#(right arm)

Getting off the truck and taking off your helmet you take a deep breath, the sun making your body sweat under its heat, the hot and suffocating air brushing against your skin. You take the direction of the armory, putting back all your equipment, feeling the weight of it slowly leaving your body and almost offering you a sensation of coolness. 

Then across the room you notice a certain guy, you smile to yourself seeing him visibly searching for something, or someone. He looks pissed, you can tell by his furrowed brows, the way his jaw is clenched or the fact that his body is tense. You giggle, being sure at  99% why he’s mad. Teasing him is like your second favorite thing to do, after spending time with him. 

You finish putting back your stuff and close your locker, staying next to it. When he finally notices you, you give him a little wave with your most angelic smile. The sight of his jaw clenching a bit more at your action makes you bite back a laugh, he comes over and stops inches away from you, anger written all over his face, you keep smiling at him. And taking your most innocent tone you start talking.

“Hi, how are you today, argh what’s the expression you’re using sometimes ? Greejie ? Greendie ?” you said your smile stuck to your face.

“It’s Greenie, and-”

“Ohhh, right greenie ! How was your day ?” you keep smiling at him

“Don’t give me that klunk Y/n ! Stop acting like an idiot and stop playing with my nerves, I'm pissed and you know it ! And I’m not a greenie anymore !” He said through gritted teeth, glaring at you.

Even if you don’t know why, you love when he uses his slang, you had him explain all these strange expressions to you, one afternoon when you were spending time together on your day off. Making him open up wasn’t easy and you didn’t want to push him, so you waited patiently and took the opportunity everytime he told you a story about the glade, to get to know him more. Since he arrived three months ago you know a lot by now, even about that one story that was so difficult to talk about. 

He couldn’t bring himself to finish it but that wasn't necessary because you understand the finality of it. In three months you build a good relationship with the ancient keeper, he is the one you are the closest to, you really like him even if you won’t admit it out loud. That’s why you like to tease him so much, it’s your way of showing him you care and you love him, but will deny it immediately if someone asks or tries to tease you about that.

You gasp and put a hand on your heart mimicking an offended face, way too dramatic to look true. You knew he wouldn’t joke, but you like being on his nerves and what’s better than acting like an idiot to do it ? 

“Gally, how could you say that to me ? I ain’t playing dumb about anything and I didn’t knew someting was making you angry !” 

“Last warning Y/n, I'm not in the mood for your little games !”

“I don’t know what you-”

You couldn’t finish your sentence, Gally grabs your arm and drags you out of the armory and into the empty infirmary. He glared at you to make it clear that he was not taking your jokes without consequences anymore. You sigh, deciding for your own security and his mental health that it was time to stop making fun of him, but you remain silent.

You knew what he wanted to talk about, you’ve had this conversation a hundred times already and roles were constantly reversed. One day it was him shouting at you and the next one it was you screaming at him, the same conversation over and over again. And since it only happens between you two, your friends were making fun of you, saying that it was time again for the ‘couple quarrel’. It happens after every mission where one of you was hurt or could have been killed, if one of you heard about a dangerous event happening to the other you got that same conversation. Every. Time.

“Seriously Y/n what the hell ?! You almost got killed this time ! And look at you, you are covered in blood ! You’re injured, you need to be healed. Now.“ He said still angry.

You roll your eyes at him “Gally calm down, if you keep going like that I could start to believe that you like me ?” you grin and wink at him.

“Y/n, I swear-”

“Alright, alright.” you sigh “Look, i’m good and more important I am alive. I know what I'm doing ! And I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal of it ? I had a mission with my team and we completed it, everyone’s back alive and well. Nobody is injured.” 

“Nobody except you ! I wasn’t there but I know what happened. You take useless risks again ! But this time…” He paused a second looking in your eyes, his expression of anger replaced by pain for a second. “This time you almost died, one second later and you wouldn’t have come back. One second later and if Nick hadn’t been there this bullet would have gone through your head !” He said the last word screaming.

You bite your lips and look away, that’s true without Nick to save you, you would be dead right now, there’s no point in lying. Gally probably knows the entire story anyway, thanks to your savior. Damn him, can’t keep his mouth shut ! As much as you like being on his nerves you don’t like when you are angry at each other, unfortunately you also are both really stubborn and keep arguing. That risk wasn’t useless, you had to take it. You look up directly in his eyes, and by the look you’re giving him, he knows that the conversation is not over yet. 

 When Gally first arrives after being healed, he starts training. Nick and you were the instructors, at first Gally was really mistrustful towards you. Since you were the second girl he ever remembered meeting in his life and the fact that the first one he saw wasn’t really trustful, that was understable. He was keeping an eye on you during all training, trying to decide if he should or not trust you. When the training was finished for the new recruit, they got to go on their first mission with one of their instructors and an experienced team. 

Unfortunately for him, the instructor who he had to do the mission with was you. Since he knew he couldn’t change that, the tall man decided to give you a little, tiny bit of trust for the mission. He follows your orders, applying what he has learned. He also observes you and was forced to admit that you knew what you were doing and was pretty good at it, but he also noticed how you always put yourself on the frontline even if that means being in danger. During the mission Gally didn’t see one enemy sneaking behind him ready to shoot in his head, but you did and were faster to pull the trigger. 

That’s when he decided he could trust you, after you saved him. That same day he realized that if he got close to you, he would be constantly worried about you whenever you had to go. Because the tough boy knew you wouldn’t hesitate to put yourself in danger to save your team. And he was right.

He throws his arms in the air, sighing deeply, he’s exasperated by your behavior. Since he meets you that’s the same things, you always put yourself in danger. For one time, just one time, all he wanted was you to admit that was stupid, dangerous and he had hoped that you would promise to be more careful the next time. Just for once.

“That risk was not useless, I had to pick up the bag, there was precious information in it and we needed it !”

“Not if that kills you ! Your life is more important than some information ! You- Whatever, I don’t know why I keep trying you never listen to anything anyway, do as you want, I’m done.”  

He stepped back to let you go, running his hands through his hair, he leaned against the wall, crossing his arms over his broad chest, his eyes looking absently at the floor. Your heart stings, maybe you should have stayed silent for once. He’s mad and you hate that, you approach him slowly.

“I’m sorry Gally, I-”

“It’s okay, do what you want to do, I’m not going to try anymore. Enjoy putting your life in danger, I won’t look after you, I'm tired of doing it for nothing.”

That being said he gets out of the room shutting the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts. Shit.Shit.Shit. This time he won’t forgive you easily if he does at all. Tears start to form in your eyes, and one rolls down your cheek as you replay the scene in your head. Why are you so fucking stubborn ? Why didn’t you just apologize and shut your mouth ? Why are you so stupid ? Now you probably lost the person you love the most on this stupid planet. You can’t stay here, you’ve got to do something. But for now talking to him would make things worse, if it’s even possible. You have to occupy yourself while thinking about what to tell him. You wipe the tears on your face and clean the blood on your body, then get out of the infirmary. You walk through the corridors mindlessly and end up in front of the armory, you enter and notice a team preparing for a mission. You walk to your locker and get ready with them.

“Y/n ? What are you doing?” Asks someone behind you

“Getting ready Justin, I’m coming with you.” you reply emotionless 

“What ? No, no way Y/n, you just came back from a mission with Nick, plus you are injured. I can’t let you.”

“Don’t worry, the blood on my clothes isn’t mine, I'm not tired and I want to help. I’m coming whether you like it or not.”

You said the last sentence looking at him dead in the eyes while charging your gun. Your friend sigh, he never had a bit of authority on you, so whatever he will say, you won’t listen to him. He gestures to you to join the others, when you are out of hearshot, he catches someone and orders him to go warn Nick or Gally, so they know where you are and hopefully will give you a lecture to prevent it from happening again. After Justin had explained what the plan was to the team, he tried to convince you to stay and rest. Using many excuses, but was unsuccessful. Even when he tries to convince you saying that Gally would be mad and worried if you go. At the mention of his name you bite your lips and reply saying he wouldn’t be. Justin raised a brow at you but before he could ask anything you took a seat in the old, dirty truck. 

Some hours passed, Gally and Nick had been warned about your leaving but too late to stop you. They’re now in the parking lot, waiting for you to come back in a heavy silence. Nick was sitting against the wall, eyes closed and sighing deeply. Gally on the other hand was pacing and mumbling nonsense, looking up every time he heard a car passing by.

“Gally can you please try to calm down, I bet they will be back soon. And then we will make sure Y/n never does it ever again.”

“Calm down ? How can I stay calm when that shank is gone for another mission while being injured ? There’s no way I'll let it happen again cause if that idiot is not dead, I swear I'll kill that dumbass myself !” the ancient builder replied, running his hands on his tired face.

“We both know that won’t happen, plus I thought you told me you didn’t care anymore ?” Nick open an eye to look at him

Gally sent a death stare at his friend, and Nick put his hands up in surrender. He then turned his head to the entrance waiting for you to come back, anxiety crushing him, he had a bad feeling since he was warned that you were gone. Gally got out of his thoughts by Nick’s voice.

“It’s difficult to stop caring about someone you're deeply in love with. And before you say anything and pretend you’re not, just know that I ain’t stupid nor blind. You two look at each other with so much love that it’s almost making me sick. You are constantly looking after that ‘idiot’, why do you think Y/n is always teasing or getting on your nerves ? It’s a way of showing you the love-”

“That’s bullshit Nick, and you know that. You don’t always and at every given occasion, put yourself in danger when you love someone.” Gally replied sternly. 

“You don’t know, do you ? The reason Y/n always take the most dangerous mission is you.” He laughs exasperated “You’re both so oblivious and clueless I should have lock you in a room together, until one of you finally confess”

“What do you mean ? Why am I the reason Y/n takes them ?” Gally furrowed his brows.

Before Nick could answer, a truck arrived at full speed and stopped just in front of the access door to the rest of the building. Everybody got out of the truck and hurried to transport an injured person to the infirmary. Nick stands up and follows the group with Gally, asking who’s injured and what happened, but doesn't get any answer. The team screams orders and asks everyone to get out of their way. Two persons stop Nick and Gally in front of the infirmary telling them that nobody can enter while the surgery is going on. Before the door closes the ancient keeper of the builder succeeds to see who’s injured. His eyes suddenly widened at the sight of the unconscious and covered in blood, body lying down on the surgery table.

The tough man stumbles back in shock, his mind blank he can’t think about anything. Nick shakes Gally’s shoulder asking who’s inside, he didn’t answer at first too shaken up, but as his friend kept asking he let out a small “Y/n”, barely above a whisper but he stills hears it. The instructor's arms fall back to his side. Quick footsteps arrive towards them Gally turns his head slightly and when he sees Justin approaching the anger rose up, he then grabs the boy by the collar of his shirt and slams him against the wall.

“What happened to Y/n ?! You were in charge, you were supposed to protect them ! So why the hell his Y/n on a fucking surgery table between life and death !” 

Gally screams at the team leader, with anger in his voice and pain in the eyes, Nick pulls back Gally, and stands between the two boys to prevent a fight. Justin looked down.

“I’m sorry, it’s my fault if Y/n is in there. I-I should’ve been the one taking this bullet, Y/n saved my life and took the bullet instead of me, for me… I’m so sorry.” 

Gally’s jaw clenches and he punches the wall, not able to contain his rage. Nick stops him before he throws another punch, they sit waiting to know if you will be fine. After a moment Gally asks his friend why you always take the most dangerous missions, the instructor remembers their conversation and answers. 

“Y/n always take these missions so there’s no risk that you got them, that way there is no possibility for you to be severely injured or killed.”

Gally’s eyes widened again, he didn’t even think that could be a possibility. He thinks about your earlier argument, about what he says to you, now he regrets it. If he had known maybe things would be different, maybe you would be here safe and sound, maybe you wouldn’t have gone with them. But who knows ?

You wake up, slowly opening your eyes, letting them some time to adjust to the light. Where are you ? What happened ? It takes you a few seconds to remember the event. You were with Justin and his team stealing some food and medicine from WICKED. Then they started shooting at your squad, you were replying. Noticing a sniper aiming for the team leader, you pushed him aside and suddenly felt a sharp pain in your ribs. You fall, your vision becoming blurry and the call of your name becoming more and more distant. Then nothing until now, meaning you’re probably in the infirmary. How are you still alive ? In a way that doesn’t matter because if Nick hears what happened he’ll rip your head off. 

You want to speak but your throat is as dry as the desert of the Scorch. You try to sit but the pain you felt makes you lie down immediately. Looking around, you notice a water bottle on the nightstand. As you try to grab it without moving too much the bottle falls. You groan, annoyed, then someone picks it up. As you look at that person you gulp, worried about what will happen to yourself. 

“Relax, I'm not gonna hurt you Y/n. Not now at least” the boy glared at you.

You try to speak again but he hushes you, opening the water bottle he helps you sit up a bit, to let you drink. When you finish, he sits next to you and sigh, explaining what happened. He told you about the surgery, that you almost died, the fact that you wake up after three days of a very deep sleep and of course the man gives you a long, long lecture. You look down, apologizing many times, admiting it was more than stupid and promised to never do it again, but you don’t explain why you did it, why you had leave with Justin and the other. 

“I’m so, so sorry Nick. Is the rest of the squad alright ?” You said looking around the room. 

“Yeah, thank god nobody else is hurt.” he sighs in relief and notices your searching eyes. “Gally’s not here, I told him to go rest, he spent the last three days here, taking care of you.”

“As if.” you scoff. “It’s not like I care what he’s doing anyway”

“Yeah sure and I’m the king of this planet” Nick said sarcastically.

“I said I don't care !” you shout at him.

He looks at you intently then shrugs “If you say so, just know he’ll come back to look after you and take some news. He was worried sick, never seen him like that before. I let you rest now, I'm relieved you are still alive” he gives you a kiss on the forehead and walks towards the door “Also happy that you still have your bad temper”  he said sticking out his tongue at you before walking out.

You roll your eyes and stick out your tongue too, as he leaves. Silence falls back in the now empty room, you lay on your left side, the one which isn’t injured, and looking at the wall, you get lost in your tracks of thought. Thinking about your argument with Gally, then to what happened when you got hurt and at the lecture the brunette had given you. One hour passed, you finally cleared what was on your mind and Justin had visited you. Thanking you for saving him, apologizing for not having protected you properly. You apologized for the trouble and for ignoring the orders of staying, both of you discussed a bit more then he left. Now you're bored, there’s literally nothing to do here and you don’t want to rest anymore. You take a deep breath and try to stand up, only for the ache to knock you out, you fall back on the mattress and moans out of pain. 

“You should rest, don’t try to stand up you’ll hurt yourself more”

You turn your head slowly at the voice behind you, you didn’t even hear anybody open the door. But here he is, standing in the door frame looking at you. You turn back your head to face the wall, and scoff like it was making no sense.

“Why you care ? ” You said harshly even if you're happy he's here.

You hear Gally sigh in your back, then the door closes. You bite your lips holding back a whimper and shut your eyes as you feel the tears forming, he’s gone. You don’t want to get away from Gally but you have to do it for him, but that doesn't hurt any less. The bed sinks beside you, opening your eyes , you stare at your friend, confusion writ all over your face.

“What, did you think I left ? Come on, you know me better than that Y/n. You may be a stubborn idiot with a bad temper, who never listens to anything or anyone and is clumsy as hell but no matter what happens I still, and will always care about you.” Gally says looking at you intently

“B-but you said-”

“Yeah I know, I was mad and I said dumb things that I didn't meant. I’m sorry for that” He said scratching his neck

You try to sit, Gally helps you, and when you’re comfortable enough you start apologizing for everything. Your argument, going on this mission, for making him worry. Crying while you explain that you were really scared that you lost him after the scene in the infirmary because you care about him too. Gally moves closer to you and takes you carefully in his arms not wanting to hurt you and gently stroke your back. After a moment you calm down feeling safe in his strong arms and look him in the eyes, then at his lips and back at his eyes. He seems to notice because he leans his face closer to yours taking the hint. 

The door suddenly opens and you both jump in surprise. Nick enters the room and alternates his gaze between you two, he grins “Am I interrupting something ?” Gally stands up and you clear your throat feeling your cheeks heating up, explaining to your friend that you weren’t angry at each other anymore. He hums, not really convinced.

“Right. I came to tell you that the modification you asked for was made.”

“What modification ?” you ask

“We’re teaming up starting from now and you can’t say no. I want to make sure nothing ever happen to you again, I’m gonna stop you from doing anything as dumb as you did.”

You roll your eyes at him trying to hide your smile, you know he just wants to be able to look after you. The instructor explains to you that you’ll have to rest one month under Gally’s watch, then do a check up to be sure you’re completely healed. You groan already annoyed, you know they’re not going to let you do anything physical even if you feel fine.

Two weeks later you were able to walk on your own and got the authorization to get out of the infirmary. That’s when Gally’s despair began, you couldn’t stay still, you’re supposed to rest but your inactivity was driving you insane. Since the ancient builder didn’t want to let you do anything, you wait till he turns his back to escape his supervision, making him search you for hours. Using these moments of ‘peace’ to train a bit and think about your almost kiss when you were in the infirmary, none of you had talked about it. The first few days after the event were awkward, it's still but less. You are sure about your feelings towards him but what if he did it in the heat of the moment ? What if you had kissed and he regretted it afterward ? You were hiding on the rooftop, trying to clear your mind when the access door opened. Crap. You turn, seeing the tall man standing in front of you, arms crossed over his broad chest.

“Here you are, I’ve been looking for you for the past three hours ! Y/n you’ve got to stop disappearing like that !” 

“I would stop if you let me do something and-” you stop and sigh “I’m sorry, I needed to get some air”

“Is everything alright ? Do you feel pain again from the injury ?”

“No don’t worry, I just wanted to be alone for a bit.”

Gally approaches you and stops at the balcony next to you, looking away at the sunset. He thought a lot about what almost happened between the two of you, if Nick hadn’t interrupted he would have kissed you. But he wonders if that would have been right, there has been tension since that day, so maybe he misinterpreted the sign and you didn’t want that, maybe you feel uncomfortable around him now ? He looks at you, not sure if he should bring up the subject. maybe not, that could make things worse. 

“You know…” he began unsure. “If you want you can ask for somebody else to look after you, if you think that would make it easier for you”

You look up at him, why did it tell you that ? Is he tired of you or uncomfortable ? Did you get too much on his nerves again ? Or maybe he's thinking that you’re trying to avoid him ? 

“No I- did I do something bad ? Are you upset with me ? 

“What ? No, of course not ! Why do you- Shit, sorry I didn’t want to sound like I was trying to get rid of you. That’s- argh” he groans as he passes his hands on his face. “Am I making you uncomfortable ?”

“No, why would you ?”

You stare at each other, not sure about what is happening. The tension is slowly leaving your body and you break into laughter, finding the situation ridiculous. The tall man sighs in relief and starts to laugh with you as he realizes you were both probably overthinking everything. You smile, the weight on your heart is gone, you feel like you can breathe again. 

"So we're okay ?"

He nods "we should go back, you still need to rest."

You groan, refusing to move. He rolls his eyes playfully at you, then he lifts you up and puts you on his shoulder. You squeal at the sudden action, he carries you back to your room and orders you to rest. He sits at your desk beside the bed and starts working, still keeping an eye on you. Five minutes passes and you are struggling to stay still, already feeling bored. You sit up in your bed, sigh frustration looking around for anything to occupy you but there's nothing. Unless the boy next to you can distract you, you start talking, but he doesn't answer. You pout, he doesn't want to respond no problem, you'll talk to yourself. Speaking again, he gives you a side glance before focusing back on his work. Gally asks you to shut it a few times but you act like you can't hear him. The ex-builder frowns, trying to focus while ignoring you. Finally having enough he comes at you, placing his hand on the bed on each side of your waist.

"Y/n, i'm trying to work. Stop. Talking." He said looking you dead in the eyes.

"Then make me" you said with a glimmer of challenge in your eyes.

He raised a brow at you "You should be careful of what you're saying, because nothing is going to stop me this time."

"Why, you think I'm scared ? I think you're just talking, too afraid to do anyth-"

Gally cups your face in his big calloused hands and crashes his lips on yours for a slow and sensual kiss. He steps back after a few seconds to make sure everything is ok, but you grab him by his shirt and pull him back to you in a more heated kiss. You feel his tongue passing on your lower lips asking for entrance, but you tease him by refusing it. He groans, passing his hands under your thighs to set you on his lap, he then grabs your ass. You gasp in surprise and the tough man smiles against your lips taking the opportunity to slide his tongue in your mouth deepening the kiss. You slide your arms around his neck trying to be as close to him as humanly possible, as Gally snakes his arms around your waist holding tight. You pull back out of breath.

"So you like me huh ?" You said with a goofy smile

"No, I love you idiot" he replies resting his forehead against yours.

"I love you too, Gally. I was scared you didn't because of the two awkward weeks we spent together" 

"Yeah me too, it was really tense huh ? I'm glad that's over and even more glad that I can call you mine now" he smiled proudly at you 

You nod, your face turning red. He laughed a bit and you gently slapped his chest. He caresses your cheek and leans in for another kiss. But you stop him by putting a finger on his lips, he furrowed his brow in confusion. You mischievously grin at him, tracing his jawline with your finger.

"I'm sorry, but I have to rest, sir. My guardian will get really angry if I don't, he's really strict you know." You fake sad pouting face.

Gally rolls his eyes at your silliness. "You are an idiot"

“Shaking in my boots, oh wait, they’re over there.” I said sarcastically as I directed my head towards my pile of belongings, only to have my head pulled back around to face Clint as he looked at my face, thumb gently touching the scar on my lip, causing me to hiss in pain, glaring at him as I unsuccessfully attempted to pull my head away. “Are ya right there? Wicked doesn’t teach about personal space either?” I bitterly remarked, him frowning at me. “We should feed her to the Grievers and be done with this.” Clint said dropping my face before unwrapping the bandages around my hands. “Don’t joke about that.” the other Medjack cut in quickly, giving a pointed look at Clint. “Just saying, send her off into the mountain and be done with this problem. Ointment.” Clint said nonchalantly as he held out his hand. “Grievers what you call your other victims?” I taunted them as I fished for information. There had always been rumours about people never coming out of Dead Head Mountain, but it was always assumed that it was Wicked’s doing. “They’re the monsters that reside in the mountain.” The nameless Medjack answered after a couple moments of silence that were broken up by me hissing as Clint put the cream on my cut-up hands. He needs to work on his bedside manner. “I thought they were called Gladers.” I said with a glare as I looked at Clint. He gave me an unamused look as he started rewrapping my hand, stopping after he tied it to look at my wrist. “Couldn’t pull yourself out?” He smirked as he saw the irritation on my skin. I could only glare at him as he started with my other hand, going through the same motions as the room fell silent.

The metal screech snapped our attention to the door to see yet another boy, this one seeming younger than the others, probably in his late teens. His hair was dark brown and curly, face a little pudgy with freckles, and just to offset his youthful face was how he was easily taller than both other men in the room. “Chuck, you’re not meant to be here.” Clint said immediately as he stood up and turned to him. “You’re needed.” He says hesitantly, giving me a cautious look. Clint only sighed before turning to the other man in the room. “Jeff, finish up and make sure she eats.” Jeff! Finally! That’s his name. “Will do.” Jeff gave a nod as Clint and young, tall boy Chuck left together. Jeff comes over to me and finishes wrapping my hand, not saying anything just getting on with it. He then moved on to looking at me for a few moments before taking out a Q-tip and applying ointment to it before lifting it up to my face. I immediately pulled back, causing him to frown. “Stay still.” He told me as he grabbed my face - not unlike Clint had - and held me still as he worked his way putting ointment on scars I hadn’t even seen. “You mumble in your sleep.” His sudden statement threw me off. He wasn’t looking me in the eyes as he had yet to finish his current task on my forehead, but when he did he held eye contact so intensely-calm that I felt the need to reply. “So do a lot of people. It’s called sleep talking.” I told him in a condescending manner. He seemed unperturbed as he added the Q-tip to the pile of ointment covered material on the ground and gently held my arm as he started tending to the few scars there. “Don’t know of many people that dream about begging to be let go of.” He gave me a look, like he knew something, but even if he did, there was no way I was gonna say it out loud and confirm it. “It’s quite common for people being held captive. Shouldn’t you know that?” I quipped back. Jeff gave me a look as though he was starting to find me tedious, being a little less gentle as he swapped arms, causing me to hiss at him. “You act like you know a lot.” He remarked as he finished up, picking up the items he and Clint had used. “Maybe I do. Maybe I don’t. Maybe I just know people that know things. Maybe I don’t know anyone.” I felt like I was speaking in riddles with a smug smirk on my face. The annoyance in his eyes was clear now, he stood off the stool, towering over me. He leaned down, coming in close to my ear as I attempted to keep some semblance of distance between us. He stopped me by grabbing a hold of my neck - not hard but firm - keeping me in place as his form seemed to encompass me, and though I wasn’t claustrophobic I was certainly feeling it now. He stopped us like that for a few minutes, breathing next to my ear as I tried and failed to keep my cool, to show I was unbothered. But there was a moment when I lost it, I faltered, and I felt his smirk on my ear as he spoke “I don’t know if you think you’re being cute or smart, but either way, we will find out who you are, what you’re hiding, and who you’re working with. If you have any sense of self preservation, you’ll start talking the next time you’re asked.”

- - - - -