Sorry about such along wait for this chapter. I hope you all like it though!

XIII: Laia

It was a strange feeling to be this close to someone. If I concentrated I could hear the breathe escape from between his lips and the sound of his heart beating against his chest. Of course I had been close to other people, but never like this. Never before had I been freely allowed to gaze at someone up close, to watch the way their eyelashes flutter during a dream.

He has a single freckle on his right cheek, just below his eye. Compared to the rest of his skin is outstandingly imperfect. But you could only see it if your nose was close enough to graze his, and mine was. I hold my breath as I leaned in closer, eager to see if I could discover more. His eyes open and I am caught hovering over him like a murderer about to kill, but he smiles. He has a gentle kind of smile that makes me instantly want to melt into his arms.

Elias leans upward and presses his mouth to mine. His hands trail up my back and slip under the fabric of my top.

"Elias," I mumble and pull away ever so slightly. With swift movements he tilts his head to the side and smiles again. I notice his eyes sparkled in the morning light. Maybe it was something about the light layer of dew on the grass or the prospect of a new day. Either way he looks happier than I had ever seen him.

"Good morning," he sighs as if this was a casual endeavor.

"Good morning."

He starts to trace circles along my back in such a lazy way that it makes me sigh. Ignoring the forest around us, and the lack of an actual bed, it would be easy to imagine this as my life. Waking up next to him and to the feeling of his fingertips on my bare skin, however cold they were.

But this isn't my life, this isn't reality. Here we are only hiding from what is actually happening. Reality is cruel and mean and nothing like this.

His mouth is on mine again but I'm too caught in my head to focus on his touch. "Elias," I groan, tracing a hand down his single freckled cheek to break us apart.

"What is it?"

I give him a sad smile. "This… this isn't right."

His arms loosens around me suddenly I feel like escaping. His eyebrows scrunch together. "What do mean?"

"Elias, this isn't reality." Oddly enough, I feel the tension in my shoulders relax, but he still looks puzzled. "This, us, it isn't feasible."

"You don't know that."

"But I do!"

He draws away from me then and sits up forcing me retreat back to my own side of the 'bed.' Suddenly I'm cold without his touch. Elias stares at me, but I can't read his expression. It wasn't until now that I realized how hard it was to read his face. He could be excited right now or plotting a murder and I wouldn't know the difference.

"You don't know, Laia. You only think you do."

I was still lying on the bed, not wanting to completely wake, but at that I sit up, throwing the scruffy blanket away. "You don't know what I think!"

"Laia, that's not what I meant." He reaches out to brace a hand on my shoulder and I let me. "I just mean you can make more from life than you think." I feel the tension building again. "You think something's off limits, that you can't have it, but I've already proven that wrong."

I laugh and answer sarcastically, "Yeah and we're running for our lives because of it."

"Laia." I challenge him, eyebrows raised. "I'm just saying you don't need to throw this away so quickly."

"I don't want to."

"Then don't!" His other hand braces itself on my check, cradling my face. I lean into his touch. "Laia." His voice is like wind dancing over water. "Don't throw away a chance to be happy."

I want press myself against him again, to feel the reassuring warmth of his body so close to mine. His other hand moves so both are cradling my head like a delicate jewel. My voice quivers, "I don't think I know how to be happy anymore."

We don't talk much after that. Instead, we gather up our things in silence. But despite the quietness it doesn't feel awkward. It is calming, the silence. It gives me a chance to ponder what he had said and I have come to the conclusion that maybe he was right. We aren't hurting anyone, but that didn't mean someone wouldn't get hurt. There might come a time when our relationship is putting everything on the line, and what happens then. Would Elias stand by me, stand by us? Surely it would be better to end this now, but some part of me can't find the nerve to do so. I'm not sure if it is actual happiness or the prospect of it, but something about the idea of never kissing him again scares me more than it should.

I watch the back of his head as we walk. The main road is to our right meaning the river should be to our left, but I can't hear it yet; I long to hear it, the raging water and crystal steams. I imagine us setting up camp by the river. Me, tucked into a bundle of blankets watching the stars. Elias, cooking freshly caught fish on an open fire casting gentle smiles my way. We would spend the night kissing and staring at the stars, wondering what might become of us when the morning light shines.

I'm too caught up in thought to notice the sound of the water or the fact the rocky shore was down beneath my feet and I had lost balance. Elias's arm comes out to steady me before I could think to stop my fall. While I want to tell him the help was unnecessary I keep my mouth shut. If it wasn't for him I would probably be face down on the rocky shore. He looks me up and down, but doesn't say anything. I am thankful. Instead he turns back to the river and starts unpacking the water bottles that had ran empty yesterday. I follow suit.

The silence is eaten up by sound of the rapids rushing through the forest. If someone was to sneak up on us now it would be unlikely that we would hear them, and that made me nervous. I rush through filling the bottles, eager to stand and get a look around.

Where the river flows the tress part way and the sky opens up to look like a winding pattern of a snake. It's a clear day, not a cloud in sight. But that doesn't ease my mood. I thought seeing the river would ease some tension. I thought it would reassure me that we were on the right path; instead it has only created more tension.

I'm about to suggest me move on when a shadow passed behind the trees. It could be an animal, but I know it isn't. I don't know how I know, but I just do. Someone is out there.

"Elias we need to go now," I whisper harshly, only he is no longer at my side. The water bottles are over turned on their side and I watch as one drifts down the river getting crushed against the force of the rapids. Cautiously, I turn my back to the trees and stare at the opposite shore line where Elias struggles, a knife held to his throat by a Mask.