fearless

Chapter 108: Meet the Ambassador

alt-J- Left Hand Free
Ty

Maddie struts towards me, a smirk playing on her face. She stops when she's three inches away from me, and I cup her cheeks with my hands, holding her head in place as my lips drift closer to hers. She allows her eyes to close and her breathing to hitch as I place my lips to hers.

The kiss is slow and passionate as we sway back and forth, my hands now on her hips, hers seemingly glued to my shoulders. "It's been so long Ty." She quivers, and I nod, biting my lip before I smile.

I lay our foreheads together, and feel Maddie's hand stroke my cheek. It's her left hand. Suddenly, something seems off. Like, seriously—Maddie doesn't have her ring on.

I allow that to slide, seeing how Maddie is now attacking my face with kisses. I feel my eyes roll back into my head. It's so hard to keep my self control, especially with her doing this to me.

My hands grip her shoulders tightly as her hands slide under the hem of my black shirt, her cold fingertips making me shiver as she traces my abs. Eventually my shirt has raised itself to my neck, and Maddie just pulls it over my head, then lays her forehead on my chest.

"I love you, Ty." She whispers.

I try to tell her that I love her, but I feel myself fading away. I open up my mouth; I can't speak. She pulls her head away from me abruptly. "Do you not love me back?" She asks, stepping back and crossing her arms.

I bite my lip and look down. I'm disappearing. How can she not see this? What? I begin to ask myself questions and then feel myself fall backwards. I fall through the ground, hearing Maddie scream, "Ty!" but it's too late for her to save me—I'm already gone.

>>

I wake with a jolt. I'm laying on my stomach on my side of the bed. Maddie lays on her back beside me, her breathing steady. My arm is slung over her stomach, the other placed on my pillow.

That had to be the weirdest dream I've had in a long time. I remove my arm from Maddie's stomach and then push myself up. The faint hints of the sunrise tell me that it is probably about seven o'clock or so.

I stand up, trying to gain my balance, and then walk over to the wall of glass that is our bedroom window. The sky is a gradient pink-blue, the horizon a glowing purple-orange. I watch as the trains fly down the rusty tracks as they circle the perimeter of the city, some on the outside, others on the inner sector of the city—they all look like toys from this height.

The buildings look monstrous, glass and metal tower over the small trees that have been planted here and there, near the tall buildings and also away, towards the fence, towards the marsh, and Amity.

I cross my arms as I look out at the cityscape, something I've always enjoyed. I used to sneak out of my parents' house as a kid and race to the Hancock Building or the the tall glass cylinder that is the Pire and rush to the highest floor—just to look at the cityscape.

It was the only thing that seemed to keep me sane, yet set me free...until I met Maddie, of course. She's the cityscape in human form. She, along with the cityscape, are my escape.

I smile at all of my memories, then turn from the glass wall, returning to the bed. I sit down on it, then move to lay down. Maddie now lays on her side, her body facing away from me. I lay behind her and wrap an arm around her. I almost sigh as I feel myself being engulfed into the safety net and the feeling of pleasure that she gives me just by being near me, even if she is asleep.