Beyond The Sea Blue Light

Make Me A Promise Here Tonight

Vic shifts against his restraints when he sees me come in. They switched the makeshift ones out for actual chains and handcuffs that he won't be able to melt through. He looks exhausted, dark circles under his eyes. His hair is a mess and there's still charcoal and blood smeared across his cheek. I desperately want to wipe it away, but I'm not certain how he'll react.

"Hi," I say, my voice sounding small. "Do you—do you know who I am?" My mind flashes back to the way he didn't react that night. Is it possible that he doesn't remember me?

He holds my gaze for the longest time, as if wondering if I'm truly there. My heart starts to race, panic tumbling through my mind. What if he doesn't remember? What if Oli's right and he's really gone? "Kellin," Vic says finally. "I don't think I could ever forget you."

I'm so relieved I almost burst into tears. "I missed you so much," I cry. "Vic, I can't believe you're actually alive."

He just stares at me, drinking me in as if he couldn't get enough. "You should go," he says finally.

"How are you feeling?" I ask as I walk toward him, ignoring his comment completely.

"Okay," he responds watching me cautiously, his eyes not leaving me.

Instinctively, I reach over, moving to brush the charcoal away before I remember.

"Don't," he says, leaning away from me before I can touch him.

"It's okay," I assure him, my hand hovering in the air.

He looks at me, pain in his eyes. "I don't want to hurt you," he whispers.

"You're not going to," I reassure him as I rest my hand on his cheek, wiping the dirt away. He leans away from me again.

"Really. You should go."

"I'm not gonna." I sit down next to him, my back leaning against the way. It almost hurts, the way he moves away from me.

"I already did once," he says and I grimly wonder how much he remembers of that night.

"You won't." I shift so I'm sitting in his lap, my legs draped over the side. He sucks in a breath, tensing as he tries to move away, but there's no where he can move.

"Kellin," he says warningly.

"It's okay," I lean closer, pressing my forehead against his.

"No, it's not," he says. His lips are so close and all I want to do is kiss him. So I do. He doesn't kiss me back, but doesn't try to push me away. I reach up, undoing one of his shackles, letting his hand drop to his side.

"What are you doing?" He asks, finally moving away. "Kellin, this is dangerous. I could kill you."

"You won't. I trust you."

"I don't trust myself. The others don't trust me and frankly, they're right. Who knows if I'll lose control?"

"You won't," I say firmly, not moving away. "Please. I've missed you so much."

His eyes flicker to my lips at my words. "I've missed you too," he says. "You don't even know. I thought I was going to die that day and honestly I was okay with it as long as you were safe." My heart breaks a bit more at his words. I knew what he was doing, but hearing him say the words hits me harder than I thought it would.

"We all thought you were dead," I say. "The first time I saw you—I just froze. I thought I was dreaming or dead. The only place I saw you was in my dreams."

"You dreamed about me?" He asks softly, his lips twitching into a smile.

"Yeah," I mumble.

"I did too," he says, leaning against the wall. "Every night."

"What kind of dreams?" I ask.

He looks away from me. "Most of them were terrifying. You were dead or dying and I couldn't do anything about it." He looks back at me, a familiar grin on his face. "The other kind was better."

"Which were those?" I ask, my mouth going dry. Memories of my dreams flash through my mind. When we talked—I wasn't dreaming, was I? I was talking to him, but how?

He leans forward, kissing me gently. His hand tangles in my hair, pulling me closer than I already am as I kiss him back. The kiss ends far too soon, over before it barely started.

"Those," he says.