Already with a rosy glow to her cheeks as she remembered their previous trip here, Kurumi made her way inside and over towards one of the couches where she promptly sat down on it. She knew she was early, ridiculously early really, but she had just needed to get out of the common room for a bit and heading to the library to do some reading just didn't seem like an appealing idea either.

Without slipping her boots off, Kurumi lied back on the couch and reached into her bag for her mother's journal. Her hands traced over its cover as she hesitated for a moment before opening it. Slowly, she flipped through the pages until she found the last entry she had stopped at and her eyes glazed over her mother's delicate calligraphy that was beginning to show signs of disease. The disease that had taken her away. It still hurt thinking about it all, but she was healing. Slowly.

As she read, her free hand began to play with the charm that was attached to her bag while she waited for Lewis.

Lewis was...nervous to say the least. But he was trying hide it, thought probably wasn't doing a very good job at it. Chewing on his lower lip anxiously, he pushed the door to the Prefects Bathroom open, slowly as if still playing for time. Which he probably was, subconsciously at least. And maybe on purpose as well. He didn't want to do this. While it was probably silly and meant absolutely nothing something about the envelope Jonathan had given him a couple of months ago was making him nervous. He didn't want to give it to Kurumi.

Though, he had to. It wasn't right if he didn't. It wasn't fair.

Back when the Slytherin had given it to him, Lewis thought the boy's suspicions about him keeping it from Kurumi were silly. Why would he not give it to her? It was only some notes from class or so he had said. But then he'd started to think about it and the envelope had slowly started to turn into something bad. A symbol for something bad that was going to get between him and Kurumi. It didn't even matter what was inside. It was just...it made him anxious just looking at it.

But now here he was, with the envelope in his hands.

It had been mocking him for the last two days basically, never leaving his mind, making him feel extremely guilty for keeping it that long. It was selfish, he knew that. Which was why he was here now. With the envelope.

Taking a deep breath, Lewis closed the door behind him and glanced around the room for a moment, before spotting Kurumi...on the couch. It made him smile as his heart skipped a beat just seeing her but he soon went back to chewing on his lower lip. "Hey." Slowly, very slowly he approached Kurumi, trying to keep the anxiety from his face as he absently fumbled about with the envelope in his hands.

Turning the page and actually almost smiling as she continued to read her mother's words, Kurumi almost didn't hear the door to the bathroom open. It wasn't like her to not notice this sort of thing, especially when her heart was racing in anticipation for meeting Lewis, but she just found herself captivated by what her mother was writing about. What life advice she was inadvertently giving Kurumi now. She just wished that she was here to give it to her...

Kurumi did hear Lewis' voice and she immediately looked up from her mother's journal and met his gaze. "Lewis," she chirped, her eyes bright and her cheeks flushing just a bit more. The smile on her lips was obvious, but soon faltered slightly when she saw the way he was clutching the rather large envelope in his hands and the way he was chewing on his lip.

Swinging her legs off the couch and bringing herself into a regular sitting position, she tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear and looked at him shyly. "W-What's that?" she asked, pointing to the envelope in his hands.

Oh no, so she had noticed his discomfort. Well, it was probably impossible to miss really. He wasn't all that good at hiding it, especially not from Kurumi. Something always betrayed him, usually it was his eyes, though right now it was probably his whole posture and everything about him basically as well. Something was up and he clearly didn't want to say it.

But he had to.

The worst thing was that he wasn't even that worried about her getting upset with him for keeping the envelope for that long. No, that wasn't the biggest of his worries. Biting his lip he just looked at her for a moment as if after this things would never be the same again. "I...this..." He took a deep breath, briefly glancing up at the ceiling to give himself some time to form coherent sentences. Right now all he wanted to do was sit down next to her and forget all about that stupid envelope in his hands. It was probably nothing anyway.

What if it was though?

With a sigh Lewis glanced back down at Kurumi, anxiously rocking back and forth on his heels for a second. "I should have...given you this sooner." Like a couple of months ago. "I...am not entirely sure what's in it but...Jonathan gave it to me." He bit his lip again, trying not to look too worried about all of this as he searched her face for some sort of reaction to his words. Maybe there would be none and he was just worried over nothing.

Slowly - hesitantly - he took the envelope in one hand and offered it to her, not moving anything else, holding his breath without realizing he was doing so.

Kurumi could feel her heart pounding in her chest, but it was far from the usual reasons. The flush on her cheeks that had been there in anticipation of seeing him was slowly fading, replaced by her usual porcelain features and confused violet eyes. He was scaring her. Something was really bothering him, making him uneasy, and the fact that he was attempting to keep his expression and voice neutral was only making her more apprehensive.

"Lewis?" she whispered when he remained silent for much longer than was comfortable. This was almost worse than seeing him back in November after she had refused to see him for two months. No, it WAS worse. It was worse because she had no idea what was bothering him and it was causing her thoughts to swim, drown, in a sea of confusion and self conscious thinking.

"Lewis...please....sit down...you are scaring me..." she whispered again, this time reaching out for one of his hands with her own to give it a small tug.

Him rocking back and forth on his heels wasn't helping matters either.

Kurumi ended up gasping softly when he eventually spoke again, her violet eyes leaving his face to look at the envelope clutched in his hand. She still didn't let go of his other hand and didn't plan to. Especially not now.

She didn't reach for the envelope and instead tugged on Lewis' hand again. She wanted him to sit down, to be near her, and she was admittedly a little afraid of accepting the envelope from Lewis. Especially after he said who it was from. Her heart was pounding in chest again, almost in a suffocating way, and she swallowed several times with her eyes still on the envelope. "Y-Y-You...spoke with him?"

So many thoughts were going through her head right now that it was hard to keep track of them...save Jonathan wanting her to have something. Whatever it was he had given it to Lewis to give to her...and it petrified her.

Oh Merlin, what had he done? If he'd just given the stupid envelope to Kurumi right away then he wouldn't be in this mess right now. Why had he been afraid to give it to her? It was only a couple of notes from class according to Jonathan. But there was the problem, right? He would have had to tell her that he'd met Jonathan and that he was the one who had given him the envelope. To give to her. He was just the messenger there.

And it felt weird. It made him feel all apprehensive inside.

Looking back down at Kurumi when she spoke and started tugging on his hand, Lewis opened his mouth to tell her that there was nothing to be scared of. But instead went with telling her about the envelope. Since he just had to get it off his chest. And he was pretty sure this moment was as good as any. He had waited for far too long anyway. So there.

Only she didn't take the envelope from him like he had expected her to. No, she instead continued to tug on his hand, making him take a small step forward and towards her. "Kurumi, I..." But he trailed off, not really sure what he was supposed to say anyway. Why wasn't she taking the envelope? Why was it so hard to read her right now? He couldn't quite tell what she was thinking. Only that she apparently wanted him to sit down.

Which he did eventually. And once he had he softly placed the envelope on Kurumi's lap. There. Now she had it. Now he had finally done what Jonathan had asked him to. Speaking of whom..."I...yes, I did. N-not a lot or anything. He just-" He swallowed and glanced back down at his own lap so he wasn't looking at Kurumi when he said the words. "He just asked me to give you this." About three months ago.

Her heart managed to skip a beat when Lewis eventually took a small step towards her, but her heart was soon back to pounding in her chest and in her ears when her eyes fell on the envelope once more. Her free hand was on her chest right now, clutching the fabric of her lilac sweater...and what was hidden under it.

Her gaze lifted to meet his once more when he spoke, again not finishing his sentence. Something about the way he had said her name right now caused her to breathing to turn shaky and she tugged on his hand once more. His apprehension was making her more nervous, more insecure, and those feelings were momentarily relieved when he did sit down next to her. Kurumi responded by scooting closer to him so that this bodies were against each other and, if she had wanted to, she could have easily rested her head on his shoulder.

Her eyes widened for a moment when he set the envelope on her lap and she gave his hand another squeeze instinctively.

Kurumi managed to turn her head, her hand leaving her chest to rest flat on the envelope on her lap, and she watched Lewis' lips as they formed words. "Did he...did he say what it was?" she asked, swallowing once nervously.

Lewis was watching her closely again, so as not to miss even the tiniest reaction from her to this envelope. His heart was pounding in his chest, so loud that he was afraid Kurumi would actually be able to hear it. Since now was one of the few times he did not want her to know what was going on inside of him. No, now was all about what was going through her mind at the moment.

But it was proving to be extremely difficult to figure that out.

Maybe he should have been all casual about it. Maybe it was his fault that she seemed that hesitant about opening or even touching the envelope. If he'd just given it to her three months back being all 'Oh yeah, Jonathan said I should give this to you' it would have been fine. Now it was too late though. Now all he could do was sit here and hope for the best. Though he didn't even know what he was hoping she was going to do. Right now he wasn't even in any condition to react to her scooting closer and squeezing his hand. He was just watching her. Carefully.

When she looked back up it was his turn to glance back at the envelope. "He...he said that it was just...some old notes of yours he'd found. Notes from a lesson or something." So it was going to be fine. It was just something extremely normal and Jonathan was just trying to be nice, returning them to Kurumi. Or having them be returned to her anyway. Same difference, right?

Only it wasn't.

This was actually scaring her more, that Lewis wasn't reacting to her moving close to her. At least not like he usually did. There was no return hand squeeze, no obvious smile in his eyes. No slightly pinkish glow to his cheeks. Her own color had seemingly drained from her face as she studied him for another moment. He wasn't going to let her see what was bothering him, was he?

Especially when him averting his eyes like he was. No fair, that was how she usually figured things out...

"Notes?" she asked, not really requiring an answer. Last time she had checked she had all her notes. She kept them sorted alphabetically and even had them color coded to a certain extend. Wait, maybe these were some notes that she had forgotten somewhere? Her memory had been spotty and then the whole freezing bit... Or maybe these were from when she had helped him study for his OWLs? But that was so long ago...

Reluctantly letting go of Lewis' hand, Kurumi slowly opened the envelope with shaking hands and reached in to pull out its contents. She only got as far as the top part of the parchments inside, the part where she saw the words 'Composed by Jonathan Kim' in her handwriting, and froze.

She felt as though her heart had just been ripped out of her chest, again. So Louisa had given him these for her...and he had returned them. He didn't care. Didn't even want to think about her anymore. He was rejecting her. Everything about her.

Kurumi couldn't help but whimper as she slowly removed the top sheet only from inside and set it down on her lap. She looked at it for a moment, her eyes stinging again with hot tears. Tears that she hated were showing right now. Tears that she was rather ashamed of to be entirely honest as she remembered the conversation she had had with Treyen during the holidays. She had been thinking about it, a lot, and still was...but now there was no way she couldn't tell Lewis.

Not when this had just happened.

Did she want an answer to that question? Was it even a question? Lewis had not really expected her to say something in reply so he glanced back up, blinking at her a couple of times in surprise. "Yes...that's what he said anyway." He replied slowly, thinking about each word carefully before he said it. Maybe the envelope didn't contain notes after all. But Jonathan had promised him that it didn't contain anything dangerous or anything.

So all he had to worry about was the envelope itself. And the effect it would possibly have on Kurumi.

He felt a lump forming in his throat and he swallowed a couple of times to get rid of it when she finally let go of his hand to open the envelope. It was tempting to just reach out again, take her hand back in his, throw the envelope into the fire and forget about it all. Only he couldn't do that. That wouldn't be right. Even though the urge was becoming more and more unbearable as he felt as if his heart was breaking a little, seeing Kurumi like this. Seeing her reaction to this.

To these sheets of paper from Jonathan.

Because they really were only that. And watching Kurumi's eyes fill up with tears broke his heart a little more. For two reasons; 1. because seeing Kurumi cry was always terrible for him to witness and 2. because of the reason she was crying. What was she going to do if she talked to Jonathan in person? He didn't know, and he wasn't sure he even wanted to know. His brain was working on overdrive as he tried to figure out what it meant, what this reaction from Kurumi meant. For them. For their relationship.

Watching her closely as she slowly put the sheet onto her lap, Lewis instinctively leaned back a little, shifting away from her slightly on the couch. He felt...left out somehow. As if he wasn't supposed to be here right now. As if he wasn't supposed to see this. As if he just wasn't part of this. Should he leave? Did she want to be alone?

He closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before focusing his gaze onto the envelope again, not quite able to look at Kurumi directly. "What...what is it?" His voice was unusually husky and he started fumbling about with his robes nervously, his heart pounding inside his chest.

Kurumi just short of stared at the music sheet on her lap, unsure of what to make of this and almost furious with herself for crying like this. Part of her had expected this, that they wouldn't be accepted, but the other part of her had hoped that he would have. At least accepted a small piece of her into his life in the form of some harmless sheets of music. Only he hadn't. He didn't want them. She felt like the biggest fool in the universe right now.

And the feeling become suffocating when she felt Lewis moving away from her.

Her eyes flew from the parchments on her lap to Lewis, the surface of them still shimmering with tears, and she chewed on her lower lip anxiously. She didn't want him to move away. She wanted the opposite. She wanted for him to move closer to her. To hold her. To remind her that it didn't matter if he wanted to reject her because Lewis would never do that. Only now she felt as though he was too, rejecting her, and it made the tears sting her eyes even more. All she wanted to do was reach out and take his hand again, but she wasn't sure that was the wise thing to do right now.

Her heart literally stopped when Lewis spoke and Kurumi suddenly became all too aware of her body language and the way that her hand wanted to reach up and clutch her chest again. Clutch the necklace that was still there. Only she didn't, somehow finding the self restraint to stop herself. Seeing the way that Lewis was literally breaking to pieces in front of her reflected in his eyes had done it.

"I-I-It's..." she stammered, looking back at the music sheet on her lap. What was she supposed to say? Did Lewis really want to know? Kurumi was, for the first time ever, afraid to be honest with Lewis. Afraid of what it would do to him, to them. Taking a deep breath, Kurumi returned her gaze to Lewis' face, somehow feeling that making sure she was looking at him and now away would send some sort of positive message to him, Kurumi spoke again. "Music sheets...that I made for him...I-I-I asked Louisa to give them to him a long time ago..."

But then her feelings betrayed her again and her eyes were stinging so much that she was forced to close them, a few hot tears trickled down her cheeks. "I-It's not fair...h-h-how easily he can just stop caring..." Her eyes opened again and found Lewis' green ones instantly. Eyes that had always made her feel found. Feel safe. Only now, looking into them, she felt petrified.

Lewis just happened to look back up at her face right around the same time she turned to look at him, cleary surprised and upset by his actions. Well, he was too to be honest. It had an instinctive reaction to move away from her, one that he sort of immediately regretted once he saw the look in Kurumi's eyes. Only he couldn't. It was as if he was frozen to the spot, so all he could do was stare right back at her as a variety of emotions reflected in his eyes.

A part of him told him that it had been right to move away. It really...did feel as if he wasn't part of this. As if he wasn't supposed to be here. Even though, he wanted to be part of every part of Kurumi's life now. He didn't like how this made him feel. Not only because she was clearly upset about something Jonathan had given to her but also because he simply felt left out. This wasn't about him, this wasn't even for him to see somehow. At least that's what his brain was telling him, making him inch a little further away from her yet again.

This was something he wasn't part of. And it made him want to run out of the room.

The lump in his throat was seemingly getting bigger and bigger by the second, making it very hard to swallow or breathe. His mouth was twitching slightly and he reached up with one hand to pinch the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes for a moment. He had to calm down. It was probably nothing. Only he KNEW that it wasn't. It was something. It was something big. Something serious. Something that could turn both of their worlds upside down in a matter of seconds. And it was all because of a few sheets of parchment.

His eyes opened again quite suddenly, resting on her face as they narrowed slightly, clearly taken aback by her reaction. She was hesitating. There was something she wasn't telling him. Something she was holding back. And it made his heart break a little yet again and he almost reached up to hug himself. Only he didn't. Instead he just slowly started shaking his head, biting down on his lip hard, interlacing his fingers with each other to stop them from shaking. The disappointment and just sheer sadness on his face only lessened a little bit when she eventually did answer his question.

Only a little bit. It didn't make the moment of hesitation go away after all.

So it was a gift from her to him and he had just returned it. "So he lied... He muttered under his breath, more to himself than to Kurumi as the realization hit him. Lewis wasn't even sure why it surprised him so much that Jonathan hadn't been telling him the truth. It was an automatic answer to her statement when he said "He hasn't..." without really thinking much about it. He couldn't even say he had any proof of that, but somehow he just knew. Knew from the way Jonathan had been acting. How he hadn't wanted to give her the sheets himself.

Wait!

It took him a few moments to work through her words until he realized what they meant. What they implied. With a small gasp, Lewis turned around in his seat fully to face her, his face a little paler than usual. "S-so...you haven't..." Right now all he wanted to do was leave and be alone. Only somehow his body wasn't reacting at all, so instead he just had to sit there and stare right back into her eyes, this time not even attempting to hide what was going on inside him. It felt as if somebody had first slapped him across the face and had then gone on to putting small needles into his heart, more and more as the seconds ticked by.

Kurumi continued to just stare at Lewis for several moments, her eyes pleading with him not to keep moving away from her like he was. It was breaking her, breaking her more than these pieces of paper on her lap had done. It was frightening her as well. Her and Lewis had been through a lot together, emotional trials, but this...this was different. This was something neither of them had faced. Well, to be honest they sort of had faced it when they had first started all of this. The difference was that they had both somehow blocked it out, swept it under the rug and ignored.

They couldn't do that anymore.

When he moved away yet again, fresh tears streamed down Kurumi's face and she looked at the space on the couch that he had previously occupied before lifting her gaze to meet his again. Her eyes were done pleading, they were begging him now to stop moving away from her. It was probably selfish of her to think so, but she was afraid of what his movements implied.

That she was losing him.

Shivering for all the wrong reasons when she saw and felt his eyes narrow on her and the way his body language had shifted even more, Kurumi chewed on her lip with so much force that it was a wonder they didn't start bleeding. She felt hot all over, as if someone were boiling her from the inside out, and her stomach tied in knots. Her throat seemed to have closed off as well, making it nearly impossible to breathe.

Kurumi chose to ignore what Lewis said. It made it easier to force herself to believe that Jonathan had stop caring and that is why he had returned the music sheets to her. Not to mention the manner in which he had done it. Jonathan had used Lewis to do it, the person who would be the most hurt by her reacting like this. For a brief moment Kurumi considered this to be the his form of revenge. His way of hurting the two of them, her and Lewis. But those thoughts were gone almost as quickly as they had surfaced in her brain.

S-so...you haven't...

Kurumi shut her eyes tight and her entire body became smaller than it already was as it trembled in place. She felt the way that the couch had moved when Lewis had shifted his position, but Kurumi was afraid to open her eyes. Afraid to see where he was sitting now - or even if he was. More than that, she was afraid of what she had to say next. What she couldn't keep from Lewis any longer.

Kurumi hated keeping things from Lewis. She wanted him to know everything about her, everything, and that included her at her most vulnerable state. She just trusted him to be able to accept her for everything she was. Even at her ugliest.

Trembling even more, she slowly opened her eyes to meet his green ones and whimpered at what she saw reflected in them. It only broke what part of her heart wasn't broken at the moment and made more hot tears burn her eyes and her cheeks. "Lewis..." she manage to whisper as she continued to look at him through her own tears, somehow hoping that he would be able to see through them to what she was feeling. How she felt about him.

Only she knew deep down that was asking far too much right now.

After a few more moments, Kurumi shook her head slowly. "...no....I-I-I haven't..." And then she made a movement that she immediately regretted. Her hand reached for the silver chain around her neck and pulled it out from under her sweater, revealing it to Lewis. The necklace. The necklace that Jonathan had given her back before he had vanished from school. There was so much more Kurumi wanted to say, needed to say, but her throat had closed off again making it impossible to do so. To even breath.

Seeing the tears now literally streaming down Kurumi's face made him flinch and bite down hard on his lower lip. The fact that she was basically crying because of him only made matters worse. On the other hand she may have been crying because of him but it wasn't his fault. Or was it? Either way, it was starting to get really really hard not to just reach out and hug her to make the tears go away.

Only he couldn't.

Because he was hurt too. More so than her probably, at least in his eyes. Or well, no, he didn't really know that but he definitely had more of a reason to be hurt than her. Whether she was crying because of him or not was beside the point right now. He couldn't just let this pass. He just couldn't. They had to...the sad thing was Lewis didn't know what they were supposed to do now. What he was supposed to do now. Something made him blink a little more rapidly than usual but he clenched his jaw to sort of keep his emotions in check. Sort of.

Despite what he saw reflected in her eyes - that she was almost begging him not to move away from her now - Lewis shifted just a little bit more away from her. And gasped. It was almost as if he'd just broken something. Broken their connection or something. Broken...them? A look of hurt and shock laced with a huge variety of other emotions on his face, Lewis looked back up to meet her gaze, sniffing once at the sheer intensity of the moment. Not in a good way though. This was intense, yes, but it was bad.

Her silence after his statement was enough for him to know that he was right. That it was true. He wanted to move a little further away from her yet again, only if he had he would have landed on the floor so he stayed right where he was for the time being. Even though he wanted to leave. Actually, yes, that was what he wanted to do right now. He did search her eyes for something, only he was so overcome by hurt and - ironically enough - rejection that he didn't see through it. He didn't see anything that would make him want to stay. Actually he didn't see anything.

And it made him gasp again.

Of course he knew that you couldn't just turn off feelings for somebody, especially not for someone who you felt so deeply for. Only it was quite obvious that Kurumi didn't just care for Jonathan, no it was so much more. And hearing her say it made him feel even more rejected than he was already feeling. Now, he really had to leave or else he felt as if he was going to break down right there. Getting off the couch quite swiftly, he opened his mouth as if to say something, only nothing came out. He didn't know what to say.

Right as he was about to turn and leave, Kurumi did something else. She reached for something, something that turned out be a necklace around her neck. Usually he wouldn't really have thought much of it - would have probably assumed that she had gotten it from a friend or a family member - but now it was so obvious. It was like a token for her and Jonathan's relationship. A constant reminder. "You're still wearing it..." His voice was slightly shaky and barely loud enough for her to hear him. It wasn't even necesarily meant for her, it was more of a reminder for himself.

And with that he turned on his heels and headed for the door. He needed to get out of here. Now!

The distance that Lewis kept making between the two of them was torture. No, it was more than that. It was as though he were slowly ripping her heart out, a feeling that she thought he would never do to her. Yet here he was. And she could only imagine what her words were doing to him.

Something between a gasp and a whimper escaped her lips when he suddenly rose from the couch. "Lewis," she gasped, her eyes locking on his and again pleaded with him not to leave because words were failing her right now.

Treyen had been right. She shouldn't have said anything. She should have just kept suffering this alone. Should have just dealt with it alone. Shouldn't have...well, there were a lot of things Kurumi was feeling she shouldn't have done right now. She physically reached out for him, but he was already moving away from her and then he said something. It was just barely audible but Kurumi's senses were so heightened now and she was so focused on everything Lewis was doing that she heard it...and the way he said it broke her more.

Tears were streaming down her face now and when Lewis once again turned away from her she gasped his name and jumped to her feet. But that wasn't all. Her hair began to change colors to a sickly blue color and it was a color that only intensified as he continued to move towards the door.

All Kurumi wanted to do was run after him, wrap her arms around his waist and pull him back, prevent him from leaving. Only it were as though someone had placed a Permanent Sticking Charm on her feet and no matter how much she struggled, fought, they just would not move. When he was close to the door Kurumi felt her heartbeat increase to such rapid speeds that she was beginning to feel a bit light headed as her breathing came out in short shallow breaths. "Lewis....Lewis....LEWIS!"

But he just kept moving. Moving away from her. Away from the.

Her chest felt constricted and now it was almost impossible to breathe. Her heart was burning and it was beating so rapidly not that Kurumi couldn't even make out individual beats. It was just one constant throb and it was painful. Her body finally found the ability to move forward, only her legs ended up buckling underneath her and she fell to the ground in a pile on the cold bathroom floor. Tears continued to stream down her face as the color in her hair intensified. "Lewis...I don't want these feelings anymore...I don't want to feel these things for him," she sobs, unsure if he could even hear her or if he even wanted to. Even if he did...did he even believe her? Jonathan hadn't. "They are keeping me from you..."

She managed to lift her head now, just in time to see Lewis' back at the door and it caused a series of shivers and more constriction in her chest. "Lewis...please....don't..." she begged one last time. And then her vision blurred and she wasn't sure if it was because of her tears or something else. All she knew was that in the next moment her hair had finished its color transformation and she was lying on the floor in fetal position crying and clutching her chest as she heard a sound that was undeniably that of a door closing.

"....Lewis...."

Lewis had heard everything she'd said. Everything. Even though at some point he had - almost childishly - reached up to cover his ears with his hands to drown out her voice. He didn't want to hear what she had say. He just didn't want to hear anything right now. Why couldn't she just stop talking? Bowing his head slightly he bit down hard on his lower lip to keep himself from saying or doing something.

No, even though he'd heard every single word he didn't turn around or react in any way.

Once he'd reached the door, Lewis lowered his hands just in time to hear her begging him not to leave. It still didn't make him turn around though but instead he just stood there for a couple of seconds, staring at the door without actually seeing, his vision slightly blurry. A part of him told him that if he walked through that door, all of this would be over, there would be no going back. And that thought made a shudder run through his entire body.

However, there was also that other part, the more dominant one, that eventually won his inner battle with himself. He had to leave. He had to get out of this room. His chest was constricting and the lump in his throat was becoming more and more persistent, making it harder for him to breathe. It felt as if the room, what had just happened, just everything was about to suffocate him and the only way to get out of here alive was to walk through that door right now.

Which was what he did.

After closing the door the urge to get as far away from it as possible was there for a short moment. Only he didn't. Instead, he just sort of slumped down on the floor with his back against the wall and his face in his hands. Rubbing over his cheeks, eyes and nose - probably leaving small red-ish blotches everywhere - Lewis heaved a couple of deep breaths as if by doing that he could make this whole thing go away. Only what had been done couldn't be changed.

All the extra amount of air in his lungs did was clear his head somewhat. His heart was still beating out of control and he gasped once he'd slowly processed what had just happened. What his leaving somewhat implied. And how much he didn't want that. Though he wasn't sure how, they were going to...find a solution to this. They had been through so much together, they just couldn't give up now. He wouldn't just give up that easily. Yes, he was still hurt but that didn't mean he was just going to give up on Kurumi.

So after a couple of moments had passed, Lewis got back up from his crouching position and after taking a deep breath opened the door again to slip inside. Quietly he first closed the door before slowly making his way over to the couch where he assumed Kurumi still was. Only she wasn't on the couch. No instead she was...on the floor. Rubbing his nose quite furiously, leaving it with a red hue to it, Lewis neither slowed down nor quickened his steps as he continued to approach her. Quietly.

Once he'd reached her, Lewis moved without hesitation this time, simply lying down on the floor next to her on his side. Pulling up his legs a little, he shifted slightly so that he was facing her in a way that if she lifted her head a little she would be looking at him. It was only now that he noticed the change in her hair color which made his nose twitch again, accompanied by a couple of rapid blinks to keep his vision somewhat clear. That color, it was awful. Slowly he reached out with one hand and caught a lock of her hair between his fingers, glad to have found something except her face to keep his eyes focused on for the time being.

The sound of the door closing acted as an internal switch for Kurumi. A switch where everything essentially turned off. She no longer felt the coldness nor the hardness of the floor. No longer felt the way her tears were burning her eyes and her cheeks as they continued to stream down her face. No longer heard the soft tapping of the water coming from the faucet over the bath. She didn't even hear the door opening again when Lewis slipped back inside.

Her violet eyes were vacant too, not seeing anything nor registering any changes in light. If they were even violet right now.

Her entire body was shivering as if she were in excruciating pain, only her senses were not registering any of this. She was just numb. Numb to everything.

She didn't even sense Lewis' presence when he lied down on the floor in front of her. Not even his breath on her face was enough to break her from her trace. Instead she continued to shiver against the ground, whispering Lewis name every now and again. Her body ended up curling into a slightly tighter ball as the last image of Lewis' face before he left flashed before her eyes. All that pain...the look of rejection that he wore...she had done that. She had caused that. See, Lewis, she wasn't a good person. It was just like she had said back then. She was selfish and not worthy of him...only now he seemed to have realized this as well.

Why else would he have left?

Her sobs became more prominent and she ended up whimpering his name again just as he reached out to take some of her hair in his hand. That had done it. That small tug on her hair when his fingers had tangled themselves in her hair was enough to calm her shaking just enough for her to be able to lift her head and meet his gaze.

"Lewis..." she whispered, her tone a mixture of disbelief and relief. If the circumstances would have been different she may have smiled, but as things were all she could do was stare deeply into his eyes as she searched for something. Something that would give her a sign as to what he was thinking. Only her eyes were distracted by the distinct shimmer to his cheeks and then the slight redness of his eyes.

He had been crying...she had made him cry...

Kurumi wanted to reached out with her hand and remove the remains of the tears on his cheeks, just as he usually did to her, only that didn't seem right right now. She felt as though she needed permission from him to get close. To make that sort of intimate contact. To go back to being...them. Lewis hadn't given her that...but she prayed that he would.

If there was one thing she couldn't bear right now, or ever, it was losing him.

"You...you came back..."

The coldness of the floor was oddly comforting and he shifted just a little bit so that his cheek was resting on it fully. It served as a reminder of where they were. It stopped him from drowning in all the sadness and confusion he felt right now. He heaved another sigh, closing his eyes for a moment to savor the way his face which felt as if it was burning up was slowly cooling down again. At least the part that was touching the floor. Everything else was still rather hot and probably slightly red too.

His eyes slowly opened again when he heard her whisper - no, whimper rather - his name and he met her gaze briefly. Only for a moment, then he went back to looking at the strand of hair between his fingers. Somehow he just couldn't look at her right now. See how broken she was. See her crying like that. It was too much for him right now. The way he felt as if somebody had just torn his body apart and put it together again all wrong was enough pain one person could manage. He just couldn't think about hers right now. It was too much.

He couldn't fix them both.

Lewis didn't glance back at her even when she pointed out that he came back. All he did was let go of her hair and reach up to rub his eyes with his thumb and middle finger until he saw little bright lights on the inside of his eyelids. Yes, he had come back. Only now he wasn't sure how to proceed. It was all just a huge blob of pain and rejection inside of him right now, making it hard to think things through properly. Or to think at all really. He didn't know what he should do now. What she should do. What this meant.

"I...I can't do this anymore..." His voice was unusually husky as if he'd caught a cold or something, only he hadn't. He was still not looking at her, his hand still covering most of his eyes. "I just...you said...and Selina too...you said that...that I could fix you. That I did fix you." He took another slightly shaky breath, sort of shaking his head slowly, as far as that was possible seeing as it was resting on the floor. "But I...I failed." At this he did finally open his eyes to look at her, an almost shocked look on his face as the realization of what had just said hit him.

Searching her eyes for something that he wasn't sure was there, Lewis bit his lip hard to sort of keep his breathing under control. "And I...I can't do this anymore. It's...it's breaking me." When his eyes sort of bore into hers this time, he did know what he was looking for. He was hoping to find a reason for him to keep trying in them. He was hoping that she would show him that it wasn't useless, that it was worth it. He wanted her to give him a reason to stay.

The brief moment that their eyes met surprisingly meant the world to Kurumi right now, even if it was fleeting and they both were only reflecting pain right now. It was worse not being able to look into his green eyes. Not being able to see him.

She whimpered softly when he let go of her hair, her eyes following the strand of sickly color as it fell down against her cheek. That was it. The brief physical contact he had been willing to share with her was over...just like that. Kurumi felt sick. Like she was about to pass out right there on the cold floor because of the suffocating atmosphere between the two of them. It wasn't just the suffocating feeling of tension, it was something else too. Fear. Kurumi was literally shaking now from fear. Fear of what his leaving meant. Fear of what his lack of eye contact meant.

Fear of losing him.

I can't do this anymore.

Kurumi's eyes widened and she gasped, her body shaking even more fiercely. What made this worse was that he still wasn't looking at her. He was ignoring her. Ignoring her presence and trying to shut her out, at least it felt like that, and her heart throbbed and felt as though someone had just stabbed it repeatedly with a poisoned blade. Each word he said was another stab. Another jolt of pain. Another shiver.

I failed.

Kurumi was already shaking her head the moment the words left his mouth, tears streaming down her face, burning into her pale skin. Her voice was gone and her face reflected nothing but shock and fear. Her chest ended up heaving and the only sound she could manage to make was a weak whimper. A whimper that somewhat resembled his name.

She had to say something. Do something. He was wrong. So so so wrong. He hadn't failed. He had been nothing but extraordinary and incredible when it came to her. To them. If anything she was the one who had failed and she was now paying the consequences of that. Only she had no idea that those were going to be so high. She couldn't lose him...she just couldn't...that really would break her. That really would make her return to that dark place of her nightmares she had been in after her mother's passing...after what had happened in September...

Only this time no one would be able to bring her back.

I can't do this anymore...It's breaking me...

Her eyes never left his while all these thoughts went swimming through her head and she was furious at herself that she wasn't able to say anything. She was going to lose him if she didn't say something. She was going to lose Lewis before she had told him how he meant to her. How much he made her smile. How much she loved him.

How much she loved him.

The thought made her eyes widen a bit more as it really hit her how true those words were. She had thought she had felt them before, but things had been so convoluted and confusing that she hadn't been sure. Had been afraid of letting herself go there...and now...facing the possibility of leaving her...she knew that the words were true. That these feelings were real, so real that it felt like someone twisting the knife in her heart that she might lose that.

And it was the last thing she wanted.

Unable to bear the distance right now, she impulsively reached out with one of her hands and took his, not lacing their fingers together but just needing to feel him. Feel that he was still here, with her, right now. "Lewis...I-I can't lose you...I won't..." She ended up squeezing his hand as her eyes bore into his in return. "I want to be with you...no one else. You." She whimpered again, the grip on his hand tightening again, pleading almost. "So...so please don't say things like that...please..." Her body shivered again as all her emotions and feelings about this moment, about him, about them came to the surface. "Lewis...please..."

While Lewis couldn't see Kurumi's reactions to his words, he could very well hear them...and feel them as well. They were quite close, lying there on the floor, so close in fact that he did feel the shiver running over her. It made his hands and rest of his body shake for a moment before he bit down on his lip again and took a deep breath. They were so close right now that he could almost feel her breath on his face when she gasped. Almost. Maybe that was just his imagination, though.

Not that any of that mattered to him right now. He had to say what he wanted to say and it was a lot easier when he wasn't looking at her. Maybe some would have called it cowardly but right now all he could think about was what was going on inside of him. Right now it felt that getting those words out was the only to hold on to the last few strings that were keeping his body together right now. So he wouldn't just break apart completely.

Only once they had left his mouth, though, it felt as if they were having the exact opposite effect on him.

His eyes now finally on hers, Lewis dropped his hand away from his face, shaking his head slightly when she did. Was she saying that all of that wasn't true? Well, it was. Lewis knew that now and Kurumi couldn't change that. He had failed and now all he could do was pick up the pieces of his broken life and...what was he going to do though? The more he tried the less he could picture what he would do if he walked away from Kurumi now.

Though, there still was everything he had just said, everything that was coursing through his body right now that was telling him that that was what he should do: walk away and save himself. Kurumi was a lost cause. She was broken beyond repair. He had tried to mend her, tried to fix her, might have even partially succeeded but now it seemed as if he'd just put a band-aid over it without actually healing her wounds. And just like that, with a few sheets of parchment, Jonathan had managed to just wrip the band-aid off and reveal the wounds, opened them again, made Lewis realize that the last couple of months had just been a fantasy. A fantasy they might have both believed in. But it wasn't reality.

And now that they were confronted with reality, they were both on the floor. Literally.

It was almost as if he'd just suddenly lost the ability to read her. Normally he had been somewhat able to tell what was going on inside of her but now, looking into her eyes he was just lost. It was probably because all the pain and frustration building up inside of him just wouldn't let him see it. See what was there in her eyes. So he could only react to she said out loud. And the fact that it took her a moment to reply, that she didn't object immediately only proved to him that he was right.

But then she did finally speak. Lewis just looked down at her hand taking a hold of his, neither pulling back nor reacting in any other way to it. His hand felt numb somehow. If he hadn't been looking at it, he wouldn't even have known that she was holding it. His eyes didn't move anywhere else even when she said that she didn't want to lose him. That she couldn't lose him. It brought him back to the conversation they'd had a couple of months ago, where he'd said that she wouldn't lose him. Right now, he wasn't so sure about that though.

And it scared him. Because frankly he didn't want to lose her either. But somehow right now it seemed inevitable.

"You don't know what you want, Kurumi..." It was the first time he'd said her name since he'd come back inside, and it cut through him like a knife. But what he said, it was true. "Otherwise you wouldn't still want Jonathan to have feelings for you..." Otherwise she wouldn't still be wearing his necklace. Otherwise she wouldn't have had such a violent reaction to the music sheets. See, there it all made sense. Only Kurumi couldn't quite see it apparently. And now she was begging him. "What...?!" His voice was laced with so much hurt it even surprised himself.

What did she want from him?

His lack of reaction to her touch caused yet another shiver to shoot through her body and she literally felt like it was tearing apart. He wasn't responding to her...to anything she was saying. It was terrifying.

You don't know what you want, Kurumi.

His words cut through her like a warm knife in butter, tearing right into her very soul and causing her to gasp. Her eyes widened and the tears that had paused briefly returned. Her voice had gone again and all she could do was hold on to his hand. The hand that she was not going to let go of until he told her to. Until he forced her to. When he continued his thoughts, Kurumi felt her heart breaking even more, shattering into pieces and she feared that her entire body was soon going to follow. The color of her hair turned even more sickly and she whimpered his name again.

Was Lewis right? Did she still want Jonathan to have feelings for her? In a sense, yes, she did. She still wanted him to consider her a part of his life and not completely shut her out. But it was nothing like what Lewis was implying. Nothing. Why couldn't he see that? Why wouldn't he believe her.

Quite suddenly, Kurumi sat up and removed her hand from his as she began to fumble with something on the back of her neck. Her hands were shaking so much right now that it was a struggle to find the clasp and even when she did her fingers continued to slip as she tried to civilly undo the silver chain that now felt like it was digging into her neck.

After several excruciating moments where Kurumi's vision was blinded by her tears, Kurumi held up the necklace in front of her face and didn't even look at it. No. Her eyes were entirely on Lewis right now because he was all that mattered. Her heart pounding in her chest, Kurumi swallowed and tried to ignore the way her chest was feeling so constricted that it was hard to breathe. "BAKA!" she shouted in frustration as she cast the necklace aside. It ended up bouncing against the cold floor, making soft pinging sounds that ended up echoing throughout the entire bathroom. "I chose you, Lewis. Ever since last term...it has always been you."

Her tears had seemingly stopped for the time being. Crying wasn't going to help anything. It never did. Her body was still shaking now and her hand felt both hot and cold without his touch. She wanted to reach out to him again, hold some part of him...but he kept slipping away. Away from her and she was petrified that it seemed like there was no getting him back.

"Yes, I still feel something for him...but I won't always," she murmured, biting down hard on her lip as she continued to gaze into Lewis' eyes. "Because...because what I feel for you....is so much stronger..." She shivered again as those unspoken words resurfaced in her eyes. Words that she wanted desperately to say to him...but now wasn't sure she ever would be able to...now he might not let her say them.

"Why won't you believe me, Lewis?" The tears were forming again in her eyes and she ended up hugging herself just so she had something to do with her hands. What else did he want her to say? What else could she say? Did he honestly not believe or forget everything they had been through? Everything she had said to him? Everything he had said to her? "Why are you trying to push me away now? W-What do you want..."

Once again Lewis took her silence as a confirmation that his words were true. That she agreed with him. That it really was true that she didn't know what she wanted. Who she wanted really. Because what other explanation was there. She had said it herself that it wasn't fair how - unlike her! - Jonathan had allegedly just been able to turn off his feelings for her. Which meant that she still wanted him to care about her. Because she still cared about him. A whole lot.

Now what other reason for her wishing that was there apart from her desire to be with Jonathan again? Otherwise it was just...cruel of her to hope that he was still suffering after the break-up. Because it hurt still caring for somebody you couldn't be with. Kurumi was the perfect example right now, almost breaking down because Jonathan had returned the gift from her. Of course it hurt so why on Earth would she wish that feeling on anybody? Especially somebody she cared about.

See? It didn't make sense otherwise.

He had been so lost in thought for the time being that he winced slightly when she suddenly sat up, pulling her hand away from his. And Lewis was so surprised by her movement that he automatically sort of moved his hand forward a little as if he wanted to hold onto hers. Only she was too fast and after a few seconds had passed Lewis didn't even know what had made him do it. Except that he didn't want her to leave. Which was ironic somehow since a part of him still wanted to leave. But he didn't want her to leave his side right now. Not...not ever.

Which was why he sat up as well, ready to stop her from leaving - even if it may have been for the best - but was faced with something totally unexpected. She wasn't going anywhere. No, she was just sitting there in front of him, fumbling about with something on her neck. What was she...? His eyes were on hers, a look of surprise, shock and confusion in them as he watched her do whatever she was doing. Her eyes were shimmering with unshed tears again but somehow that didn't seem to stop her from finishing her task.

Her task of getting the necklace off.

Lewis gasped as soon as he realized what it was she'd been doing. He was too dumbfounded by her actions to even wonder what 'baka' meant but instead turned his head a little to see where the necklace had disappeared off to. Not that it mattered. It was gone. Trying to ignore what she said next for now Lewis asked another question, one that he needed an answer to. Desperately. "But...what made you wait until now? Why now?!" His eyes were back on hers and now that she had stopped, he oddly felt like crying. And he didn't even know why.

He swallowed repeatedly, chewing on his lower lip up until the point that he actually drew blood. But he didn't even notice, nor cared right now. "I...I didn't expect you to just...turn off your feelings for him." Lewis pointed out quietly, groaning slightly at the conflicting feelings and thoughts coursing through him. Rubbing his nose again he slowly started shaking his head as if he just didn't want to believe what she was saying. She wouldn't always have feelings for Jonathan? What kind of feelings? Why not? But she soon provided him with an answer.

Because...because what I feel for you....is so much stronger...

At that he suddenly looked even more hurt than a moment before. "Is it? Are you sure? B-because it seems that....you haven't....you haven't actually said..." He trailed off and averted his gaze towards the couch next to them without even seeing it. "Nevermind..." It was quite obviously that she wasn't going to say it any time soon. Which reminded him of the way he'd been left guessing whether or not she wanted to be with him at the beginning of the term. While they were usually quite good at non-verbal communication - he mostly even preferred that - sometimes words were necessary. Right now they were even crucial.

Pushing her away?! "Stop! Stop saying that. I'm not...don't try to blame this on me." As if for emphasis he had used his hand to gesture back and forth between the two of them...but dropped it again quite suddenly once he realized what he'd just said. Blame what on him? What WAS going on? What were they doing? What was happening? The color drained from his face at he realized the full impact of the conversation they were just having. Right now he was staring at her with a look of sheer shock plastered across his face, his nose twitching slightly. "I'm not pushing you away..." It was more said as an afterthought and not really directed at Kurumi.

What WAS this?!

Kurumi's eyes remained on Lewis after she had tossed the necklace aside, so his gasp and glance towards it did not go unnoticed. It was only really now, looking at him, that she realized how...different it felt to not have that reminder around her neck. It didn't change that she still had feelings for Jonathan, things just didn't work that easily, but she felt almost...free. It was a surreal feeling and one that she couldn't fully embrace right now when he asked her a question.

A question that reminded her of when she had refused to see him for two months. Why now?

The glaze that had come over his eyes did not go unnoticed either and all she wanted to do was reach out again and take his hand, but she shouldn't. Not yet. Even though it was becoming more and more difficult to have so much space between them. She ended up gasping a bit at his question, but only because of the memories it brought up. Why now? Why tell him now that she hadn't fully moved on? "Because...you deserve to know what has been holding me back..." she finally whispered. They had discussed this briefly before, why she wasn't ready for certain things in their relationship, and she didn't want to keep anything from him. Not now. Not ever. "I don't want to keep things from you...no matter what they are...and... She bit down on her lip again, chewing on it rather vigorously for a few moments. "I want to get over this. I want to move on...I want to...give myself to you completely..." And she could only do that once she had freed herself from these feelings. Feelings that seemed so much less important now that the necklace had been discarded.

She ended up reaching out for him again when she saw that he had drawn blood by chewing on his lip, but recoiled her hand just as quickly as she had reached out when she heard what he whispered...and the way he was shaking his head. Not believing her. Again. It caused another soft whimper to escape her lips followed by a slow and painful shiver.

What he said next was yet another stab to her heart and a few tears ended up trickling down her cheeks. "Y-You haven't either..." she replied, equally as soft and equally as hurt. She knew that it was her fault that he hadn't, but he still could have said those words if he really wanted to. Could have lowered her hand all the times she had pressed her fingers to his lips to silence him. "Lewis...you said that you trusted me...so trust me when I say this," she paused for a moment and actually moved just a hair closer to him, her violet eyes looking back into his unblinking and completely ignoring his 'nevermind' comment. "You are the only person that makes my heart race the way it does...and I do...I do...feel that way about you..."

Only she didn't actually say the words. It just didn't seem right in that moment.

Especially what came next.

"I'm not blaming you for anything...this is all my fault..." she whispered, his words cutting into her again and bringing back some of the pain that had somewhat subsided. This...wait...what WAS this? The situation they were in right now? What exactly was this? It was the first time Kurumi had experienced anything of this sort and it was overwhelming. Was this their first fight? Was it going to be their last...as in...their last for them as a couple? No, Kurumi refused to think that way.

I'm not pushing you away...

Kurumi's eyes widened and her heartbeat increased on the spot. Something else happened as well. The sickish color to her hair began to fade just a little, her natural ebony color becoming more prominent. So...there was still hope. He wasn't pushing her away. He still wanted them. Wanted her. At least that is how she understood his words. He had gone and then come back...sat up when she had and even made a gesture towards her. She could only theorize what that meant, but she had to believe that it was a good thing.

Her eyes had dropped to his lips when he had whispered, watching the way they were forming words, and before she realized what she was doing Kurumi's body had leaned forward so her lips were just hovering over his. "Lewis....I..." Her eyes briefly looked up to meet his gaze, those unspoken words reflected in them, and before she got to thinking too much about this she closed the last remaining distance between them and pressed her lips softly against his, but also almost desperately.

If this kiss could say anything, it would be saying that she loved him and that she couldn't be without him. That she didn't want him to leave and didn't want them to end. That he was everything she wanted and needed.

Lewis was watching her closely after she'd tossed the necklace away, still not quite able to believe what she had just done. It didn't make sense. Hugging his legs to his chest, he rested his chin on his knees, in order to make the way his body was still shaking slightly less obvious. None of it made sense. None of it. His head felt as if it was about to explode from all the work it had been doing the last couple of moments. Trying to figure out what this whole thing meant. What had just happened. What he was supposed to do.

Lowering his head slightly so his forehead was resting against his leg, Lewis listened to what Kurumi was saying. Even though nothing she said really answered his question as to why she had chosen to get rid of the necklace now. A moment ago the two had seemed to be inseparable and now the necklace was somewhere on the floor, discarded like it meant nothing to her. Why now? She couldn't have just turned off her feelings for Jonathan so why had she thrown the necklace away? It didn't make sense.

I want to get over this

At this Lewis looked back up to meet her gaze, taking a couple of deep breaths to steady his breathing and rapidly beating heart. "And you only...realized you wanted to get over this now?" Again, none of it made sense and it made him frown slightly at her, though in an almost helpless sort of way. He was confused beyond belief and nothing she was saying made any sense. A couple of moments ago she was heartbroken over Jonathan returning her gift and now she was throwing her necklace across the room.

The way she had sort of reached out to him did not go unnoticed but he was slightly relieved that she stopped herself in the last minute. He was still unaware of the way his lower lip was bleeding slightly and simply continued to chew on it, his brain too occupied with dealing with the pain in his chest to make him feel anything else. It was as if his lip was numb. If it hadn't been for the fact that Kurumi was still pretty close and her body was radiating warmth, Lewis would have thought his whole body had gone numb.

At her next words - though he had somewhat anticipated them - Lewis narrowed his eyes at her slightly. Well, as much as that was possible anyway since his eyes were feeling extremely tired and worn out. As if he hadn't slept in three days or something. Still, this wasn't fair. "That's not my fault..." He had waited because she'd stopped him every time he had been about to say something. And because he'd known that she wasn't ready to say the words back...maybe not even ready to hear them. What had she expected him to do? Rub his feelings in her face against her will?

Trust.

That was a big word and it made Lewis go back to chewing on his lower lip. "I...I trusted you. And now look where it got us." It was a slightly feeble attempt to hold on to what he thought was going on but his defences were getting weaker by the second. Especially when he realized what situation they were in right now. And Kurumi seemed to realize it too, at least judging by the way she was looking at him right now. This was bad. And...he didn't want this. He didn't want them to...be like this. Like they were now. On the verge of...but no, they couldn't. And he wasn't even sure whose fault it was that they were where they were right now.

Though it really wasn't about pointing your finger at somebody but rather about how to fix this.

Lewis didn't even really have time to take in the way her hair was slowly going back to its original color. Suddenly Kurumi was close to him. Really close to him. They were so close that he could clearly feel her breath on his face. However it felt as if he was in some kind of trance, watching her lean in a little more, unable to stop her. Did he even want to stop her? The unfinished sentence hanging their between them, he didn't move when she pressed her lips against his, just sort of watching her cautiously. He didn't quite know what to make of it and even though it made his heart skip a beat it...didn't feel right. Not yet anyway.

So eventually, Lewis pulled back just a little and put his hand up against her lips, just looking at her. Only a few seconds had passed since she'd said his name and started her sentence so what he said next could either be taken as him finishing her sentence for her or him just...finally saying the words. "...I love you. Somehow it sounded more like a statement than a passionate declaration of love but the feelings were clearly reflected in his eyes as well. Only right now he didn't quite know what to make of them. So he just went with watching her for now, waiting for some kind of reaction from her.

Their dispute wasn't going to be over that easily but it was sort of heading in the right direction.