Morning came with the reluctance of something being dragged against its will. The lantern had died hours ago, leaving them in absolute darkness until the first rays of sun filtered through the cracks in their hiding spot's cover.
Levi was the first to move, his body stiff from a night spent sitting upright against the dirt wall. He'd barely slept, every time his eyes closed, he saw Ariana's face when he'd asked her to marry him. The shock. The confusion. The way her hand had slipped from his was like water through fingers.
Perfect. Exactly what he'd wanted.
So why did it feel like he'd swallowed broken glass?
Miguel stirred, then Elena. Ariana was last, blinking against the weak light with the dazed expression of someone who hadn't slept at all. Her eyes found Levi's for just a moment before skittering away.
They climbed out in silence, emerging into a morning that felt too bright, too normal after the horrors of the night. The town looked the same as always,quiet, still, waiting. But somewhere, there was a body. Or pieces of one.
"I need to…" Levi gestured vaguely toward the edge of town. "Check something."
It was a lie. He just needed to be anywhere that wasn't here, looking at the aftermath of what he'd done.
Miguel's hand landed on his shoulder, firm but not harsh. "I'll come with you."
It wasn't a question.
They walked in silence past the gas station, past the houses with their too-perfect basements, until they reached the back of the diner. The morning sun painted everything in shades of gold that felt like mockery.
Miguel leaned against the diner's wall, his arms crossed. Not aggressive. Just... waiting.
Levi couldn't look at him. Instead, he stared at the ground, at a patch of dirt where grass refused to grow.
"So," Miguel said finally. "Marriage."
"Yeah."
"That's a big step."
"I know."
"Especially for two people who've known each other two weeks at most."
Levi's jaw tightened. "I know what I'm doing."
"Do you?" Miguel's voice was gentle, which somehow made it worse. "Because from where I'm standing, it looks like a man trying to solve a problem he doesn't know how to name."
"It's not- " Levi stopped, swallowed. Started again. "I like her. A lot. Maybe more than that. And in this place, we don't have time for slow. We don't have time for dating and getting to know each other and all the normal things people do. So yeah, it's fast. But it's honest."
"Is it?"
The question hit like a physical blow. Levi's hands curled into fists.
"What else would it be?"
Miguel was quiet for a long moment. When he spoke, his voice was even quieter than before. "It could be fear. It could be a man who thinks if he pushes hard enough, fast enough, the woman he cares about will run away where she'll be safe."
Levi's breath caught. He still couldn't look up.
"Which is stupid since there's nowhere safe in this place." The man muttered loudly enough for him to hear. "It could be," Miguel continued, "a man who's so used to people leaving that he'd rather force them to go on his terms than wait for the inevitable. It could be a lot of things, mijo. But honest? I'm not so sure about that."
The silence stretched. Levi's throat felt too tight to speak.
"Did you propose because you want to marry her?" Miguel asked. "Or because you want to scare her away?"
Levi opened his mouth. Closed it. His hands were shaking.
"I don't know," he finally whispered.
Miguel sighed, a sound full of understanding and sadness and something that might have been sympathy. He pushed off the wall, moved to stand directly in front of Levi, waiting until the younger man had no choice but to meet his eyes.
"You have our blessing," Miguel said. "Mine and Elena's. If Ariana says yes, we won't stand in the way."
Relief flooded through Levi, followed immediately by something that felt like dread.
"But," Miguel continued, his voice taking on a harder edge, "you need to stop doing things the roundabout way. Stop lying to yourself, because you're the only person you're fooling. You're an open book, Levi. We all see what you're trying to do. And more importantly, she sees it."
Levi flinched.
"If you want to marry her, marry her. If you want to protect her, protect her. But don't lie and call one thing the other." Miguel's hand found Levi's shoulder again, squeezing once. "She deserves better than that. And honestly? So do you."
Then he turned and walked back toward the house, leaving Levi alone with the morning sun and the weight of too many truths he didn't know how to carry.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Levi threw himself into work, digging, reinforcing, anything that kept his hands busy and his mind occupied. He avoided the house, avoided Ariana, avoided everyone.
Until Elena's voice cut through his spiral.
"Levi! Lunch!"
He looked up from the hole he'd been digging, another emergency exit, this one connecting to nowhere, as it simply pointed towards the forest. Elena stood on the porch, her expression warm but firm.
"Come eat. You've been out here for hours."
"I'm not-"
"Now, mijo."
The mother voice. The one that brooked no argument. Levi set down his shovel and followed.
He knew something was wrong the moment he stepped inside.
The table was set. Food was laid out, more than usual, more carefully arranged. Miguel sat at one end, Elena at the other. And Ariana was in the middle, her hands folded in front of her, her expression unreadable.
"Sit," Elena said, gesturing to the chair across from her daughter.
Levi sat. His heart was trying to hammer its way through his ribs.
For a long moment, no one spoke. Then Ariana took a breath, and when she looked at him, her eyes were clear. Certain.
"I've thought about what you said," she began. "About marriage. About us. About…" She paused, choosing her words carefully. "About what you're really trying to do."
Levi's stomach dropped.
"And I have some things I need you to understand." She leaned forward, her gaze holding his with an intensity that made it impossible to look away. "If I say yes, and that's still an 'if', you don't get to run. You don't get to push me away or sacrifice yourself or do whatever stupid heroic thing you're planning."
Her voice dropped, took on an edge he'd never heard before.
"If I say yes, you're mine. Not temporarily. Not conditionally. Mine. Do you understand what that means?"
Levi's breath had stopped somewhere in his chest. There was something in her eyes now, something fierce and possessive and a little bit terrifying.
"It means you don't get to make decisions about my safety without me. It means you don't get to play the martyr and think that's love. It means if you're in this, you're in this. With me. Beside me. Not ahead of me, trying to clear a path you think I can't walk."
She reached across the table, her hand finding his. Her grip was gentle but unbreakable.
"So I need you to ask again. Not because you're scared. Not because you're trying to protect me by pushing me away. But because you actually want this. Want me. Want us."
Levi stared at her, at this woman who'd somehow seen through every defense he'd built, who'd looked at his broken attempt at noble sacrifice and called it what it was, bullshit.
He looked at Miguel, who nodded once. At Elena, whose eyes were suspiciously bright. Then back at Ariana.
"I want to marry you," he said, and this time, it was true. All of it. No hidden agendas, no secret plans. Just the terrifying, wonderful truth. "Not because I'm scared. Not because I'm trying to save you. But because when I think about tomorrow, about the day after, about however long we have, I want you there. I want to be yours. And I want you to be mine."
Ariana's face softened, but that fierce edge remained. "You're not going to try to push me away?"
"I'm probably going to try," he admitted. "I'm an idiot like that. But if I do, you have permission to hit me."
"Deal." She squeezed his hand. "Then yes. My answer is yes."
Elena made a sound that was half laugh, half sob. Miguel's hand found hers across the table, squeezing tight. And Ariana stood, moved around the table, and pulled Levi into a hug that felt like coming home and jumping off a cliff at the same time.
"You're stuck with me now," she whispered against his shoulder.
"Good," he whispered back, and meant it. Levi, at the age of 24, had married Ariana, aged 25.
From the stairway, unseen by the family wrapped in their joy, a figure watched.
Julie stood in the shadows, her expression unreadable. She saw Levi's smile, genuine, unguarded, unlike the one she knew of. Saw Ariana's fierce grip on him. Saw the parents' tears of happiness.
Whatever ability she had gotten after being taken to that ruin, she could, in her brother's own words, story walk. She could experience other people's stories, what they had to do to survive, what they knew, in hopes of finding a clue to get out of this place.
With a sad smile, she turned away, walking back up the stairs, her footsteps making no sound. She knew how this story ended, and no matter how much she would want to change it, she couldn't.
So, she simply walked back to her own time, her own nightmare, but her own safety. Where Levi Harker had made the monster adapt to him.
…
…
The announcement at the diner was surreal.
Word had spread quickly, it always did in a town this small, and by the time they arrived, people had gathered. Not everyone. But enough. Donna was there, her usually hard expression softened into something that might have been hope. Father Khatri stood near the counter, his hands clasped. Others Levi recognized but didn't know well.
"We're getting married," Ariana said simply, her hand in Levi's.
For a moment, silence. Then Donna moved forward, her eyes suspiciously bright.
"Well," she said, her voice rough. "It's about damn time someone had good news in this place."
She pulled Ariana into a hug, then did the same to Levi, her grip surprisingly strong. "You take care of her," she whispered. "Or I'll hunt you down myself."
"Deal," Levi whispered back. But then his eyes widened, "Speaking of hunting, can we talk?" He asked the older woman. Confused, but Donna nodded.
Father Khatri approached next, his smile genuine. More people came forward. Congratulations. Blessings. Small gifts, someone had found flowers, someone else had baked something resembling bread. It wasn't much. But in this place, it was everything.
Ellis appeared near the end, his expression complicated. He stopped in front of Levi, his jaw working.
"Hey," he said finally. "About last time. When my dad hadn't come back and I..." He trailed off, shook his head. "I was an ass. I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Levi said. "You were worried. I get it."
"Yeah, but still." Ellis extended his hand. "Congratulations. Both of you."
Levi shook it, saw the genuineness there. "Thanks. Where's your mom?"
Ellis's expression shuttered. "Around. She's... she's having a hard time adjusting."
There was something in his voice, worry, fear, something Levi couldn't quite name. But before he could ask, Elena was pulling him toward the food, toward more well-wishers, toward the brief celebration of something good in a place that tried so hard to kill everything good.
The afternoon sun was starting its descent when Levi returned to his digging. Another exit, another escape route. Always planning for the worst.
He'd been at it for maybe an hour when a voice cut through his focus.
"You're going to dig yourself to death at this rate."
Ariana stood at the edge of the hole, her arms crossed, but there was amusement in her eyes.
"Need to finish this before dark," Levi said.
"You need to shower before dark. You smell like you've been living in a hole."
"Technically, I have been."
She rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. "Come on. My dad has clean clothes that'll fit you. Ish."
"I should-"
"That wasn't a suggestion, husband."
The word made something warm bloom in Levi's chest. He climbed out of the hole, accepting the hand she offered even though he didn't need it.
"Bossy," he muttered.
"You have no idea," she shot back, and there was a glint in her eye that promised interesting things.
The shower was basic, cold water, harsh soap, the kind of utilitarian setup that made you clean without being pleasant. But it felt good to wash away the dirt, the sweat, the lingering fear from the night before.
When he emerged, Ariana was waiting with clothes, Miguel's shirt, a bit too large in the shoulders, and… well, everywhere else, pants that needed a belt to stay up at best and needed to be folded. But they were clean, and they smelled like fabric softener instead of earth and sweat.
"Better?" she asked.
"Better," he confirmed.
She reached up, her hand cupping his cheek. "You have more gray," she said softly, her thumb brushing the streaks at his temple.
"Comes with the job," he tried to joke.
"Levi-"
"I know." He caught her hand, pressed it closer. "I know it's not normal. None of this is normal."
They stood there for a moment, close enough that he could count her eyelashes, could see the gold flecks in her dark eyes. She was so close, and his heart was hammering, and-
"Are you going to kiss me?" she whispered.
"I… do you want me to?"
"You're really bad at this," she breathed, amused.
"I know," he admitted.
She closed the distance herself, bending down just a little, her lips meeting his in a kiss that was soft and tentative and perfect. His hands found her waist, hers slid into his hair, and for just a moment, the world was small and safe and theirs.
When they broke apart, both slightly breathless, Ariana's smile was the brightest thing he'd ever seen.
"Practice," she said. "We'll need practice."
"I can live with that," he replied.
Dinner was interrupted by shouts from outside.
Boyd's voice, loud and excited. "I found something! Someone help me-"
Levi and Miguel were the first out the door, followed by half the town. Boyd stood at the edge of the residential area, breathing hard, his pack on the ground beside him. And at his feet-
A goat.
A live, bleating, very confused goat.
"There's more," Boyd said, his grin wide. "Chickens. Maybe sheep as well. There's a whole livestock out there, abandoned, but the animals are still alive somehow."
The implications hit like lightning. Food. Real food. Not just scraps and canned goods but actual livestock.
People started moving immediately, gathering supplies. Levi found himself part of the group heading back into the forest with Miguel, following Boyd's direction to the discovery.
It took hours- the sun was setting by the time they'd gathered what they could. Chickens, a few goats, and even a sheep that seemed determined to escape at every opportunity. They herded them back to town, to the old barn.
The animals were secured just as the first screech echoed through the evening air. Everyone scattered to their hiding spots, moving with the practiced efficiency of people who'd done this too many times.
But as Levi helped close the barn doors, he heard voices rising nearby.
Ellis and Boyd. Arguing.
"She's not fine, Dad. She's getting worse—"
"She just needs time—"
"Time? She sits on the porch all day staring at nothing. She doesn't eat. Barely sleeps. And when I try to talk to her, it's like she's not even there!"
"Ellis—"
"When's the last time you actually looked at her? When's the last time you were there for more than five minutes before running back into those trees?"
The pain in Ellis's voice was visceral. Levi wanted to leave, to give them privacy, but he was frozen by the barn door.
"I'm trying to find a way out," Boyd said, his voice strained. "For all of us. Including your mother."
"She doesn't need a way out. She needs you here. She needs her husband, not a soldier on a mission."
"I can't-"
"Yes, you can. You just won't."
The argument was cut short by another screech, closer this time. Both men fell silent, the fight postponed by necessity.
They scattered to their hiding spots, and Levi made it back to the hole with Ariana's family just as full dark fell.
----
AN: I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.
Let me know how I'm doing so far.