Unbreakable - A Beautiful Lie · (Roswell Fanfiction) · √

SIXTY-TWO

Large, lidless, pitch black eyes - situated in triangular-shaped hairless heads with no mouths - were staring blankly at us.

It took me a second to take all of this in.

And one second was the only reprieve they afforded me with before they charged forward, the deafening ruffling of their heedless advance drowning my scream.

"Hey, hey," someone murmured soothingly as I was thrown out of my subconscious into my conscious.

My eyes snapped open and landed on blue eyes and blonde hair.

From one nightmare to another...

I startled and jerked backwards. But he had his hand around my arm and his grip only dug further into my upper arm with the movement, holding me in place.

"Calm down, Liz," he said quietly. "You're safe now. It was only a nightmare."

"Safe?" I gasped, struggling against his hold. "I'm not safe. Not as long as you're here."

Sean frowned. His position was mirroring mine. We were lying on our sides, on a bed, facing each other.

His frown turned into concern as he said, "Max really did a number on you, didn't he?"

I stopped struggling, looking at him coldly. "If anyone did a number on me, it was you."

"You don't really believe that, do you?" Sean asked. Since I had stopped struggling, he let go of my arm and used that freed hand to brush a tendril of my hair off my face.

I flinched.

He had the audacity to look hurt. "You loved me, remember?"

His behavior was confusing me. Does he really believe that?

"It was all an act," I answered and tried to figure out why I felt guilty saying it.

"No," he said slowly, his blue gaze searching my face. "No, I could feel it. You had - have - feelings for me."

Oh, I had feelings for him alright. But I suspected we were not talking about the same kind of feelings.

"The only warm feelings I have for you are the ones you force on me," I said coldly. I met his eyes straight on. No longer fearing that doing so might make it easier for him to break into my mind.

Let him break into my mind. Let him see how Max makes me feel, how beautifully Max has treated me. How much he loves me.

Let him so what true love looks like.

I stared at him. I dare you.

But since his father hadn't been able to, I surmised that Sean would be equally unsuccessful at breaking into my mind.

"You can't force someone to love you, Sean," I continued. "That's not real love. That's not even pretending. That's assault. What you did... You removed my free will."

"Don't be such a drama queen," Sean snarled, anger flashing in his eyes. "You needed a push in the right direction. Besides-" he brushed his thumb down along my cheek and I swallowed back my nausea while holding completely still, as Sean continued, "-I'm the good guy here. I didn't have to be nice. You already belonged to me. You were already meant for me. You were mine."

I shivered. He ignored it and continued, "I could have bonded with you," there was a worrisome creepy hint to his insinuation, "any time I wanted. I wouldn't have to take you on a date, make you like me." He sighed disappointedly. "But I did. For you. Because I wanted us to mean something."