XI - Mine (Red's POV)

I couldn't sleep that night. The weight of the day felt heavy on my shoulders, like stones tied to my feet as I was thrown into the river. There was too much happening, and it was all coming too fast.

Chloe and I were in my bed together—it had been months since we hadn't slept in our own beds anymore. We were used to each other's bodies being close, of feeling each other in the night. I quietly slip out of bed, grabbing Chloe's black hoodie and tossing it on before leaving our room. The hallway is dark, a few small night lights illuminating the floor so no one would trip. I keep my feet light, trying not to make a sound. We don't technically have a hard curfew, but it's generally enforced that no one should be out after eleven at night.

I don't know where I'm going, I just wander the halls for a while until I decide to go outside. The air is cool, but not cold. It's late fall, nearly the start of winter, but it didn't feel that way. Chloe's hoodie is a little bigger on me than it is her, and it smells like her, too. The scent relaxes me somehow. My feet take me to the tourney field, and I don't know why. I have no relation to this part of school, at least not like Chloe does. Her brother used to play on this turf, but I have no memories here, to me it's just an empty field that requires people to make it exciting.

I climb up the bleachers and sit at the tallest one, staring up at the sky. The deep navy sky is peppered with sparkling stars, like a sea of fabric with glitter spilled over it. Back home the stars were never this bright, and you couldn't make out any constellations, either. But this night sky is different. A full, beaming moon shines proudly overhead. The quiet stillness makes me feel calm. Nothing is happening, everyone else is asleep. There are no teachers to remind me of upcoming tests I'll probably fail. No Swords and Shields practice for Chloe. All the chatter of the day has turned into the gentle snores of peaceful sleep. I close my eyes, and for once I feel at peace with the events of the day, like maybe I'll be able to take them on.

"Red," I hear a soft voice behind me. I snap my eyes open, turning to see who it was. Chloe is standing there on the ground beneath me, her eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay?" She starts taking the stairs up the bleachers, sitting down beside me.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm okay, I just couldn't sleep much, so I came out here." She's gazing up at the stars like I was, enthralled by their beauty.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"It was just a lot today, that's all," I said.

"What are you worried about the most?" she asked, scanning my face for any reaction I may have to her question.

"Being queen," I answered. I wasn't worried about me and Chloe, I knew she wouldn't leave. We fought too hard to get where we are now for her to leave. That and I knew it wasn't like her to give up when things got hard. Chloe opens her arms for me, and I move to sit between her legs and she wraps her arms around me. It feels as if the weight of the day has been eased from my shoulders. Laying in her arms, being surrounded by her, felt safe, like home.

She didn't feel like the screaming, violent home I was used to. No, she felt like chocolate chip cookies on a rainy day. She felt like how I could only imagine love would feel. I didn't know what love was before her, but now I'm certain she's the only one who could ever make me feel it. There wasn't much I was sure of, but Chloe Charming was the only person I knew that had ever loved me.

Her lips were close to my ear when she spoke again, "I'm not worried."

"Why aren't you worried?"

"Because I know your heart, and I know that because you're good, you'll be a wonderful queen," she said. "You might not see it yet, but I believe in you. I believe in us."

I felt my heart swell, and I wanted to tell her how I felt, that I loved her. I didn't know how she would react, if she would feel like it was too soon. She made me feel things that I couldn't explain, that I could only feel with her. Sure I had some friends and they made me laugh and feel happy sometimes, but nothing felt like Chloe.

I just laid there in her arms for a while, enjoying the quiet night and the alone time with her. That was what I liked, too. We could spend time alone together and it didn't have to be sexual. I'd heard other teenage girls complain about their boyfriends that all they wanted was sex. Chloe wasn't like that, we only had sex if I wanted to—all I had to do was ask and she would give me anything I wanted. We could spend hours alone in bed together not even doing so much as making out, just being around each other was enough.

"Red?" Chloe asked, breaking the easy silence.

"Hm?"

"I want to say something but I don't know if you're ready to hear it yet," she said.

"Just tell me," I said. I didn't feel like it could be something bad—she'd only ever made me feel good things.

"I love you," she said, planting a soft kiss by my ear. A smile makes its way across my face and I sit up, turning to face her. Chloe looks nervous, biting her lip while waiting for my reaction. I take her face in my hands, kissing her passionately. She's taken by surprise and she reacts to my lips on hers in less than a second, her hands resting on my hips.

"I love you, too," I said when I pulled away. I didn't even know it but there were tears in my eyes, threatening to spill over at any second. A single tear falls, but she wipes it away with her thumb.

"Why are you crying, love?" she asked, worry evident on her face.

"It's not sad tears," I said. "You make me really happy, and I've never felt this way before, so I don't really know how to handle these emotions all the time." Her lips curve up into a smile, and she kisses me again. I never wanted this night to end, this bliss felt too good. I bit her lip, and she pulled back, a questioning smirk on her face.

"What?" I laughed. She cocks an eyebrow, pulling me beneath her, my back on the cold metal of the bleachers, and Chloe gazes down at me.

The previous marks that Chloe had given me were just starting to become a shade of yellow that sort of blended with my skin, and I was almost certain I'd leave here tonight with at least a few more. Chloe waits for my permission, and I already know her fingers are aching to touch me, but she won't until I say it's okay. I want her to do her worst to me, to break me in every way possible, and I know that when she does she'll put me back together again. I wrap my arms around her neck, pulling her close to me. Chloe's fingers find the yellowing mark on my neck, tracing over it ever so gently.

"This one's starting to fade, I think it's time I gave you a new one," she said quietly into my ear before sinking her teeth into my flesh, kissing, sucking, and biting.

"I'll never be able to get enough of you," she said when she pulled away, pleased with the blooming hickey on my neck.

"Good thing you'll have me forever then," I said.

I laid there with her. In every storm I had, she was the calm. She never left, and I hoped she never would. The feeling of being hers was better than anything one could ever feel. I felt like I belonged, like I suddenly had a purpose in this world. If there was one thing I was certain of, it was that Chloe and I would be together until the last piece of the world faded to dust. She would never leave my side, and I would never leave hers.

"We need to go back to our room, you're falling asleep in my arms and as much as I love that, the bleachers aren't the most comfortable mattress," Chloe said. I hadn't even noticed that I was dozing off on her. She just made me feel so good. It didn't even have to always be sexual, she just made me happy.

"Carry me," I said, sleep still fighting to take over.

"Whatever you want, princess," Chloe said, planting a kiss on the top of my head. She scooped me up into her arms, and began walking back to our dorm. It didn't take long, yet I managed to fall asleep in her arms before we'd even made it back inside the building.

Chloe sets me on my bed, taking off my shoes, somehow she'd even picked up the hoodie I borrowed from her earlier. Less than a minute later I feel her crawl into bed beside me, and I latch onto her, my arms wrapping around her waist.

"Goodnight beautiful," is the last thing I hear before drifting off into a deep, peaceful sleep.