Shit.
“Just into the bathroom.” I point to the bathroom just past the couches before the dining room. I know what he was asking, and while sleeping on the couch might have been my idea to make this dorm work, I don’t exactly want to get into that right now.
Something tells me he won’t love that.
We make it just past the couch when Felix stops abruptly, taking a deep breath, and I swear I see fury burn in his eyes. As quickly as it’s there, it’s gone, though, and I can’t be sure.
“Wren…” he grits out through clenched teeth.
“Yes?”
“Do you sleep on the couch?” It sounds like he struggles to get the words out as his fingers dig into my side.
I guess I was right.
“Maybe…” I don’t want to lie to him, but I can’t see how this will end well. Plus, I have bigger issues right now.
“We can talk about that later. Right now, I need to…” I shove out of his arms and nearly tumble to the ground before I catch myself and race into the bathroom.
“Jeez.”
I look terrible, like a half-drowned cat. There’s still soap in my hair, my uniform is wet, and the purple is just as vibrant as it was before I started.
I hardly even register the pain in my knees as they hit the tile when my knees give out.
“She’s going to kill me.”
“Nobody will touch you.” I jump when I look to my left and find Felix sitting there, a very serious look on his face.
I didn’t mean to say that out loud.
I offer him a tight smile, hoping to pacify him, but I know it’s not enough; it feels weak on my lips.
“What’s wrong? Do you not like the color?” He reaches out, gently grabbing a few strands of my hair to examine it more closely, his brows pulled in confusion.
“No. I love it.”
His brows pull down further, and if I weren't so sad and afraid, I might laugh at how ridiculous he looks like this.
“I don’t understand.”
I reach out, laying my hand on his gloved one. He lets my hair fall, turning his hand so that it cradles my much smaller one in his, and when he looks up at me, we're so close I can see the flecks of gold that ring his pupils.
He’s beautiful, just like his brother, though much nicer.
“I know, but…” I want to tell him, but the words get stuck, clogged in my throat after years of pushing them down, keeping her secrets.
I don’t have a reason to anymore, not really. Not now that Jordan is gone and I’m out. But she’s always been smart, not book-smart like me or street-smart like Jordan, but cunning and manipulative.
What if she finds a way…
No, until I’m sure I’m free, it’s not worth chancing. It doesn’t change anything, anyway.
“It’s okay. Just tell me what you need.”
This time, the smile that pulls at my lips, while small, is genuine, and the tears that fill my eyes are from gratitude, not fear.
I’m in his arms before I can stop to think about it, and when his arms wrap around me to hold me just as tight, I wonder if maybe we can do this.
