After a few days, everything goes back to normal through the day. Illyanna hardly lets me out of her sight. Not like it would stop Azazel from taking me again, and that is why I can hardly sleep at night.
I curl up against my headboard with The Maze Runner. The desk lamp is the only light on, but it's enough for me to read. I get to chapter twenty just as there is a knock on my door. I glance over at my alarm clock, it's 11:23, after curfew. No one should be out of bed now. I'm reluctant to open the door, I have no way of knowing if it's Azazel or not.
"Laikyn, It's me, Can I come in?" Nathaniel calls. I've been avoiding him a lot since I came back. Every time I see him, all I can think about is him being in my nightmare.
"Uh, I guess." I gulp and lay the book beside me as the door opens.
"Hello," he says. "What's up?"
"Just reading," I say, nodding towards the book.
"Ah, nice. I like Minho."
"Newt's my favorite," I say.
"I'm so sorry." He says.
"Why?"
"Oh, no reason. Anyway, can I sit?"
"I guess."
He pushes aside my blanket and sits. I stare at my lap for a minute.
"Hello." He says again, this time sort of awkward.
"Hi."
This is one of the first times we had been alone. The only other time was when we first met, any other time we're with Illyanna or Tyrone.
"How did you do it?" He asks finally.
"Do what?"
"Escape? There is no way you could have done it when Uncle Bobby had been there for five years without a successful attempt."
"Uh, I don't know."
"It seems almost impossible that someone could save both the entire group of Bamfs, and they're own butt with only a few weeks of training."
"Excuse me?" I say, "are you implying I can't take care of myself?"
"No, it's just-" Nathaniel freezes, obviously not sure whether to leave or make amends for what he just said.
"I don't need a prince to save me. I'm no damsel in distress. I was taken by a crazed demon guy, I did the most logical thing I could think of, I made allies!"
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way, you-"
"Yeah, try making up. Good luck with that." I snap. All the emotions I had been feeling in the past month is coming out. I felt almost nothing when I was in the afterlife, but when I got back, anxiety and fear have been a huge weight on my chest and now I feel like I'm going to explode.
"Laikyn…"
"Time traveled so fast there! I didn't realize I was there for a month. Nathaniel, I was there for over a freaking month and no one did anything! So I saved myself." tears pool in my eyes and I blink, causing them to stream down my cheeks.
Nathaniel looks at me with wide eyes. The shy girl is actually opening up, falling apart in front of his eyes.
"You definitely are not a damsel in distress. you are more of a Warrior, like uh, Tris, or Katniss." He punches me awkwardly in my shoulder. "Come on, does that get some brownie points? I only know who those characters are because you bored me to death by practically reciting their Wiki pages."
'Thanks." I wipe the tears from my eyes. He's obviously trying to make it up to me if he's using book terms. I'm all of the suddenly absolutely mortified about breaking down. "Sorry, you had to see that."
"Hey, no problems, Laikyn, I...I…" He pauses.
I scoot closer to him.
"One more thing," I say.
'Huh?" He rubs the back of his neck nervously.
I muster up all the courage I can, even more than what I needed when I was in the afterlife, and say. "I...I like you."
"Oh."
That isn't a good sign. He said Oh, like it disappointed him, Crap.
"Sorry, that was awkward of me." He starts. "But hey, I like you too, I just thought Tyrone was kidding when he told me you had a crush on me, like just getting false hopes up or something."
"Uh…"
"I like you too, like a lot. I just didn't expect you to chew me out one second then the next admit your feelings. Aw man, I'm being really awkward, I'm sorry, Laikyn." he gives me an apologetic expression. "So, are we like boyfriend-girlfriend now?" he adds nervously.
"I guess." I say, "I'm unsure how this works. Do we have to sign a contract, or make a blood oath, or is there another way to make it official."
I look into his hazel eyes, then I look down trying to figure out what to do now.
"How about this." He says. The scoots closer to me and puts his finger under my chin. Is this real life? I've seen this in movies but never realized this really happened! I get closer, turning my head slightly until our lips touch. His warmth spreads across my body, making me feel warm and tingly inside. He pulls away and looks down at his Yoda slippers. I look down too, knowing my face is red and a huge grin is washing across my face.
Then Nathaniel bursts out laughing. "I can't believe you wanted to make a blood oath. I think that was much better."
"Yeah," I say, "much better."
The next day.
Nathaniel finds me in the hall as I walk down to breakfast.
"Going to breakfast?" He asks.
"Of course, Silly," I say.
In the cafeteria, Nathaniel piles his tray with french toast sticks. I fill mine with a waffle and strawberries.
At the table, Tyrone is doing his best to throw donut holes into his mouth while Illyanna and Tandy ignore him. Tandy's long bleach-blond hair is draped over her shoulders and her gray eyes look like they should have the ability to pierce anything if she stares long enough. Yet, she looks softly at us as Nathaniel pulls the seat out for me. I glance over at him and he smiles.
Illyanna rests her head on her hand and I get the feeling she didn't sleep much last night, with all the exams coming up before Christmas break, she's been busy studying for all the classes she's stopped paying attention to halfway through. So, all of them.
"G'morning," Tyrone says in his fake Australian accent that gains a look from Tandy everytime he uses it.
"Hey." Nathaniel yawns into his juice.
Illyanna perks up and puts a grape in her mouth. "No offense, Laikyn, but you look awful, did you sleep at all?" The truth was no, but they don't need to know that.
"I was thinking the same thing, but I didn't say anything for fear that I'd lose my girlfriend after nine hours," Nathaniel says.
"Woah, what now?" Illyanna almost spits out her hot cocoa.
Tyrone actually does spit out his milk, "Hallelujah! They're finally together! Have you kissed yet?"
Tandy glares at him from across the table.
Nathaniel's face turns pink, do you want them to know? I hear his voice in my mind.
I don't care. I think, hoping he's reading my mind.
"Uh, yeah, we have once."
Illyanna blue eyes are almost as big as her donut. "No way!"
"Yeah." I say "Way."
To be Coninued.
Author's notes: So I figured it was time that they Nathaniel and Laikyn got together. The only problem was I wasn't sure how. I've never been in a relationship so I was basically walking blind into this. With the help of Divergent and a few blog posts, I was able to come up with this. Let me know what you think about it. Cheers!