~Two years ago~

He never thought about it, really—a life outside of Grace Field House. He didn't dare think about what he could've done outside past Headquarters. He didn't dare dream about a life where he could live peacefully when he knew about those damn creatures that would feast on his flesh the moment he was in their hands. He kept these useless thoughts at bay; they didn't do any good. After all, he had planned to kill himself on the night of his twelfth birthday. He was human—he wasn't anybody's food.

"Do you still want to die, you blockhead?"

It was a cold, hard slap—one that rattled his brain severely inside his skull—but oddly enough, it was warm at the same time. He could only stare in shock as she grasped onto his face and pierce him with those fierce, green eyes.

He allowed the kids to lead him outside, where the rest of his family stood waiting for him. With a numb mind and a bleeding ear, the only thing he was able to do was follow blindly the kids he had planned to abandon for the escape. He then looked back, wondering when she was going to come out of the house that roared with vicious flames. Was she going to be okay with Mom alone? The last time he had his eyes off her, she had her leg broken with one clean swoop.

No, not again.

Before he could turn around and go back towards the house, Don put a hand on his back and quickly hustled him along.

"Emma's going to be fine," Don assured him. He gave Ray one of his stupid looking smirks. "She knows what she's doing."

The only thing Ray could do was nod dumbly as he followed everyone through the forest.

Everything that followed seemed like a mere blur—a mere dream. He was supposed to be the tactician for this escape, but here he was, listening to the instructions of Thoma and Nat. These were the people he had planned to leave behind, believing that they would only be burdens. But here he was, the burden himself. Hand clenched at the bandage Anna skillfully placed over his wound, Ray couldn't believe what was happening. Did they know what the situation was? If they did, when? And how?

When all of them successfully took their first steps outside of Grace Field House past the cliff, a strange feeling energized his whole being. His eyes scanned the scene before him: siblings jumping for joy at their victory, Don and Gilda high-fiving each other, and the smile that Emma gave him.

I'm alive.

That night, he made his resolve. He was going to protect every single one of his family members, and in order to do that, he had to stay alive. He had to stay alive for them—for her. The demons almost got him, but this time, they weren't going to get as close ever again.

~Present~

"Ray, I'm scared."

Ray slowly closed the book in his hand and looked over to see the person who stood before him next to his bed. Emma, clad in her pajamas, had her hands clasped tightly together in a knot. At first, he thought it was a joke. It had been a while since he heard her say that; the last time was two years ago, shortly after they escaped Grace Field House together. The first night of sleep they had was uncomfortable and unfamiliar. For years, they lived under the perfect conditions to become the perfect meal, but their they were, on their own with the entire world at their disposal. It was no surprise that Emma was scared.

Wordlessly, she had crawled over to his sleeping bag, and wordlessly, he had let her in.

In front of her family members, she acted strong and positive, but once she was away from the eyes of the others, her fear was evident. And he knew of it since he was the only person who was allowed to see it—this vulnerability of hers. After all, Norman wasn't there for the past two years. However, this fear of hers was unexpected. They were finally safe—at least temporarily—from the demons in Norman's sanctuary. Just yesterday did they find out how their best friend was still alive, healthy and breathing. They should be happy, so why did Emma look so disturbed?

"It's late," was all Ray said as a response to her unexpected visit. He placed his book over on the nightstand and began to crawl out of his bed, but Emma stopped him.

"Stay. We can talk here."

Ray surveyed the entire room of sleeping children and gave her a questioning gaze. She simply returned it with a small smile. "They're dead asleep. It's been a tiring journey. Plus, I don't want to go outside."

"Sounds like you have something important to say though," Ray insisted, but his words went unheard as she sat herself next to him on his bed. He moved away by a good but unnoticeable distance. Having her close to him was not good for many personal reasons.

"Your birthday is coming again," Emma said. The topic was so random, Ray almost didn't take her seriously. "Fourteen, huh? Just two years ago, we wondered whether or not we would live to see a day past twelve."

"You're not wrong," he replied. And a small tinge of regret poked at him as he remembered that night with wild flames. "But," he bent over a little bit so that he could look her in the eye, "You're not here to wish me a happy birthday three months early, are you?"

Emma pouted at Ray's impatience and give a light shove by the shoulder. "Gee, you can never wait, can you?"

"It's late," he repeated his last statement. "What's bugging you?"

"… Nothing much."

"Then get off."

"You don't have any delicacy, do you?"

"Sorry that I'm not like Norman."

Fuck, he didn't intend to let that slip one out of his mouth. As expected, Emma immediately shot her eyes back to Ray's and gave him an incredulous look.

"What?"

He only clicked his tongue in irritation and pulled at his blanket—a gesture for her to go away.

"If you don't have anything important to say, then go back to sleep. Or talk to Norman or something. I'm sure he'll give you a listen." He didn't intend to say that either, but his mouth decided to run on its own tonight.

"You know I can't do that," Emma said sternly. An unknown emotion glazed her eyes, and even though Ray knew the reason as to why, he continued to question anyway.

"And why's that?"

"I…" she trailed, but never finished. She refused to answer him, and instead, hugged him in a way that caused the two to tumble down onto the bed as the springs creaked at the sudden action.

"Oi, Emma," he half-whispered, hands immediately flying up to her shoulders. She had done this many times before—hugging him out of the blue and snuggling inside whatever place they slept at—but they weren't kids anymore. A fire burned at the pit of his stomach as he gently tried to pry herself off from him, but she remained glued to his side.

"I'm scared," she whimpered once more. "I'm scared that we can't do what must be done before Norman initiates his plan. Total extermination… I don't want that at all."

Ah, it's still bothering her. Of course. Such a thing couldn't simply be solved with optimism, but… Ray sighed as he stopped trying to pry her off and simply rested his hands on her shoulders. He didn't dare move them anywhere else.

"Shouldn't you be happy that Norman was willing to listen and compromise?" Ray suggested, still a bit confused as to why she was still bothered to this degree. "We'll forge the new promise together, with everyone else. But that's not what you're scared about, are you?"

"Always observant. Even back at Grace Field House," Emma muttered. She released his hold on him, and right when he thought she was going to sit up, she instead flopped onto the side and lied next to him on bed. Ray uncomfortably scooched to the farthest side possible of their already-tiny bed and faced her as well. "What do you think… about Norman?'

"He's still a mastermind," Ray muttered, finding it not surprising that they would eventually talk about Norman as a person. "Just when we thought he was long dead, he shows up like this with a damn sanctuary for humans. Only he could manage to pull something like this."

"You think so?"

"Why wouldn't you think so?" Ray gave her a look that she always claimed as "scary." When asked for the reason why, she said something along the lines of him looking through her entire soul, which confused him greatly. He was just looking at her—there wasn't much to it.

"I just feel… odd," she said vaguely once more. When Ray continued to just stare at her, she spoke some more. "It just feels weird. Seeing him when we thought he was dead. But seeing him alive—of course I'm happy—but it also feels… weird.

"I would assume so since you and him back at Grace Field House… never mind." Ray caught himself from almost saying something stupid once more. Luckily, Emma didn't catch on.

"It's Norman that we see, isn't it?"

"Yeah?"

"But why… why does it feel like it isn't Norman?"

"Two years changes people, Emma."

"But I don't think you changed?"

Ray blinked at her bold statement and had to take a step back to process what she just said. Emma simply looked at him innocently, awaiting his response.

"That's different," he reasoned finally. "I've been by your side ever since we escaped. I don't think you could see such miniscule change."

Unbeknownst to Emma, he definitely changed—he saw it himself. No longer was he the boy back at Grace Field House. Now older and experienced, Ray saw how immature he was despite being intelligent way back then. With the new world ahead of them along with new physiological changes as well, Ray could feel his mindset slowly changing. He didn't want to use this word to describe him, but he felt himself becoming a gigantic softie. Emma was too contagious.

"No… I would see change if there was any."

"Yeah, right," he retorted back with an eye roll. This earned him pinch on the arm. "You wouldn't be able to see a demon fly right above your head unless someone pointed it out."

"I'm not that stupid."

"How many times do you think I saved your butt?"

"Many times."

Oh, he was not expecting that answer, so his heart lurched way up his throat. Emma smiled at him and laughed softly.

"What?" he asked, a bit agitated now.

"You've grown taller than me now, if you want to count that as a change."

She wasn't wrong. Two years ago, they were nearly the same height, but now, he stood almost a head taller than her. Only recently did she notice the change; he had been by her side for so long that she almost didn't realize how his body has changed over the two years.

"It's a natural change."

And his voice too… it wasn't smooth or soft anymore. It was rough, deep, and full of masculinity. His voice cracking phase was a good source of laughter, but now that his voice began to settle down, it was no laughing matter no more.

"Boys change faster than girls then, don't they?" Emma said as she only now began to realize how much he changed physically.

"Not really." At this very specific moment in time, Ray trained his eyes so that they would only be looking at her face and not at her slender neck, nor her feminine shoulders, nor her—

He failed to keep his eyes strictly on her face. But he made sure to make it only a fleeting glance so that she wouldn't notice.

"I never thought we would be in this kind of situation. Every time I think about it, I still think it's out of the ordinary."

Ray recognized this tone in her voice and knew what she was about to do: reminisce. It was something interesting he noticed about her ever since they escaped. Emma always used to think with her body first rather than her head, but now, it was odd to see her use her head more.

"It feels like it was just yesterday where we were happily sending everyone away to their new foster homes… and just yesterday that we discovered the horrible truth. And now we're here, somewhere far away from Grace Field House. Is Phil okay? How is everyone? It's… strange."

Ray's voice hitched terribly in his throat when Emma reached a hand out and started to trace the numbers on his neck with a finger.

"81194," she read softly. "Ray."

"Yeah?" His voice nearly cracked.

"One day… let's get these numbers removed. We aren't just some sort of number anymore… No, we never were a number—we were always human. After everything is over, let's get these damn tattoos removed."

"If that makes you feel better… but," Ray points a slightly-shaky finger to his head, "They'll always be imprinted here."

"I know, but… Hey, Ray." Emma continued to trace the numbers on his neck absentmindedly as if it was the most natural thing to do. She was not even the slightest bit aware of the effect her touch was having on him.

He couldn't take it anymore.

"Emma." He quickly grabbed her hand and pulled it away from his now-burning neck. "How about we talk about this stuff some other time? We're heading out tomorrow and we need all the sleep we can get. I'll be available in the morn—"

"No matter what happens, will we be together?"

Ray was stupid enough for a second to believe that she was referring only to the two of them until she continued speaking. "You, me, and Norman. Will we ever be separated? We were separated once, but will we be separated again?"

"There must be someone out there rooting for us to stay together for us to reunite like this. All we can do is do the best we can. No use worrying about it. For now, we're together," Ray gruffly explained. The topic of Norman always irritated him for some reason. No—it wasn't just some reason. He knew what the reason was, but to hell would he ever voice it nor acknowledge it.

It's just Emma.

That was what he always kept trying to tell himself. It's just Emma, the same Emma he grew up with all his life. However, he didn't know when she became someone who wasn't just Emma. She was Emma, the girl he, over the years, began to…

He had read many, many books about growing up, and the things people did when they grew older. He highly doubted this girl knew much about the subject, hence this touchiness she always treated him with. If only she knew… she wouldn't be casually touching him like this.

"I'm scared that I'll lose something this time," she continued, completely disregarding his wish of talking the next day. But he didn't hold it too much against her. She couldn't stay positive one-hundred percent of the time—it had to be released somewhere, her anxiousness. "We lost people when our shelter was discovered. And now, for the sake of the demons—the same demons that wants to eat us—we're going to do something crazy, aren't we?"

"You're always doing something crazy, I don't know why you're so surprised," Ray gave her a small smirk, earning a small pout from the girl. "But…" He noticed a small strand of hair that stood annoyingly across her face and pushed it away with a finger without thinking. "I've been following your stupid butt for the past two years. If we're going to do stupid shit, we're going to do it together. With everyone. And with Norman too." He added the last part just for her sake. He didn't understand why she was staring him with slightly-wide eyes until he noticed how his fingers were skimming the skin of her cheek.

"Ray—"

"Sorry," he muttered as he pulled his hand back to his side. Have some self-restraint, Ray, he chided himself. He checked the clock hung on the wall and clicked his tongue once more in annoyance. Sleep was precious—since he didn't know when the next time he'll have good sleep will be—so he sat up from the bed and jerked a finger towards Emma's bed. "I swear we can talk tomorrow. Just—"

"Do you know what I'm scared of the most though, Ray?"

"Emma, I understand, but—"

Ray found himself pulled back onto the bed before he could finish what he wanted to say. Emma suddenly took the blankets and threw it over them, immediately shutting fresh air from being breathed in. Ray nearly wanted to yell, but he held himself back from it when he remembered the other kids sleeping. He could see the faint outlines of Emma's figure hovering above him as the blankets stood as a tent against her back.

"Do you want to tell me what you're doing?" Ray calmly whispered, but he was anything but calm. He could feel the skin of her thighs through the thin layers of his clothes, and her face was way too close for comfort. He could see the brilliance of her green eyes despite the darkness that surrounded them.

"I don't know, horseplay?" she answered back in the same manner. "Since you won't listen to me." He sighed—her scared self suddenly switched with her playful self. He wasn't going to have any of it at this time of day. Not when they had a huge journey to go on tomorrow.

"I'll listen to you if you get off of me."

"No, you won't. This whole time, you've been trying to get me to go to sleep."

"Okay, fine, tell me what you want to say right now then," he exasperated. He was so glad it was dark, or else she would've seen an unsightly color on his face.

"I have one thing to tell you, Ray."

"Yeah?"

He waited for her to say what she had to say, but he got caught off guard when her slender hands suddenly cupped his face.

"You absolutely cannot die," she half-whispered. It was then that he heard the pain in her voice. "You cannot, cannot die."

"That's kind of out of my control," he half-joked. Of course, he had no plans to die, but would fate let him carry out his plans smoothly? Too close have they bordered along the fine line of life and death; it would only be a matter of time until one of them unintentionally tipped over the other side.

"Then make it under your control," she hissed, scaring him a little bit. Ray didn't expect her to suddenly freak about this. Death was something that could possibly welcome them every day—any second—so why was she acting like this? It wasn't a new revelation or anything. "You absolutely cannot die."

"Absolutely? Stupid, does it look like I'm going to die anytime soon? I have a higher chance of dying within your hands than to the demons. I get it, so get off."

"You don't get it."

Ray felt his eye twitch in irritation. "I don't get what I'm supposed to get."

"You're supposed to understand that I don't want you to die." What the fuck?

"I'm not deaf—I heard you loud and clear. We don't want anyone to die here. No one wants to die—and no one will die. Not anytime soon." He grabbed her by the shoulders once more to push her off, but she remained stuck like a heavy boulder. "I think you're just tired. The night time gets you thinking about bad things like this, but the morning will make it go away. And you… can't sleep here." She definitely cannot sleep here. Not on this tiny bed.

"Of course, I don't want anyone to die, you blockhead!" Once more disregarding what he was saying, Emma said this at full volume, causing Ray to slap a hand over her mouth.

"Quiet down, why don't you?" he whispered harshly.

"I don't want anyone to die. I don't want anymore of my family to die. But most of all, I don't want you to die."

"Emma…" The harshness in his voice immediately went down to softer levels as he gazed at her emotional eyes in the dark. He could feel the hands that cupped his face tremble ever so slightly, and it was then that he realized that the fear she felt was strong.

"Losing Norman was already so painful," she confessed. The mention of Norman once more caused him to feel a twinge in his chest, but he kept it at bay. That was one thing he could relate to—the feeling of loss of his best friend. "I can't lose either of you anymore, knowing how far we've reached to be here today. I wouldn't be able to stand it."

"We're here alive and well. Both me and Norman. So don't—"

"But the one thing I absolutely cannot stand is losing you. So please," Emma buried her face into his chest, allowing the blankets to collapse onto both of them once more. He could feel a tinge of wetness the instant she clung onto his shirt. "Please don't do reckless things. I know I should be saying those words to myself, but…"

"Emma?" He frowned to himself, confused at the possible meanings behind her words. She made it sound like as if he was special, that his death would be the one that would bring her to ruins—not Norman's or anyone else's.

"You've been by my side all these years, and these past two years have been so important. I don't know what I could've done or where I would've gone without you. The more you accompany me through these dangerous journeys, the more scared I get. Scared that our progress has all been for naught with the deaths of everyone, scared that we won't be able to succeed in what we plan to do.

"Scared that I'll lose you. So you absolutely cannot die on me, Ray. Promise me."

"I can't promise you on that," he said sternly. He wanted to promise—badly did he want to. However, this sort of thing, he could not promise. It would only hurt more. "But I can promise you one thing." He tentatively laid a hand on her head and stroked her hair in small movements.

"I'll protect you and everyone else. No one's going to get left behind. Never again. And one day, when all of this hell is over, we'll go back to Grace Field House, rescue Phil and everyone else, and live the lives we want. Until then, I'll try my best to be alive."

"I'll be the one to protect you, idiot."

Ray held in his laughter. "Whatever you say."

"We have to seal this promise," she said, her childish self coming back to annoy Ray. "I don't trust you."

Ray honestly felt offended at this. "Do you seriously not believe me?"

"I don't know, you're pretty shady."

"Excuse me?"

"You always had cards up your sleeves. From being Mom's spy to your suicide attempt—I have good reason not to trust you completely. Who knows what you would pull in a dangerous situation?"

"It was all with good intentions," he argued, but he couldn't help but see her point in this. God, I was a troublesome kid back then.

He sighed when he remembered what time it was once more. With another big journey ahead of them, they couldn't afford to waste hours of sleep like this. "Alright, you done?"

"Can I sleep here?"

"No," Ray said with extreme firmness. "I don't want your body hogging all the space on this already-small bed. Get off."

"Okay, fine," Emma whimpered as she detached herself from his chest and propped herself back up with her arms. "But one last thing."

"What is it now?"

Without another word, Emma shot up a hand and covered his eyes unexpectedly, causing him to let out a sound of complaint. "Emma, I'm seriously not playing with you right no—mhm…"

A huge flare of fire spread through every single limb in his body as he felt something soft press against his mouth. It was an unfamiliar feeling, but at the same time, Ray knew exactly what it was without fail. His exhale came out as extremely ragged as his mind struggled to accept what was happening to him.

She's kissing me.

Before Ray could react to anything, Emma pulled back slowly and uncovered his eyes.

"Sorry. Promise sealed. Good night," Emma said quietly in a very hurried manner. Finally, the two of them breathed in fresh air when she pushed the blankets off of them in one swoop. "I'll see you tomorrow. Get a lot of sleep tonight."

When Emma sat back up to leave his bed, it was Ray's turn to pull her back towards him. She didn't have time to react before he pulled her down by the back of her head and connected her mouth with his once more.

It was a very sloppy, unexperienced kiss, but it was enough of a kiss to cause the both of them to feel like jelly. Emma collapsed back onto the bed, legs unable to support her anymore. At this sudden movement, Ray broke the kiss and learned how to breathe again.

"Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

"I-I'm okay," Emma stuttered horribly as she stood back up on her knees. Under the dim flames of the candles, Ray could see how much she burned red, but he doubted he was any better.

"You have a lot of explaining to do," Ray breathed unevenly, unable to read the girl's mind. "I expect one by at least the end of this damn week. And I'm going to stay alive to freaking hear it."

"That's one way to get you to survive," Emma squeaked.

A groan escaped from one of the children as he stirred awake, breaking the awkward atmosphere between them. Ray ran a hand through his hair in irritation—he definitely wasn't going to get any sleep now.

"Go back to your bed. See you tomorrow. We got a big day ahead of us," he ordered as he shooed her away with his hand. "Go, go."

"Alright, alright," she squeaked once more as she got off of his bed. Her legs almost gave in once more as she tripped on plain air. Once she stabilized herself, she scurried back towards the direction of her bed, leaving an utterly confused Ray to just watch her slink back to her corner of the room.

Ray flopped back onto his bed, unable to let what just happened to sink in peacefully.

Where in the world did she learn how to do that?

He pulled the blankets across his body, but he didn't even need them—his body was already burning enough already. Heart thumping crazily in his chest, there was no way he was going to fall asleep like this.

Emma and her unexpected actions—they were going to kill him faster than the demons.

So many questions swirled in his mind. Why? How? When?

But he decided to bury them deep in his mind for later. After all, he was going to stay alive to hear the answers to his questions by the end of the week—he was going to make sure of it.

So, uh, to those of you who have read this before at another certain site... Surprise! Found out they finally had the Promised Neverland on fanfiction (where I was originally going to post it). But since they didnt at the time, I just posted it elsewhere :))) Enjoy~