"Chloe. Chloe, wake up."
Voices. That was all she could register. Just voices amidst the endless darkness.
"Oh my god, is she really okay?" The voice was feminine and slightly high-pitched, obviously distressed.
"They said she'll be fine."
"But it's been three days!"
"Listen to me, Amy." This time, the voice was cool and serious, firm and soothing all at the same time. "These people know what they're doing. She'll be okay."
"But—"
A sigh. "She needs the rest, especially after everything…"
"Have you heard from Alek?"
"He's still looking."
"I can't believe…This is just all…"
"I know."
"I think I'm falling in love with you."
She was there again.
She didn't really know how or when or why, but she was.
She was standing all by herself under the faint light of a single lamp post. As she inhaled the fresh ocean breeze that blew her way, she looked around—at the bridge, bright and majestic and full of life as always, and at the water, shimmering endlessly under all the city lights.
Then, finally, she closed her eyes, and she remembered. His smile, their late-afternoon talks over cups of coffee and plates of madeleines, how he told her—right at this very place—that he was falling in love with her…
It hurt. It always did. But, somehow, she preferred the pain over the numb emptiness she was slowly getting used to.
Before she knew it, she was running. Running until her legs were aching and her lungs were burning—until the pain she felt was finally more physical than emotional.
But she was tired. She was so, so tired of running away.
It had been three weeks. Three weeks since the first time she had woken up at the hospital and wished she hadn't at all. Three weeks since being awake had somehow begun to terrify her as much as falling asleep did. Just three weeks. That was all it took for absolutely everything to change.
They were gone—Brian and Valentina and Jasmine—and it was all her fault.
She was supposed to be the savior but, when it really came down to it, she had ended up being anything but that.
She began running even harder, pushing off the ground with more force than ever before. She started to clench her fists tighter and tighter and tighter, until her nails were digging as deep as they could into the palms of her hands.
Then, like always, she heard their voices, intermingling, in the back of her mind. Brian's and Valentina's and Jasmine's.
But, on that dark, chilly night, something happened for the first time in three weeks—something that was extraordinary and out of the blue and unexpected. Though, later on, after giving everything more thought, she found that what happened next actually didn't surprise her at all. As if, deep down, she knew it was bound to happen all along.
She was just running against the wind as she usually did—eyes closed, with the adrenaline quickly and steadily taking over her system—when she found herself crashing into someone's chest.
For the first time in three weeks, she was being stopped.
Suddenly, someone was pulling her in, and she felt arms—firm and steady and warm—wrapping around her.
She knew who it was, without even having to give it a single thought.
It wasn't until then, with her face buried in his soft, cotton jacket, that she realized she had actually been sobbing uncontrollably; nearly screaming, in fact. In an attempt to control her unsteady whimpers, she breathed in his scent; something that she hadn't encountered in over three weeks.
He was back. Just right on time, as always, to catch her as she fell.
She knew she didn't deserve this - him doing this for her yet again - not after everything, not after what she had done to him.
For now though, she'd just be grateful.
A/N: Hi guise. ;D Thanks for reading. HAHAH. Um, so I'm just trying out this idea I had..but because I'm an idiot, after writing this chapter, I suddenly got lost. T_T That mindfudge of a finale really is freaking hard to follow. :| I'm pretty proud of this chapter though :3 and more reviews will make all the unicorns and giraffes and narwhals explode with joy! and doesn't that sound nice?[: