Piece by Piece

42. Bad Apart

Davyn knew what would happen the moment Harkin had pushed Millie into Snitch Gravel's office. Like a fool, he'd hoped she would understand. It had taken all of his self-control not to jump over the desk and murder Harkin the moment he laid hands on her.

But he hadn't. Because he was convinced that if dear ole Nicholas even suspected how much Millie meant to him, he was done for, and she would be in constant danger.

Yes, what she had gone through was brutal, and he wished he could've done things differently. Her fear was justified, but maybe his words had gotten through to her, and she'd consider them once the initial shock was over.

Until then, he had to deal with the fact that she'd broken up with him and walked away. He hadn't lied, he truly believed that she still loved him, and he trusted that it was too powerful to be erased by this incident. He was unfortunately also aware that she might choose to smother her feelings and never return.

But he'd give her time and space before approaching her again. He wouldn't let her go without a fight, but he had to choose his battles to win the war.

In the height of irony, two days after Millie left, the police finally decided to close the investigation regarding Harkin and his activities. It caused a flurry in Saint Agnes, and the number of protesters increased. Davyn was half-tempted to go into school and check out what was going on, but it would be a bad idea. He had no reason to be there, and he didn't want to draw attention upon himself or forge a further link between him, Snitch Gravel, and the school.

With his apartment empty, he retreated to the house for a while, making sure to leave a note every time, just in case Millie decided to return. He used the extra time to stay with Ron.

After he'd returned from rehab camp, he seemed more meek, or at least Freider wasn't complaining about him as much. However, Davyn got the sinking feeling that he was plotting something. He couldn't get any information out of him, though. Even if Ron no longer snapped and snarked, he also refused to discuss anything, as if he'd decided silence was the best punishment for Davyn's betrayal.

So Davyn did the next best thing and spent his time with Ron tutoring him for school, with a reminder that they could always talk about anything if he felt the need. Over the months, he never did. But with Millie gone, Davyn increased the sessions from two per week to almost every day. He needed to focus on something else, or he'd go crazy. Or worse, seek her out and scare her some more.

"Why are you here so often?" Ron asked one afternoon, two weeks after Millie had left.

Davyn continued drawing the triangle he was on, gritting his teeth. "Just have a bit more time on my hands, so I decided to take advantage of it."

It had become increasingly hard to wait. He missed Millie so much, there was a constant pain in his stomach.

"Something went wrong in your perfect life, didn't it?"

"Let's talk about your perfect life."

That silenced Ron immediately, and he returned to drumming his pencil against the empty page.

Davyn finished the triangle and wrote down the length of two of its sides. "Okay, solve for x."

Ron didn't answer, seeming lost in thought. Davyn didn't push either, because the pain was being particularly potent that day, and he wanted to take a few moments to think about Millie and miss her some more.

"Do you think I'll get any taller?" Ron asked all of a sudden.

Davyn flinched and glanced at him. "Of course you will."

"As tall as you?"

"Maybe. Even Freider and Bill are pretty tall, so you definitely have the genes for it."