Then You Look At Me |COMPLETED|

My Soul Is Now At Ease

~When you lose your way and the fight is gone. Your heart starts to break and you need someone around now. Just close your eyes while I put my arms above you and make you unbreakable. She stands in the rain, just to hide it all. If you ever turn around, I won't let you fall down now. I swear I'll find your smile and put my arms above you. And make you unbreakable~ Jamie Scott.

Chapter Theme Song: 'Unbreakable' by Jamie Scott.

••

Ansel

Thirty minutes earlier.

Alaric opens the door, skeptically glancing behind him before looking back at me. "Hey."

I adjust the hood of my pullover. "How is she?"

He exhales, resting a palm against the edge of the door. "She's not doing so good. I think we need to keep a close eye on her."

I puff air from my cheeks before leaning against the transparent wall. Alaric steps out and closes the door quietly behind him, coiling his arms across his chest.

"I think I should just let her know I am still alive," I say. "You know last night after I heard her crying in her bathroom, I came up to check on her. She was asleep in bed and she looked so frail. She didn't look like the Rainey I know at all." I shake my head. "What we are doing could potentially hurt her permanently."

"But I think her also knowing that you're alive could hurt her too. Look what happened last time. I just feel like if she knows that you aren't dead, she'll go after Ron just to protect us. I just want us to lay low until we've gotten rid of him. Rainey can be stubborn, and we barely made it out alive the last time. I can't afford for that to happen again."

Patently, the reason we are hiding the fact that I am still alive is not only to make my death appear real to Ron Moretto but also because we don't want Rainey to get involved. If she knows that I am still alive she may attempt to sacrifice herself again. I almost witnessed her getting killed on that cliff and I cannot allow the incident to reoccur. My 'death' is serving as a distraction until we have dealt with what we need to deal with.

I can still recall how devasted she looked when the bullet met my chest. When Ken and Joe, along with my brothers and a few SWAT members found me, I was unconscious. I was told that I was unresponsive for three weeks, and it has only been half of a month since I have woken up. I am slowly recovering, but the wound is still fresh, alongside a few small bruises I have attained as well.

"But we should keep a close eye on her," Alaric continues. "Today we went to the courtroom with her."

"Yeah, I was there. I saw you guys."

"She wasn't happy even after they got sentenced. And then she just cracked on us, saying she needed space. She came home and asked us all to watch a movie and then earlier she went up to her room without eating dinner."

I sigh. Each time I am informed of her failure to eat, my chest tightens. I don't know how much longer I can withstand this hide and seek business. I miss her and seeing her becoming so underweight and frail isn't easy on my heart or my conscience.

"I'm going to get her mint ice-cream. I know it's not healthy but at least something is going into her stomach." I ease up to walk away but turn back around to face him. "By the way, strawberry isn't her favorite flavor, it's the mint-chocolate chip."

Alaric scratches his head culpably. "You heard that too?"

I smile in amusement. "I hear everything." I titter as I turn away, and Alaric purses his lips before returning inside.