She wanted to die.
He wanted to live.
•••
A hand grabbed onto my wrist, yanking me back just as the train rushed past, before I'd even had time to comprehend whether or not I'd carry out the action. I stumbled back into the person's chest, my hear...
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One thing I had learnt about Romeo was that he was extremely patient.
It was a quality I neither excelled nor lacked in, but the amount of times I had stumbled or lost my footing on the way back was enough to irritate myself, and yet Romeo had simply laughed off my clumsiness, holding onto my hand throughout as he guided me patiently.
On the way to the graffiti wall I had been too caught up in my thoughts to notice the uneven flooring beneath us, but now, on our way back through the narrow path my feet became hyperaware of every stone it came into contact with, resulting in me tripping and bumping into Romeo more times than I could count.
"I swear there weren't half as many branches on our way here," I huffed, steadying myself as I stumbled yet again. Determined not to trip any more, I held onto his wrist with my free hand, hoping to gain extra stability as I practically clung onto him.
Romeo chuckled in response, finding humour in my misfortune. "We're nearly through it, don't worry," he spoke, and past him I could see the dim glow of moonlight able to stream through again, providing a temporary source of light. "You're not hurt, right?"
"No, no I'm not," I assured quickly. At least not physically anyway. Releasing my vice grip on his hand, I let out an audible sigh of relief when the path widened again, allowing us to walk side by side now that I was actually able to see where I was going. "How did you even manage to find such a hidden place?"
"I was uh, being chased by the police." Romeo winced slightly as he said it, avoiding my gaze as I sent him a surprised glance. "I was new to graffiti, and was pushing my luck by choosing to start spray painting in a place way more public than I would usually choose. The next thing I knew an officer was approaching me, yelling stuff about vandalising public property, so I bolted. I ended up taking random turns to get away, then I found myself here."
"It's weird how life does that," I mused, "Making a situation so wrong manage to turn out so right."
"Kind of like how we met," Romeo remembered, referring to when he literally stopped me on the verge of death. "It could've panned out a lot different, but... luckily it didn't come down to that."
"Did you... did you know I would be there?" I asked suddenly, turning to face him as the new thought popped into my head. "You know so much about me, and- I don't know, I just thought... maybe you could have planned this whole thing; like you were tracking me or something and knew this was going to happen."
"Honestly, I had no idea I would meet you tonight," he cleared up, holding my gaze as I searched for any sign of a lie. "Initially, once I realised it was you I did follow you off the train to speak to you, but... then I changed my mind and started to walk away."
I glanced at him quizzically. "Why?"
"I wouldn't have known where to begin!" he admitted, a slight chuckle escaping him as he reminisced. "You freaked out enough when you found out I knew who you are, and that was after we'd actually spoken for a while. Imagine your reaction if I had just randomly walked up you and told you I knew you."
