A/N: Casually almost died because I forgot I wrote this and didn't think I had a chapter to post today.
It's cool, I have this one to post so that's what I'm doing.
(I haven't had coffee today yet and I literally have no idea what's going on tbh; just ignore this entire (really short) author's note if it makes no sense)
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and don't forget to vote or comment if you did c:
The colours in Luke's life were slowly seeping away.
Everyone around him seemed to be getting better. He'd seen Kitzie eat multiple times over the past few days. After the event involving her little siblings, Ezra's bruises were fading. He hadn't seen much of Conor, but he still felt like he was the only one who was still slipping backwards. His mind made trying to heal like climbing a ladder with greased rungs: he could get a little way up if he really tried, but then without warning he'd slip and end up falling right back to the bottom. It didn't help that the fall would be the most painful part, and it was getting worse every time he tried to stand back up. He was sick of it.
"Ezra?" he said out of the blue, pressing his paint covered hands together restlessly.
She looked at him with curiosity in her eyes.
"Do you think you're ever going to speak again?" He didn't know where the question had come from, but now that he had asked it, he was interested in the answer.
There was a flash of emotion in her eyes, and then nothing. She shrugged.
He looked down at the paint soaked page in front of him. Usually, he was indifferent towards his paintings. They were just a mess, really, a way of expressing some of the emotions he couldn't find the words for. This one, even though it wasn't any different to the others, seemed to bother him though. He didn't like it. He didn't like how the colours bled together, or how some of them had completely merged and created a colour he hadn't intended to be there. He pushed the page away silently.
Ezra had something to hide. Luke had known that from the moment he had seen her again. Luke thought she was a wonderful person, his favourite person if he was honest. But, he didn't really know what drew him to her. Heaven was her soul and hell was her eyes. Once, he'd found out about her sister, it started making a little more sense - although it shook him terribly when he first heard. One thing that didn't add up, however, was the sudden silence. He could have understood if it was something that only happened for a little while, but this seemed permanent. It seemed like a mental block she had placed on herself and he didn't really know what to think.
There had to be a reason, but it was like trying to tightrope walk along the edge of a knife. If he fell - letting Ezra never tell anyone her reasons - it would hurt. If he continued to edge along the blade - somehow managing to cut her open and find out that secret - well, he had a feeling it would be painful for both of them.
It was just a case of deciding which pain was worse. He figured there wasn't much of a point in asking, but he could try anyway. Of course, it didn't create much of an answer.
"Why don't you-"
She interrupted him by shaking her head vigorously.
He closed his mouth, letting his eyes slip back down in front of him.
When he looked up again, Ezra was glancing around intently, as if observing what was going on, even though not much was. It took her a moment to realise he was looking at her, and she seemed to see something different in her eyes. A strange emotion she hadn't ever seen from him before. She cleared her throat awkwardly and ignored any thought that came to her about it.
"I feel like we don't talk as much anymore," Luke said quietly.
Ezra raised an eyebrow.
He laughed a little, although that hadn't been his intention. "I didn't mean literally for you. Would you even be able to speak if you tried? It's been so long since you've said anything to anyone."
