Haunted [AN EXPIRATION DATE DUOLOGY FANFICTION] ✔

Haunted

You and I walk a fragile line
I have known it all this time but I never thought I'd live to see it break

TAYLOR SWIFT— "HAUNTED"
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"Colton... stop—that tickles!" I demand, though the laughter that disjoints my speech makes me sound less serious than I actually am.

Colton falls back into a kneeling position on the mattress, keeping my hand in his. He presses his lips softly onto my forearm and peers up at me through his unruly bangs, raising his eyebrows. "This?"

"Yes," I confirm, tugging my arm back and using it to push myself up and into a sitting position.

"I'm sorry angelo mio," he says. His pink lips curl into a crooked smile as he reaches out to tuck some wayward strands of blonde hair behind my ear.

I'm about to kiss him when a sharp pain in the side of my head startles me, causing me to jerk backward. All of a sudden it feels as though I'm falling, and a surge of adrenaline rushes through my body as I brace myself for the landing. The feeling passes as quickly as it arose when my back slams against something hard.

I open my eyes. I'm surprised to see two blue seats in front of me. A man sits in the one diagonal to me, reading a newspaper. Le Monde.

And then I remember.

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Stood there and watched you walk away from everything we had
But I still mean every word I said to you

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Blinking back the tears threatening to spill from my eyes, I shift in my seat, fixing my posture. When I straighten my back, the pain in my head returns. Glancing down at my coat, I realize a few strands of my hair are caught on a button.

I carefully untangle my blonde locks and tie my hair back using the elastic around my wrist. Then I look outside. Through the window to my left I can see a dirty wall, graffiti scrawled sporadically across it. I don't know where exactly I am, only where I've been and where I'm going.

That's okay. Ignorance, some say, is bliss. I'm starting to wonder if that's at all true. If Colton had remained ignorant to my role in the rebels' cause, we might still be happily together.

Colton. My one true love....

I can still remember the day we met. He surprised me by helping me out of the fountain and providing me with clean clothes and a room to freshen up in. The laurel crown he placed upon my head was absolutely beautiful. But not as beautiful as his eyes, which gleamed and shimmered under the lights illuminating the dance floor as he took my hand in his and led me in dance.

My family teased me endlessly about it. Yet I wasn't the only one to have a thing for a Society member. I'd spent years listening to my female cousins swoon over the future Order members, but only because of their looks. My aunts agreed the young men were immensely attractive, but that they could never be trusted because of their positions. They were the Society.

But the more time I spent with Colton, the better I got to know him. My family may not have approved of him and they might only have seen bad in him, but underneath Colton's thick skin was most certainly a heart. Under all his layers and his perfectly constructed mask, carefully moulded by years of upbringing, I knew he was just like us. Human.

Ever since I joined the rebels, I knew there was a chance our relationship could go up in flames. We were already like a little child running across a freshly frozen lake, the conditions perfect for disaster. I wanted reform. My parents disapproved of the Society. Colton was the Society. The odds had been against us from day one. Joining the rebels was a surefire way to give an Expiration Date to our relationship.

But I had hope. Since the start, I'd always had hope. I'd had hope that us rebels could change the Society without destroying them. Without destroying minds, relationships, or lives. Without destroying what Colton and I had built together: our love. When the opportunity arose, I thought if I could just get that book for Thomas then everything would be okay. I'd get him the book and things would change for the better and then Colton and I could have our happily ever after.

But Colton found me. And his rejection of me, of my feelings, of the truth hurt infinitely more than the bullet he shot through my body.

And Iris. I miss her too. I miss both her and Colton so much. And Erik— poor Erik! He was rather annoying at times— most of the time, actually— but that doesn't mean he deserves the pain I know he's feeling. If only....

Outside, the rain starts to fall, hitting the window. Tap. Tap. There is no longer a wall outside but fields of luscious greenery, a stark contrast to the grey sky.

As the fast-moving train transports me to a strange city in a foreign country, I stare outside at the unfamiliar scenery. My lips curl into a small smile as a feeling of warmth starts deep inside me, building up slowly.

Maybe we still have a chance at our happily ever after. After all, a lot can happen in forty years of life.

The warmth within me grows and I can feel it spread through my body, the energy it brings helping to sustain my smile.

I still have hope.

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Oh, I'm holding my breath
Won't see you again
Something keeps me holding onto nothing

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Writer's Note:

I do not own the song— it was written by the talented Taylor Swift! All characters in this fan-fiction were created by the brilliant writer Mikaela Bender and are from her books Expiration Date and Expired.

- Hayley