A Thief's Honor [Book 2]

Ch.14 High Flying

Rae was in the shower, Sly quietly seated on her bed. He had gone over to Bentley and Murray's room to try and wash off all the blood on her clothes. He managed to get the blood off since it hadn't had time to set, so it wasn't hard to wash it off, now he was just letting her clothes dry. He held her cane in his hands, all the blood also having been cleaned off of it. He stared at it for a long moment before getting up from the bed, perching her cane against the wall, doing the same with his own. Not long after he had sat back on the bed, Rae came out of the bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and her wet hair flowing carelessly down her back. Her head was down, avoiding Sly's gaze as he was the one to break the silence between them.

"How are you feeling?"

She didn't reply. Instead, the fox quietly went over to the bed and grabbed her clothes from her bag. Sly quickly turned away as she dressed herself. However, once Rae had finished dressing herself in her white tank top and black shorts, she climbed on the bed. Sly was then surprised when he felt Rae press her forehead against his back, glancing back at her as she gripped the back of his shirt.

"Rae--"

"You hate me, don't you...? You hate me...because of what...of what I did."

"No, I don't."

Rae tensed up slightly, gripping his shirt tighter. "Don't lie."

"I'm not lying." Sly replied.

"Yes, you--"

"If I was lying, you would know." Sly turned to face Rae, who lifted her head and released his shirt from her clenched fists, gazing up into those hazel eyes of his. "Rae, I don't hate you. You didn't know what you were doing, so don't beat yourself up over this, okay? We all make mistakes."

"Not like this... Sly, I killed people just then, and the worst part is I...I-I couldn't control. I couldn't control spilling all of that blood, and all because I was just...so angry. I was in a state of pure murder... I didn't care about anyone, about them... I just started killing, and the more blood I shed, the more I began to lose myself... I...I don't know what came over me, why I suddenly lost control over myself... It's just, when I had one of the people in my sight who killed your parents, I-I wanted to do something about it, but...I couldn't. Bentley said I couldn't even hurt him, and in my fit of rage, I just lost control. I couldn't control my actions, I just--"

"Hey, look at me." Sly cupped her face in his hands, Rae slowly opening her eyes to gaze at his again, tears forming in her blue hues. "It's alright. I'm not mad and I don't hate you. Just calm down and we'll figure this out. Everything is going to be just fine."

"How can you be so sure of that?"

"Because...I have you by my side, and to me, that's all I need to know everything is going to be okay."

Rae sat there for a long moment before more tears formed in her eyes, throwing herself into Sly and burying her face in his chest. Sly grinned, wrapping his arms around the fox. "Don't leave me, Sly... Please... Just please...stay by my side..."

Sly held her tighter, kissing the top of her head. "Wouldn't dream of it... I'll always be here, you can count on that, because I love you too much to let you go."

Rae let out a soft hiccup. "I love you so much, Sly... Don't ever leave me... I don't...I don't know what I'd do...if you were gone."

"I love you too, Rae, and don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, not now, not ever... I'll always be here for you, my beautiful little rose..."

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Rae's heavy eyes slid open, slowly blinking a few times. It was then she realized the warmth centered around her back. She grinned a bit before managing to roll over onto her other side, now facing a still sleeping raccoon. Rae grinned softly before snuggling into his chest, taking in his rich scent as Sly shifted his arms that were still wrapped around her, holding her close. How did I go from not being able to stand this guy to not being able to live without him, I wonder... Heh... For a complete and total idiot...he's not so bad.