PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXX. I'll Never Let Anything Hurt You

"I want what they have," Sammy pouted.

Yasmina flushed, quickly shoveling another bite of ice cream into her mouth.

~~~

Eva laid in Kenji's arms under the covers of her bed. She was curled into his chest, both teens missing shirts. Their clothes were dirty, after all, and the bed wasn't. It was an easy decision to be made. She shifted, rolling her shoulders and burying her head closer into her boyfriend's chest.

"Go to sleep," he mumbled.

Eva froze, looking up at his eyes, which were both closed. She whispered softly, "Can we have a sleepover with the others?"

"But the bed is so comfy," he mumbled into her hair.

Eva frowned, looking down at his chest.

Kenji sighed. "Can't sleep?"

"It's just... it's weird sleeping without them. How do I know..."

"Hm?"

She lightly shook her head. "It's stupid?"

Kenji finally opened his eyes, pulling back just enough that they still shared a pillow, but were now looking at each other in full. "It's not stupid, Angel."

Eva bit her cheek as she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. "How do I know something else won't come after us? I don't know... Every time I believe we're finally safe, we're not. Something always goes wrong. I keep getting my hopes up, and then losing it just as fast. Maybe if I sleepover with them, it'll... It'll keep me safe longer."

"What, not safe enough with me?" he teased. Kenji leaned forward and kissed her nose. "Okay. Let's head to the dining area. Maybe they'll have the same idea?"

Eva sniffled. "You're a really good boyfriend, you know that, right?" She sniffed again. "I don't deserve you."

"Don't say that."

Eva looked away from his gaze, and down to their interlocked fingers. "I, I don't even know why you like me."

"Eva."

"I was so mean..." She thought back to the time she confronted Prince, Nico, Roy and Kenji in the hallway, cursing them out. She remembered Roy and Kenji refusing to meet her gaze, calling them all grade A assholes. She remembered the faculty giving her a hard glare, a warning. She remembered looking Kenji directly in the eyes, and telling him, you're dead to me. She knew Kenji, so why could she ever believe he was a part of something that ruined her? Kenji was always her friend and after one misunderstanding, she was only ever rude to him.

There's no real reason he should like her. Maybe he really didn't. Maybe it was an end of the world kind of thing— they thought they were going to die, so they confessed. But they're safe now... maybe. So, what was he waiting for?

"Eva," he repeated. She looked up to meet his gaze. "What happened happened and it's too late to change it, but it's okay. We worked it out. You're forgiven—" Eva looked away again, till Kenji guided her chin back to face him. "Listen to me. You are forgiven, Eva. You're forgiven. Now you can keep dwelling on the past, or you can cheer up. We're getting out of here soon, and I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Nothing is going to hurt you ever again."

"Is that a promise?"

"I promise," he said. "I'll never let anything hurt you."

Eva leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. "Thank you..."

Kenji sat up, and Eva could just barely see his outline as he stretched his hands above his head. He patted around the end of the bed, retrieving his shirt. "Let's go, Angel. Yaz was right, you need to sleep."