𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐄𝐑𝐍𝐎 ᵀᵂᴰ¹

19. 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙃𝙐𝙉𝙏

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘏𝘜𝘕𝘛
°✾°
═════════════
[ ɪꜰ ɪ ᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡᴇʀᴇ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ʏᴏᴜ
ɪ'ᴅ ꜱᴜʀᴇʟʏ ʟᴏꜱᴇ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ
ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ᴅᴇᴀʀ
ɪ'ᴠᴇ ɴᴏᴛ ꜰᴏᴜɴᴅ ʙʏ ᴍʏꜱᴇʟꜰ ]

THE STILLNESS OF the woods was almost calming to Roland as his footsteps crunched under the snow. His handgun was in his grasp as he occasionally glanced over his shoulder to make sure Emily was still following. Seeing her taking in the beauty around her made her almost forget about the world around her. Like everything disappeared and she and Roland were left in this forest that looked like something out of a painting.

"Keep up," Roland muttered, removing his eyes from the girl who looked up at him and hummed in response. "It's nice, isn't it?" She asked as her hands found the straps of her bag. Keeping her eyes on Roland who sighed, admitting agreement with a nod. "Sure is." He muttered as they continued walking.

One thing Roland could say he was glad for was the fact that the snow was beginning to melt. The sun had been out a lot more for the past few days and giving Roland an ounce of hope for a break to be given to him and Emily. It'd been constant cold winds and snowfall for the past three days, but now it was looking up for them.

But in those three days, Roland had barely spoken with the girl. Only giving her small answers to the questions she asked during the days. The only reason being that he didn't have a reason to care or give a damn about her. If he asked himself, honestly, he wouldn't be able to say that was the truth. Because, somewhere in this dark and deep hole of blackness within his heart, he cared about her safety. Even if he didn't like to admit it.

Except, he didn't want to care about her since the last time he did, he lost everything. His responsibility was to keep Amy or Beth safe and he failed. Amy died because of his stupid fear of not admitting he loved her, and Beth was either dead or alive. But even then he didn't know what her fate was and if she was safe. So, adding someone else to that list wasn't something he was able to do because it would break him.

These walls of ice that he had built up between himself and the people he cared about were keeping him alive. If he lost those walls, he was vulnerable and he couldn't risk that. Being close with Emily was something he wasn't willing to risk because he was keeping her safe. And most of all, keeping her safe from the darkness within him that was always waiting to come out at any moment.

Slowly stepping out of the treeline, Roland's eyes widened at the view of a frozen-over lake. And Emily matched- maybe even more- his excitement as she smiled widely. "Roland, do you see this shit?" She exclaimed with so much enthusiasm it made Roland smile himself. "It is quite a sight." He put his hands on his hips as he took in the view given to them.