“We fucking did it,” Reese breathes when Rebecca meets him in his room.

  He pulls her into a hug, burying his head in her hair and neck. She hugs him back but can’t match his intensity. Her arms hang loosely around his, her hands extended but barely touching him. Then he feels it. He pulls back slightly, his eyes searching hers. The bright smile from moments ago, gone.

  “Hey,” he whispers. His eyes are soft but disturbingly penetrating. “Are you ready to tell me what you found out?” He asks, as he brushes away her tears with his thumbs.

  Was she crying? When did it start?

  Rebecca takes a deep breath, savouring his scent. He smells so good—especially after she spent an hour trapped in a windowless room overflowing with medical supplies, and crawling through dusty, rotting ventilation shafts. She tries to compose herself, to find the words, but she doesn’t even know where to start. She doesn’t even know what to share, and what to keep a secret.

  Maybe, she tells herself, she should start with the one thing he actually cares about.

  “They have access to our phones,” she says, her voice cracked. “Everything. Everything we thought was private… it’s all theirs.”

  Reese’s face pales, but other than that, there’s no sign of him having received her message. Rebecca doesn’t have a clue of what could be going through his mind. He pulls her closer again, his embrace gentler now.

  “They can track our conversations, Reese… our plans… everything,” she continues, raising her voice. She knows he heard her, but is desperate for a reaction from him, something that helps her decide what to do next. “We can’t escape.” With those words, said out loud, she shuts the door on whatever hope she had left.

  “They can hear everything, huh?” he asks.

  Rebecca nods.

  He tightens his arms around her. His lips brush her ear. “We’ll adapt,” he whispers.

  Rebecca doesn’t even fight the dam of fresh tears that opens again, her vision a wet blur.

  Reese doesn’t say another word. She gets it now, it’s not that he didn’t hear her, it’s not that he doesn’t understand what she’s saying. He’s planning. In his silence, he’s trying to find yet another way to fight the system, to go against their already inputted fates.

  Nestled against him, Rebecca wrestles with Anya’s question. Is it love what she feels for him? Is she using him for protection? For distraction, even? All she knows with absolute certainty is the comfort of his arms—the intoxicating sense of security his embrace provides. It’s a primal need. She could stay here forever, wrapped in the illusion of safety, oblivious to the dangers beyond.

  Then, the memory strikes and Rebecca pulls back, breaking the comforting silence. “Reese,” Some things should have lost all meaning by now. They shouldn’t matter to her. But here she is, asking unnecessary questions—feeding the drama machine that keeps the monster that is Live alive. "I saw something. Something I found. Outside, you… you have a girlfriend.”

  For a moment, Reese is stunned with a mixture of surprise and disbelief. “You found that? Those scumbags really have everything, don’t they?”

  “Then, it’s true?”

  Reese hesitates before he answers. Rebecca braces herself for the lies and the excuses. She doesn’t think she’ll be able to tolerate another round of painful truths and confusing retorts, especially not from him. Yet she waits, her heart pounding.

  But neither lies nor excuses come. Instead, Reese’s surprise gives way to a disconcerting confidence. He doesn’t deny the accusation; he doesn't attempt to minimize its impact. He simply leans back, his face blank, his eyes holding Rebecca’s with such resolve, she feels the need to look away. She doesn’t.

  "Yeah," he finally says. “Before I came here, I had a girlfriend.” He pauses, watching her reaction now. “So what? Is that supposed to change anything?”

  "I’m just confused.” Rebecca says, with a mixture of anger and hurt. “What was your plan, then?" she asks, her voice tight . "Two girlfriends? Escape, and then… what? Juggle us both?"

  Reese laughs, a low, rumbling sound that grates on her nerves. That reminds her of the old Reese, the one she thought she couldn’t trust. "Becca, my love, you wound me. As if I could ever juggle anything as clumsy as two girlfriends." He pauses, takes a breath and the playful mockery fades. The change is subtle, but it’s there.

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  "It wasn't serious," he says, looking straight into her eyes. "What I had with her... it was just killing time. A way to get what I needed, which at the time was company."

  Rebecca doesn’t give him the satisfaction of a response. She waits, firm like a soldier, refusing to let him escape the gravity of his actions.

  He continues, his gaze locked on hers. "She knows now. About you. About us." He leans closer, never letting go of her eyes. "She knows… I love you, Becca."

  For a fraction of a second, air seems to vanish from Reese’s room. This is the first time he’s said those words to her. It’s the first time anyone other than her parents has said it to her—and she can’t pinpoint any of those times either. She’s speechless. Her anger persists, but so does the shock, and a warm, cozy feeling that grows in her chest and threatens to make her cry again.

  He repeats it in a murmur, as if to ensure she heard him correctly, as if afraid she might dismiss it as a fleeting moment of weakness. "I love you, Becca."

  The words, so simple yet so profound, go with the seconds of the clock. Rebecca doesn't respond, doesn't utter the words she feels bubbling up inside her. Instead, she studies his eyes, searching for any trace of deceit, any hint of manipulation. She finds none of those. But after everything that has happened to her, how can she be sure?

  A notification vibrates in both their phones, Lena just uploaded a video. Rebecca casts a glance at it and puts her phone away. Reese opens the app and clicks on it, but Lena is talking about hockey tonight, so he brushes the video away.

  Rebecca turns her gaze back to him, hands trembling, “There’s another thing I need to ask you.”

  Reese nods, putting his phone in his pocket. “Ask away.”

  "You were brought here by Drugobrand. You chose to be part of this?"

  Reese takes a step back, his eyes wide. “What? How did you…? Where…? How?” He takes a deep breath, his gaze distant for a moment, as if just assimilating that she knows. When he speaks, his voice is softer than before.

  "What can I say? I was an idiot, Becky," he explains. "They threw me a deal. Sounded doable. Sounded fun as hell. And I was done with everything back then."

  He looks at her, as if expecting her to insult him or storm out of the room. When she doesn’t, he continues.

  "I was a fucking idiot, alright?" he says again. "Just a dumb kid with too much ambition, nothing to lose, and an ego the size of the goddamn ocean.” He pauses. “And you know what? I’m glad I took the deal. I’m glad I was a senseless piece of shit, because it got me you.” He grabs Rebecca’s hand and places it over his chest, his eyes filled with a tenderness that takes her breath away. “And you’re so insanely great, Becca, you make me want to be better.”

  “No.” Rebecca breaks loose and steps back, increasing the distance between them. “You don’t get to sweet talk me and make it all go away. You’ve been asking me to trust you for so long, but it turns out you never trusted me.”

  “That’s not true.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Because I didn’t want to scare you away.” He opens his arms and lets them fall to his sides.

  Rebecca swallows. “That’s insane. You had me making decisions about you blindly.”

  “I told you all the important stuff.”

  “And the riots?”

  “What about them,” Reese asks, narrowing his eyes.

  “You never believed in any of that, did you? Was Drugobrand behind it?”

  "No, they pitched some public scandal. Like streaking through a park or something."

  He shrugs. "Already done it. Figured no one would buy it."

  “Then what, Reese? You just convinced a bunch of people around the country to risk their jobs, their futures, their lives, just because you wanted to get in here? Do you have any idea of how crazy and dangerous that sounds?”

  “Yes, I know how it sounds. That’s exactly why I didn’t tell you.”

  “Did they know what they were doing?”

  “If you’re asking me whether they knew I wanted to enter this show, no. That part was supposed to be a secret.”

  Rebecca scoffs.

  “You know, Reese, history is filled with charismatic leaders. You might hit the list.”

  Reese lets out a bitter laugh, but he looks deeply hurt.

  “Guess I deserved that one.”

  “I’m trying to understand. What are you?”

  He doesn’t say anything this time, just looks at her. Not angry, not irritated, not even hurt anymore. Everytime he places his eyes on her he gives her the same devoted look. The one that disarms her in an instant.

  "I don’t think I need to explain that, Becky. You already know who I am—or what I am. You know me better than anyone. Always have. And I know you just the same. That’s how we work, isn’t it?"

  Rebecca remains silent. Anyone else would’ve missed the meaning of his words, but she understands them precisely, vague as they are.

  “Please, Rebecca,” he continues, lifting a hand and gesturing at a distant point beyond the walls of his room. “Don’t let them mess with what we have. They’re the ones who don’t know us. And I’m sorry I’m not a better man—you do deserve the best. But I’ll get there. I want to be that for you. Just… don’t take that chance from me.”

  And she’s certain.

  Certain that, even though she’s never let anyone in before, what she feels for him is too strong to mistake for protection or convenience. Too strong to dismiss just because of the mistakes of his past. She made mistakes too, just as bad as his.

  She doesn’t speak, but in the silence, her eyes say everything. What she feels for Reese—the respect, the admiration, the quiet relief of knowing he’s okay—can’t be anything but love.

  For the first time, she feels something as profoundly selfless as this.

  This time, she’s the one who closes the distance. Her arms tighten around Reese, her body trembling slightly. She buries her face in his chest, his heartbeat hammering, yet reassuring.