Thou this chapter may be short in length it was very hard to write. I hope I properly captured Laia and Elias in this 'interesting' scenario (insert winky face). Here's hoping you all enjoy and don't forget I love to hear feedback!

X: Laia

He sleeps with one hand tucked under his head, his fingers disappearing between locks of hair. The other hand stretches out in front of him, almost like he is supposed to be holding someone. His legs stay mostly together and slightly bent, only detaching at the knee for the left to reach out mirroring his out stretched hand. The best part is his face. It's calm. Relaxed.

It's too late by the time I notice his eyes are open and he has been staring back at me.

"What is it?" he asks as if my staring is a casual occurrence. His voice is rough and I'm reminded that he just woke.

"Nothing," I mutter, but I trail off at the end of the word. He doesn't look convinced. I'm not even convinced.

"You were staring." Elias looks me up and down. "Is there something on my face?" he asks jokingly.

I shake my head quickly and he smiles. "I was just thinking."

"About what?"

I immediately think about lying, to tell him something about Darin, but instead I tell the truth. "I was thinking about the fact that you looked at ease." His smile starts slowly but quickly grows until it illuminates his entire face. "You always seem to be tense or on edge but when you're asleep… You look different."

"How so?"

I do my best to smile back despite my nervous energy. "There's a crease," I lightly drag my finger between my eyebrows, "between your eyebrows that always seems to appear when you're nervous, but when you're asleep it disappears." Elias blinks and watches as my hand drops back in my lap. The early morning sunlight makes his eyes shine. "And your nose crinkles up when you're ready for a fight."

Elias chuckles. "Crinkles?"

"It scrunches up," I explain half laughing. He brushes a finger across his nose and smirks.

"I never noticed that." I stop myself from making a smart ass comment. A comfortable silence drifts over us. Elias drops his hand and lays back down, this time flat on his back instead of on his side facing me. His hair is ruffled and – no. I stop myself from thinking about his hair, or his smile, or gods forbid his stupid beautiful eyes. Instead, I turn my back completely from him and start packing up the food we didn't eat last night and the med kit. Daylight is upon us, it's time to get moving.

"How are your hands?" Elias calls. I don't turn back around to address him.

"Fine." It's a lie. The pain kept me up most of the night and even when I did manage to fall asleep I would wake up in fear of my skin burning off. "How's your cut?"

I hear rustling and assume he is checking the wound. "Healing nicely, bandages need changing though." The thought crosses my mind to offer to do it for him, if only to feel his bare skin again. Instead, I toss a ball of bandages over my shoulder without looking back. "Thanks."

"Alright, everything is packed up so we should get moving again. We lost a lot of travel time, but I think we can make it up if we move quickly. There's a trail a bit West of here that a lady at the market mentioned that could help us avoid the - ," I stop mid sentence after turning around. Elias has stood up and stripped off his shirt. He glances up from rewrapping the bandage around the lower part of his torso and I quickly have to avert my gaze.

Oh shit. I'm in deep shit.

"Avoid what?" I keep my gaze on the cave floor trying to find something to do with my hands, anything as a distraction.

"Huh?"

"You were talking about a trail," Elias mutters. I steal a glance at him. His muscles are flexed- of course – and he's attempting to wrap the end of the bandage around this back. Elias's entire bare chest is glowing in the morning sunlight.

Deep shit.

"Laia?" My eyes shoot up so quickly I worry they might have fallen out.

"Yeah!"

Elias is smirking. His arms dangle at his side, the remaining bandage wrapped in a messy knot in his left hand. I force my gaze on his face, on the place where the crease will inevitably form. "You were saying something about a trail."

"Ah yeah, the trail." All my nervous energy starts to overflow resulting in me awkwardly rocking back on my feet. "The lady said it would, ah, let us avoid the main road. At least for a little bit."

He nods and thankfully doesn't say anything about my strange behavior. Of course I've always thought Elias was attractive, especially in a different way from Keenan. Whereas Keenan was lean, Elias is all hard muscle; tough muscle that has been crafted and built for battle. It sends a shiver up spine to think he was trained and created to be the perfect warrior. All of a sudden, I can't manage to fill my lungs as Elias turns around to grab his shirt and I'm staring at his back; his scared back.

"Elias," I whisper, fearful to even move. The long lines of scars trace paths down his back in every way. Some look older and re-healed multiple times and some look fresh; maybe even as new as a few days ago. He spins around alarmed, the shirt falling from his hands forgotten. I whisper his name again because it's the only thing I can think to say. Elias just stares, uncertain what to make of my outburst. He takes a hesitant step forward, a hand outstretched.

"Laia? What happened, is it your hands?" My head whips from side to side so fast I'm surprised it's not rolling on the floor.

"Your – your back," I mumble between the fingers pressed against my gaping mouth.

He stops in his tracks and stares. The crease forms once again and the irony almost eases my tension. "It's not a big deal," he says slowly making sure his words soak in.

I just about laugh. "How can that not be a big deal?" His face falls.

"It's just not," he rubs at his neck and I realize he might feel awkward talking about this. "It was how they kept us in line at Blackcliff."

I gap for a moment before shutting my mouth. "Elias, I'm sorry, I didn't know."

"Just forget it alright," He grumbles, quickly pulling back on his shirt. My heart drops.

"Elias," I mumble. He turns around and starts packing up the rest of this things but I know it's just a distraction. "Elias, please, I didn't mean to embarrass you or -."

He twists around so fast I stumble backwards to avoid being knocked over. "I'm not embarrassed by them and I never have been. But I don't need you looking at me like I'm some fragile thing now. I don't want you to look at me now and only see the scars, because that's all they are. They are scars, that's it. They don't make me weak so stop looking at me like I might break."

I swallow through my dry throat and feel my heart start to sink lower. "I never meant that. You're not weak, Elias." He has turned back to packing up equipment. "Elias." My hand reaches out without me thinking and there it stays frozen above his back.

"That's what I mean," He bellows turning around and snatching my wrist. "You're too afraid to touch me now. What do you think I'm going to fall to dust?"

I can't think. I can't muster up any words of kindness or forgiveness so I do the only thing I can think of.

I kiss him.

Quick Note: Does anyone have ideas about the 'girl' in Elias's vision from last chapter? I would love to hear your theories. Some hints were dropped in that chapter and others that might reveal who it really was. Hope you all have a lovely day and let me know you thoughts