I swallowed. "Uh . . . I . . . I'm sorry . . ."

"I'm not mad at you! I just want to know what you did," He paused. "And how you did it."

"Er . . . you probably won't believe me."

"I'll try to, anyway."

I took a deep breath. I meant to speak slowly, but it all came out in a rush. "I'm cursed. If I touch anyone bare skin to bare skin I hurt them and I don't mean to but it always happens and sometimes it's enough to make people scream in agony and my parents told everyone I died and kept me locked in the house and tried to match me off to girls because apparently a girl who's like me can break the curse if they like me for who I am and when I touch someone I see into their mind as well and . . . and . . . and I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to hurt you! I'd give anything to have a normal life!"

I finally stopped and waited for his reaction. He looked like he was still processing everything I'd just said. "So, you saw into my mind?"

"Yeah."

"What did you see?"

The question caught me off guard, and he looked strangely desperate for my answer. "I didn't really see anything. But I heard voices."

Kendall nodded. "Did you run away because you were sick of being locked up?"

"Yes." I stood up. "I guess I'll see you. Maybe."

"Wait!" He grabbed my arm. "Where are you going?"

I sniffed, annoyed that I felt tears in my eyes. "I don't know. I guess I'll . . . I dunno."

"You can't go to another hotel. Your parents will track you again."

"I know! But it's not your job to worry about me!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He stood up too. "I care about you, alright? I do, probably more than I should, but that doesn't matter. I don't care if you hurt people! I don't care if you hurt me!"

I wiped my eyes, praying the tears wouldn't spill over. "You don't?"

"No. And I'm not going to let you walk out of here, alone and with nowhere to go."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" I almost screamed in frustration.

Kendall held out his hand. "Backpack."

"Uh . . . ok." I handed him the backpack. He walked to one of the doors of the apartment and opened it. "Come on."

I followed him through the door. "What is this?"

"What does it look like?"

"A . . . bedroom."

"Well, there you go. It's a bedroom. And it's yours, until you decide you get sick of me and run screaming out the door."

"Uh . . . thank you. But, are you sure?"

"Of course I am."

"Ok." I looked at him. "Shouldn't I give you something in return? I could . . . I don't know, help clean the apartment, or . . ."

"Or you could just kiss me again."

"Huh?" At first I wasn't sure I'd heard him right. "But . . . I'll hurt you."

"I said that I didn't care."

"I see into your mind too, though."

He swallowed. "I know. That's what I'm more worried about. But I trust you. Just . . . I didn't run away from you. Promise you won't run away from me either?"

"Why would I run? Are you a serial killer or something?" It was meant to be a joke but he didn't smile.

"Just promise me. Please."

"I promise."

He smiled at me. "Thanks."

I hesitated before pressing my lips to his again. It made my knees weak and I ended up pushing him onto the bed and lying on top of him to avoid falling on the floor. It was only my first kiss, but it was definitely the best one ever.

Then I saw his mind again.

"You might hate me for what I did, but I protected you."

"You're my mom; I could never hate you . . ."

...

"You wouldn't really tell her, would you? It would upset her so much . . . you're better off keeping your mouth shut . . ."

...

"Where do you keep disappearing to? And you're always so secretive . . ."

...

"You can't see her! I don't care if she's your mother, she's a bad influence on you!"

"What do you know? You've never even met her!"

…

"You're mom's a murderer!"

Kendall was shaking and whimpering quietly underneath me. I made to remove my mouth from his, but he wrapped his arms around my neck and kept me there.

"I don't care how much you hurt me . . ." he choked, even as a single tear slid down his cheek. "I love you . . ."

"I love you too."

I held his bare hands with my gloved ones and sat up. "But we should stop with the making out now. It's never happened before, but there's always the chance of me killing you."

He nodded shakily. "Ok."

He sat up too. "I guess it's a bit stupid, saying that I love you when I've only known you for like, a day."

"I actually feel the same. It's weird; I think I kind of fell in love with you when we met in the square."

He laughed and got off the bed. "Well, that's no surprise. Everyone loves my singing."

"And you're modest too!" I smirked.

"Oh, yeah. So modest."

I picked up my backpack. "I'll unpack now, I guess." Suddenly, a thought came into my head. "Hey."

"Yeah?"

"I've never asked anyone this, cos they never want to talk about it, but when I saw into your mind, did you see what I was seeing?"

"Oh." He frowned thoughtfully. "Did you hear a bunch of critical voices echoing around?"

"Yeah. I think one of them was James. The one that said you were really secretive."

He nodded. "Uh huh. I guess I can't blame him or Logan for getting annoyed with me. But . . ." He sighed.

I let out a shaky breath before getting the courage to ask. "Is you mom really a murderer?"

Kendall ran a hand through his hair, looking at the floor. "Yes. I . . . I'll explain to you later."

I nodded. "You don't have to, butt I'd like it if you did. I mean . . . I told you something I'd been desperate to get off my chest. You should do the same."

He nodded, looking more confident now. "I will." He looked at his watch. "But I have to go now. I'll be back in an hour, or something."

"Is this what James meant when he said you were always disappearing?"

"Yeah, and I'm sorry. I'll explain later. Bye."

He left the apartment. I sat on the bed, opening my backpack. I felt happy now. Even though the guilt at the pit of my stomach wouldn't go away, and I could still hear my mom calling my name.

I'm not sure how this chapter turned out. Anyway, give me your thoughts!