A Heart's Thoughts

Day 7 - Part 1

As soon as Cecilia spoke up, she saw his body freeze and he remained still for a while before lowering his arms and letting them hang lifelessly at his sides as he pushed his forehead against the wall to keep his balance.

"You're here."

His voice sounded shaky and angry, but she knew the anger wasn't directed at her.

"Anthony, why are you-"

"Cecilia, could you please leave?"

He cut her off as he turned to lean his back against the wall and sat down, everything about his composure looking defeated. His face was wet from the tears and his eyes red and puffy, yet he smiled when he saw her. She wished he hadn't.

"You're not wearing your shades. Did you lose them again?"

Cecilia choked up as she shook her head, very well aware what was going on in his head, and that he was trying to distract her. She felt a weight on her heart, seeing both his smile and the immensely sad thoughts simultaneously, it felt wrong.

"The room was dark, so I could take off my shades."

Her voice was soft and she wanted to escape the room. She wanted to escape his thoughts, but her gaze never left him.

"I was surprised back there in the forest when I saw your eyes. They're a very unique color."

"I was also surprised when you commented on the color of my eyes while you were dying. I would've hit you if you hadn't been in that condition. They're amber, by the way. My eyes."

Anthony's smile widened a bit as he closed his eyes and leant his head back, letting out a breath. She thought he was calming down, because his thoughts suddenly disappeared, but she got concerned when nothing replaced them.

"Anthony, why can't I-"

He cut her off again, "you know, the council beat me quite a bit. So I could master blocking my thoughts and feelings from you. I was never able to do so while they were watching, which is why they did that to me. They'd hoped I would die and take their secrets with me. They probably also hoped for an easier target to inherit my powers."

He huffed as he opened his eyes and raised his head again to look at Cecilia.

"But from the sudden tensing in your body, I now know I succeeded, right when there's no use in mastering it."

Cecilia balled her fist as she tried to make sense out of his words. She knew he was trying to tell her something, she just didn't know what it was.

"Say, Cecilia, don't you think it's time to stop now?"

"Stop what?"

Her body tensed even more when he smiled and locked eyes with her. He raised his hand and pointed at his chest.

"Don't you think it's time for this thing to stop beating?"

Cecilia's eyes travelled to where he was pointing at. She'd expected herself to panic and do something desperate to get that thought out of his head as soon as possible, but she didn't. Instead, she put both her and Anthony's bags on the ground and stood up. She already felt the strain on her muscles, and she couldn't keep her face in check as she grimaced from the pain, but she didn't sit back down. She took a few careful steps until she was in front of Anthony, who had lowered his hand and had turned his head to face the wall next to him, seemingly refusing to see her reaction.

Cecilia sat down and she inspected his face for a while before grabbing his hand and putting it over her chest. She tightened her grip on his hand and put pressure on it to make sure he was feeling her heartbeat. His face snapped back to face her and a panicked look crossed his face, considering where his hand was. He tried to pull his hand back, but she didn't let go.