To say Luca was worried, really was an understatement. He felt…utterly helpless. Like never before. She scurried away from him, pulling away from his touch like he scorched her. Panted, wide eyed as if she had just seen a ghost. There was no way of him possibly figuring out what was wrong - but something was, very, terribly wrong. And not being able to help her pulled on the strings that kept the pieces of his heart together. With his hands raised, Luca slowly crawled closer to her. Careful as to not scare her off again. The darkness could play horrible games with ones mind. She had just almost lost her daughter, the fire - maybe he had just failed to see the signs. That she needed help or someone to talk to.
He ran a hand over his mouth, movements brisk and nervous. So afraid of doing anything wrong. As her hand reached his cheek, he visibly flinched. Now, he was cold too. But he wasn’t freezing. She, on the other hand - her fingers felt stiff even as she only brushed along his skin. Very slowly and carefully, Luca reached for her hand, enclosed it with his warmer ones. “I’m here. I promise.” He muttered quietly, offering her a small smile as he gathered her other hand, heated breaths an attempt to warm up her skin. “How long have you been here for?” Despite wanting to get up, knowing they had to keep moving, Luca dropped down next to her. The jacket, which he had been made fun of for wearing during the summer in Texas, was put around her shoulders carefully. Hands that were ever as gentle, as if he was caring for a porcelain vase, adjusted the jacket to cover her properly. His eyes didn’t leave hers, worry and fear evident in his nearly black orbs as he tried to search for…his Hallie somewhere in hers. Even in the darkness, the contrast of their skin was stark as he cupped her face. They often made fun of each other. How different they were. Pale dork and tall grump. Not much in common with lives that couldn’t be more different. Yet…it all fit like two pieces concluding a puzzle.
Balancing out what they lacked or needed. Whether it was a sense of reality or a sense of possibilities. “I love you.” He didn’t even properly register himself saying those three words he had been so afraid of. But, maybe, being more scared of losing someone was what took it for him to speak them out loud. To realize he wasn’t just scared of her not being around but terrified. Too many people had come and gone and he could do little but watch. This time, he would have a say. He would do everything he could to keep what he loved. Warm thumbs brushed over her cheeks slowly. “Tell me what’s wrong, Hal. Please.”
“You’re here,” she whispered, almost inaudibly. As though she were trying to convince herself. This, this dark cold mess, this was reality. She still wanted her baby back, but Luca’s hands were warm, and his voice calmed her, and she loved him so much. He placed a jacket around her shoulders to keep her warm. She remembered mocking him for wearing it. He stared into her eyes the way he always did when he was reading her mind, but it was so clouded with secrets and emotions now, she knew it would be like reading a language he didn’t understand.
In truth, she didn’t understand either. She had no idea where she was or when he’d got here, or why he seemed so scared. She was terrified that her mind was betraying her like this, that she was locked out of her own memories, but then he said three tiny words that shook her. She smiled. She had a few tears in her eyes, sure, and she was still freezing and shaking from fear, and still confused and lost and worried and guilt-ridden, but he loved her. She’d been waiting for this moment to tell him... for a moment she couldn’t remember what she needed to tell him.
She put her hands to her stomach to control the butterflies flying around in there, but then she remembered what else was living in her body. Who else was, hopefully, still living there. If she could get any paler... she would have.
He asked what was wrong. Normally, she would have given a humourless laugh, and said ‘How long do you have?’ Normally, she would have easily told him something about work or family or such things that used to bother her. Now, she just stared at him, needing to tell him, but terrified to. What if she told him now, just for it all to be in vain?
“I threw a gala. For charity. Brought you all to it. And the place burned down. My little girl and my friend’s little girl were taken, and everyone banded together to save them, but one of them got shot, and more of them could have. I brought everyone to the forest to film and I called ‘action’ and I remember nothing until you said my name. I can only assume everyone else is stuck down here too, alive or dead. I... It’s all me. I caused all of this.”
She knew he was about to protest because he was perfect, and of course he would, but she stopped him. “I knew you loved me back. In my heart, I knew. But I’m always so in my head, and my head was saying if you weren’t ready to say it, maybe you weren't ready to be with me, and I need you to be with me because I don’t want to do this alone.” She took a deep, shaking breath. A lifelong fan of horror and she’d never been as afraid as she was in this moment. She was barely aware of the tears clouding her vision. “I’m pregnant, Luca. I’ve known for two weeks and I didn’t tell you. And I don’t remember how I got down here, but I can’t imagine it was good for a baby. So... to answer your question, what’s wrong is that I am completely consumed with guilt.”
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