Marie is better, and now finds herself becoming closer to the people around her. She finds herself between a rock and a hard place though, will she spill the beans or keep her lips sealed?

Chapter 3: Safe With Me

The couple of days turned into a week and a half by the time Marie had healed. She had a few bruises here and there, but most of the major injuries had disappeared and she was able to walk properly again. She even began to take care of the cleaning and cooking around the bar to make up for the room and broad Vander had so graciously provided for them. The couches were enough to accommodate the two, but before anyone would be awake, Marie would help Lia to get dressed and clean up the living area. She'd fold the blankets, grab a few papers and draw and teach Lia the best she could. Frankly, it was a lot hard without a voice, so when Marie would want her to say something she'd play a game with her in order to get the goal she was hoping for her daughter.

Lia may have had a few issues with speaking full sentences and could become very distracted when sitting for long periods of time, but Marie knew her to be very clever, and a sweet girl all around.

That morning was a bit different though. This time, Vander was up before her, and had walked out yawning into his hand when he suddenly noticed the two girls sleeping on the sofa.

Marie had fallen asleep with one of their many books laying on her chest while Lia was laying on the other side taking up most of the couch. He chuckled to himself resisting a smile, quietly covering her with the blanket that had been draped over her legs, but when he did he couldn't help but admire how peaceful she appeared. He took in her features, her brows, lashes, cheekbones, her prominent nose and soft rosy lips, every part of her was captivating. Yet, something was still troubling him.

He hadn't asked her about the note she left him and she hadn't made any mention of it. It was odd, he really had no reason to be alarmed and he didn't feel threatened by her. She hadn't even threatened the kids or hinted at any malicious intent, so, why didn't she want Grayson to know about her? So many questions ran through his head, but he wanted to wait until she was healed all the way in order to ask her what's been on his mind. I should ask her already. It's time to stop beating around the bush.

After realizing he had been gazing for too long he shook his head and sighed, promising himself he would get the bottom of this, today.

He was about to leave when suddenly he noticed someone was sitting up and looking at him without a sound, "Oh, hey kiddo! You're up early." She didn't say anything and closed her eyes making Vander chuckle softly, "It's okay, I know I look big and mean, but I promise, I'm not." Marie had told him that with a lot of people she just closes up like a clam and will close her eyes so she doesn't have to speak to them, even under stress, Lia did the same thing. So with a gentle smile he nodded and looked at the sleeping Marie, then to Lia, "Say, why don't we let mommy sleep for a little longer, and you and I can make some breakfast, yeah?" Lia didn't open her eyes but she smiled and nodded. The smile was forced but he didn't mind, to her he was still a stranger, and he needed to earn her trust, "Whatcha hungry for, hm? I got a lot of yummy things to try, you want to try them with me?" She nodded again, and this time opened her eyes to him, "Alright, let's go." He sounded excited getting her to be the same and walk with him to the kitchen with her strawberry bag in her hands.

Once she was seated he picked out a few things and sat them on the table in front of her, "So, we have sweet toast, or we can make eggs and potatoes, which one looks good to you?" Lia looked between the ingredients and immediately picked the sweeter option, "We have a winner." He quietly praised before putting the potatoes away, and then bringing the rest to the counter never the oven to prepare it, all the while Lia had pulled out her figurines from her strawberry bag and began to play.

Throughout him making breakfast Lia just played there and waited patiently for the food, and once it was done Vander placed a plate in front of both of them with two cups of milk. Lia then wasted no time consuming the sweet toast, "Good?"

"Mm-hmm!" She nodded but too into eating to do anything else, but he didn't mind at all. He then noticed the figurines she had and asked if he could see one. She nodded shyly, and he used a thumb and forefinger to hold it to his face, "Well, that's a funny little fellow."

"No." She said getting Vander to look down at her in surprise.

"No? Is he not funny?"

"No." She pouted.

He could tell she wasn't into lighthearted jokes, that or she didn't understand he was merely doing that, either way Vander merely nodded and smiled at her, "Does he have a name?"

"Branch."

"Branch, huh? Okay." He then placed the toy on the table and started to make a hitch pitch voice, "Hello there my name is Branch. Will anyone come play with me. What about you little girl?Would you like to be my friend?" Lia tried hard not to smile, unsure of how to react until it became too much. Between Vander making silly voices and him having the character slip and fall and jump up and down, Lia couldn't resist and giggles came rising from her little belly. She picked up one of the other characters and began to do the same, "Hi!" She said gleefully, "Hi, hi!"

"Well hello! What's your name?" He said, still in a playful tone.

"Poppy!"

"Poppy? What a lovely name! Say Poppy, what would you like to do for fun?"

"Hide and seek!"

"Uh-oh, I think we might have to wait a little bit longer to play that game." His voice had quieted to a whisper as he said this, "But, we can draw a picture. Would you like to draw?"

"Yes."

"Alright! I'll go get a few things for ya." He stood up to grab a few of Powder's crayons and paper, and presented it in front of the girl, "What should we draw?" This time he spoke with his normal tone, his throat unable to keep up the voice for long, but Lia didn't seem to mind, instead she got straight to work, and began to draw out a rainbow with biddy eyes, a small cheek to cheek smile and blue clouds for feet.

"It's very colorful, Lia. You'll be a pro in no time. " He was so busy looking down at the picture that Vander hadn't noticed Marie marveling from the doorway while watching both of them interact with one another, a smile plastered across her face.

To see Vander treat Lia with tender care was such a wholesome thing to see. She didn't want to spoil the moment, but just as she thought of walking away, Vander had already noticed her, "Hey, good morning sunshine. Got some food for you if you'd like." She ran her fingers through her hair removing some of it from her face before sitting down at the table with them, and gently kissing Lia on the forehead.

Lia grinned up at her mother and then showed her the picture she had drawn, "Mama!" They both looked over the picture and Lia pointed her little finger to the top of the rainbow where she had drawn cat ears, "Look!" She said it proudly and leaned into her mother with a snuggle. Marie wished she could say how good it looked to her, but all she could do was smile happily and hug her, rubbing her shoulder for support and comfort.

"Here you go." Vander placed a plate of sweet toast in front of her, and with a silent 'thanks' she began to eat. It wasn't long though before Vander couldn't restrain himself from asking what had been on his mind, "Can we talk?" Marie cocked a brow at him freezing in mid chew when Vander realized how that sounded and chuckled under his breath, "You know what I mean." Immediately his expression changed, and his face formed into a serious one, "I've been meaning to ask you about what you wrote, if you catch my drift."

Her dark eyes lowered knowingly, but gazed back up at his intense grey eyes with conflict, "How? How did you know that?" Guilt was written all over her face, and she began to chew her food even slower before swallowing. She then walked over to get the pen and paper, scribbling down a few words before turning around for him to read it. He cocked a brow of worry and scrunched up his nose, "You've seem sane enough to me so far, love."

Marie put her head into her hand, obviously stressed about just wanting to tell him, but she promised herself she'd wait. She just didn't expect it to be as soon as she was still trying to process the day. Where would she even start?

Vander looked down at the hand she had on the table then, and poked it softly to get her attention, "Should I be worried?" She turned her note pad towards her and began to write again, this time turning it with a scared look on her face, 'Yes, but not because of Grayson.'

"Then what?" She hesitated, her eyes almost on the verge of tears when she gently took his arm with the pauldron her wore, turned it over, and touched it. It was a big hint to what she was trying to say, and that was all it took for Vander to become a mix of things at the moment, "Are you telling me Silco's planning an ambush?" She nodded, and wrote down more things, each paper becoming more descriptive than the last.

She didn't want to overwhelm him so she started off with what was to come first. That Silco never left and soon he was going to recruit Sevika and others to his side if he didn't act. She told him how Silco will attempt to recruit him for 'the nation of Zaun'. That if he refused him that he would lure the children to him and lie to the people about their disappearance, that Vander ran off with them instead.

That the kids will get a tipped off before that, by Little Mane about a home with valuable artifacts from Topside and that the house will contain a powerful magic stone that will destroy the council down the line if they didn't stop current events from happening. That the same stone will accidentally cause an explosion while the children are there and cause Topside to come down to the Undercity and get retribution, and that's when it'll be too late.

That's where he raised his hand at her after reading all of that all while looking down at the letters with an awful frown, "Stop." He then eyed her carefully, and leaned in letting her get a good look at him.

His face screamed distress, confusion, denial, anger, but she could hardly blame him for any of it, "How the hell do you know all of this?" When she shrugged and bowed her head, she also buttoned her lip already not liking how this was turning out, "You got a crystal ball I don't know about? Because that's a lot to presume without proof."

Nervous, but staying truthful, she scribbled down something again and showed him, "Well, I need this television you speak of. That is some-...A-am I suppose to believe all this? How do you even know about him? About this?" He was referring to the mark he kept hidden away, but just then Lia started to move uncomfortably in her chair. That seemed to level him out again, but it didn't stop him from taking out his pipe and lighting it right there, "You're right. I don't believe you...and yet..." He suddenly muttered under his breath before taking a long inhale of smoke and then blowing it out, "I think we both might be crazy." Marie was confused by what he meant until she saw a carefree smirk on his face as he rubbed his temple, trying to process everything she told him, "And I'm not supposed to tell Grayson? You do realize what you're saying right? The council will be destroyed. But there may be a slither of hope for peace and if the council hears of these warnings..." He was about to say they could stop the destruction from happening, but he didn't.

Instead he trailed off realizing the other reason she hadn't told him sooner, "They may ask about you..." He faced her then, and watched as she began to write.

'There's only two people I can think of who can help me get home. One is on the council, and I'm afraid of what that might entail for Lia and I.'

'My laws and constitution do not apply here, which means I have to follow your laws and rules. I just wanted to give you a heads up of everything, and try to get home before I become a nuisance to you all. I don't want anyone to get hurt.'

"Well...Sometimes that can't be helped." It was then Vander softened his gaze seeing how she played with Lia's hair, removing strains needlessly avoiding his gaze. Her eyes ached and she swallowed hard trying not to feel like this was useless. She was just waiting for him to kick her out, yell at her, something, but he didn't.

Vander looked over all the letters she wrote, reading each and every word until his head was spinning. Frankly, he didn't have the time to discuss it any longer because he began to hear some of the others shuffling about their room, and so he collected all the papers together and placed them into a cookbook and put that book between two others on the counter, "We'll talk more later. For now, let's keep this between us...It seems that I have a lot to think about."

Marie nodded and tried to smile before helping Lia down from her chair to lead her to the living room again, sensing she had deeply upset him, even though that was not her intentions, but what did she expect him to say? She couldn't expect everything would be alright, but she wished there was some way she could help.

"Marie?" His voice pulled her back to see him looking back at her with compassion, "You're not a nuisance, it's just a lot to take in, you know?" Marie didn't know how to react at first, but nodded giving a gentle smile, "Your presence has been more than welcoming, love. Plus it's been nice having another pair of hands around here." His voice deepened when he spoke, his own cheeks seeming redden before he noticed her face going completely red as well, "I shouldn't have said it like that. You probably have a husband, or boyfriend and I-, I'm making a complete fool of myself." He gave a breathy laugh rubbing the back of his neck before noticing Marie shaking her head with a tiny giggle mouthing a 'no', "No? Really? I had figured a pretty lass like you would've had men breaking down the door." Marie made a funny face at him before they both gave a titter. Even if Vander couldn't hear it, he could see the endearing smile that graced her face.

Which was his intention in the first place, "I'm sorry, I'm totally keeping ya. We'll catch up in a bit, yeah?" Unable to remove the smile from her lips, Marie nodded and took Lia to get ready for the day.

In the meantime, Vander turned himself towards the counter and began to replay everything that he'd just learned, and felt a terrible drop in the pit of his stomach.

Later that day, Vi was instructed to show Marie the ropes around the markets. Vander was low on a few things and this was a good opportunity to teach her how the money worked. It was easy enough, she knew that golden coins meant hexes, silvers meant cogs, and bronze were washers. Still there were parts of the currency she didn't understand, but it didn't matter because the point of this exercise was to get used to it, and also to teach her how to haggle.

The air was almost better there but still made her cough unused to that kind of air quality. It should've been criminal to have people live like this, but none the less Marie kept going trying to not let it worry her.

The streets were a bustle with life, all different kinds of species and cultures that awed her as they walked along the bazaar. It was the central hub of trade, and where they usually got their better wares and supplies. Marie played with the money in the coin purse Vander had given her, and as they walked between crowds, Marie's eyes began to scan around herself wearily noticing the way people's eyes watched them, the way they would point and stare or mutter amongst themselves.

She caught a bit of it as they continued to walk on, "I heard Vander caught himself a little fairy."

"She's kind of cute." Marie felt her face reddening but didn't make any kind of acknowledgement.

"Heard she fell from heaven." Another said with a cooing voice.

"Nah, she's a Piltie I heard." His friend replied with disdain. Marie could nearly feel his glare steering through back of her skull.

"She does not look like a Piltie, look at her. Definitely something else."

That's when Vi leaned in smirking at Marie cheekily, "Looks like everyone can't seem to stop talking about you." It was true, ever since she arrived in The Sunken City, Marie had been the talk of the town.

It sounded nice, but it made the woman more on edge than anything. She didn't mean to bring that kind of buzz to herself, or the kids...Or Vander. She didn't want to bring unnecessary attention to them, especially with how nosey this place could be. Words could spread pretty far, and very fast.

Also, just because she was with Vi didn't mean there wasn't a chance at them being watched and followed. She hadn't forgotten that Deckard and a few others were keeping an eye on them, the careless thing was that Marie had forgotten what the other punks had looked like. Deckard was the only face she could remember. So any time she saw someone checking them out she could take extra precautions to examine them, to see if any of the faces rang a bell, but it was to no avail. If only she hadn't lost her phone! She was still upset about it, but what could she do? It was gone.

At that point she was just relieved that she left Lia back at the Last Drop with Vander, Powder and the boys. He had recommended it after all, and as she scanned the place for the hundredth time, she started to realize why. It wasn't exactly an ideal place for little ones, although it didn't mean there wasn't, Vi was proof of that.

Finally after taking a highly crowded elevator of workers and travelers of all sorts up to another level, they found the stall they had been looking for, "Welcome to Tav's. This is where he usually gets the good stuff. I'm going to the third one over to get something really quick. Just call me if you need anything, but, I'll be back before you can say 'Kraken'." Marie looked at her baffled trying to grab her attention before she left, but it was too late. A flash of panic over came her, until she gazed down at the man frowning and regained her composure trying to smile the best she could, but it was apparent she was uneasy.

To not make it any more awkward Marie handed him the paper that Vander had written on and waited for his response. Pouting, the woman mumbled the word 'Kraken' under her breath, regardless if she could hear it or not.

She heart was pounding, she didn't know if this guy was Tav or if he was just an associate, but when he read the note his eyes widened. He grinned and gave a hardy laugh, "Ah, ha ha ha! so you know Vander, eh? Finally got 'imself a little girlfriend?" She wanted so badly to respond, not wanting to give off the wrong impression, but before she could refute him with her face as red as a tomato the old man stood up from his spot and shuffled over to a small crate as well as a medium size basket and began to fill it, "Should have everything here for ya. Just make sure you give Tav a good word, eh?" Marie nodded happily, and waited patiently until he had packed everything away, and once he was finished she departed with a wave of farewell.

She couldn't get far though, when she made it pass four of the stands Marie found it difficult to move it on her own, that was until someone walked by noticed her struggling and picked it up with one hand, "Need some help?" Her eyes went to the person's feet and up to their face.

It was Sevika, smirking down at her before moving the whole basket to the side, away from the suffocating crowd around them, "Haven't seen you in a while. Staying out of trouble?" Marie could only nod with a smile while trying to thank her through her muted silence.

Sevika picked up on her awkward behavior and cocked a brow in confusion, "You alright?" She nodded again and placed a hand at her throat. It made sense then, and Sevika nodded before looking around the bazaar, "Are you by yourself?" Marie pointed to the booth a couple rows down, and spotted Vi, Sevika had noticed as well and chuckled to herself, "Making the mute woman haggle? Now that's unfair." She paused then and looked down at Marie thoughtfully, "You know I never thanked you for helping Enzo. The guy is strong, but he would've bled out if it weren't for you and Vander's help." Marie could feel her cheeks turning pink but kept a cool head about it and waved her hand, "He said your stitching was definitely better than Vander's. Probably because his hands were born for fighting rather than healing, but, we didn't have a choice." Marie lipped to her, getting Sevika to smirk and nod, "He's doing good, thanks. So, are you heading home or are you waiting for Vi?" Marie pointed towards the pink haired girl having Sevika shrug and bring the heavy basket towards where she was, "So, while we wait, I got a few questions for you." Marie couldn't help but tilt her head and knit her brows curiously, "Did you really fall from the sky, or was that just a little white lie?" She made a face, dead pan and looked up at the taller woman with a roll of her eyes. Marie then pointed up to the sky with a finger and mouthed, 'The sky. The fall was painstakingly real.'

"Yeah, a fall like that could kill you, which goes to my next question. How did you survive?" Marie perked at the fact Sevika either seemed to read her lips or...Maybe it was just her imagination. So she decided to test this. 'A ramp.' Sevika hissed and then winced, "Jeez...Well, you seemed to have healed pretty fast."

'Barely.' Finally the curiosity had gotten the best of Marie and she had to truly know, 'Can you read my lips?' She asked pointing to her mouth.

"Heh, heh, caught on did you? Yeah, a little thing I picked up a long time ago." Marie was relieved to hear that and surprises. She couldn't help but start rambling not realizing she was getting overly excited, "Whoa whoa not that fast." Sevika said laughing while trying to calm her down with a squeeze of her shoulders. It worked and Marie found herself face to face with grey eyes. She didn't know why but her face felt hot, she eventually chalked it up to embarrassment, and chuckled itching the back of her head with a, 'sorry.'

"I didn't think that was going to make you go nuts. Yes, it's a thing I can do." She laughed softly.

'That's amazing!' Marie could only say with a bright wondrous smile, her dark eyes wide and gleaming with amazement that Sevika seemed to be magnified by them before smirking and chuckling, "Well-, thanks." She wanted to ask this girl so many more questions, but the only words that could leave her mouth was, "What side are you on? Are you for Piltover or Zaun?" Marie's big eyes blinked speechless, instantly widening her eyes in surprise before frowning sadly, 'Is it bad if I say both?'

She almost looked disgusted before shaking her head and seethed a dark laugh, "You sound just like Vander. He must've had some effect on you, huh?" Marie furrowed her brows and shook her head right back.

'Zaun deserves better.' She lipped before pointing at her, 'You deserve fresh air and water and food. It should be a human right, yet...I feel there can be hope for both.' She felt naive, and maybe she was, but she continued, 'There are those in Piltover who know they have wronged you.' Her face dropped with conflict and empathy, and yet also, anger, and who could blame her?

Marie went on with a lick of her lips, 'Unfortunately...You have a council who would rather put a foot on your neck then help. It's horrible, and...I understand why you are angry.' Sevika couldn't help but watch and listen, 'You can't corner someone for so long and not expect them to fight back.' Marie softly smiled and gave a nervous shrug, afraid she might've said something to upset her, but she patted her knee this time uneasily, but affectionately, 'Please, give him more time. Let me talk to him?'

At first Sevika said nothing, but let all her words sink before softly replying, "You're new here, so let me give you a little insight. I've lived here my whole life, and this is how it's always been. No change, no nothing. Vander was able to get through to Piltover where we couldn't. Now? Now it's like we don't matter. Vander is hoping he can keep the peace but, instead it feels as though he's trying to keep them happy. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?" Marie sighed sadly, but nodded still with a conflicted expression on her face, but shockingly, Sevika didn't retaliate.

She did see Marie's point of view, but also needed to let her see hers. And for once, someone was able to see that, and not ridicule her, "Just like I told him, he needs to take action or things are going to get ugly."

That was brought to a halt when someone from the right of them began to call Marie's name with urgency. They both looked over to see it was Claggor, and he was panic-stricken and out of breath when he approached them, "Marie! I-It's Lia... She-,"

"Take a breath kid." Sevika said turning towards him.

"She's in trouble! She collapsed while playing...We don't know what happened, she was fine for one minute and the next started coughing and collapsed. V-Vander's helping her right now." Marie's heart felt like it had ceased in the middle of her chest and she looked at Vi who was finally walking back, but before she could reach them Sevika narrowed her eyes, and nudged her head to him, "Take care of the stuff then. I'll take her back." Marie and Claggor looked to Sevika both with questionable looks on their faces before gazing back at one another.

Marie had no reason to argue and put her hands together as if pleading to him before he nodded, " "I don't mind, Vi and I can handle it." They both were sprinting back as fast as their legs could carry. Marie was obviously not used to not only the air being a factor but her stamina, and slowly began to feel a familiar ache in her leg from when she had fallen, and just as she was about to slow down, Sevika stopped to scoop her up in her arms catching the other woman off guard.

She hadn't expected her to do that, and her arms immediately wrapped around her neck, nearly breath taken by her massive strength as she made her way through the crowd, "No time to fall behind." Marie looked up at her dubiously, but Sevika said nothing else and continued on until they made their arrival to the bar.

She stopped at the door and put her down, and when Marie's feet hit the ground she sprinted in through the doors. She didn't see Vander in the front, so that meant he had to be downstairs. She went down the steps as carefully as she could without falling and found everyone in the living room. Mylo was hunched over shaking his right leg up and down, while Powder was hovered over the back of the couch, and Vander was leaned over the couch holding one of those air masks to her baby's face.

Her eyes teared up as she came to Lia's little body, watching her laying there with her eyes closed, physically exhausted and breathing in every breath slowly as if she was sleeping. She took her small hand in hers, panting and trying to keep her composure as she looked to Vander with fright, "She's alright. Powder and her were playing outside, and I guess the air was just too much for her." Marie felt a deep frown appeared on her face, unwillingly feeling a tear roll down her cheek as she kissed her daughter's head and brushed her hair from her forehead, her eyes scanning for any sign of movement.

Vander couldn't help gaze at her with dejection as his other hand began to rub her back in comfort, "I'm sorry, Marie. If I had known I would've given her one of these sooner. She should be okay though. If anything worsens we'll take her to a doctor, alright?" Marie could only nod as she took the mask gently from Vander's hand to take over for him. He took no offense and happily let her as he kept his eyes on both of them, until he looked to Mylo and Powder with a small nudge.

The two got the gist and left silently, which Marie took notice of as she looked to them as they closed the door behind them, her eyes seeing a pair of soft blue eyes gazing back at her with guilt in her eyes. Powder thinks this is her fault...Poor girl.

Once they were alone Vander took a deep breath and spoke with dread in his voice, "There's something else." Her eyes stayed on his own but she could feel them nearly straining to look at her, and it didn't seem to be good news. "I got a letter from Grayson..." Unfortunately, that was all she needed to know to understand what was coming, and felt her whole body nearly dissociate from what he was saying, even though her ears picked up on every word, "The council is asking about you." She could barely breath, but she tried hard...so very hard not to show her fear, and yet by the way he looked at her it was obvious he could see right through her, just like before, "Well, not you specifically, but they're aware of the, 'bright light that fell from the sky and landed in the Undercity.' He paused searching for something in her frightened orbs before giving an odd kind of smile, a comforting one, "I won't let them know it was you." She felt herself release a breath she had been unintentionally holding, and like a small dam she felt as though she was about to break. She covered her face, and ran her hands up through her hair with a million things running through her mind that she couldn't explain. All she knew was that she was scared, and things were happening very fast, she felt as though she couldn't keep up!

Regardless of where she was and who she was with Marie felt at a loss. Her family was a universe away, she was in a place she really had no idea about, Lia being a result of that, and now she was being pursued by Piltover's Council?

It was a lot to take in, and just as she was about to fall in on herself, Vander helped set the mask on Lia's face, and grabbed Marie's shaky hands, "Hey, look here now." She relented, but she did as he asked, especially with how gentle he was being with her. Little was she expecting one of his hands to cup her face, and like a statue, she froze at the soft touch from his callous hands, "I promised I wouldn't let anything happen to you and Lia. Your secret is safe with me." She realized he was using her own words from before, and when it resonated with her Marie gave an involuntarily gentle chuckle, but shook her head almost fighting to laugh.

Vander smiled as well, a sound releasing from his nose before his mouth widened, "I'll stall Grayson, for now. Give us a little more time to figure something out like we planned. Maybe, we can talk to Benzo about it, come up with a better solution, yeah?" Marie tried to smile the best she could and nodded as she leaned in to embrace him, more out of appreciation than anything, because ever since she had arrived he had been nothing but kind, and now he was doing more than she could ever repay.

And Vander...

He had hesitated at the contact, but then as he looked down at her, he hesitantly placed a hand on the back of her head and the other between her shoulder blades and pulled her in.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity but it was...nice. It was inviting and warm, a type of warmth that Vander hadn't felt in nearly a decade and it sent that warmth from his chest and down between his legs.

When they had pulled away dark eyes connected with grey ones and they were immediately drawn in. He visibly gulped, and Marie felt her cheeks flushed a rosy pink when she realized how close their faces were, and how he was hovering as his face inched its way closer to hers at a very slow snails pace.

At least, she thought he did until he froze, caught himself and skewered his eyes shut seeming to reluctantly pull away and cleared his throat as he shuffled to his feet, "I should go get that other mask for you." He tried to brush off the awkwardness with a smile, but as he walked away Marie could see the smile faltered and his eyes nearly looked wide with something she couldn't quite place.

Her heart was still beating out of her chest when he left. She felt a lot of different emotions all at once, one of confusion, amory, and something that resembled... disappointment maybe?

Since he left, Marie couldn't seem to remove herself from where she sat, until she gazed back to Lia and turned herself towards her to keep her company, and her mind some place that was more important, all the while letting the thought sink in that she had almost been kissed by Vander, and that scared and excited her a little.

While he was grabbing the mask, he stalled himself and took a second at the shelving and took a deep breath to collect himself, in doing so he decided to make a pit stop at the bathroom and placed the mask on the sink while he washed his face. Thoroughly. He dipped his head down once into his water filled hands, then twice, and when he raised his eyes to the mirror he looked back at his reflection with the most conflicted expression as he thought of Marie and the way she looked in that moment.

Her eyes were comely, iridescent in the lamp light. Her hair cascaded down and around her shoulders feeling incredibly soft to the touch when he had cupped the back of her head.

When he embraced her, he could smell the enticing fragrance coming from her, and for a split second his heart had skipped a beat when he looked down at her pretty lips thinking of how kissable they looked.

What the hell am I doing? He really wanted to smack himself right now, smack himself hard enough with his gauntlets that it would knock the sense back into him. Unfortunately, he knew it would take more than that to make him stop feeling the way he did. He was becoming fond of her, liked her even. The question was how far was he willing to push it?

Would it even last?

The last question alone made reality hit like a ton of bricks. At some point she may have to leave for good, and that weighed heavy in his chest, "Maybe I should've kissed you." He muttered it bitterly to himself just before he wiped the rest of his face and walked back out like nothing had happened.

Sorry there was no Silco in this one, I promise he'll be the first to be back in the next chapter. I hope it's not going too quick, for some this is a regular thing, sometimes you start crushing, and then things happen lol. I hope it was okay though. Bye bye!