To Love a Criminal ((MIKE ZACHARIAS X OC))

Chapter 6

Mike came back five minutes later with two bottles, identical to the ones he had the previous night, held in his hands.

Silica was set up in the corner of her bed, gaze set for the window until Mike entered the room. Their gazes met curtly as he kicked the door shut with his foot. He gave her a lopsided smile as he gingerly sat at the edge of the bed, handing her one of his bottles.

She took it gratefully and popped it open. "Where do you keep all of these?"

"That, my friend," Mike replied mysteriously, wiggling his brow. "Is a secret."

Silica rolled her eyes, hiding her amused smile with the mouth of her whiskey bottle.

As promised, Mike carried on to explain and summarize the contents of the guideline book Erwin expected her to have drilled into her head at the end of the month. They weren't necessarily difficult to remember, and Silica figured that she'd enjoy throwing the facts right back in the blond know-it-all's face.

"So," Mike said, now laying on his back with his eyes fixated on the ceiling. "You got all that?"

"Yup," Silica replied nonchalantly, sipping her drink. "Easy."

"Good." Mike nodded against the mattress, glancing in Silica's direction.

It seemed that every chance Silica got since coming to the surface, she'd be looking at the sky. Whether it was day or night didn't seem to matter, but it was difficult not to notice that she had immediately fallen in love with the scenery of the world above ground. In that moment, all Mike could hope for was that that love wouldn't dwindle when the time for her first Expedition rolled along. It'd break his heart; taking everything she's already been through.

Silica, at that particular moment, turned her head and noticed Mike's stare. One brow arched upward immediately in question, but all Mike could do was offer a guilty chuckle at being caught red-handed.

"What?" Silica questioned a bit harshly — defensively, even.

"Nothing, nothing," Mike shook his head and heaved himself up into a sitting position. "Nothing."

"Tell me." Silica demanded, leaning forward from the wall for emphasis as she scowled. Mike only nose-laughed.

"You just stare outside a lot," Mike lied, covering his ass pretty well. "Every time I look over at you you're focused on the window."

Silica stared at him for a moment before leaning back against the wall, figuring that it wasn't worth trying to decide whether he was being truthful or not. Instead, she gulped down the remaining contents from her bottle and tossed it across the bed.

"I've never seen the sky until last night," she shrugged, crossing her arms loosely in her lap. "And I only just saw it during the day this morning."

That got Mike thinking. "You mean you've never seen the sunset?"

Silica, again, perked a skeptical eyebrow. She shook her head 'no.'

"Oh," Mike smiled again and stood up, lending a hand down to her. "You'll get a kick outta that. C'mon."

"Where?" Silica asked, looking down to his palm with narrowed eyes. Mike merely chuckled again.

"The roof." He told her, inching his hand a tad closer, motioning that she shut up and take it already.

Rolling her eyes exasperatedly, she slapped her palm into his and let him hoist her to her feet. Without letting her go, he led her out of the confides of her room and up the steps to the roof they resided on the night before.