Wild Side [h.s au]

Chapter 43

I could hear the pain in her voice as she told me one part of her life she has been keeping away for so long. Her expression remained blank, but like she said; they taught her to be that way. I had a difficult time understanding why did she choose now to reveal that part of her past with me, what was the trigger?

"He always talked about leaving, about freedom, about the two of us going far away where the war is over, where people live in peace. You could say he's a dreamer and I'm a realist, but I still had a promise to keep. When I'd found a solution for him to leave that place and finally have a life he deserves, he didn't want to go without me. He's so stubborn, that stupid kid." She laughs a little. "There was a deal involved. . . I wasn't supposed to leave, it was supposed to be just Alex. But I realised he needs me and I need him, so we'd. . . altered that deal and we both ran away. Long story short, now we're here."

"It's not exactly ideal for Alex considering we're still in the middle of all the destruction, but at least he's happy here. He's genuinely happy." She smiled. "I know you might not understand this completely, after all, my decisions mostly make sense only to me."

"I understand you more than you'd think. First of all, you're far from selfish," I told her, moving to stand a bit closer to her. "You think you are, but if anyone is, it's me. My selfish mistakes made me who I am and brought nothing but suffering. But you. . . you wanted to save your brother at your expense, you were ready to let him go. That's selflessness, Elena." 

She shook her head, letting out a breathy, humourless laugh as if what I said was ridiculous to her. "You don't know what you're talking about, Harry."

I debated going into an argument about it, but there was no time, besides, we both needed to be calm and put all our efforts into making this deal, not pointless debates.  My palms gently clasped her cheeks, tilting her head up slightly, making her look at me. "Chin up, Tiger, time to do business."

"What's up, buttercup?" I ask her after moments of silence. We've been sitting in the vehicle not too far away from the entrance of the base, giving ourselves some time to prepare properly.

"What's the word, hummingbird?" Alex says, making me give him a look. "Oh, I thought we're making up fun rhymes- right, I'm silent."

"Everything's okay," Elena replies, still not looking at me. "I'm chill, totallyyy chill. You know me, I don't get nervous. Nope, I'm cool as a snowman."

Alex raises his index finger. "Um, I'm not sure that's a real saying-"

"It's my saying!" Elena interrupts him.

"Mate, what date is today?" Alex asks me.

"Uh, I'm not sure, why? It's almost the end of the month."

"Ahhh yes, thought so."

"Alex, are you implying I'm on my period?" Elena asks him in an icy tone, honestly scaring me a little.

"I'm not implying, I'm saying it," Alex boldly replies. "Actually, that's the time of month you're nice to me, so that's saying something." He looks at me. "I'm not kidding, that's her calmest period-" he laughs at his pun "-and she tends to stay away-"

Elena stabs her knife into the backseat, right between Alex's legs. Both Alex and I cover out crotches instinctively, eyes completely wide.

"O- on the other hand, I m- might be wrong. . ." Alex mumbles. "Yep, explains why you were avoiding me last week."

"Uuuh, we should go," I say. "Every second counts."

Elena glares at Alex briefly before grabbing her knife, but I see a small smile form on her lips. Anyone who doesn't pay attention would think these two do nothing but fight and hate each other, but that's far from the truth. Elena's revelation has made me realise their bond is almost inseparable, something I had with my brother, and the sight of them being like that makes me sad and warms my heart at the same time.