Can't Hide Forever - The Darkest Minds

Sixteen

Sitting on the soft couch, I watch Grace's form approach me from the hallway, plopping beside me with a groan.

Our parents still hadn't returned from their "meeting" yet. Whatever that was supposed to mean.

My gaze reverted back to the television, a middle aged man dressed in a slick black suit glazed the screen, his voice dripping in urgency.

The IAAN.
The population of children slowly dissipating.
Death.
So much death.

"You really shouldn't watch this so much you know," Grace raising an eyebrow in accusation, smoothly snatching the remote from beneath my tucked arms.

Groaning in protest, I force myself up from my comfertable slouch on the coach to retrieve the remote in any means necessary.

"Information is valuable, who are you to keep me from getting as much of it as I can," I grunt trying to reach for where she holds the remote above my head.

"Not in this day and age it's not. What new information are you going to find looking at that screen for hours a day, it can't be good for you, Tess." I heave a sigh. She's probably right.

"I just want to be there to find out when they come out with a cure. It must be soon, right?" I search her face desperately, but I am ultimately let down by her solomn expression. "You know they might not be able to find one right?" Those are words I knew deep down but didn't ever really want to hear.

Our parents constantly spoke words of blind hope and careless optimism that it wasn't always common for Grace and I to hear, let alone speak words of reality.

"I know," I mutter in defeat.

A warm finger is under my chin now, lifting it up. My eyes graze into Grace's golden honey ones and this moment speaks a thousand words without even saying one.

She moves onto the coach, lifting her arm up as an invitation for me to sit beside her. I do.

We stay there, basking in each others presence. The television no longer blares, simply us in each others arms.

The door creeks open after a few hours, our parents peaking their heads in before seeing us awake and walking in fully.

They glance at each other with great conclusion and hope writen in their eyes. For some reason it sends chills down my spine, something seems off. I know Grace feels the same way for she shifts in discomfort beneath me.

"Your father and I have just had a meeting with the church," mother announces. "You girls will be going to one of their programs for therapy. Pack your bags, your leaving in the morning."

We both stare dumbfounded. "Therapy?" Grace questions, "for what exactly?" Their postures rise from this, it seems to spark a passion within them.

"This IAAN is a work of the devil, you know," father begins. "The best way of protection, confirmed by the church, is extensive therapy and biblical study. If you were to not be-let's say-strong enough to fight the IAAN, then well..." He didn't have to finish, we already knew.

We would no longer be apart of this family. That wasn't even the worst part. We would no longer even be apart of the world really. I've seen the camps on the news. They don't seem all to bad, but it's an environment we would have no control in. If they separated Grace and I....

Our parents said nothing more as they retreated to their rooms. The whole act seemed rehearsed and they had just made their grand exit.

Grace turned to me without saying anything, giving me a kiss on the forehead and holding my hand to guide me to our bedroom.

That night Grace held me as we cried together. But together we were, and that was the most important thing.

Soft sheets blanket me in warmth.

Quiet voices chatter silently around me, only to be comprehended as muffled blurs through my hazy consciousness.

Silence washes over me once again.

When I come to again, I finally find the strength to open my eyes, merely squinting them.

The world is blurry around the edges, but I can vaguely see the room I'm in.

It's dimly lit, not any room I can pinpoint from memory. I'm wraped in the warmth of a soft grey blanket, pillows surrounding and cushioning me in all the right places. Feels like heaven, eh? Have I died?

I realize I'm not dead when I notice another figure in a chair beside the bed I'm in, hunched over on the bed, sleeping.

Cole.

Despite his sleeping state, he looks rather conflicted, eye brows furrowed. His arms make a blanket under his head. The bags underneath his eyes are far too prominant, even for Cole since he barely sleeps normally.

Seeing his face, I remember the events leading up to this and shiver slightly. What would have happened if I wasn't there?

I already know the answer. Cole would likely be tortured, or dead.

His hair is lay in a disheveled mop on his head, dirty blond locks littering his face. I reach towards it, finally acknowledging how sore I feel, but ignoring it.

Even in it's messy state, it still feels soft under my touch. I brush the strands out of his face, smoothing out his features.

His brow furrows a bit more before I'm met with an ocean of blue. Confusion pools in his eyes before the realization dawns on him. He lifts himself from the bed.

"Tess." My names is smooth and warm coming from his mouth.

I expect him to yell. Telling me how dumb I was, how I should have never came.

Instead, he lunges at him, wraping one arm around my back and the other to cradle my head, his face dissapearing into the crevise on my neck.

His breathing is hard and labored and we stay there for a long time. I feel safe in his embrace, a thing I haven't felt in a long time.

"Fuck T, you scared the living shit outa me."

I feel what I interpret as a small kiss on my neck, but may just be my imagination, before Cole pulls away.

He runs his hands over his face and hair as he looks at me again as if to make sure I'm still there.

"Why the fuck would you go after me?" He says louder this time.

There it is. There's the anger I was expecting from before.

"I-"
"No. Don't-I can't. You almost died. Died trying to save me. I thought I was there alone, I would have never gone if I knew you would be coming. Then I-"
"Then you would be dead." I cut him off promptly.

His stops mid way through his rant, his expressions softening.

"I'm sorry." He looks defeated.

"Me too." And that's the truth. The look in Cole's eyes show the true pain he's going through.

He moves his chair so that it's closer to the headboard of the bed where I lay. His rough caloused hands reach to hold my face.

"I thought I lost you," he says quietly.

I shake my head. "I'm right here."

We look in each others eyes for what may have been minutes, or hours.

I get lost in the blue orbs, as deep as the ocean, amazed at the amount of emotion they hold.

Then his eyes flicker down to my lips, my the same to his.

He leans forward, pressing his lips slow and passionately to mine

______
Heyy Y'all.
It's been a while and I'm sorry for that :(
I've been reading through and have noticed some..... very concerning gramatical errors... whoops hehe.
I'll eventually go through and edit them but if you notice, (which you probably have) try to still enjoy lol.

How was everyones Holidays?