and we promised

Chapter 17

OLIVIA & NATHAN

OLIVIA

A cliff.

A car rolling towards it.

"Thomas, stop", I yell at him. He smirks at me, as if knowing what will happen. "Please, don't....", I beg him. He makes me kneel on the floor of the car, making me beg for my life. "Please, Thomas...Don't kill me...Don't kill me..."

The car stops with a loud break.

He carries me outside, makes me look at the bottom of the cliff.

His hand is on my back, ready to push.

"Please...", I shout. "Please..."

I know I'm sobbing. I know I am running out of air.

"Please..."

"LIVIE"

NATHAN

"Thomas, stop", I can hear Livie scream. "Please, don't..."

I immediately stand up straight and run next to her. I find her on the bed, shaking with her whole body. Her eyes are closed, yet there are tears rolling down her face. "Please, Thomas", she begins again. "Don't kill me...Don't kill me..."

I freeze as I hear those words.

Livie starts shaking harder now, and I try to place my hands on her shoulders, to bring her back to me.

Please come back.

Please come back.

Please.

"Please", she's shouting now. "Please..."

"LIVIE"

No answer.

I try to come closer to her. "LIVIE"

I wish I could go inside her nightmare and fight the demons together with her. Protect her from the monsters that haunt her.

"LIVIE", I try again. "Please, sweetheart, come back to me. Please come back to me."

I try to gently brush a strand of her hair, if only to bring some peace in her world right now.

"Please, Livie. Remember, you promised. It's you and me. It's you and me forever. Please, princess. Come back to me."

I can see her open her eyes at that. She is still shaking, she stands up straight, and looks around the room. I can't help but cry seeing she opened her eyes again. Seeing she's back. That she came back.

"You're back", I whisper, pulling her in my arms. "You're back. You came back to me."

Livie sinks her head into my chest and starts crying. I hold her tight, so close being able to hear her heartbeat. And I know it then and there that if I ever stopped hearing that sound, I'll also stop hearing my own heartbeat. Because what's the point of breathing if she isn't there to breathing next to me?

"He tried to kill me", she whispers, her head not moving an inch away from my chest. "He tried to kill me, Nathan."

I swallow hard. I don't know how to respond. I don't know how to respond rather than I thank the universe he didn't kill her and that she's here, breathing, and that she's close to me now and that she's safe. I don't know how to respond rather than to say how much I hate the one she's talking about for wanting to harm her. For trying to hurt her. End her life.

"Remember what we promised", I try to look at her. She must have sensed it since she meets my eyes.

"Which one of our promises?", she asks me.

When we were little, we used to like making promises to each other.

"The promise we did at the lake when we were seventeen", I tell her.

She nods and I can see a tear rolling down her face at that. I wipe it away, kissing the spot it used to be on.

"I've been thinking", Livie says, looking at me. And even though there is one of the most beautiful lakes in front of me, she's the one I'd rather look at.

"Yes, princess", I tell her.

She smiles at me. "But don't get me wrong. It's just a thought."

I nod, getting a bit worried about what is going to come.

"I've been thinking that I want to die first", she lets out.

The rock in my hand I wanted to skip on the water falls in the lake. "Livie...", I counter.

She raises her hand for me to let her talk. "I've been wondering about how my life would look without you. And I don't think I want to know the answer. So, if one us will ever die, I want to be the first one from the two of us. So that I won't have to know how life after you looks like."

I come closer to her, to have her in a hug. "And what makes you think I would like to meet life without you?"

She looks at me, her eyes wide.

"If we have to leave, we leave together. Because I also can't picture a day in which you're not there next to me. It's you and me, princess. Always has, always will be."

"I mean, it hasn't always been...", she counters smirking. "We got together a few months ago."

"But that doesn't mean I haven't always only ever been yours."

She smiles, then comes even closer to kiss me. I don't think I could ever get enough of this. Of us. "Promise?", she asks. "You and me? Forever."

"Forever and ever, sweetheart."

"It's you and me, Livie. Always has, always will be. If you leave, I leave", I say.

I can see her let go and then she turns to look at me one more time. Without another word, she places her head back on the pillow and closes her eyes. I think that she wants me to leave her alone, so I stand up to leave. I can quickly feel her hand catching mine.

"Stay", she whispers.

I am not sure what to do.

She opens her eyes and looks straight in mine. "Please."

She doesn't have to ask me again. I come next to her, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. She places her head on my chest and falls asleep with me brushing her hair.

I don't think I could ever let this girl go ever again.