"Easy, easy. One step at a time."
Ander's eyes were fixed steadily on Reina as she maneuvered her way out of the car and into the wheelchair.
Insisting to do it all by herself, Reina was shaky and took it slow.
But it was fine. She was fine, and that was all that mattered.
In all his sixteen years, Ander had thought he knew what fear was.
When he used to play tennis and lost a match, he would lock himself in the room, afraid of his dad.
The time when Polo went missing and became unreachable after having a massive fight with Carla. Polo had talked to Ander and Guzmán about suicide, and they had begun to think the worst when Polo disappeared. Ander was wrecked at the prospect of losing someone he considered a brother. Luckily, Polo resurfaced after three days – he had taken the train to the next town and checked into a hotel. His mothers were able to track him down and bring him home.
His skateboarding accident two years back that got him flipping in mid-air before landing on his right elbow with a sickening crunch sound.
And this year – such an insane year. All the wild dares with the San Patricio idiots, especially the one that required him to leap from that tall cliff into the deep abyss of the lake. It was fucking scary.
But now? Ander knew that nothing could compare to the night when he fell onto the pavement after Reina had pushed him aside.
He had scraped his knuckles and right cheek, but that was okay.
The real horror came the moment he turned around, just in time to see Reina get hit by the car.
He thought his heart had stopped functioning as he scrambled back up and ran toward Reina.
Her usually animated face was lifeless, framed by streaks of blood and bits of asphalt.
Ander checked Reina for a pulse and found it.
Then all at once, his heart began to race.
"Someone call an ambulance!" he had yelled hoarsely, as if his life had depended on it.
Maybe it did.
"Ander?" Reina's voice broke his reverie.
"Yes?"
"I hate to ask again, but umm can you help get my bags from the trunk?"
"Oh. Of course." Ander shook his head. "Sorry for spacing out."
Reina flashed him a tentative smile. "No worries. And thanks."
Ander could be imagining it, but there seemed to be some kind of awkwardness emitting from Reina. As if she was uneasy with his presence. And she was being really polite and proper to him – which had never happened before.
Shit. Was it something I did? Or didn't do?
He continued to study Reina as they crossed the grounds of her family's sprawling mansion and made their way to the pool house, where Reina will be staying until she has recovered well enough to walk.
"Here we are," Ander said. "I'll help you unpack your stuff."
"No need," Reina responded hastily. "The helpers can do that later."
"Okay. Do you want a drink?" Ander began peeking into the fridge in the kitchen. "The doctor said no alcohol, but a wine cooler shouldn't be harmful, right?"
Reina let out a small laugh. "It's only 1.30pm. I'm not that big of an alcoholic."
When Ander closed the fridge door, he saw that Reina had managed to settle herself on the sofa's lounger seat, her leg with the cast stretched out. She grabbed the remote and the massive 75-inch TV flickered as it switched on.
Ander sat down next to Reina on the three-seater couch. "What are we watching?"
"The Walking Dead," Reina told him, a hint of excitement lighting up her face.
Wrinkling his nose, Ander said, "Why am I not surprised that you have a morbid taste in shows?"
Reina smirked. "Not a fan of zombies?"
"They make me queasy," Ander confessed. "Hey, are you cold?" He extended his arm to seize the throw blanket that was draped on the back of the sofa.
He then gently reached over to Reina's side and covered her in the blanket.
"Thanks," Reina murmured.
"Did you get a concussion that the doctor didn't detect? You're saying thanks way too many times today," Ander joked.
"Well I just wanted to show my appreciation," Reina huffed. "You didn't even have to be here to help me get home from the hospital."
"I wanted to show my appreciation too, for saving me," Ander pointed out smilingly. "I owe you for life now, remember?"
"I didn't do much," Reina replied, tossing her hair. "Besides, I didn't want to lose you –"
Ander gazed right at Reina inquisitively.
"- As someone who annoyed me incessantly, I mean," Reina added with a smirk. "It keeps my life interesting."
"How have I ever annoyed you?" Ander chuckled.
"Where do I start?" Reina rolled her eyes. "For one, you had that annoying nickname for me..."
"Oh that's right. Rein!" Ander's lips bloomed into a full wide smile. "Thanks for reminding me, Rein."
Reina groaned. "NO. Stop it."
Before Ander could continue teasing, he felt a ticklish sensation in his nose... And exploded into a loud sneeze. "Ah-CHOOO."
Reina swiftly tossed half the blanket to him. "Here. Get under the covers before you catch a cold," she said.
This is nice, Ander thought as he snuggled in the warmth of the blanket. Now, if only he wasn't witnessing onscreen how a man was having his flesh violently torn and eaten by a group of walkers. Ugh.
Reina's phone rang. Ander watched from the corner of his eye as she picked it up, stared at the caller's name and hit 'reject call'. Then she proceeded to turn off her phone entirely.
She didn't say a word, refocusing on the TV.
"You okay?" Ander spoke.
"Yeah," Reina answered, but it didn't sound convincing.
Ander took the remote and pressed pause before swiveling to face Reina directly. "You know you can talk to me, right? About whatever."
For some reason, she couldn't quite meet his gaze. "Thanks, Ander. It's just –"
"There you go again, saying thanks," Ander remarked. "Now I'm really worried."
Reina sighed. "There is something. But if I tell you, you're going to hate me all over again and I can't bear it. I just can't."
Ander was surprised to hear pain in her voice. "Hey. No matter what it is, I promise I won't hate you. Okay?"
He meant it. The sense of dread that usually came with any past situation that involved Reina – Ander didn't feel it this time.
Ever since Reina saved him that night outside of Kluster – something had changed.
"That's a promise not even you can guarantee you'll keep, Ander."
"Try me."
Taking a deep breath, Reina muttered, "Okay. Here it is. The call just now? It was from Matteo."
"He's been harassing you?"
Reina nodded.
"How long has that been going on?"
"Three days ago."
Ander blinked. "Only three days ago? But you two broke up some time ago, right?"
Reina shook her head slowly. "We were actually still together, Matteo and I... We told everyone that we'd broken up before I joined Las Encinas. With the plan of keeping you close and – and getting you to agree to one last dare with Matteo."
Her face dropped into her palms, and she whispered, "I deceived you, Ander. I will never forgive myself. I regretted every single second of it."
Ander folded his arms across his chest, thinking. "So if you're still with Matteo, then why do you say that he's harassing you?"
"He came to visit me at the hospital. And I found out that he was there that night, in the car that knocked me over. The driver was a friend of ours. They were aiming for you, Ander. They weren't exactly sober, but still, it was so fucked up. And Matteo kept defending himself. That was it. The final straw."
Reina eventually looked up, her dark eyes revealing the deepest remorse. "I was 100% aware that Matteo and I were the best at being the worst. But I didn't want to be a monster anymore. Especially when you continue to be so caring and thoughtful and sweet – so you."
Ander stayed quiet as he took the time to process all of Reina's words.
Evidently his silence made Reina very uncomfortable. "I know, I know. This is where you make your exit. I understand. I appreciate everything you've done for me. I hope you know that, Ander Muñoz."
Ander finally replied, "I'm not sure I do..."
Reina bit her lip. "Okay..."
"So you'll have to work harder to show me."
"Huh?" Reina's eyebrows shot up.
Ander cracked the slightest grin at her. "Look. I have no illusions that you're an angel, Reina. And yeah, you've hurt me and let me down countless of times. To the point where I had built an armor to protect myself from you. I had to stay alert and cautious all the time."
Reina listened and nodded.
Ander went on, "But somehow, I don't feel the need for that armor anymore. You risked your own life for me, Rein. That's huge. I could never forget that. And what you're telling me now – I believe it. All of it. Call me an idiot. But yeah."
"I promise, you could never be an idiot. Never in my eyes." Reina exhaled, visibly relieved. "Shit. This has been intense. I really thought I'd never see you again after this."
"That's what I have assumed about you on so many occasions. That you'd be gone for good and my normal life could resume. But here we are." Ander shrugged.
Reina smiled. A sunny, genuinely joyful smile. "Okay, you know what? I could use that wine cooler now."
"Coming right up."
Moments later, they were clinking their own bottles of the wine spritzer.
"Are we ready to get back to The Walking Dead?" Reina asked as she relaxed and leaned back against the sofa again.
"Mm I've been thinking..." Ander narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin.
"About?"
"About the fact that Matteo is the biggest asshole ever. He's been such a dick to you. And to me. I don't think he should get away with it."
A curious glance from Reina. "What do you have in mind?"