Behind the Walls. NOVEL By Claire Darcy.

79. This Isn't The End.

ACE.

I woke up just as the sun was getting low in the sky. It was nearing sunset. Rowan was at the sink in the corner, his back to me.

"Sorry," he mumbled, not turning around, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Are you alright?" I asked, blinking away the sleep and sitting up. The broken room at the top of the building was filled with orange sunlight, but I could feel the cool breeze on my skin, and a light rain was falling.

"So sweet of you to ask, Ace," he laughed, waltzing over. He seemed perfectly healed, showered and dressed in a fresh change of clothes. He was wearing black jeans and shoes, as per usual, and his t-shirt was black with white lettering. 'Stressed, depressed, but well dressed,' was what it read. That sounded about right. He wore a confident smile on his face.

He looked just like he had when I'd first met him, but with those smiling sea-green eyes where brown ones had once been.

"How long was I asleep?" I asked, stretching. My body was aching.

"Just today," he replied.

"Then how come you look so chipper? I thought you were dying," I said flatly. The only reason it didn't hurt to say that was because he very clearly was not dying. At all. He looked great.

"Well, you see," said Rowan, striding arrogantly towards me. The familiar inflection of pride in his voice pulled on my heartstrings. I didn't know why, but I felt like he was hiding something. He stopped and grabbed his leather jacket off the back of a chair and pulled it on, "I've got my amazing prodigy-Elite-ignited-fire-star-starfish-serum-induced blood to get me all healed up super fast. You'll be alright soon, too. I think you were a bit worse off than me, though. You're kind of soft."

"No, I'm not!" I argued, climbing to my feet. I couldn't believe it. I'd been so scared, so worried about what was going to happen to him and now there he was; looking like none of it had ever happened.

My whole body ached with the effort, but he was right- my skin at least, was already healing. I wobbled on my feet, and Rowan rushed to stop me from falling. He held me gently, resting my arms on his to keep my balance.

"Yes," he whispered, close enough to kiss, "You are."

I blushed, looking at the floor. He gently eased me back onto the sofa, and I was grateful for
the relief.

"Rest easy, princess," he said with a smirk, "All the emotional trauma of thinking your secret crush is dying can be quite exhausting."

I rolled my eyes and laid down, sighing. "I'll get you back for that one, later," I promised.

"Oh, I can't wait," Rowan teased, then he knelt down on the floor beside the couch I was laying on. I looked at Rowan sleepily, smiling a little. He curled a bit of my hair around his finger.

"It's a shame we didn't escape, too," I said quietly. Rowan's eyes grew sad for a moment, and his breathing hitched. "But at least we're together."

Rowan glanced away, breaking eye-contact in a way that was not so subtle as it was urgent. I knew it. The arrogant, confident act of old; it was is go-to disguise. There was something he was hiding from me. Something painful.

"What is it?" I asked suspiciously.

He got up from his place beside me and paced away a few steps, turned back to me, and then looked away again. I sat up.

"Rowan, what's wrong?"

"Like you care," he scoffed. It was like he was reverting back to his old ways. But... the harshness in his voice was hindered by sadness.