Our Darkest Memories

4. A Dirty Betrayal

5 weeks after forgetting

That same night, I couldn't get to sleep. It had been a few hours, and it was probably a little past midnight.

I sneaked out of my room and quietly closed the door behind me. I took in the fresh air and looked around. The other cabins were scattered across a big field that was surrounded by the dark contours of trees.

To sort my mind, I started walking, ignoring the fact that it was already way too late to be walking around.

Without thinking about it, I ended my nightly walk in front of Clancy's room. I blinked to remember how I ended up here, but I shrugged my shoulders when I realized I didn't care. I just wanted to see him. It felt like I hadn't seen him in ages.

I put my hand up to the door, but when I was about to knock, the door already opened. I looked into a pair of beautiful dark eyes and immediately felt all my worries disappear.

His eyes studied me and I saw a small smile appear on his face. It felt like I was melting.

"Hey stranger," he whispered, "it feels like I haven't seen you for so long."

He opened the door further to let me in. For a while, we just stood opposite each other with the distance that had grown between us over the last week holding us back, but he then pulled me by my hands towards him.

For a small moment, he just looked into my eyes only to then take me into a hug and everything felt okay. He had his arms around me and I was surrounded by the dark orange color of his sweater. His citrusy scent entered my nose and I drowned in it.

That moment seemed to last forever - and I wasn't complaining - until we pulled apart and walked to the bed, hidden behind a white curtain, to comfortably sit on it.

The rest of the room looked simple. There were bookshelves, a metal desk, and some chairs. Against the left wall was a table full of electrical equipment.

I looked back to face Clancy, who was still studying me with his small smile.

"What?" I laughed.

"Nothing. I just missed you.  I've been so busy that we haven't had a moment  to have a good talk."

I completely understood what he meant. He had been hiding in his room the past week to work on all kinds of things and I had been busy following Raiden.

Thinking of Raiden made me flinch a little, but I tried to forget it and focused on Clancy and Clancy alone.

His thick, wavy hair was still neat, so I assumed he hadn't tried to sleep yet. I stroked a tuft of hair that was sticking out to put it back in its place.

"You are working late," I remarked worriedly.

"Work doesn't stop around here," he answered with a wise voice.

"Why? What's going on?"

I shifted to sit cross-legged while he sighed.

"Some of my contacts outside are not sticking to agreements."

"Oh."