Beneath The Surface

~Chapter Twelve When All Else Fails Panic~

It started raining halfway through her shift.

Hard.

By the time Vieana clocked out, the streets were shiny with puddles and the night smelled like wet asphalt and burned coffee.

She pulled her hoodie tight and shoved her hands in her pockets, head down against the cold. She didn't see the figure leaning against the streetlamp until she was practically on top of him.

"Rough night, princess?"

She jerked back instinctively, already halfway to throwing a punch, before she recognized the voice.

Fisher.

Of course.

Because fate fucking hated her.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded, heart still hammering.

He smirked, unbothered by the rain dripping down his face. "You looked like you could use some company."

"I didn’t ask for it."

He shrugged. "Never stopped me before."

She rolled her eyes and kept walking. He fell into step beside her like he belonged there.

For a few blocks, they didn't say anything. Just the squelch of their shoes and the steady drum of rain.

Finally, Vieana broke.

"You don't have to babysit me, you know."

"Maybe I want to."

She snorted. "Yeah, right."

"Maybe," he said, more serious now, "I just don't like the idea of you walking alone."

She stopped dead in the middle of the sidewalk.

He stopped too, hands jammed deep in his pockets, staring at her through the rain.

"Why?" she asked.

The word cracked out of her like a whip—sharp and desperate and way too real.

Fisher's jaw tightened.

For a long second, he didn't answer.

Then he said, low and rough, "Because you're not as invincible as you think you are."

She stared at him, heart racing, the rain soaking through her hoodie, through her skin, through her bones.

And for the first time, she saw it.

Not the arrogance.

Not the sarcasm.

The fear.

The way he looked at her like she was already half-lost.

She swallowed hard, something painful twisting in her chest.

"You're a shitty liar, Fisher."

He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

"Yeah," he said. "I know."

And somehow, that scared her even more than the truth.