𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤

6. "But without the dark we'd never see the stars."

"But without the dark, we'd never see the stars."

☆:*'¨'*:..:*'¨'*:.☆

"Gabriel, who?" 

I glanced over at Journey sheepishly as I nervously tugged on the ends of my sweatshirt. I tried to study her face to see if I could get a reaction.

She pulled her lips together, and her brows creased over her blue eyes in deep concentration, urging me to continue. 

"Gabriel Sinner," I whispered in a shaky voice. I could barely meet her gaze, not wanting to see the disgust that would surely be evident.

She was silent. As I shut my eyes, I heard the beat of her heartbeat spike up; although it wasn't fast as mine, it was fast enough to denounce as fear. 

I expected her to lash out at me, to sob in my arms. I was prepared for her wrath or for her to walk away and never look at me again, but what had happened next stunned me.

She was laughing. 

Her laughter exploded out of her. She was laughing so hard she had trouble taking in huge gasps of air all at once. 

Her face was red with tears streaking down when I had finally managed to look her in the eye. 

"Okay," she rasped, having now composed her breathing. "That was funny, but why aren't you laughing? You always laugh at your jokes."

"Because it's not a joke." I breathed out as I tried to blink back the tears that formed in the corner of my eyes. 

Even though her laughter still hadn't died down, I still caught the perturbation set deep in her eyes, and I watched as her face stilled and her muscles tensed when she finally reads what has been written on my face all along.

I wasn't eager to know how I looked right now, but I was sure I physically appeared to resemble a raccoon. 

She was frozen, her lips wide open and unmoving, and her big blue eyes zoned in on my still figure. Both of us were standing still, face to face, as life around us moved on. 

The forest echoed with the chirping of birds, and the wind bristled softly by. The soft prancing of a deer nearby resonated off into the distance after it sensed our presence. 

She finally spoke, spurring me into a moment of panic. "I need to lie down for a moment." She struggled the words out in a strained voice.

Instantly, worry replaced the fear, and I quickly moved to help, but she winced away from me.

Air felt heavy in my lungs as I took in her reaction. The oxygen burned through my lungs before it slowly released out a foreign numbing feeling in my bloodstream. 

Slowly, she lowered herself to the ground and rested her head against the trunk of a tree for support. Her eyes were closed, and her face seemed to have lost the pink hue from before.