Chapter 46

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Warning: Mature NSFW Scene in the mid-part

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The car rumbled to a stop as I pulled into the empty parking lot of a tourist complex. After driving for almost three and a half hours, exhaustion weighed heavily on my body, but I ignored it. I turned off the engine, the sudden quiet enveloping the space as I glanced over at Ryan, who was still fast asleep in the passenger seat. His head lolled slightly to the side, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

In the faint glow of the parking lot lights, I could see that he'd gotten a new haircut—both sides of his head were shaved shorter now, the middle a bit longer, with his bangs hanging loosely over his forehead. He looks different... Kind of mature... But despite the changes, there was still something undeniably fragile about him. He must be hungry when he wakes up... The thought crossed my mind as my fingers reached out, almost instinctively, to brush his cheek. My hand lingered a little longer, tracing the curve of his face, before I pulled away and stepped out of the car.

The cold night air hit me instantly, sharp against my skin, but I welcomed it. It kept me awake. The lot was practically deserted, just a few cars scattered around. It was four in the morning, and the world was still. I made my way into the small convenience store, my footsteps echoing in the empty hallway. I need a cup of coffee...

After grabbing a few snacks and two steaming cups of coffee, I paid and made my way back to the car, feeling the weight of the night pressing down on me. However, as I approached, I noticed something that made me pause.

Ryan was awake. Panic had set in, his hands banging frantically against the window, his eyes wide with fear as he mouthed the words "help" over and over again. For a split second, I just stood there, watching. Doesn't he know my car?... I sighed as I walked over and opened the driver's side door, slipping into my seat with an air of calm that belied the storm of emotions swirling inside me. "Are you dumb?" I said, my voice low but sharp as I placed the cups of coffee in the holders between the seats. "How couldn't you realize this is my car?"

Ryan spun around to face me, his wide, gray eyes filled with a mixture of shock, fear, and something else—something raw and unguarded. Tears welled up in his eyes, streaks of confusion painting his face. He stared at me, utterly lost, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The disbelief was clear in the way his lips parted, trembling, and how his eyes darted over my face, blinking rapidly, as though trying to make sense of it all.

Am I dead? Is this real?

The thoughts were written plainly on his face, and for a brief moment, a wave of something unfamiliar crashed over me; sympathy? Pity? I wasn't sure. I'd spent so long numbing myself to comprehend feelings like that. But with Ryan, it was different. It always was.

A small, wry smile tugged at the corner of my mouth as I placed the bag of snacks and desserts on my lap. Without hesitation, I reached out and cupped Ryan's face in my hands. His skin was warm now, heated by panic, by the rush of adrenaline coursing through him. I held his face gently but firmly, and before he could say anything, I leaned in, pulling him into a kiss.

My lips caught his, rough and urgent as if the only way to show him this moment was real. My mind screamed to devour him, to take all of him in that moment. Ryan flinched at first, a startled moan escaping his lips, but then his body went still, and I felt the soft flutter of his eyelids closing as he melted into the kiss. His breath hitched, and for a moment, the world outside ceased to exist.

When I finally pulled back, I kept my hands on his face, staring into his sorrowful eyes as they slowly opened. His lips were still parted, his breathing shallow, and he looked at me with a mixture of disbelief and awe.

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