She sat up quickly, suddenly realizing how long she had slept. Looking around at the road at the edge of the woods and beside a cliff of a mountain, her quick breaths slowed. The panic dissolved as she looked around at the quiet landscape and sighed.
Ben lay a few feet from her, the moonlight casting dark shadows on his face. She hugged her knees and looked up at the sky, feeling cold and alone. It wasn't cold enough to shiver, but cold enough to want to. She could see her breath on the air, and she stood slowly and quietly, making sure not to wake Ben. Maybe if she took a walk it would help warm her up. She wasn't going anywhere, and she wasn't leaving, she was just walking.
There were no clouds, and the chilly air was crystal clear. Without city lights to block them out, she could see billions of stars in the sky. It was as if she could feel the world spinning, and the starry sky whirling above her head. As she walked along the road, she looked up in awe. The quarter moon shone over the treetops, and she thought she saw a shooting star.
It was then she heard footsteps. For a second she thought it was Ben, coming to look for her. A small sliver of fear stabbed at her mind, and the pain in her head made her twitch. But the footsteps were coming from the other direction. She turned to see who it was and took a step backward.
Ben lay a few feet from her, the moonlight casting dark shadows on his face. She hugged her knees and looked up at the sky, feeling cold and alone. It wasn't cold enough to shiver, but cold enough to want to. She could see her breath on the air, and she stood slowly and quietly, making sure not to wake Ben. Maybe if she took a walk it would help warm her up. She wasn't going anywhere, and she wasn't leaving, she was just walking.
There were no clouds, and the chilly air was crystal clear. Without city lights to block them out, she could see billions of stars in the sky. It was as if she could feel the world spinning, and the starry sky whirling above her head. As she walked along the road, she looked up in awe. The quarter moon shone over the treetops, and she thought she saw a shooting star.
It was then she heard footsteps. For a second she thought it was Ben, coming to look for her. A small sliver of fear stabbed at her mind, and the pain in her head made her twitch. But the footsteps were coming from the other direction. She turned to see who it was and took a step backward.
“Miah?” his hoarse voice cracked.
He looked like he was about to fall over, and Miah rushed over to him and took his arm. “Connor, how did you…” She was speechless.
“I couldn’t just leave you.”
“I…” I left him, she thought.
“Miah…” He sighed and looked up the road. “Why did you follow Ben?”
Her eyes glistened and she looked down, slowly releasing his arm. “I couldn’t just leave him.”
Connor put his hand on her shoulder and she looked up, fighting tears. “But—surely you can see that his plans can only end in disaster—surely you don’t think he’s right? Even if you do love him.”
A sob slipped out and she covered her mouth, turning away.
“So you do love him?” Connor didn't seem to feel betrayed, or shocked, or angry. It was something deeper: disappointment, or realization. She could feel the bitter taste of resentment in her mouth.
“Connor, I—” she halted. “I did……and I feel like…I think……I don’t know…” A tear ran down her cheek, and Connor reached to wipe it away. She froze as his finger brushed her cheek and blinked as his hand lingered. She didn't know why, but it hurt.
She looked up at his face, lit up in the moonlight, and realized she wasn’t breathing. She took air in and tried to remember what he had asked. If she’d answered. He stepped forward and a strand of hair fell into his eyes, a black shadow on his forehead. She whispered, for no other sound would come, “I was afraid.”
“Afraid?”
She could see his breath in the cold air, and as she let hers out, her breath met his between them. She nodded, and looked down. “He’s……I couldn’t just leave him…” The tears welled up in her eyes and she let them fall. The time for holding back was gone. There was room only for her guilt.
He dropped his hand to her shoulder and tried to look into her eyes. “Miah…” he sighed, “why do you do this to yourself? Why don’t you just walk away?” She shook her head, trying to speak past the lump in her throat. He sighed and brushed the hair from his face, dropping his hand to his side and biting his lip. “You could walk away right now.”
“I wouldn’t get far. He’d probably see I was gone and go looking for me.”
“You’d get further than I could get, like this.”
“Like…” Miah looked at his other arm still holding his side. He’d walked this whole way like that, for her. She bit her lip, hard.
“Miah, come with me. You could be free—”
“Connor, I—”
“…You wouldn't go back to him, would you?” He tried to see her face, his hand on her shoulder again.
“I’m tired of running… I just want to go home.” Tears filled her eyes again. Home, where everything was perfect…I just want to go back and forget all of this.
Connor sighed, putting his arms around her. “I’ll bring you home.”
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