Plain Sight

chapter forty-eight

Juliette

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I can't breathe, and suddenly I can't speak.

The instant I looked up, and finally met his brown eyes, only for a moment, it felt like the world around us had finally stopped spinning.

"You're awake." Is all I can manage to say. A small smile grows, but it's very faint. And my eyes burn against the tears that begin to build.

He smiles. But it's a very weak, tired smile.

"Juliette—" He breathes.

I haven't actually spoken to Tom in weeks, and to be honest, it's been eating me alive.

"How could you do such a stupid thing? Putting yourself in danger like that Tom, seriously? You almost died!" My chest is already rising and falling rapidly.

"And yet I'm here, aren't I? Alive." He says, breathlessly. And then his face drops, its.... different. "My letter. Did you get my letter?" His voice is soft, it's quiet, almost a whisper.

I stare at him now, pain and joy colliding together at once. And it's the look in his eyes— the hopeful, yet terrified look in his eyes, that nearly kills me.

My heart beats too fast, I can't even fight it, or control it anymore.

I slowly reach into my pocket and take it out, holding onto it, staring at it so I could avoid seeing Tom right now. I don't want him to see my eyes watering just holding this piece of fucking paper.

I haven't let this go since I got it. I haven't stopped reading it, and I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. A piece of paper that has consumed my mind.

I look up at Tom now, so slowly, and with so many emotions showing at once across my face, "Yes, I haven't been able to stop reading it." I say, and it's almost a whisper.

He breaks into a small smile. But it's a weak, sleepy smile. The kind that makes my heart melt. And the kind that I could never forget about even if I tried.

"I'm so sorry." He speaks. He tried to sit up, and he winced at the pain. Only now does he look at his body and see all of the marks on him, and the small tubes with needles attached to him.

I see the moment he decides to rip them out, but I stop him by gently putting my hand over his.

"Don't, they're monitoring you," I say quietly to him. "It's gonna help you, I promise. Just leave them alone." He relaxes and lays back down, wincing slightly.

A few moments pass and I still haven't been able to find the right words I want to say.

"Explain everything. Every part, please. I've been losing my mind trying to even sort it out. Please, Tom." My voice was so quiet I wondered if he could even understand me.

But I know that he does, because his entire face softens, "That night....." He pauses, and takes a breath. "Of the ball, I knew something was going to happen. And I knew that's when you were going to tell me everything, but the thing was, I already knew. I knew every part, and that night we first met at Viper Lounge, I already knew you."

"I knew everything about you. I became obsessed with you, Juliette. Completely fascinated by you, and became obsessed with the fact of why Lucian tried to hide you from the world. But then I understood everything once I got to know you. He hid you, because he was afraid of the power he knew was building inside of you. That spark, I saw it in you the first time I saw you." His eyes sparkle, and his words only leave me more confused. He was stalking me?