"That Should Be Me"
Following the events of the day Roman was disappointed. He had failed to discover why his father had the phone in the first place despite Lukas' best efforts. At the moment Lukas is rattling on about how he could set up the tracker to pinpoint the phone again, but Roman wasn't listening. He was albeit surreptitiously watching Emery, who had disappeared in the shadows of the parking lot with Grayson although Roman couldn't make out what they were saying.
When Roman looked up again Grayson and Emery were kissing, their heads close together lips seemingly moving in synchrony. Roman's heart twisted painfully. Although he had spent much of his time pushing Emery away from any sort of relationship he still cared about her-a lot. If their situation had been different, if their species weren't on the brink of war, maybe he could capture Emery's heart, but as things were he couldn't have his way and he knew that.
That should've been him bending to kiss Emery in the shadows.
That should've been him reaching up to run a hand through her hair to stroke the side of her face and down her jaw. He hadn't been that close to kissing her (not since he would allow himself to think of doing such a thing) since the night they had escaped in the forest… The night his father had died.
For a brief moment Roman allowed himself to think of a retreating future where he and Emery would be safe, where they could be together, but unfortunately at the moment, now was not the time. Grayson had the upper hand now and Roman could give it to him, despite the fact it wasn't what he wanted-it was the only choice he had.
"Roman, Roman, you all right man?" Lukas asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Roman replied softly, his voice dull. He figured Lukas didn't believe him, but at the moment he didn't really care.
Lukas frowned momentarily into the darkness.
"You want me to set up the ping again?" He asked.
Roman shook his head, his eyes still fixed on where he knew Grayson and Emery were standing. "No, don't bother, the car's long gone now."
"Well, I'm going to head out." Lukas stated and he nodded at Roman before slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
Roman barely registered the other boy's comment, but then he replied:
"Yeah me too… Got to go find Sophia."
He watched Lukas' departing figure retreating in the opposite direction before turning his attention back to where Grayson and Emery had been. They were now walking in the direction of Emery's car, Roman watching them silently as they disappeared into the darkness.