Desires

•CHAPTER XVII•

A tsunami of relief hit my body as I saw his face. His stoic pale skin that brought light to the dark and malicious embrace of the forest. My eyes set on his and my chest relieves a breath it was holding.

He appears now in front of me like he was always there, with his arms at my side. Without realising, I wrap my arms around his torso. He feels cold and still. But it doesn't make me back away. He stays still, like a frozen statue. Then gradually puts his arms around me like I'm some fragile china doll.

"You always come at the right time." I whisper barely enough for him to hear. But he replies.
"It's because I know you're here." He says. His voice like music to my ears. I wonder if this is all but a dream and that I'm somewhere laying in the forest. But it's not. I can smell his luring cologne and I can feel his body in my arms. This is real.

"How did you find me?" I ask and up at him. We gradually pull away and I find my body feeling like I had something stripped away. Like his body was always meant to be embraced in mine.
"I could hear you." He said as he traced a piece of hair on my shoulder, twiddling the dark strands in his fingers. "Were you scared?" He whispers and finds my eyes.
I shake my head, my blue orbs meeting his green glassy eyes. I don't want to admit I'm scared. It makes me feel weak, I'm not weak. I especially don't want to mention it to him.
"Your heartbeat says otherwise." He whispers and I can hear the vibrations in his low voice.

Is my heartbeat really that loud? Can he hear it's frantic beating every time I'm near him? I frown a little and step back.
"How can you hear my heartbeat?" I asked cautiously.
He almost looks hurt as I stepped away from him. "Does it matter?" He asks and looks away. "I could smell you too. Your perfume." He says and turns to me.

I shake my head and step closer again as I don't find myself in fear of him. I never have. In these dark and twisted woods, he's the safest haven I have. It's not only in the woods too, it's everywhere. I feel as though I'm under a shield of protection every time I'm near him. This sort of hope or comfort immerses inside me, where I feel invincible. And I barely even know him. But I feel like I have. I feel like I have known him for decades.

"I'm not wearing any perfume today." I said truthfully and look at him to see what he has to say.
"I know." He said and smiled to himself like there's something funny that I'm not allowed to know about.
"Sorry, am I missing something?" I say cockily and cross my arms in a defensive position.
He chuckles and steps closer to me.

His chilled fingers tuck my dark hair behind my ears. He brushes my blushing cheeks with the tips of his fingers, setting fireworks off inside my chest. If he could hear my heart before, I'm sure he can hear it now. I can feel it, beating undeniably in my chest.
"You're just so innocent. It makes me feel like I'm some sort of disrupter." He says and I chuckle.
"Me? Innocent? You're funny." I say, rebelling against the urge to have him in my embrace again.
He laughs and then nods toward a parting in the trees. "Come on, we better get going." He says and I don't disagree.

Even though it's getting darker with the sun disappearing behind the pathetic dim flow of the clouds covered by the tall timbering trees, he seems to know where he's going.
"How did you get here anyways? What were you doing by Stellar River?" He asks curiously and I follow behind his swift steps.
"Well, I was with Charlie." I said and then remember her weird phase. I swallow before I continue unsure of wether I should tell him. But I do because I feel like I can trust him. And it scares me how much I do trust him. "And well...I said something that came out ruder than I thought it would in my head. She then went weird. Like all of a sudden it wasn't her anymore." I said and realised how crazy I sounded. "I know it sounds insane but her eyes changed colour too. And she had weird vibes coming off from her and I mean that literally. Then she just took off." I say and he doesn't say anything. I look at him and feel embarrassed over what I had just said.
"Romeo, I promise it's true." I say quietly in defeat. He looks surprised and turns to me.
"I know, I believe you Azra." He says convincingly. "You're not insane okay?" He looks at me with this expression of guilt that is unknown to me.
"I know I'm not crazy. But I just feel like everything here is just..."
"I know. This town is weird, and not to help but it's full of weirdos. What do you expect from a small town?" He says in a jokey way like he's trying to cover up something, but I know that he feels the same. I laugh to ease his nerves.

We soon arrive at the trail where I can actually recognise the clearing. It's the clearing where we had first met and where it's near to my house. How long had we been walking for? It seems like only minutes yet it couldn't have been. We had walked through most of the twisted forest, and he knew where to go the whole time.

"How did you know where to go?" I ask even though we were just talking about his family. His parents are over seas and he has no siblings. He doesn't talk about it in a way that I pity him like a kicked puppy. He seems quite proud of himself actually, and I don't pry. Maybe they don't get on. I'm sure if I lived away from my mother, the heavy discomfort laying on my shoulders for years would finally fall.

"I was born and bred here. I used to go into the forest everyday when I was younger. Still mostly spend my time in there." He says casually. Even though I half believe him, something about it doesn't seem quite right. The forest is huge. It's all over Morgenstel and surrounds it for miles and miles. All the dark timber looks the same in the day or night light. The only distinctive feature is Stellar River. But even then you can't tell if you're on either side of the bank.

We got to the closed gates of my house. I looked through the black iron bars to see no car. My mother must be at work, luckily too as I didn't want to see her. I know that she would never allow Romeo in the house. Especially not my room. Maybe because he's a boy and she probably thinks we would be up to something. But that just comes with not knowing me at all.

"It's not 6 o'clock yet, but would you like to come in?" I said as I checked the time on my phone. This is a perfect time as I didn't have any risk of my mother coming back early.

"Of course." He said before I typed in the key code to open the gates.

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authors note:

i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i know that it seems a little boring but hang in there! i didn't want to give you super long chapters.

please vote/comment as it keeps me motivated!

p.s: i can't believe we've reached over 700 reads!! thank you so much x

-kiim