I was running.
The cold air slapped my face as I pushed through the exit doors.
Freedom.
Or what felt like it.
I didn't stop.
Not until my lungs burned.
Not until my legs gave out.
I collapsed behind an empty building.
My blossoms are rising and falling too fast.
Reacting to the cold.
Too painful.
Too real.
"No," I cried.
"I'm not part of this… I'm not and won't be part of this".
My voice broke.
Footsteps.
I froze.
Slow.
Familiar.
"You can't outrun them."
I spun,
Liam.
He stood a few steps away.
Watching me.
Not angry.
Not cold.
Just visibly tired.
And something softer I couldn't name.
"How did you find me?" I asked, voice shaking.
"I never lost you," he said quietly.
That hit differently this time.
Not like control.
Not like ownership.
But concern.
"Stop talking like that," I whispered.
He stepped closer.
Slowly.
Carefully.
Like he was afraid I would break.
"Do you think running changes anything?" he asked.
"I think staying turned me into something I didn't agree to be. Something with no voice or choice."
Silence.
Long.
Heavy.
Then Liam sighed.
Softly.
Almost human.
"You're still you," he said.
A pause.
"You're just scared right now."
My breath caught slightly.
Because no one had said it like that before.
Not like an accusation.
Not like a label.
But like a proper understanding.
A car pulled up behind him.
Black. Always black for danger and protection with him!
Waiting.
"What is that?" I whispered.
"Protection," he said.
Then added quietly,
"From me, and maybe from them."
That confused me.
"You?" I asked softly.
His jaw tightened.
"Because right now, you don't trust anything I represent."
A pause.
"But you still haven't let go of me completely either."
That made my chest tighten.
Because he was right.
I turned away quickly.
"I can't trust anything anymore."
A pause.
Then his voice softened.
"You don't have to trust everything."
I looked back at him.
"You just have to trust one thing."
I frowned.
"What?"
His gaze held mine.
Longer this time.
Heavier.
Warmer.
"That I won't let them take you."
Something in my chest shifted.
Slowly.
Uncomfortably.
For the first time,
That didn't sound like control.
It sounded like protection.
Like something deeper.
Something dangerous.
I swallowed.
"You always talk like you already own the outcome."
He stepped closer again.
Now there was barely space between us.
"I don't," he said quietly.
A pause.
"I just don't lose things I care about."
My breath hitched.
That sentence landed differently.
Too differently.
The wind shifted.
Cold.
But I didn't feel it.
Because suddenly,
I was too aware of him.
Too close.
Too real.
"Zara," he called out softly.
Not an order this time.
Just my name.
I looked up.
His eyes stayed on mine.
Longer than before.
Like he was holding something back.
Something dangerous.
Something real.
"You're shaking," he said quietly.
"I'm not," I replied.
A lie again.
Without thinking,
he reached out.
Slowly.
Gently.
And adjusted the strap of my gown that had slipped slightly from my shoulder.
The touch was brief.
Accidental.
But it sent a wave through me anyway.
I froze.
He froze too.
Neither of us moved.
The air between us changed instantly.
Heavier.
Slower.
His hand didn't pull away immediately.
Neither did my breath return normally.
For a second,
everything disappeared.
The system.
The danger.
The war.
The night it all started.
Just him.
And me.
Too close.
Too aware.
"You should've told me you were running," he said quietly with great concern.
I blinked.
"That would've changed anything?"
His gaze flickered.
He adjusted my hair that fell out of place, rolled it round his hand before dropping it on the heap of hair.
"Maybe not."
A pause.
"But I would've come sooner."
He ran his finger through my bare chest.
That hit me harder than it should have.
I stepped back slightly.
Breaking the moment.
Breaking the tension.
"Don't say things like that," I rolled my eyes at his words.
"Why?" he asked playfully.
Tingling my side with the tip of his middle finger.
"Because it makes me forget who I'm supposed to be afraid of."
Silence.
His expression softened again.
Just barely.
"Maybe that's the problem," he said quietly while brushing off dirt from my exposed shoulder.
Before I could respond,
footsteps echoed in the distance.
Closer.
Faster.
Liam immediately shifted back into protection mode.
But his hand,
briefly, slightly, touched mine.
Just once.
A grounding touch.
Not ownership.
Not control.
"Stay close," he said softly.
This time,
it didn't feel like an order.
It felt like trust.
I hesitated.
Then slowly, I obeyed.
I stepped closer to him while he wrapped his hands around me for a while,
smiled deeply,
before letting go.
Not fully trusting.
But not running anymore.
And as his hand closed around mine again,
firmly.
steady,
warm.
I realized something terrifying.
I wasn't just being protected anymore.
I was starting to want to stay.