Hey! Thanks again everyone for the response :) This is a quick update because I felt so mean about the last one.. Couldn't just leave it hanging like that, you know? For that reason, this is more of a filler kinda thing.

THANKS EVERYONE! LOVE YOU ALL!

Please leave a review anyway, I'd really appreciate it, if its no trouble :) xx

Enoy reading! Hope I cleared things up!

Nora's Point of View

My chest ached. Pulsing lungs constricted by cloudy smoke still finding its way up my scorched trachea and through my lips. With watery eyes, sore from the polluted air, I curled my legs into my chest and wrapped my arms around them tightly, protectively. Resting the tip of my chin on my knees, I concentrated on the heady, mixed scent of worn leather and mint from Patch's jacket.

Heavy eyelids drooping, I felt myself slipping into sleep. A yawn escaped my mouth and I snuggled deeper into the soft contours of the jacket. It was so blissful. The manipulative fingers of unconsciousness reaching out to me, beckoning to me with velvety words, were all too inviting to resist. Their tender touch soothed the crackling fire in my chest, moistened my throat and stilled my spinning mind. Thoughts and ideas were silenced, subtly held behind walls in my mind while the fingers worked their magic, leading me deeper, deeper into the black ahead.

A final puff of threadlike, misty smoke drifted through my lips, and the fingers won.

"Angel, you can't go to sleep." I knew that voice. I knew that voice better than I knew any other sound. The familiarity of it briefly pierced my hazy conscience, but too lulled by the intoxicating smell and ease of pain, I didn't open my eyes.

Yet, the source of the voice persisted. He placed a cool hand to my warm cheek, using two of his fingers to sweep the hair splayed across my face away. The gentleness of the act made a smile tug on my lips.

"I know you're tired," he said softly, his chocolate voice as quiet as the wind. "But, you can't go to sleep. We need to make sure you're okay first."

I am okay, I wanted to say, I'm fine.

I vaguely heard him shifting around, repositioning himself before the air calmed again. I was under within seconds.

The voice wasted no time in bribing me back into the world. "Wake up." He insisted, stressing his point by placing a feather light hand on my knee. "You need to stay awake, Angel," he whispered. The concern in his voice made me uneasy. I wanted to scare it away, send it scampering to the hills.

"Can you open your eyes?"

Could I?

Wanting nothing more than to reassure him, I ordered my brain to slide open my eyes. Slowly, they inched back, and I cringed from the harsh light ahead.

Dark, almost black eyes filled my vision, and the worry there stole my attention instantly. Patch smiled, a genuine smile which leaked warmth into his expression. Head ducked inside the passenger side door, he allowed cool night air to trickle inside. "Sorry," he said in an apologetic tone. He carefully pried one of my hands from its strained position around my leg and kissed the palm. "I know you want to sleep, but it's not really safe considering you're filled up with smoke."

I nodded, understanding this, but still opened my mouth to foolishly request ten minutes more. Just ten minutes. That couldn't inflict any harm, right? Not with Patch sitting next to me.

The words formed on my lips, but my voice didn't come. A panicked look twisted my expression at the realisation. It was there. In the back of my throat, but parted my lips in a croaky wheeze. Noticing quickly, Patch frowned deeply. "It's just the after affects," he reassured us both, putting his hand back to my cheek. I leaned into it and sucked in a long, calming breath.

"Wait," he mumbled, abruptly pulling away and leaning across me. He snapped open the glove compartment and plucked out a bottle of water. "Drink this," he told me, untwisting the cap of the foggy bottle and putting it into my hands. The icy burn of the water on my parched throat jolted me further into consciousness. Hissing, I tore it from my mouth and almost threw it back at Patch.

"Nora," he said firmly, unsettling me with the use of my actual name. "Drink the water."

It hurts.

Patch ran a hand through his messy hair, an uneasy glint etched into his eyes. "It won't hurt after a while," he promised, taking my hand again to curl my steely fingers around the bottle. "It'll help get your voice back."

It better..

Gritting my teeth so much that they sparked, the nails of my free hand dug into the plush seat as I tipped the bottle backwards. It stung, is all I can say.

I disposed of the container by chucking it into the pitch black backseats and wiped the back of my hand across my face. Patch watched me studiously. He bent his leg at the knee and placed it just inside of the silent car, so that he was now tilting in further.

"How are you feeling now?" he asked, sincere eyes searching my face.

"Better," I admitted. The tone of my voice was scratchy, like I had smoked four too many cigarettes, but after the earlier fright, I was more than pleased with it.

Patch returned my smile, a smirk building across his face. "Head, shoulders, knees and toes intact?" he questioned seriously, though with a teasing sparkle in his eye.

"Check," I grunted.

"What's your name?"

"Nora Grey."

"Age?"

"Seventeen."

"Smartass," Patch drawled, winking. He put a finger to his chin in thought. "My name?"

"Patch Cipriano," I answered methodically, giving him a roll of my eyes.

He chuckled in amusement at that, shaking his head. I smiled tiredly while he sobered. "You're sure that you're okay?" he asked, lowering his voice so much so that I had to strain to hear him. When I did, I sighed. "I'm fine," I told him honestly, snatching his hand and squeezing it lightly. "Just tired. Can I go to sleep now? Or are you going to wake me up again?"

His expression wavered, switching between cautious and giving over and over. Finally, he let a breezy laugh leave him and tickle my nose. "If you promise that you're alright," he said. "Then you can sleep."

A grin flowered dramatically across my stiff cheeks. "I promise!" I cried, flinging my arms around his neck and yanking him close. The shout I instantly regretted because the sandpapery feel of my throat spiked, and I trailed off as a coughing fit took hold of my body. "Whoa," Patch whistled, cringing away with a sour expression.

"Hey!" I moaned, hands grappling at my throat.

He smirked hugely, sending jitters through the pit of my stomach, and patted my back.

Patch's Point of View

"Hey, Patch?"

I nodded in answer to her questioning tone as I climbed into the drivers seat, pulling the door shut behind me and pretending not to notice when she winced at the loud noise. Note to self, stay quiet around Nora for the next few days.

"Will you stay with me?" she wondered.

Turning to her, I raised my eyebrow. "Yeah," I answered, all too quickly. "Where else would I be going?"

Nora lifted a shoulder and let it drop feebly. After forcing an exhausted smile onto her pale face, she spoke. "Just in case I wake up and you're gone somewhere," she explained. "I don't want to have to freak out."

What the..? How did she..?

I fought the emotions on my face and in my eyes from conveying my secret thoughts. It chilled me how accurate and to the point Nora was sometimes. Like now, the way she was looking me straight in the eye. How her drowsy, soft expression was transforming into something much colder and harder, hinting to the fact she was on to me.

"Patch," she said tightly. "What are you thinking?"

"Nothing, I just-"

"You just what?" she snapped, instantly defensive. This shocked me slightly, normally we would beat around the bush for a full five minutes before getting to the root of the problem.

Dragging a hand down my face, I prayed that she would fall asleep right this second and wake up completely oblivious to our current conversation. Not my Angel, though. "Patch?" she probed, her voice a growing fire. "Tell me what you were thinking."

I sneaked a look at her, and was forced to swallow back my surprise. Her eyes were slits, condescending and judgemental as she glared harshly in my direction. As she was always on the mark with things, I decided it would be much better to stay as close to the truth as possible.

"I was worried," I confessed, jaw clicking because I hated admitting feelings and all that stuff. "It was my fault that you stayed in the hotel room," I continued, flexing my fingers around the steering wheel. "It was my fault you got hurt, so I figured I needed to-"

"So you were going to run away?"

My head snapped to the side to glance at her. "No!" I retorted, eyebrows all but disappearing into my hair. "I just thought.. I mean.."

"Spit. It. Out."

A draining sigh slid through my lips. "I couldn't keep you safe from a fire, Angel," I muttered, unfamiliar with my quiet, empty voice. "Even when a fire alarm went off."

There was a moment of smothering silence before Nora squealed in outrage. "So you took it upon yourself to take all the blame and play martyr and leave me?" she yelped, a series of different looks crossing her features- hurt, surprise, anger. Mostly anger.

I shook my head. "No. I was going to take you home and tell you there."

"Patch, it was a fire," Nora reasoned in a solid snap. "If I had died there, which I didn't, it was only smoke, it wouldn't have been your fault."

"No-"

"Listen to me," she growled. The response died on my lips as I met her unnerving gaze. She pursed her lips. "I'm always going to be in danger. Walking out my front door is dangerous." Her voice grazed on a hiss. "There's no changing it- being a human is dangerous. You need to realise that."

"I do-"

"And if you think you'll leave whenever you feel I'm in danger that you can't help, then do it now. Just go."

Nora's Point of View

Stupid, stupid, stupid, why! Why did he have to be so honourable and mighty?

"And if you think you'll leave whenever you feel I'm in danger that you can't help, then do it now. Just go." The words resulted in a gutted feeling in my stomach. I bit my lip, crossing my arms sternly over my chest.

Please don't go..

"Angel."

I felt him run his fingertips along my upper arm, meandering them down the material of his jacket until he reached my hand, where he laced his fingers through mine. He gently rubbed his thumb in soothing circles, leaving the atmosphere in the car heavy with unsaid, untouched thoughts. Looking at our twined fingers, I was sure that I trusted him. But still, I was terrified that.. that.. I was sure that I would crumble if he left.

"I'm not going to leave you," he said. Sliding my gaze from our hands to his face, I saw the truthfulness evident in his soulful eyes and open expression. And then, in a much quiet way, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for even considering it."

Just like that, the tense knots evaporated. The worry and well, fear, which was previously leaching my system, washed away in one go, leaving me with only pleasant emotions and tired eyes. I should have suspected of Patch that he'd blame himself. Silly boy, he didn't physically force me to stay in the room. Resisting the urge to roll my eyes, I hastily made a mental note to give him a serious talk on being melodramatic and then on never leaving me.

Smiling up at him, I scrambled like a wobbly toddler across the leather seating and tucked myself uninvited into his warm side. He brought his arm around me tightly and kicked out his legs. "We're good?" he inquired, resting his chin on my head as I cuddled myself into a ball, already seeking the confines of slumber.

"We're good," I mumbled groggily. He tightened his arm around me in an affectionate manner, and I fell asleep with a wide, goofy grin on my lips.

Sorry if it's so short, just wanted to clear things up. I hope to update soon enough! Hope you enjoyed, please leave a review if you can and have a great week everyone!

THANKS AGAIN! xx :) xx lots of love!