"Zach? Who's your father?"

x~x~x~x

CPOV

He didn't answer immediately, but that was expected. I repeated the question again, unsure if he heard.

The next second, his arms were around me, and I was pressed between the bed and his body.

But I flipped my body so that it was him who was trapped. I locked him in a steel grip. I was in absolutely no mood for making out with him.

That lying, deceptive sonuvabitch that was keeping something very important from me.

I had cracked the files...and it was Top Secret enough to be hidden in a Russian base.

But I. Didn't. Care.

He should've told me himself. If it was him who told me, and I had not figured this out on my own, I might've forgiven him. But he didn't.

I stared at him, rage barely concealed by my silky tone."Zach. You didn't tell me about your mother, but I still knew. Now you won't tell me about my father, but now I know everything."

Regret, shame, and guilt swam in his green eyes. "Gallagher Girl, please-"

But I didn't want to do anything for him, ever again.

My own eyes betrayed me. I shut my eyes as hard as I could to keep the tears from flowing. "Don't call me Gallagher Girl. Tell me the truth!"

"Fine!" He was mad now. He started fighting against my grip. "You want the truth? That I didn't know what I was doing? That I was just following orders? That if I didn't obey them I'd die?"

That did it.

I whispered coldly:

"Then you should've died."

"Cammie, I swear I had no idea I was supposed to do that - that thing."

"What, you couldn't kick a bunch of COC butts? I thought you could do anything. Except for saving my father's life, I suppose." I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I did save him." Zach turned the full force of his green eyes on me. "Did you know she told me -personally- that if I make a move, Ham would snap his neck."

Should I believe him? What if he was telling a lie?

And he'd lied more than his fair share of lies.

But what if he wasn't?

I settled on the less complicated question.

"Who's Ham?"

He didn't hesitate."One of her goons. Are you going to let me go now?"

"Not until I have the whole story." I tightened my grip.

He shifted uneasily under me."Okay. But can we talk outside?"

"So you have better chances at fighting me and running away? No thanks."

He sighed, as if he still didn't believe he could've done anything."I won't do anything."

Why, why, why even after the files was I still helpless when he uses his eyes on me?

The next thing I said was a slip of the tongue.

"Cross you heart?"

Childish. I know.

But he answered me anyway.

"And hope to die."

I let him go. I watched him warily as he got up from the bed and put his jacket on.

I put on mine.

He led the way to the stone door.

I shadowed him, a cellphone-slash-gun bumping my thigh every time I jumped.

The stone door wasn't open yet, but I knew it wasn't raining anymore.

We went outside.

x~x~x~x

ZPOV

Cammie motioned for me to sit on the grass.

She was still saying nothing.

I shook my head."No way. It's wet, you know, it just rained."

If looks could kill, I would've been dead, courtesy of Cameron Morgan.

Still, I couldn't blame her.

It was her dad, after all. And her parents were not like mine.

I sat on the grass. She sat down beside me, then said in a barely controlled voice:

"Tell me everything, Zach. And no jokes."

I smirked.

She glared."And kill that smirk."

I stalled. What she wanted me to tell her wasn't a good memory.

"How much time do I have?"

"Fifteen minutes."

I gaped at her."Fifteen minutes? How am I supposed to do that in fifteen minutes?"

She ignored me."Starting now."

I took a deep breath."She told me to shoot your dad so I could pass the stupid test, but I refused, so she did it for me. The end."

She grit her teeth."I want every word, you monster. Every word."

"But you said I only had fifteen-."

Her right hand twitched dangerously to her pocket. The gun.

I could tell she was in no mood to joke.

"Okayyy"I kept my tone nonchalant. After all, if I gave myself too much time to think, I might blurt out the story in the worst possible way.

As if Cammie wasn't already that mad.

I turned my eyes to the sun.

And I started talking, without interruption, except for the slightly too obvious, occasional glares she tasered right through me.

x~x~x~x

CPOV

He started talking.

"Five years ago, my mother took me to the main base."

He stopped, eying me to see what I was going to make of this.

I stayed silent.

"She took me to this metal room, and the first thing I noticed was the bloodstains on the floor."

Still nothing.

"She gave me a silver pistol, nothing special. Then she told me to shoot the next living thing I saw that wasn't COC. I didn't realize what she meant until the left wall moved.

"A man was bound in chains, still bleeding from the knife cuts on his arms and face. He glared at her, and if looks could kill, she would've been strangled, kicked, punched, shot, stabbed, drowned, suffocated, hanged, electrified, whipped, beaten, squashed, killed, many times over and over. By this man. Your father."

She stiffened, but was still silent.

"I refused to pull the trigger. I didn't believe in killing a defenceless person.

"She taunted me, threatened me, and tried a number of things to make me shoot him. But I didn't."

I stared at her pleadingly, trying to make her see my point of view.

She said nothing.

I continued. "After an hour of that, she laughed and told the whole operation that I wasn't yet ready for the test. That maybe I wasn't worthy to be her successor.

"The Circle is a monarchy. And when it comes to leaders, the Goode line is always present.

"I came close to being disowned. She trained me harder than ever. She hid her humiliation well, but I could always see she didn't forgive me.

End of story."

x~x~x~x

ZPOV

So, yeah. I told the girl I love about the worst thing I did in my life. Awesome. Not.

"That took seventeen minutes, but I'm willing to forgive." Cammie.

I stared at her like she was crazy. Who knows? Maybe she is crazy.

"What?" Me of course.

"I forgive you." She spoke the words softly, but I noticed she didn't meet my gaze.

I grit my teeth. I hate it when she pretends to feel differently so I'd feel better.

I said,"No, you didn't."

She glared at me, indecision clear in her violet eyes. "So what do you want me to do, then? Hate you for the rest of my life?"

I returned the glare. "If that's what it takes."

"I can't do that."

"You could." I ran my fingers through my hair, something I do when I'm incredibly frustrated."Jesus, Cammie, could you just stop lying and tell me what you really feel?"

That set her up. She stepped toward me. I backed away, trapped between a tree and her.

"You want to know what I feel? Fine! I feel like a bitch for making you tell me this, but also mad -at you- because you're her son, as if it was your fault! I feel like I'm being ripped apart! I hate that I have to choose you over everybody else, just because I fucking love you!"

Okay. The girl definitely needs her medication.

But. I felt a smirk growing on my face.

"You love me?"

CPOV

Wow. Oh, wow.

I just said I loved him.

I glanced at the smirk on his face, and stepped away from him.

Then the unavoidable words."You love me?"

If you ask me if I hesitated, I could lie and tell you I did.

But the unfortunate, sadistic truth is that I didn't even hesitate for a hundredth of a second. Not even close.

So I said:"Of course I love you, you stupid, lying, worthless, smirking, incredibly hot bastard."

He looked lost.

I understand. Kind of.

I mean, if you just confessed to a person that you almost shot her dad, and did nothing to break him out, but instead of that person yelling and trying to kill you, that person just tells you that she loves you, wouldn't you feel lost too?

I shook my head.

I've been here for almost three days. Maybe it was time to leave.

Perfect, the voice said Just why exactly are you doing this?

Because I needed time to think. Again.

Zach had sat down was sprawled over the grass, staring at the sunset.

It was kind of romantic, really; a waterfall, the sunset, and birds chirping on trees.

But now wasn't the time. Yet.

"Zach?" I didn't like my voice; it sounded like I was about to cry, but at the same time, strong, like my decision was already made.

Funny, because I just decided ten seconds ago.

"Yeah?" He looked up at me. His emerald eyes were heavily shielded. Guess he knows.

I kissed him softly on his lips.

He held me there, and when I pulled away, the mask on his eyes were gone. They practically screamed NO.

I tore my gaze away and left him staring at my retreating form as I walked towards the Cave.

"I'm sorry."I whispered to the wind, and willed it to send my message to him.

Whoa. Intenssseee.