Disclaimer: Own no one and nothing.
Summary: When he says he's leaving, she tries to stop him. But how can she, when he's stuck with this idea in his mind that she wants him dead?
Pairing/s: : slight angst, slight romance
Song/s: I Hate Everything About You, Three Days Grace
AN: As you can probably tell, I've deleted the lyrics and the stupid senseless AN. That's what I'm gonna do for them all.

Lisa stared up at the ceiling in her new bed, thinking about what she and her friends were doing. Gideon was in trouble—she had to save him from whatever it was that was following him. Because Lisa knew that the orb thing coming that night hadn't been a mere coincidence—it was chasing Gideon. It was aiming to harm and kill Gideon, in the most brutal way, and although Lisa hated to admit it, she had no intention of letting Gideon die. It was this love-hate relationship between them that had made her so determined to save him before the government agents appeared at his doorstep. Had it not been for the fact that she cared about him, he might have been stuck underground, with no food or water, in misery.

Lisa shivered at the simple thought and rolled over in her bed. In the darkness she saw Mia sleeping peacefully in the bed a few feet away from hers. Lisa wondered how Dax, Mia and Gideon could sleep so calmly, when she could barely close her eyes without a spirit talking to her. She hated this power so much. True, it was useful, but still…it cut her away from the normal world.

But it does have its uses, she thought. Again, thanks to it we got to Gideon…

The moment she thought this there was a thud from downstairs, a few curses muttered under an exhausted voice, and a noise almost like someone walking. Lisa immediately shot up in her bed, and looked over at Mia, but the girl was still asleep. Lisa got out of bed, and tip-toed out of the room. She glanced down from the rail to see a tuft of messy blond hair moving along the dark room, not-so-silently. But only she seemed to hear him.

She walked down hurriedly to see Gideon fully dressed an almost sad look on his face, with a bag over his shoulder. He turned around, his face at first panicked at the thought of who it might be. But it eventually turned cold.

'What do you want, Hardman?' he demanded, his voice curt and hard. Lisa glared at him.

'Where do you think you're going, you idiot?' she hissed, her arms folded. Gideon chuckled darkly.

'Where do you think, Hardman? I'm giving myself up.'

Lisa stared wide-eyed at him. 'You're...what?' she said, uncertain about what she had just heard. Gideon snorted.

'I told you—I'm leaving. I...my life's a mess now, you know that.'

'But you can't—'

'Yes, I can, Lisa,' Gideon said, raising his voice slightly, looking outraged. 'I...I'm followed by government agents at the moment' (Lisa winced at this, thinking that they were not his only problem) 'I'm putting you, Mia and Dax in danger, and my brother and sister are dead. It's my fault they're dead, Lisa. I can't stand the guilt, and you know that even better than they do.'

Lisa looked into his eyes and noticed the clear fear and hesitation. 'Please, Gideon,' she whispered. 'Don't leave.'

'Oh, that's a good one!' Gideon again laughed a mirthless laugh, unlike his real, easy-going one. It was a laugh which didn't fit his good-looking, now infuriated face. 'You hate me; you've hated me ever since we met! And now, all of a sudden you're all worried about me!'

'Of course I'm worried, you bloody idiot!' Lisa said.

'You hate me—I hate you, we shouldn't care about each other!' Gideon snarled.

They stood there, glowering at each other in the darkness, both of them clenching their hands in tight fists. Blue blazing eyes locked with equally blazing green eyes for a long moment, before one of them spoke. Gideon was just as, if not more, cold as before.

'Goodbye, Hardman.'

Suddenly images poured through her mind—images of her and Gideon, both scowling and bickering, both angry with each other. But also images in which they worked together—getting Mia to save that Caroline Fisher woman, to find Dax after Catherine washed away Tregarren, all those times in Owen's lessons...there were too many to count.

'No, Gideon,' Lisa said. 'You're not leaving anywhere.' And she walked in front of Gideon, blocking his way out. He scowled.

'Get out of my way, Hardman, or else,' he warned in a dangerous voice.

'I'm not going anywhere, Reader. And neither are you.' Lisa's face wore its same defiant, stubborn expression, one that couldn't be messed with. Gideon took a step forward, his face screwed up in concentration.

"Only when I stop to think about it..."

'You do anything, and I wake them up,' Lisa growled.

'You don't care about me—you never did. So what if I run away?' shouted Gideon, but only Lisa heard him.

'You absolute, damn idiot,' she shrieked, keeping her voice at the same volume as her. 'Of course I care about you! Haven't I told you this before?'

'Yeah? Well, I don't believe you!'

'You—you vain loser! Do you think I'd put myself through so much trouble to save you, if I didn't care?'

'I bet it was just some spirit which made you.'

Lisa couldn't believe it. After all they'd been through, after all Lisa was telling him now, he thought she was doing this just for fun or something. Didn't he realise she wanted—needed—to save him, or else she'd feel as empty as he was?

'Are you that stupid to think that?' murmured Lisa.

'I'm not stupid—I'm realistic. You're nothing but a conceited snob without any feelings,' Gideon said harshly. 'Now, shove off, before I do something I'll later regret.'

Although Lisa felt she couldn't have loathed him more than at this moment, she did not move, but glared at Gideon.

'I'm not letting you go.'

'See!' Gideon was so full with fury Lisa wondered whether something bad would happen. 'That's what I despise aboutyou! Your damn stubbornness—just let me leave!'

'Do you see? If I didn't care, I'd be out of here, letting you go.'

'Well, maybe you should.' Gideon's eyes suddenly fell on the floor. He continued in a low, pained voice, 'Because I don't want to harm you—or anyone else. I don't either of you dead. Hell, I don't even want you touched by one of those idiots.'

Lisa walked so close to him, that there was no space between them. He looked up, his eyes now wet and puffy.

'I hate you, Reader,' Lisa murmured. 'But I don't want you dead either.' He scowled for no reason now.

'It's just...I can't stand...' He looked away again, still scowling. 'I can't stand you. You're...I hate everything about you. Your face, your eyes, your hair, your life, your personality...most of all, I hate you for making me love you.'

'Believe it or not, Reader—' Lisa's voice was still soft '—it's the same here too.'

Gideon glanced at her. 'I don't believe you,' he muttered.

'No?'

'Well, maybe this'll convince you.'

And in spite of everything, Lisa kissed him. He stood there, awestruck for a moment, but was then kissing her too. The kiss was not gentle or soft, but fierce and demanding. A kiss expressing love and hate in so many different ways—ways only they understood and no one else did.

'Why must I love you?' Lisa asked, when they broke apart, yet their faces were still close. Gideon laughed, a more Gideon-ish laugh, and ran his fingers through her hair. He put his lips near her ear and whispered: 'That's what I wonder all the time.'

And they kissed again, this one even more passionate than the other.

Please review!

~Trippy