Ghosts ✔

017 • Kip

He was in love with her. 

He had fallen in love with her and he had kissed her. 

It had only been a kiss on the corner of her mouth, but it had startled her. Kip hated himself for it. Three weeks had passed since the kiss, and he hadn't seen Dana since. Did Maddox forbid her to see him or had it been her own decision? The not knowing was frustrating and he could barely think about something else since he was locked up is this shitty little room. Once a week Maddox let him out to take a shower and to empty the bucket in the corner of the room; but every other minute there was a chain around his ankle allowing him to take just a few steps. He however couldn't even get anywhere close to the door. 

And he was held captive for months. 

Months!

He wasn't surprised by his feelings for Dana; hoping to see her had been his only light the past weeks; the only thing he could look forward to. The only thing that dragged him through this misery. 

He felt ashamed for his thoughts about her. She was the fiance of his brother; in her eyes he was like a brother. There had been nothing wrong about kissing her cheek – but pressing a kiss to her mouth? 

Sighing, he raked a hand through his long, greasy hair. His scalp was itching. He felt like a filthy animal and without Dana's help he would never be able to leave this place. If she didn't want to see him anymore... then he would probably never get out. 

It was not making any sense, he knew that very wel. Dana wouldn't be pissed because of one kiss – Kozik had smacked her right under Juice's nose and the two had stayed friends nevertheless. But doing nothing, the waiting, it just messed with his head, making him doubt everything and going through every possible scenario. 

. . . 

Numbed, Kip looked up as the door opened. As soon as Dana entered the room, he forgot about his painful joints. Worried he studied her face, but there were no injuries, no tears.

"Hey," she said softly, kneeling across from him and swinging with a key. "Gonna free you."

"What?" he stammered baffled. 

"I behaved very well the past weeks. Maddox will leave the island for a week and when I begged him to let you out of this room for this week because you wouldn't be able to hurt him anyway, he agreed."

Kip swallowed the lump in his throat. He didn't want to think about the things she had been doing to get him to agree. 

"Thank you," he said in a hoarse voice. 

She offered him a smile that caused a twisted feeling in his stomach. It was unbelievable that she was still able to smile after all this. She was so different from Cherry, who had been driven into a corner and betrayed them all. Although Dana had been desperate too, she pulled through time and time again. 

"How's Tabitha?"

"Good. Maddox seems to get used to her." 

He saw the relief in her eyes. A little awkwardly he rubbed his upper arm. "I'm sorry about last time. When I kissed you."

She didn't look away. "Don't be."

Relieved, Kip took a deep breath. She clearly hadn't been angry. 

"Go take a shower, you smell."

Although that wasn't his fault, shame washed over him. "Is Maddox really gone?" he asked as he had loosened his chain and walked up to the hallway. "Is he really letting us... just walk around freely?"