2485 words 

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-ˋˏ " Even at her lowest, she's so beautiful. " ˎˊ-

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•| ⊱✿⊰ |•

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝-𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧

It was now March and spring was just around the corner. One month ago today was the tragic death of Nancy and Alexander l/n, the mother and brother of y/n l/n.

"Hurry up, you're so slow!" Ray groaned, rolling his eyes. "You'd never think you're as fast as me." He chuckled while gripping the sides of his backpack.

"You only reached the top before me because you were way ahead of us. Plus you're tall so you've got long legs." y/n complained as she reached the top of the hill panting. "Of course mom chose her grave to be at the highest gravesite near our house, she always was pestering me to be more active." She giggled.

"I'm glad you're doing better y/n, you seem happier." Emma wrapped her arm around her friend and smiled warmly.

"I am, thank you for noticing." She grinned. y/n truly was doing a lot better. For days after her mother has passed all she'd do was mope around. But then, she remembered the note. Her mother specifically told her that she shouldn't mope around and shut everyone she cares about out of her life. It was like she got a sudden burst of energy. She was with her friends again, though they could tell she was still upset. Sometimes she'd cry, and they'd comfort her. The girl didn't like showing her tears to Emma and Norman. For some reason, though, she felt comfortable enough to cry around Ray. He'd always comfort her no matter what. Ray was always there for y/n.

Y/n now lived on her own in an apartment. It had one bedroom and a bathroom, but it was the perfect size for her. It was almost always clean, and it was well-furnished. The apartment building was between the old house and Emma's. It was a newer building, so it was very modern and clean.

"If I'm remembering correctly, their graves are right... here!" Y/n smiled and pointed at the two headstones. "Mom, Alexander, Hi!" She kneeled in between the two graves and smiled, reaching back towards Ray. "Ray, the flowers?"

"Oh right, here." He quickly swung his bag off his shoulder and pulled out 2 bouquets of tulips, handing them to the girl.

"Thank you." She smiled and gently placed a bouquet in front of each grave. "Come sit you three." She whirled her head around to face her three friends, gesturing for them to join her. They nodded with smiles, sitting around the graves. "I plan to tell dad today, you know, our little plan." She stifled back a laugh. "He does know you've passed though, he saw it on the news." The girl sighed. "I'm bringing these 3 with me of course."

"Something tells me your father isn't very kind," Norman exclaimed.

"Oh, he's horrible. I haven't seen him since my brother was a baby." She laughed. "He really didn't want another kid."

"You're a strong person to be able to laugh at something like that." Ray chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.

"Not really, but thanks." She laughed, covering her mouth. "I think that's enough for today, there's not much else to talk about." She patted both of the graves as if it was their shoulders, using the headstones to lift herself up. "Thanks for the lift ma."

"We should get going now, I just want to get this whole thing with my dad over with already." y/n sighed and turned to face the three.

"Let's go then." Ray smiled as the four left the gravesite.

The drive there was overall pretty quiet. y/n was extremely anxious, it had been a while since she last saw her father. She hated him. He made her extremely furious and sometimes, even frightened.

"...Well, this is it." The h/c-haired girl held her breath.

"Nervous?" Ray walked up beside her and placed a hand on her shoulder gently.

"Yeah, I haven't been here since I was a kid." She mumbled under her breath, just loud enough so the boy would be able to hear.

"Well, then you have all the right to be scared." He smiled at her.

"You know, you're good at comforting people. You should be a therapist." The girl giggled.

"No thanks, I'd rather run a business like my dad. I'll be a big businessman."

"Surprisingly, I can see that in the future."

He smiled at her, then looked at the front door before them. "Ready?"

"Ready."

It was just Ray and y/n going in to see her father. They decided that it would be best if Emma and Norman waited in the car, as if something were to go wrong she didn't want all of her friends to see.

With her shaking hand, y/n carefully and slowly knocked on the door.

"Come in!" A mumbled voice shouted from inside.

y/n inhaled the fresh air before stepping into the cigarette-scented home.

Gross.

She and Ray glanced around the hallway. The air inside was dry and warm, the house looked as if everything inside was scratchy and uncomfortable to touch. y/n always hated the thought of going to her dad's house. Thankfully it was only mandatory for her to go up until she was the age of 9 when her mother finally got full custody.

"Uh, Frank?" Another thing y/n did to show her pure hatred for the man who abandoned his wife and children was to refer to him as "Frank," his actual name, instead of dad or father.

"Here, in here. The living room," The excuse of a father called.

The two teens looked at each other anxiously before closing the door behind them and entering the living room. 

"It smells of alcohol in here." The girl sneered.

The man grunted, "Okay." He took a sip of beer from the brown-tinted bottle in his hand.

"Seriously? Drinking around your daughter?" She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "Honestly Frank, I figured you would've changed at least a bit."

"Hmph." He just grunted again, eyes locked on whatever dumb television show he was watching.

It made y/n furious. She couldn't figure it out. He was fine? Sure to others it may seem as if he's gone down a spiral, losing all control over his life, but his alcoholic ways were nothing new to his daughter. She stepped in front of the tv, arms remaining crossed over her chest tightly.

"Out of the way, bitch."

She nearly killed him right then and there. "I'm the bitch? Are you joking?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?" He snarled, gripping the bottle in his large hands.

"Your son and the mother of your kids are dead. Does that not affect you at all?"

"Not in the slightest. It's a shame you weren't with them."

y/n opened her mouth to speak, but Ray interjected. "What the fuck is wrong with you? You're seriously fucked in the head. You're a piece of shit, you know that?" He snapped.

"And who are you? You' her boyfriend or something? I'd run if I were you, the girls of that family are nuts. One mistake and you're gone."

"For fucks sake Frank, you cheated on my mom with 6 different women!"

"And they were all prettier than her too."

"Where are they now, Frank? Not here to take care of you, are they?" Tears welled up in her eyes thinking about her childhood, but she held them back. "Mom was there for you. She took care of you and stayed with you even though she knew you were ill in the head! Those whores only wanted you for sex. I'm assuming you're a failure at that too because they never came back, did they?"

In a rage the man threw the bottle, aiming for y/n's head. Thankfully Ray pulled her away just in time so she wasn't harmed.

"Are you fucking mental? This is your daughter! You're supposed to love and take care of her, not purposely try to hurt her."

"I'd rather kill myself than ever have to deal with her." The man stood up, stomped over to them, and raised his arm.

"Lay one hand on her and I swear to god you won't live another day." The raven-haired boy put an arm in front of her protectively.

The man bit his lip, "Fine." He lowered his arm.

Ray stared at him before bringing his arm back to his side. "y/n, let's go." He didn't look at her, his eyes were locked on the man. The boy wrapped his arm around her waist tightly and protectively, quickly trying to drag her out of there. He looked away for not even a split second, but the man had pulled the girl away from Ray's hold. The excuse of a father held y/n in the air by her collar and punched her right in the nose, knocking her out as Frank released his firm grip on her shirt and watches as his daughter fell to the floor.

Frank's hands raised to his mouth in a shock, gasping. "Oh- Oh my, what have- What have I done?" He was trembling in surprise and fear. He couldn't believe that he had just knocked out his daughter, the only piece of his past family alive.

"You just knocked out my whole world you piece of shit." Ray swiftly raised his fist to the man's nose, pushing him back with a punch. He then kicked him where the sun doesn't shine. "Hurts, doesn't it?" He kneeled to the man and smirked. "Listen to me you motherfucker, contact her ever again and you'll never take another breath. Got it?"

"Got- Got it." The man stuttered and covered his face in fear.

"You're pathetic." Ray snickered and stood up, swooping the girl up.

Emma and Norman watched from the car, full of worry, as the forest-eyed boy carried the injured girl bridal style. He gently placed her down in the backseat, looking at the two in the front.

"What- What happened?" Emma blinked, staring back at the boy.

"What can I say, a lot of dads suck." Ray sighed, sitting on the left side of the backseat, gently placing y/n's head on his lap.

"So uh, where to?" Norman gulped.

"Her apartment. I don't expect the two of you to join, but you can if you want. I'll just be there watching her and stuff."

"We'll come to check on her tomorrow." Emma smiled lightly.

Ray nodded and looked out the window. It hurt him deeply knowing that he couldn't protect her. If he had just paid more attention, she wouldn't have been harmed. The ravenette knew he could only be with her for a few more months, thus being all the more reason why he should spend more time with her. He pondered to himself, 'I love y/n, she's my best friend. She's nothing more than that. She can't be anything more, right?'

"Here we are." The feel of the car coming to a sudden stop and the sound of Norman's voice awakened Ray from his thoughts.

"Thanks." He smiled lightly before carrying the girl out of the car.

He brought her inside, unlocking the door with the key in her pocket. He brought y/n into her bedroom, gently and carefully placing her down on the bed. Ray pulled a throw-blanket over her and retrieved a wet cloth from her bathroom, kneeling beside her bed quietly.

Slowly and carefully he cleaned up her nose, wiping away the red blood. Afterwards, he just stared at her, admiring her beauty. 

Even at her lowest, she's so beautiful. 

He lovingly brushed the strands of hair out of her face, running his fingers through her h/c hair.

( if you have really curly hair or are like bald or sum Idk sorry LDFJGKF just like pretend )

She was so precious to him. Though Ray was aware of their circumstances, he just pondered what would happen. He wondered if they'd get married, no, probably not. She deserves someone better, and they're just friends. Right?

Slowly her e/c eyes opened, her eyelashes fluttering as she turned her focus to Ray. "Ray?" She slowly sat up, rubbing her tired eyes.

"Yeah?" His lips curved into a slight, warm smile.

"Why am I- What happened?"

"He hurt you, so I brought you home." He reassured her lovingly.

"Oh, I remember now." She looked down sadly. "I didn't do as my mom told me, Ray, I never completed the joke."

"Y/n, your mother is probably just glad you're safe." He gently caressed her cheek with his thumb. "Also I bet his ass up, so I'm sure your mother found that hilarious."

y/n looked up at him with a smile. "Thanks, Ray, for everything."

"Anything for you." He smiled. "I... should probably get going now." He attempted to stand up and pull away from her, but she latched onto his wrist. He stared at her, confused.

"Wait. I'm tired, and I don't want to be alone. Please, keep me company?" She chewed on the corner of her lip patiently.

"Okay, if you want me to, then I'm here." His words were so soft and comforting, he spoke so quietly yet so loudly.

He moved over on her double bed, scooting closer to the wall. She patted the mattress and looked up at him.

"Wait- In your bed? With you?" He spoke flustered, a red hue on his cheeks.

"Well yeah, we've slept on the same couch before so it's not really anything new." y/n blushed, realizing what she was saying and implying. "And we're just friends! I mean, you have a wedding in a few months, right?"

Ray hid back a frown, remembering that he couldn't stay hiding with y/n forever. "Right." He sighed, laying down beside her. "You can lay on my chest if you'd like. You seem to be comforted whenever we hug, so, yeah." He bit his lip anxiously.

"You're so thoughtful, Ray." She smiled and gently rested her head on his chest. "I just wish you were like this with everyone else." She mumbled quietly into his shirt, yawning. 

He stifled back a smile, gently placing his hand on her back in a comforting manner. 

"You know, you make a pretty good pillow." y/n giggled.

Ray chuckled, rubbing the girl's back as she drifted off to sleep. "Goodnight dumbass."

"Night, loser." She smiled before falling fast asleep.

As Ray stared at the sleeping girl, drifting into a slumber himself, he knew. He was madly in love with this girl, and there was nothing he could do about it.

•| ⊱✿⊰ |•

A/N: hey besties sorry it took me a while to write this, but I have some pretty cool news,

I have a new Ray x Reader book! In this book, it isn't at the orphanage or at a high school, it's actually in a fantasy sort of place with kings, queens, princesses, etc. Y/n is a princess, and it's basically an enemies to lovers. So far the prologue and the first chapter is out, so I'd appreciate if you'd go check it out!

It's titled, "Unobtainable - Ray" You'll find it on my page :))