Till I Met You (Ariana/You)

Chapter 25

~Y/N's POV~

I did the one thing I was best at.

Changing the topic.

It was a very good skill I had that comes handy in situations like these. Smoothly changing the topic, I made the vegetable soup without any interactions with Ariana and at the same time made her forget about that topic. It was a pain to do it but I still had to.

Currently, we were seated on the dining table, having our delicious vegetable soup. Exchanging glances and teasing stares towards each other, we continued slurping up the soup. "It's really good." Ariana broke the comfortable silence. I smiled, blushing a little at her unwavering admiration. "Where did you learn to make it?"

I struggled for an answer as my smile dropped instantly. I blinked at her. "I... learned it myself." I said and my obvious change did not go unnoticed by her like I thought it would. She opened her mouth, wanting to ask something before she closed them shut again. I let out a sigh, feeling a little tensed. That's when my ringtone broke the tense air and I looked towards it.

The name 'Princess Strawberry' was blinking on my phone and I picked it up, with a smile on my face.

Did I forget something? Again?

"Hey." I chirped.

"You are everywhere." Shira said calmly, her voice in a little bit of shock.

"What?" I asked, smiling already, knowing that this was going to another joke.

"Your face is everywhere." She said again and I blinked.

"What do you mean? What are you talking about?" I asked, waiting for the oncoming joke.

"Where are you?" Shira asked again. She sounded like she had just ran a marathon, breathing heavily.

"In the Kitchen." I said, furrowing my eyebrows. I looked up to see Ariana looking up at me, at my strange answer. For a moment, there was silence from the other end.

"Hello?" I called.

"Y/N." Shira said. Her tone was very calm and at the same time serious, making me gulp. "There are posters of you everywhere. Saying that you are missing. It says—"

Everything she was saying afterwards went muffled and I couldn't concentrate on anything else as I felt a stinging pain surge through my heart at the sound of this news. The phone I was holding almost slipped out of my fingers and I tightened my grip on it. By my expression, I knew that Ariana's attention was now fully on me.

"Shira." I called, my voice sounding infinitely weak.

"Ya?"

"Are you playing with me? Is this a joke? You are joking right?"

"What? No. Y/N/N, I am not. There are so many posters of you. Danny saw them and told me. I saw the poster. It had your name. Your last name is Y/L/N?"

At the mention of my last name, I knew that it was really happening. I never told my last name to any of them. They are here. They have found me. They know that I am in this town. How did they know? Fear gripped me alive and I looked up at Ariana. It was the type of fear that eats you alive. It crawled underneath my skin, making droplets of sweat roll down my skin. My skin turned cold at the thought of losing her. At the thought of them destroying her.

I need to leave.

I have to move to another place.

Is this how my life is going to be?

Constantly on the run.

My phone was grabbed from me and I looked up to see Ariana talking to Shira. I didn't know what she was saying and the only thing I could constantly hear was the sound of my rapidly beating heart. I felt like my world had been doomed. I shouldn't have stayed here. I should have left. I should have gone to my friend's place. None of this would have happened.

I have to leave.

"Shh." I heard a soothing voice call out to me and turned to see Ariana stroking my cheek. It was only then I realised that I was crying. The pain I felt in my heart was unbearable and I hugged Ariana for making the past few days be the best days I ever had. I hugged Ariana tightly, knowing well that I am never going to see her again. I have to leave before they do something to her too. Her smooth hands stroked my hair comfortingly and I felt arms circle around the back of my waist, bringing me closer to her.

Tears flowed down my cheeks and I wanted nothing else but to leave this place before they come here.

"Ariana." I called.

"Yes, love."

It hurt. They way she called me love. It hurt now that I would never be able to hear it again. She placed me down on the sofa and kneeled down beside me, holding my face.

"Can you bring me to my friend's place?" I asked, looking at her. She remained calm and I was not expecting that. Her thumb stroked my cheek and I looked at her, waiting for an answer.

"No." She said softly and I closed my eyes as more tears flowed down my cheeks.

"Ariana..."

"Shh." She soothed me, holding either side of my face. My lips trembled as she rested her forehead against mine. "I don't just love you. You own me. I would do anything for you. I'm not going to abandon you. I'm not going to leave you. You can damn well know that I am going to fight for you." Her words only made me cry harder.My chest ached. And it only made me cry harder at the fact that she was not demanding answers of my past from me. Or why there are posters of my face hanging around. She was just there, to support me. How can she be so perfect? She is everything I have ever wanted.

"Ariana. You don't know them. They would hurt you. I can't let that happen. They are dangerous—" My breathing went harder. A sudden surge of overwhelming anxiety and fear went through my veins. My heart pounded against my chest and I couldn't breathe. I felt like I was going to die. Immense amount of pain shot through my chest and my vision went blurry. My fingers trembled and I felt a weird sort of numbness take over my body.

I heard a distant voice call my name. "Breathe. KitKat breathe. Baby look at me. Breathe." I felt hands holding me close and I started breathing, thinking of nothing else. I focused on nothing else as I continued taking deep breaths. My vision came back as two comfortable chocolate eyes looked at me with utter concern, her eyes glistening with unshed tears and pain.

"Ariana." I said, my eyes wide, confused and frantic. What just happened to me?

"You just had a panic attack." She gritted her teeth, and rest her forehead against mine. She seemed like she was trying to calm down, controlling herself to not kill that someone who was the cause of the panic attack. "You can try pushing me away because you think it's best for us. But, listen. I will always be here for you. I don't care if there are a million reasons to leave, you a e the only reason I will need to stay. I am not gonna let you face your problems alone. We will face it together. You hear me?"

I nodded.

It was in that moment I realized that she already had my heart before I could even mutter a no.