Chapter 1:

He was moving around the kitchen. He wasn't being noisy and she wanted to believe it was because he thought she was still sleeping.

She watched him for a moment and she knew, he knew from the way he stiffened. "Taine?"

He turned around and she momentarily forgot the words she had mentally prepared. Had his eyes always been that beautiful? Like pools of green and warm brown earth. Why did they often look so cold?

He looked at her expectantly.

"It's been three weeks and I am grateful for the stuff that you have bought for me but I need... I mean I really want my things from my old pack. I need my legal documents too, like passports and my birth certificate. I don't want to leave that to anyone else and..."

She realised she had been rambling and his face remained impassive. She continued. "We don't have to go for long, just a day... half a day." She tried to conceal the desperation in her voice, but struggled to.

No response.

She looked down at the granite countertop and saw the sadness in her reflection. She looked away, not being able to bear it. She felt ice lace her next words."Look, I haven't asked you for much and I'm not the kind of person that is going to depend on you for everything, but this is important....I could go by myself but we both know you don't trust me enough."

Silence.

"I'll think about it."

She also forgot how deep his voice was. Like honey over gravel.

"When can I expect an answer?"

"Tonight."

"Okay," she nodded. "Um...There is pasta on the top shelf."

This simple interaction was already stifling her. She turned around and bounded up the stairs, hopeful, smiling, knowing he couldn't see her face.

She didn't see him gaze at her as she left. She didn't see him open his mouth like he wanted to call after her.

---

"The ceiling is so plain," she thought. She stared at it so often that the popcorned pattern was forever etched into her brain.

It was 7:00pm and Camila was staring at the roof wondering when and how she was going to ask Taine what he had decided. She hated not being independent but she wanted this so badly...so she needed to let him be the one to make the decision. She hadn't known him long, but she knew pushing his buttons was not the way to win this battle.

She looked at the clock. 7:15 and spoke to it, feeling the weight of her isolation manifest.

"Okay, that's it. Since do I wait around for a man to tell me what to do."

She pushed herself out from under the covers and looked in the mirror once she rose. The dark moons under her eyes and her dark limp hair surprised her. She looked sick and fatigued and that was exactly how she felt, if not worse.

Her empty soul was eating away at its human host and nothing could be done to stop this deterioration of self. Not caring that she looked like the undead she found herself marching over to Taine's room. She leaned against the wall adjacent to his bedroom and knocked, firmly.

When the door opened she took a step back unconsciously. He noticed. Arms folded she looked him square in the face.

"Yes or no?"

There was a pause. A pause that felt as if it has always been there, and always would be.

"We leave tomorrow morning. I will ask Alfredo to take us and we will be back before the day ends. Wake up early."

Camila tried to contain her smile, keeping her sheer excitement to herself.

"Thank you. I am glad it worked out. Goodnight." She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of wine. She fell asleep that night only a few hours before it was time to leave. She was just too damn excited.

---

So just a little note for people who might be confused :)

This story starts abruptly but its intentional...I wanted to jump right into the middle of things rather than starting it in a traditional way. (You know, to the lighthouse type of vibe- not that my story could ever be that good lol) All the past moments leading up to the present are shown after around chapter 5. So you haven't missed anything, dw. Please bear with the story, because everything does get explained soon.