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-ˋˏ " It was so fast. Everything came so fast. Nobody could've seen this coming, not even Y/n. The tragedy was so unexpected. " ˎˊ-

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𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝-𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧

"Hey, mom?" The h/c-haired girl called out from her bedroom to her mother.
          Her voice was quiet and soft as if her spoken words were delicate and full of meaning. She laid flat out across her bed, staring at the faded-white ceiling. One hand rested on her light blanket, the other draped over her stomach. Her chest rose slowly with every breath she took.

"Yeah? What is it?" The mother replied, questioning. She was in the hallway, Y/n could hear what sounded like her shoving dirty clothes into the old washing machine.

The teenager took in a deep breath, inhaling and exhaling the fresh February air coming in through her slightly opened window. "You've... You've been in love before. Haven't you?"

The woman went quiet before softly sighing and answering her daughter. "...Yes, I have. Twice. Why are you asking?"

The girl sighed once again. "I... I don't know. How'd you know?" She chewed her lip and fluttered her soft eyes lightly.

"I guess I just... sort of- sort of felt it. I'm not sure. To be honest, maybe it wasn't love. It sure did feel like it though, at least that's what I assume love feels like." She snapped out of her trance and shut the washing machine lid, fiddling with the buttons. "I was wrong though."

"You thought you loved dad, didn't you?" The girl sat up resting her weight on her elbow, fidgeting with the necklace around her neck Ray had given her.

"I did."

"You said twice. Who else did you fall in love with?"

"Just some guy, in high school. We never dated though."

"Why not?"

"He switched schools, and we didn't keep in contact. He was suspended for starting a fistfight." She chuckled lightly and ran a hand through her silky hair.

"Sounds like a trouble maker." Y/n made a 'tch' sound with her tongue as if it were a small laugh.

"Oh, he was. He was kind though, at least to me."

"You should've married him."

"Then I never would've had you and Alexander."

"True. What would you do without us?"

"Nothing, my life would be completely boring. You two nutjobs make everything a little bit more bearable and happier.

"How sweet." She chuckled lightly.

"It's Saturday, why don't you have Emma over or something?"

"Mm, I think she's with Norman."

"Ah, I see. Are they dating or something? They're awfully close."

Y/n laughed. "You'd think that, wouldn't you? Surprisingly, they're not."

"Oh, I am surprised." The mother laughed. "Alexander and I are going to go get groceries. Do you wanna join?"

The girl thought for a moment before responding. "No, I'm good. I think I'm going to call Emma."

"Oh? Okay, we won't be very long." She waved lightly before walking down the creaky stairs. "Alexander, let's go now!" She hollered. "Love you y/n!" The mother shouted out before y/n heard the front door slam shut, along with a click of the lock.

y/n held her breath as she scrolled through her contacts, tapping on the one labeled 'Ginger.' It had been a while since she talked to Emma, Ray, or Norman. They didn't have school the past week as the school was closed for renovations, so she was a bit shocked when none of friends even tried to contact her. It seems like since Rays birthday they all became more distant. It felt like they were avoiding her, but she couldn't figure out why. Had she done something wrong?

"Hello?" Emma's voice spoke.

y/n slowly held the phone up to her ear anxiously. Why was she anxious? It's just Emma. "Emma, hi."

Emma went quiet for a moment. She could hear whispering in the back, but couldn't figure out who it was or what they were saying. "Y/n, I didn't know it was you... Hi!"

"Hey." She chewed on the corner of her lip. The silence was so loud. "So, uh, what's going on? We haven't talked in a while."

"Right, we haven't. Sorry, I've been busy." Emma sighed. "Not much, just, you know, with Norman."

"Oh, I see. Should I hang up? I wouldn't want to disturb the two of you."

Emma answered practically right away as if she was desperate to hear her best friend's voice. "Nono, that's okay. I want to talk. How've you been? Anything new?"

"No, nothing, really. I'm bored. Why haven't we been talking lately?" She sighed. "Maybe this is a stupid question, but... Have you been avoiding me?"

"Avoiding you? No! Of cour-" 

Somebody interjected. The voice was muffled through the phone, but y/n instantly knew it was him; Ray. "Emma, give me the phone."

"I don't think that's a good idea-"

"I need to tell her."

It went silent. The girl could hear shifting as the phone was passed over to Ray. 

"Erm- Ray?" The e/c-eyed girl blinked, gulping.

"...I'm- I'm sorry." His voice sounded different. Not his bold, usual tone.

"Sorry? What for?" She raised an eyebrow and sat on the edge of her bed, playing with a strand of her h/c hair.

"For not telling you. Now don't interrupt me, it's hard to tell you this." He took a deep breath. "My family had no other choice than to arrange a marriage for me. For business reasons, of course. I'll be married in August, just before college begins. Thankfully the girl and I won't be official until a week before the wedding. The next few months are my last months with freedom."

y/n was speechless. She wasn't expecting this. It seemed so stupid and foolish. Ray's parents love him. They wouldn't set him up like this. They wanted him to marry y/n, right? Surely this had to be some kind of joke.

"...Was... that supposed to be a joke?" She spoke softly, her words were fragile. She was in utter disbelief. There's no way this could be real. It was something out of those stupid romance books. But this wasn't a romance story. This was y/n and Ray, just two bestfriends. Nothing more.

"No. Surprising, right? You should've seen my face the moment I found out." He laughed nervously, trying to light up the situation. "I..." He sighed. "I can't explain this over the phone. I'm coming over."

She blinked. "Maybe you shouldn't-"

"See you soon." He hung up swiftly.

She was completely shocked, this all happened so fast. Was this why they'd been ignoring her? Why couldn't he have told her sooner? What was the business reason causing this arrangement? Who's the girl he'll marry? All the questions raced through her head. The h/c-haired girl was more than confused. This couldn't be real. She was dreaming, right? Yeah, this was all a nightmare. So, there'd be no point in confessing her feelings to him right? They'll only end up hurt. The last thing she wanted was for Ray to end up hurt. Maybe she'd be alone for the rest of her days and spend her last-minute all alone with nothing else to do than weep, she thought. 

y/n was snapped out of her thoughts when a knock was heard at the door. She lept out of her bed quickly and ran downstairs, rushing to open the door for Ray. The sun was almost completely out of sight, the sky filled with different shades of purple and pink. There Ray stood panting, completely out of breath. 

"How'd you get here so fast? Did you run?"

He nodded and inhaled deeply. "I wanted to see you."

"Oh."

"Yeah." He exhaled, finally catching up to his own breath.

"Are you coming in?" The girl brushed her h/c hair out of her face and moved away from the entrance, leaning against the door looking down at the wooden floorboards.

"If it's okay, yeah." He slowly walked inside with his eyes facing forwards. "I want to explain the whole situation to you." He whirled around so that he'd be in front of her. She didn't reply, she continued to look at the floor. He gently placed his finger underneath her chin so that she'd look up at him. "May I explain?" He smiled lovingly. She started into his eyes, trying to find some sort of sign to show that he was upset. He seemed, fine? y/n couldn't understand. Was was he so okay when she can barely speak? He's the one who basically has to give up his whole life, right? Why was he alright? But she saw it. She saw the way his eyes looked for a split-second. They were fragile and sad. 

"You may." She gulped and followed him over to the couch, where they sat beside eachother.

"My familys company is very rich, as you know. However, our relatives couldn't do it on their own, so, a family friend helped them. They acted as an investor until we were able to pay it back. Unfortunatly, they and my relatives got into an argument so they never recieved their money back." Ray took in a deep breath. "They recently threatened to sue my family, and their buisness and family is much more well-known and adored than mine. Therefore it's very unlikely we'll win the case. That's where I come in. For some odd reason, they agreed that they wouldn't sue if I married the daughter of the buisness-owners. She's my age, that's all I know."

She stared at him, blinking with her e/c eyes. "That's... a lot."

"I know." He sighed.

"That seems so foolish. Is that really their only option? If you don't mind me asking, why doesn't your family just pay them back?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "That was the original plan, but we'll lose everything. I don't want my whole entire family to be broke."

"So you'll sacrifice your whole life?" She raised her voice with anger and confusion. 

He sighed and shook his head. "y/n..."

"No. I won't let you Ray. I know you love your family, but I won't let you throw away your whole life. You won't be happy. Maybe you will come to love her, but what if you don't? Are your parents really letting you?" Tears swelled up in her eyes. But it shouldn't have been her crying, it should've been him. Why wasn't he sad? Why was he so good at hiding his feelings? Why was she crying? She hates Ray. Or, she loves him? She wasn't even sure how she felt about him.

He tilted his head and stared at her. "Please don't cry for me." He placed his hand on her cheek and wiped her tears away with his thumb before they could roll down her face.

"You won't cry for yourself. Why won't you cry for yourself? Why are you not sad?"

"I don't want to spend my last months of freedom moping around and crying. I want to spend it with you y/n." Ray didn't move his hand away from her cheek, gently carressing it with his thumb.

She raised an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I think you know what I mean." 

They stared at each other. In that moment, almost everything was perfect. 

Then, she got a call. The call. The call that turned her whole world around. As the news she received wasn't enough, a car crash. A mother and son. No survivors. It was so fast. Everything came so fast. Nobody could've seen this coming, not even Y/n. The tragedy was so unexpected.

Her mother and Alexander were dead. They weren't coming home.

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A/N: LMFAO SORRY. guys i swear this won't turn into one of those fanfics where y/n is like "s-s-s-s-s-s-s--s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s--s-s-s-s-ssorrry r-r-r-r--r-r-r-r-r--rr--r-rrr--ray"  and where every two seconds something crazy and dramatic happens LMFAOIGKJDG i'll stop making fun of people. anyways no i will not use proper grammar in my author notes <3