I had all, most, some and now none of you

He could feel himself slowly catch his breath, his lungs no longer ragged as he breathed in. His nose was still to the ground as he awaited Shaye’s response patiently. He grit his teeth harder, but felt his ears press against his head as she began. There was no easy answer to this but Shaye tried.

“You become who you want to be.”

Rhyme shifted slightly as he turned to her, her words bringing forth new thoughts and hope. Having Rhythm refuse to stand by him still hurt, and he knew it would for a long time, but he couldn’t wallow no matter how much he wanted to. There were too many responsibilities weighing on him for that.

Shaye encouraged him with what she saw in him. He didn’t know how she could feel so positively about him, even now, but she was. She saw someone he couldn’t see himself, but felt himself becoming determined to be. He was tore down, but would be built back up stronger than before. He managed the most fleeting of smiles as he pulled his head back up to look her over. A heavy sigh left his lips as he tried to slip out of the emotions that overtook him.

”Seems like I’ve got an awful big role to keep playing.” He lifted his features back up to the sky, the stars starting to appear over their heads. ”I would have gone crazy a long time ago were it not for you,” He told her as a kind of thanks. He hated to think about where he might be without her. Nowhere nice.