"A lot of times freedom doesn't mean being free. It is not a right, but a choice. Anyone can be free if they want to. Telling someone to be free is taking away their choice to be free. You don't take away decisions."
A story in which Lilly Richards...
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Lilly couldn't comprehend what just happened. Her head was filled with thoughts, running around. She never expected him to be THAT bold. Especially since they didn't part their ways on good terms.
Steve pulled back from the kiss, moving his hands from her face. "I waited too damn long to do this," he said. "I,... well,.." she slurred.
"Are you okay?" He asked her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I'm okay,..." she said and looked down at her feet, "but I have to say I've felt better." He slightly squeezed her shoulder, before he turned away.
"Wait, Steve," she said after him. He turned around, raising an eyebrow. "I..." she paused. She wanted to run after him and hug him tightly and tell him how much she missed him.
"Yes? You need anything?"
"No," she said and walked away.
As she later returned to her room, she noticed the box still on her bed. She once again looked at the photos. She folded them and put them inside the back pocket on her jeans. She heard a knock on the door, as she was putting the box back on the shelf.
"Come in," she said, as she checked the front pocket of her jeans, feeling the paper with information about The Eternal Flame, still there.
She saw Steve walk in and closing the door behind him. "Oh," she said, surprised.
"We leave in two hours," he said, his hand still on the door handle. "So two hours before our lives turn upside down, again?" She asked him and grabbed her agent suit, folding it in the process. "You could say so," he said.
"You know,..." she said, folding her suit, "I didn't take you for a 'beard' kind of guy." Steve smiled and looked down.
"Yeah, a lot has changed," he said and put his hands in his pockets.
"No need to say." She put her suit back in the closet. She lingered her hands on the doors of it, before turning to Steve saying, "how did it come to this?"
He sighed and moved closer to her. "I lost too many and too much," she said, "I am not ready to do this again, so soon."
"You won't," he reassured her. She walked towards him, stopping before him. "I was hurt and betrayed," she started.
"Lilly, I'm—"
"And as much as I want to punch something or someone, I am not going to spend the last two hours of 'freedom' reflecting on my past." She kept eye contact with him, waiting for his response. He pulled her close to him, stroking her back. She hugged him, missing everything about him and knowing it won't last long. "I missed you so much," she said, nuzzling into his chest. He kissed the top of her head. "I'm here now," he said.
