "Maybe it was about me?" She sighed. "I don't know Rhys. He can be yours again. You can have him, if it would make you happy." She smiled at him over her shoulder. "Might as well make everyone else happy, since I'm miserable."

She turned and faced him, looking up into his eyes. She'd missed being this close to someone. Without thinking about it, she wrappe her arms around his waist and hugged him, the action innocent. "I won't take anyone else from you, then." She resigned, burying her face in his chest. "Ignore me right now. I don't.... feel like me. I'll go back to hating you in a moment. Promise."

Rhys, in an act that seemed unwilling, wrapped him arms around her. "You're hurting him," He whispered, "He was so upset and..." He struggled for the word, "Childish. I'm asking for him,"

He patted her back, humming softly under his breath a song that danced around in his childhood. "I don't have anyone else for you to take. Ty and Aria are the only things I have," he placed his chin on her forehead, like a parent to a child.

"Take as long as you need,"

Karma shook her head slowly. "I'm not hurting him. I'm protecting him." Kama came to the front, briefly, to explain. "When you belong to a Vampire, no other magical creature will mess with you, for fear that the Vampire will kill them." She started drawing swirls on his back with her fingers, a reflex from the times when she could still hold him. When she was still allowed to.

"Basing your sanity and happiness on one or two people is not smart." she observed, her voice breaking halfway through. "I know."

"So I was right." She said softly, her voice sad. "I was only an addiction." She sighed. "I still am. That's all I ever am to anyone. An addiction they hate to have and love to get rid of. I might as well be a drug." She thumbed the silver ring on her index finger, trying not to think about it.

Rhys started to sway, trying to come up with a response. His brow wrinkled in thought as he tighten his grip.

"Why am I always the bad guy here? You were the one thta hurt me," he stated matter-of-factly, "I moved on. You moved on. How is that a crime?

"You are a drug. Realize that. People will use you and love to hate you," he whispered, "Deal with it. At least people want you around,"

Karma laughed, harshly, swaying with him. "How did you get you being the bad guy out of that one? I'm the bad guy. I'm the drug. You're better now, without me."

She smiled a self mocking smile. "People want me around? Since when? The only two people I thought who really did, ran off and..." She stopped talking suddenly, her eyes widening. "But you don't know that. I'm not... no. I'm not..." She shook her head and pushed him away from her, turning her back on him and wrapping her arms around herself. "Go away, Rhysie, before I hurt you again."

"You're so melodramatic, Karma" Rhys snapped, a bit annoyed. "I'm not comforting or a good friend, but I know enough to know that if you disappeared, you'd be missed. Now, I'm not leaving until you tell me what this about,"

He grabbed her again, harshly this time. "What is it, then?"

Karma growled low in the back of her throat. Her eyes going to where his hand was wrapped around her arm. "You should let go." She warned. "I just promised you I wouldn't take anyone else away from you. What do you want from me?" She glared up at him, her eyes glancing around for a means of escape. "Leave me alone."

Rhys stood, un-moving and silent. He took her other arm, holding her in place in case she should run.

"Just tell me, Karma. I don't exist, remember? I don't matter,"

Karma looked up at him, her eyes calculating. "That isn't fair." She stated, dropping her gaze.

"It was probably nothing." she lied. "But... I saw..." She shivered, resisting the urge to either recess or burst into tears. She didn't cry. Not anymore.

She curled her fingers into fists and ran her thumb along the ring Ethon had given her, for strength, calm, and other bullshit.

"I saw them... kissing... okay?" She whimpered. "Aria and Arsen." She pushed at him halfheartedly, trying to get him away from her. "You happy now? Now that I told you?" She demanded sadly.

Rhys let her go, giving a soft shrug. He gestured to the door, appearing to be unaffected by what she said. Of course he was. He was never affected, really.

"Yes, I am," he stated, "If Aria's happy, so am I. That's what true devotion is, you know. "

Karma scoffed. "What would I know about Devotion?" She asked, brushing past him. She paused in the doorway to the clocktower, not turning around, but addressing him.

"When you're done pretending not to feel anything, you can come and talk about it, if you need to...." she let the offer hang in the air, her voice small. "I owe you one."

With that she disappeared down into the clock tower, deciding to go to bed.

Rhys watched her leave. He should have stopped her, he knew. He should have held her back and kept her from the self endangering act she was probably going to commit.

But he didn't. Instead, he leaned against the wall with a ghost of a frown.

"Yes, Karma," he whispered, "What do you know about devotion?"