Why..?

"Raven? It's me!" Kyle called out, no answer, he panted heavily, looking around the empty hallways. He's been running around for almost ten minutes now, and he's lost sight of the princess. Kyle groaned a little and started to run around again, calling out to the princess, he knows he's missing the party but he didn't think of it too much, he had to look for Raven. After a while, he realized she couldn't possibly be in the castle, and all of a sudden it's like a light bulb lit up in his head, he face pawed himself for not realizing it sooner and dashed towards the place where they first conversed.

Approaching the garden entrance, he stepped slowly, listening. A cold gust of air blew, the moon was full and the clouds were finally gone, his ears twitched every few seconds, trying to pinpoint any sound, that's when he heard it. Kyle heard some shuffling, then suddenly he heard something crack and break, his heartbeat quickened, was it Raven? And what broke? He heard it again, louder this time, coming from the left, he followed the sounds, and he heard what sounded like grunts and growls. His ears perked up, it sounded like Raven. Then when he winced at how loud the cracks sounded, he looked through a bush and finally found her.

Raven's back was turned to him, her dress was tossed to the ground, and she was panting, she stared at the broken trunk in front of her, pieces of wood, and dirt on her fur, wood also scattered on the grass. Raven panted heavily, she growled again, and smashed the trunk with her forelegs, it gave a satisfying crack. Kyle blinked a few times, she was clearly frustrated, but he didn't know just how frustrated she was. She sat down, looking at the broken pieces of wood. "Darn it.. why Dad? Why him? Why can't he just get out of my life?" She growled, though her voice cracked a little. Kyle's ears flattened a little at that crack. She rubbed her face in frustration. "Just.. w-why..?" Raven choked a little. Suddenly, when Kyle moved, a twig broke, his heartbeat quickened, Raven's ears turned to his direction.

Raven turned around, quickly wiping her tears when she saw Kyle, she narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here?"  She asked, trying to act as if nothing happened, Kyle walked up to her since he was already discovered.

"You ran off from the party." Kyle stated. Raven huffed. "Why?"

"That's none of your business." Raven spat coldly, she stood up and broke medium sized pieces of wood, Kyle jumped a little. Raven hung her head low. not looking at him. "Just get back to the party." Raven ordered.

"I'm not leaving without you." Kyle said firmly, suddenly Raven was at his face, she stared angrily at him, he was caught off guard and took a small step back. Raven growled, Kyle shook his head and narrowed his eyes at her. "They're gonna start wondering where you are."

"And let them, why should I care?" Raven said coldly, stepping back from Kyle and turning her back on him. "They can do what they want."

"Why are you so angry?" Kyle asked, Raven stopped short, and didn't say anything, her claws dug into the grass as she struggled to contain her rage, Kyle cautiously stepped closer to Raven, her back fur was rising. "Raven, please, let me-" He wasn't able to finish his sentence, Raven lunged at him, pinning him harshly onto the grass, Kyle's eyes widened when he saw her baring her teeth at him. Her purple eyes held fury and anger, he laid on the grass as she held him down.

"You don't get it, do you?!" Raven yelled at him. Kyle winced. There was anger in her voice, but he could feel her pain, she panted, "You saw him, right?! Prince Derrick? A prince every girl would go for?! Well, news flash for you! I hate him!" She yelled again, Kyle didn't speak, he was speechless, Raven was trembling, her grip loosened and she stepped off him. Kyle sat up immediately, shaking his fur, he looked at Raven, "And my family doesn't see that!" Raven added angrily, another crack in her voice was heard. Kyle's ears flattened a little.

"Raven-"

"No! They'll never listen! They never will! And I'll be stuck with him!" Raven cried, tears starting to fall, she sat down and covered her face. "U-Until the day I die.." Raven said more quietly, her loud angry voice vanishing. Kyle walked up to her and slowly sat down next to the princess, she trembled as tears streamed down her face.

"Hey, hey, Raven.. it's okay.." Kyle tried to comfort her, bringing a paw up, Raven swatted it away, but it was a bit more gentle.

"No.. i-it's not okay." Raven choked a little, she stared at him with bloodshot eyes, "H-He may look like a great guy on the outside, b-but once you're alone with him, he's crazy." Raven said in a serious yet scared tone, she shook again, and Kyle tried to rub her foreleg to calm her down, she didn't protest, her gaze looked distracted, her shaking eased a little. After a while, a sniffle came from her, and she wiped her eyes, her ears flattened against her head as she stared at the broke pieces of wood.

"Hey, just breathe, okay?" Kyle asked softly, Raven glanced at him, but didn't say a word.

"You're not gonna leave me alone, aren't you?" Raven asked, a little annoyed, Kyle smiled a little, at least her attitude came back.

"Nope." He said, almost proudly, trying to lighten her mood. She scoffed, it wasn't an annoyed one, nor was it a wholehearted one, halfhearted probably? Raven rolled her eyes at him. "I'm not leaving until you're okay, if you are, we're gonna go back to the party."

"Don't take me back there." Raven suddenly said, looking a little scared, shaking her head vigorously. "Not there, not there, please." Her voice begged, Kyle tried calming her down again.

"O-Okay, just, don't freak out.." Kyle said quickly, Raven's shoulders eased a little. She stared at him with a slightly scared expression, her breathing slowed down to a more relaxed pace, Raven moved a bit away from him after a while. "Why don't you wanna go back there? Aside from the thought of seeing him again..?" Kyle asked slowly. Raven didn't speak for a moment, until she deeply sighed.

"I can't believe I'm saying this.." Raven muttered, she looked at Kyle seriously, "Don't say a word about this to anybody. You hear?" She ordered, Kyle nodded sincerely. Raven watched him, before taking a deep breath, she looked up at the moonlit sky. "It was a couple months ago, just when I first met him, our parents looked happy when we made our first impressions, I tried my best to be nice, at first he seemed nice and a pretty great guy. We would hang out when we could, talk about anything, when I'd get hurt, he'd take care of me and I did the same for him, it was going well for a while. Until.." Raven trailed off quietly, her ears flattening a little. "Until the day his parents got a lot richer because of my family, he grew more cocky, prideful, and was starting to become a jerk."

Kyle winced. Good thing I changed..

"We'd hang out less, because he was busy gloating over the expensive things he had, that went on for a few weeks. Until he said he wanted to become my boyfriend, I refused because even though I liked him before, I disliked him that time, he was mad. Bad news for me since we were alone in a room, he shoved me against the floor, the walls, and even some furniture, saying that if I didn't become his girlfriend he'd tell others about my secrets.." Raven's voice grew quiet, she glared at nothing, Kyle was shocked. How dare he?! He growled inwardly.

"What did you do..?" Kyle asked quietly, after a while. Raven paused.

"..I.. I had to say yes.." Raven said, a shadow seeming to cover her eyes as she hung her head low, "And I was spared, luckily, I had to act like his girlfriend, and when he proudly announced it to our parents, that's when things went south even further. He visited more often, and when we're alone.. he'd.. he'd.." Raven choked a little, Kyle immediately rubbed her back.

"Easy, Raven.." He said gently. "It's okay.. you don't have to continue.. I understand now.." He said, Raven sniffled and looked up at him.

"Wh.. how are you so nice to me all of a sudden..?" Raven murmured, she sniffed again. Kyle offered a small smile.

"I understand you right now, and I know what it feels like." Kyle said, Raven's eyes widened a little. "I have the same story, except I wasn't really physically assaulted, it was instead.. my.. former girlfriend." Kyle mumbled, Raven looked at him.

"W-What.. happened..?" Raven asked quietly. Flashbacks entered Kyle's mind, Laika and him, him and Izzy, Izzy getting yelled at by his mom and sister, her getting bullied by Laika.. "Kyle..?" Raven broke him from his trance.

"I had a girlfriend before, she's.. actually one of my friends at the party." Kyle admitted, "My family was rich and we were business partners with another rich family, they had a daughter who they engaged me with, I didn't like her one bit. But she did, being a bit too clingy and possessive, and I was still in a relationship that time. When she found out about my former girlfriend, she started bullying her." Kyle growled, feeling angry, his body heated up a little. Raven gasped a little.

"What..?" Raven asked, shocked. Kyle nodded slowly.

"After a few weeks of that, I was forced to break up with her, because if I didn't we'd lose a lot of money, and when I did.. I hated my life soon after. And after a few years, I broke the engagement because it was useless already, since he family found a wealthier family to be business partners with. So that's that." Kyle shrugged. Raven was speechless.

"I.. I never knew you had to go through something similar to my experience.. I'm.. I'm sorry." Raven admitted, Kyle smiled softly at her.

"It's okay, it's in the past now. Though she can't seem to move on like I have.." Kyle mumbled. "Anyway, look Raven, I know times look bad now and you have to be with someone you don't like genuinely, but.. well, you have to be tough. Eventually your parents will see what horrible things he's done to you."

"But.. what if they don't..?" Raven asked, worried, Kyle brought her chin up to look at him gently.

"They will. Trust me." Kyle said, smiling reassuringly. Raven blinked after he put his paw back down, her ears flattened against her head again. She looked back up at the sky, seeing a comet swoosh by. Kyle saw it too.

"I.. I hope you're right.."