𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨

Chapter Forty one

Y/N

Falling is a new sensation for me and I have to say, there's something almost euphoric about it. The complete lack of gravity, like I'm floating freely in water.

Only it's even better than that because Jennie is wrapped up securely in my arms, her hands fisted in my shirt and her head tucked in beneath my chin. So much touch, so much warmth. It's like heaven.

And then we hit the water.

I knew that the moment was coming - I had been aiming for the courtyard pool when I threw us off of the balcony, obviously - but that didn't prepare me for the actual moment of impact. I don't need to breathe in the first place, but the shock of my body striking flat against the water still manages to make me gasp.

As we sink under the surface water rushes into my lungs and fills me completely. It almost hurts.

The force of the fall drives us downward and as I watch the rippling surface get further away, the back of my head hits the concrete bottom of the pool and the world snaps to black.

Jennie

I had been so sure that I was plummeting to my death that the rush of water stunned me. When we finally stop falling it takes me a minute before I remember that I can move.

I instantly propel myself up, gasping in air to fill my aching, empty lungs. I comb my hair back off my face and wipe the water away so I can see.

We fell into a large pool that looks like it might've been a fountain at some point before, sitting in the courtyard in front of the stadium's official entrance.

It's only chest-deep and the water is stale and stagnant, littered with leaves and other bits of debris. The water is lapping and splashing at the sides from the ripples of our landing.

It's then that I realise I'm standing alone in the pool. Y/N hasn't come up yet. My eyes flick downward and I see her fractured image through the waves of water, lying still as death on the bottom of the pool.

"Y/N!" I shout in alarm. I dive under the water and grab her by the front of her jacket, dragging the heavy, dead weight of her body up to the surface.

"Y/N, Y/N wake up!" I plead, clutching her jacket with one fist and tapping the side of her face with the other. "Please, Y/N, please be okay. Wake up!"

Y/N's eyes snap open and she sputters, coughing out a mouthful of dirty water.

She finds her own legs and stands up, towering over me as she swipes her fringe back off her forehead.

Frowning, Y/N prods the back of her head where it must have struck the floor. My heart leaps at the familiar pout on her lips.

"Oh gosh you're alright," I said and threw my arms around her neck.

Y/N returns the embrace after a moment of surprised stillness, and she nuzzles her head into the curve of my neck as she pulls me close.

It feels good, better than I ever imagined it could. We're practically the same temperature now because of the cold water.

I never really realised before just how much taller she is than me but I'm hyper-aware of it now as she envelopes me in her arms.

There are so many emotions running through me - happiness, gratitude, relief, affection - and I try to pour it all out through the hug.

We stand there long enough that I've started shivering before we finally draw back from each other.

I glance up and meet her storm-coloured gaze and I feel a strange leaping in my chest. The sort of feeling I've gotten used to feeling around her, the same way I had felt when she had appeared there below the balcony in Haven.

Before I even realise what I'm doing - before I can think and overanalyze and talk myself out of it - I stand on my toes and press my lips against Y/N's.

I lower myself back down and meet Y/N's eyes, wondering what she is thinking. Her eyes are always so expressive, telling her every emotion like the pages of a book.

In them I see awe, fascination, wonder - love.

"Wow," Y/N breathes softly and I grin in reply

This time Y/N is the one to make the first move. She cups a hand over the back of my neck and pulls me up to her, crushing our lips together eagerly.

I grab onto the lapels of her jacket and drag myself closer, returning the kiss enthusiastically. I don't think about the fact that I'm a human and she's a Corpse, that I'm alive and she's dead.

I just think about Y/N - calm, patient, determined Y/N - and how much I've grown to rely on her presence over the last few days. How much I need her in my life.

How much I love her.

When we finally part for air my head is spinning. I smile up at Y/N, ready to tell her just what I've realised, but something catches my attention and stops the words on my tongue.

There are needles of blue shooting through the irises of her eyes, widening and spreading and chasing away the gray.

In a split second her eyes are the deep cobalt blue of the ocean in summer.

"Wow, Y/N, you-"

Thump! Thump!