***ELIZABETH'S P.O.V***
Elizabeth awakens to the touch of Ruth's fingertips bracing her arm, but Elizabeth doesn't move. Instead, she attempts to remain as still as possible to make her best friend believe that she is completely out of it and won't be wakened anytime soon.
She had stayed up late last night because once she and Asher had finally returned to the hospital with clothes, they had to take Jay to the hotel and get him to bed. Of course on the way there and in the elevator they had to explain every single part of the story and emphasize the part about lying to all of their friends about what really happened.
Jay somehow was able to understand after they had told him everything. Maybe there is a part of him that never wants to talk about what happened. There's definitely a part similar to it that rests inside Elizabeth, somewhere uncomfortably in her heart.
"Hey... It's already nine. Gotta get up girl. It's our last day." Ruth says to Elizabeth in a smooth, low voice. "Everyone is downstairs, finishing up breakfast. I tried not to wake you because I knew you were out late, but if you want breakfast you only have a little time to get some."
Elizabeth sighs, but she doesn't open her eyes. "I'm okay without breakfast. Sleep is better."
Elizabeth can literally feel the shift in mood as her friend replies, sounding like her lips are moving with a smile. "Well, you have to get up anyways. We're going to take the bus to go sightseeing one last time."
"Nooo..." Elizabeth turns over, away from the sound of Ruth's raspy voice. "I don't wanna."
"You have to." Ruth argues. Then, her tone changes as she clears her throat and says, "Finn told us what Asher said on the phone about Jay's attackers coming back to kill him."
With her heart skipping a beat, Elizabeth listens closely. "I don't know exactly what happened... Like, if you were there or how bad it was, but I need to let you know that I'm here for you... Okay?"
Elizabeth takes a long, slow breath in and recalls every single event from last night. Half of her wants to spill her guts about the whole thing and let it all out, but the smarter half is the one to push herself into a sitting position. Opening her tired eyes and smiling, Elizabeth embraces Ruth and whispers, "Thanks, girl."
Ruth hesitates, probably expecting more, and then hugs her back.
***JAY'S P.O.V***
"I thought you had one more day." Mr. Gaz steps beside Jay in the once empty elevator. Jay sends him a look and then glances down. The shirt he wears covers up his scars, but it doesn't matter. Either way, the story is set. The men came back to kill Jay and got caught. End of story.
"Yeah, well, let's just say I wasn't going to last another day in that place." Jay mumbles his response as he leans against the wall of the elevator car and stares at the floor.
"What do you mean?" The classic, worried expression that Mr. Gaz normally wears become plastered across his face.
And it only worsens when Jay says, "My attackers came back to finish the job. If it wasn't for the armed guard posted outside of my room, I'd be as good as dead right now."
Jay watches Mr. Gaz visibly swallow. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, thank God. Asher and Elizabeth convinced the doctor to get me the hell out of that place." Jay mutters as the elevator doors swing open. They step out onto their floor, stalking across the red carpet until Jay stops short and sees Elizabeth step out of her hotel bedroom.
Mr. Gaz continues walking, but Jay freezes up. The memory of her being suffocated plays through his mind, as well as every other horrid memory, like the one of her having to carry his body as a bloody deadweight to find help after he'd been stabbed.
When Elizabeth looks up, her blue eyes connect with his and she also stops moving. Bringing a half-smile to her lips, she whispers, "Hey."
"Hey," Jay replies. Awkwardly, he shifts. "How are you holding up?"
"Good," Elizabeth says, though not with much conviction. "And you?"
"Good." Jay lies right back. Rubbing the back of his neck, he sighs. "Do you want to talk about what happened?"
"About me being kidnapped?" Elizabeth shakes her head, keeping her eyes on his solemn expression. "I'd rather not."
"Okay. Well, what do you want to talk about?" Jay asks, knowing that there's something she wants to say. There's a speck of gray in the blue eyes of hers, and he wants to get rid of it, as well as the stiffness in the air.
"I'm sorry that I wasn't there when you woke up," Elizabeth says in one breath. "And I'm sorry about all this happening to you. I know you feel alone."
Jay surges forward automatically. He rests his hands on her shoulder gently and says, "No, no. Don't feel sorry for anything. You were the one to save me. You were the one to make sure Asher and I weren't killed in the hospital. You were the one to bring justice to us. You have nothing to be sorry for."
Elizabeth's lips open, but all she says is, "Thanks."
Jay lets out a laugh. "No. Thank you."
To Jay's surprise, Elizabeth steps forward and hugs him. It's not a hug meant to be expressed as love. It's not a hug that sizzles his veins or makes him think of all the what-ifs. It's the type of deep hug that heats up Jay's heart from its normal, cold, lonely condition.
Elizabeth has to be an angel in disguise.
***ELIZABETH'S P.O.V***
Elizabeth releases Jay. "I'm gonna go get some breakfast before it's all gone."
"Oh okay. I think we're leaving soon." Jay tells her.
Elizabeth smiles. "I hope we go someplace cool. I'm tired of all this gloom."
"Me too." Jay admits.
Elizabeth nods once and then turns her back on him. She can feel his eyes boring into her back, but she doesn't turn around and doesn't second guess hugging him. He knows how she feels about him and he wouldn't get any ideas. She hugged him because he looked like he needed it. And maybe she also hugged him for herself. Maybe she needed to physically touch Jay to know that he is really still alive, still a part of her life, still living and breathing.
Elizabeth makes it to the elevator and presses the button for the car. Then once she is alone in the hallway, she leans against the wall across from the elevators, listening to the silence.
The quiet brings her thoughts back to the last couple of days. Immediately, she starts humming, blocking the chilling memories out. She can't think about the pain she went through, more emotionally than physically; truly, which one is worse?
Elizabeth closes her eyes and recalls a nightmare she had last night that had woken her up in the middle of the night. Incapable of stopping it, it replays on the back of her eyelids like a scary movie.
BAM.
Elizabeth sprints down the staircase, no footsteps following behind her except her own footsteps' echo. Tears trail behind her and somewhere in the distance there's thunder brewing in a pounding storm.
Every step Elizabeth takes brings her heart deeper and deeper, number and number. As she runs and runs, she feels as if she is underwater, swimming in her own tears because she knows exactly what is going to be at the bottom of the staircase.
Elizabeth doesn't stop rushing, doesn't stop crying, doesn't stop trying to reach the last step. Wishes of mercy flood her dreamlike mind, alongside worries and fears. Feeling like lightning is striking her with every sharp stair she descends, she gets more and more frightened and nervous.
When she finally reaches the bottom, her feet are heavy in the imaginary, murky water around her. She turns to the center of the bottom floor, widening her soaked eyes at the disfigured body lying lifelessly, staring up at the ceiling.
Elizabeth brings her unwieldy arms to her mouth, gasping at the face of the boy. It's Asher, with his blonde hair splayed behind him and his pale eyes staring straight ahead as if there was Satan standing above him, telling him he can't have any hope.
Elizabeth falls to her knees with the feeling that she will never be able to rise again. The love of her life lies dead in the hotel's stairway and it's her fault. He died for her. He-
Wait.
Elizabeth blinks, and the face changes.
Suddenly, she is staring at her own doomed expression on the corpse's face.
Elizabeth shrieks and jumps to her feet. The darkness in the corners of her mind slip into the light, and Elizabeth is left to stare at the blank backs of her eyelids.
The nightmare is one she will probably never forget. What is it trying to tell her, anyway? That she is emotionally scarred? That she still isn't convinced that she and Asher are alive? Or was the dream telling her she needs a therapist ASAP?
Elizabeth shakes her head and opens her eyes, happy to see that the elevator has arrived, and the silver doors are spreading open. Within seconds of this, though, she spies the face of the boy she wants to see least at the moment.
Pete.
Pete is alone in the elevator, but when he steps out and sees Elizabeth leaning dreadfully against the wall, his face lightens up. "Wow, am I glad to see you."
Elizabeth rolls her eyes and steps toward the elevator, but Pete sidesteps so that he is blocking her way. With a smirk on his thin lips and a hand raking through his white/blonde hair, he says, "Look, I want to apologize for all my wrongdoings, okay?"
Elizabeth stares at him for a long moment. "Um. You didn't do anything wrong to me..."
"But your friends..." Pete holds her gaze with taunting brown eyes.
"Apologize to them, not me." Elizabeth moves to dodge him, but once again he sneaks in front of her.
"What I'm trying to say is I like you." Pete makes sure to watch her bored reaction. Shifting his weight and leaning forward, he smiles. "I heard you like Asher Weston."
"Yeah. I do." Elizabeth glances at the boy with utter curiosity. What is up with this kid?
"Well, he's nothing compared to me." Pete steps a little closer, and Elizabeth suddenly realizes how uncomfortable she is and how tiny she feels compared to him. "He might have been with more girls than I have, but I'm better in so many ways. Here, let me show you."
Elizabeth doesn't even have time to blink before Pete smashes his cold lips against hers and pushes her into the wall. She automatically goes to slap him, but he catches her wrist and holds it in the air. His lips keep continue to move roughly against hers, his eyes closed and his body pinning hers. His other hand is gripping her shoulder, right where her barely healed wound is. She's positive it is bleeding again and she attempts to wriggle free, but at every movement her shoulder pounds with pain even more.
Elizabeth's stomach is twisted in the most uncomfortable knot it has ever been in, and after a second passes she decides that she hates him. She hates him so much that she doesn't care if she hurts him.
Which is why she knees him in the crotch.
He howls at the sudden jab and pulls away quickly, only to grab his privates and crumple to his knees. "Jesus, Elizabeth. What the hell!"
So much anger flushes through Elizabeth that she yells, "Don't you ever touch me like that again, you son of a bitch, or I'll make sure you're never having babies."
Elizabeth storms into the elevator and smashes the button. If humans' skin changed colors by the way they were feeling, her skin would be a pure red. If there was any object around her available, she'd throw something at him. As the elevator's door closes, she curses under her breath and shakes her head, her brown hair bouncing.
Once alone, Elizabeth glances at her shoulder. She should've put on her hoodie this morning. She normally does, but since she planned on visiting the breakfast buffet just real quick she didn't think she needed to.
Now, her gray shirt is stained with blood. Fortunately, it's only a little amount of blood that can be easily hidden, but she still knows that if she talks to any of her friends, they'd notice.
Elizabeth closes her eyes and holds her wound with her left hand. "My secret is doomed."
***ASHER'S P.O.V***
Asher finished eating a half hour ago, but he's been sitting in a booth ever since, waiting for Elizabeth. He sits beside Sebastian and across from Finn. Jay had been sitting with them, too, but he left to go upstairs, probably to take a nap again. He has to be beat.
Asher glances down and checks his phone, but he has no texts from Elizabeth. She's probably asleep, too, or she's taking her time getting ready. Either way, Asher wants to shrink out of this booth and go to her. He doesn't like not having her in her sights.
Last night Asher even offered to let her sleep with him. Of course, being the lady she is, Elizabeth declined and said she couldn't. Asher had tried and tried again to convince her to sleep with him, at least in the same room so that he would feel okay knowing that she's safe, but she stubbornly wouldn't allow it.
Asher blinks as his phone suddenly vibrates. His heart jolts happily when he reads the name. Silently, he reads the text from Elizabeth: Hallway ASAP.
Asher stares at the two words for a few seconds, trying to decipher if the message is one of good or bad hints. For some reason, he feels that something is wrong. Did Elizabeth change her mind about him? Does she want to just be friends?
Asher glances up at Finn, who happens to be saying, "Did you guys know that bananas are carved upward because they grow toward the sun?"
Finn peels the banana he holds in his hand and smiles triumphantly until Asher happily ruins his smart moment. "Nobody cares."
Asher slides out of the seat and begins walking toward the hallway. As he creates distance between he and his friends, he hears Finn call him a name under his breath, making Asher grin.
In a good mood now, Asher turns the corner so that he stands atop the hallway carpet. His eyes land directly on Elizabeth, and at the sight of her bright blue eyes, he loses control and rushes to her. Leaning forward he brings both his hands—his right one bandaged—to her face and cups her cheeks as he places his lips on hers and basks in her warmth.
Asher smiles against her lips because whenever he kisses her, it's like their first kiss.
Asher pulls away and looks in her eyes, but his grin fades almost in an instant. "What's wrong?"
Elizabeth sighs and glances to the floor. Asher's gut drops at least ten feet and his heart skips an awful beat. "Tell me."
Elizabeth says, "Pete kissed me."
Asher's mouth clamps shut and his teeth ram together. As his skin crawls, he shakes his head angrily. "That douche went at you to get me back for beating him up, but I told him not to. I told him I'd break two of his fingers."
Elizabeth peers in Asher's pale, insanely mad eyes, and responds softly. "He grabbed my shoulder, and, well..." Her eyes fall to her shoulder and Asher's follow. To his bewilderment, there's a little bit of blood staining her thin, gray shirt.
"I'm going to kill that boy." Asher says through gritted teeth. Rapidly, he rips off his jacket, carelessly throwing his hands out of the sleeves. "I'm going to break his neck."
Elizabeth laughs gently and smiles. "No, no, don't do that. Don't do that."
Asher goes to hand over his jacket, but Elizabeth just stares blankly at it. Then, with confusion and something close to astonishment in her eyes, she asks, "Wait, are you offering your jacket?"
Asher nods slowly. "Yeah... That's why I'm holding it out to you..."
Elizabeth shakes her head. "Yeah... Rhetorical question. It's just something I see couples do that's really cute. But, I-I've never worn a jacket from a boy."
Even though Asher's back is as rigid as a board, Elizabeth gets him to loosen up as he chuckles. "You're making a big deal out of this. Just take it."
Elizabeth's fingers spread out over the leather until she finally grips it and slips it on, with a little help from Asher. When she situates it correctly on her body and takes her dark, beautiful hair out from under it, she turns Asher on so much that he wants to grab her and kiss her until she can't breathe any longer.
"Damn." Is all Asher can get out before he leans in and plants a strong, hot kiss on her sexy lips.
***
THANKS FOR READING:)
How do you feel about Jay and Eli?
Eli and Asher?