Ruthless

Chapter 21

Shailene Point of View

I feel his eyes on me all during takeoff. It feels as if his stare is burning right into my soul.

I'm not talking to him, he can forget about it.

A female voice over the intercom announces that we can now take our seatbelts off. We both do.

"Shai," he says. "Talk to me. Please"

"Stop," I warn. "I'm all good man, it's all good."

Liar, liar, pants on fire. It's not all good. It's far from being good. I can't let him know that though.

"You're lying." he says to me. "I can tell when you're lying. Shailene please!"

I sigh loudly. "Ugh, for the love of god! It's fine. Ruth just wanted to know if you were with me. Apparently, you're ignoring her."

"I am." he says.

I turn my whole body around to look at him. "Why?" I ask. His face is literally inches from mine.

"I just am, now don't change the topic. Why are you upset?"

I turn away from him. I can already sense the tears forming behind my eyes.

Come on, Shai, don't cry.

"It's me, right? What I did wrong, right? That's the issue?" Theo asks.

He's right. Kind of.

"It's not what you did, Theo, it's what you didn't do. That's the problem." I say and a lone tear makes its way down my cheek. I wipe it away just as fast as it came down.

He still notices though.

Theo gets up off the seat and stands up, and for a minute I feel relief because I think he's going to leave me alone in peace.

"I'm never leaving you alone." he says as if he can read my mind.

"Yeah, don't make promises you can't keep." I whisper.

He falls to his knees before me, sadness in his eyes, tears threatening to spill out.

"Shai, please," he begs. "You're killing me here, okay?" It's breaking my heart to see you like this. You know that, don't you? Please Shai, just tell me what's wrong."

I cannot believe this. It's as if we're a domino effect. When I hurt, he does too, and vice versa.

I'm on the verge of sobbing. Both his hands cup my face and he stares into my eyes looking for answers. He's not going to find any. I've perfected my poker face.

I try to get out of his grasp but he wont let me. He's holding on to me tightly, strong. But it doesn't hurt, it's a safe feeling. Secure. Like being home.

He shakes his head as if arguing with himself internally, deciding whether or not to do something.

Then it's as if he doesn't care and he makes up his mind. And he does it.

His lips slam against mine and he kisses me. I stand there not moving an inch.

Partly shock, but mainly it's her name. Ruth. I don't want to be thinking of her but I can't help it. She's still a person in her own right and I can't do this. Theo made the decision to be with her, so it's her he should be kissing. Not me.

He pulls back only an inch, still holding on to my face. "Kiss me back" he growls.

I can't. I just can't. I put my hand on his cheek and whisper "No,"

His hands drop to his sides and I walk away.

I walk away.