I woke up in the middle of the night. The scar on my palm was burning and sweat clenched the back of my neck. Glancing at the alarm clock, I was surprised to see it was only 4 in the morning. It felt like I had been sleeping for hours.

Little pieces of my nightmare floated by, too vague to completely understand. The more I began to wake, the less I remembered. It had something to do with fire. When I closed my eyes, I could see the orange flames with a faint glowing blue top leaping towards the dark sky, the heat waves distorting the very edges of the car. The image haunted me so badly that, for a moment, I was too overwhelmed to even breathe.

I forced myself to keep my eyes open, to focus on something other than flickering heat and the ghostly feeling of a burn blistering up on my young skin. The white plaster walls with blue floral was one of the first things I tried to focus on. Anything but fire. I was deathly afraid of fire and for a good reason, too. The next thing I noticed was Cage's soft breathing beside me.

The pounding of my heart slowed. The past was the past. It was over, my parents were gone. There was not a single thing in the world that I could do to bring them back and nothing was going to change that. I was crashed back to reality and the suddenness of being yanked out of nightmare and into silence was a harsh contrast that made my stomach twist with nausea.

The window didn't have curtains. Cold silver moonlight sneaked in from the white world outside. Sitting up, I let my eyes settle on the dark sleeping man beside me. The back of his head was too painful to sleep upon, so Cage was laying on his side. His hands were shoved under the pillow and his head almost sleeping upon mine rather than his own.

Half of Cage's features was illuminated by the glowing moon. It was like the time he slept on the helicopter as we flew to Chicago. No trace of cruelty or evilness or any stress was apparent on his handsome face. His red lips were parted slightly, taking and giving soft breaths that only came with deep sleep. His dark eyelashes brushed his delicate skin beneath his eyes. I would always remember that burning green colour. Cage's hair was all messed up from tossing and turning. He looked so peaceful in that moment that I didn't want to make the slightest movement with the fear of disrupting the scenery before me, but I needed to leave.

Not from Alberta, but from the room. It was suffocating with two people inside. I needed privacy to tear out my feelings before going back to sleep and I couldn't bear to look at Cage even though he was asleep. Carefully, I slipped out of bed. My feet touched the cold floorboards and I cringed. It took a moment to get over before I could move.

I was halfway across the room before it happened. And by it, I mean the inevitable. And by the inevitable, I mean that I accidentally stepped on a creaky spot on the floorboard and it made a noise loud enough that I would be surprised if Cage hadn't woken.

And what do you know, he hadn't. Heart hammering wildly, I paused and stared at him, trying to see if Cage would wake up. After a minute when he didn't move, I let out a relieved sigh and continued my nightly rendezvous.

The balcony was piled up with untouched snow. Quietly unlocking the door, I slipped outside. In an instant I was shivering from the cold, but that was exactly what I needed right now. To feel something other than the pain in my chest. Numbness was better than anything. Goosebumps prickled up and my breath came out with a wispy cloud each time I exhaled.

We were on the second floor so I could see everything below. Huge pine trees dotted and clumped together. The scenic view of a very distant mountain poked up over the tops of the woods as far as the eye could see. Smoke billowed out from a neighboring house from the chimney. The sky was a dark blue and the moon was high above, accompanied by a few sprinkles of stars. The contrast from Chicago to here was astounding. From a place where even at the barest time of night was a noise, there was nothing here but the whispery trees and an occasional howl or hoot from somewhere.

Of course, I knew how stupid I was being. Just because I didn't want to stay inside didn't mean I had to come out here and catch a cold in just a thin shirt when it was the middle of January because I couldn't swallow my emotions. Fern would never be this pathetic. In fact, Fern would never find herself in this position because she was smart enough to find a way out. Damn, I really should have kicked Cage in the nuts and ran while we were still in Ivey.

The body warmth that only comes with nightmares felt good to be cooled down. I don't know how long I stood there in the cold. All I knew was that I should go back to bed before I really did catch a cold. My feet wouldn't budge. Not just because I was lazy, but also kinda because my legs were so numb, I couldn't move even if I wanted to. Shivering, I stared at the moon and then looked away because it was making me question my entire existence.

In the dark silence, the complete and utter tranquility that shrouded the delicate atmosphere for the past five minutes was suddenly shattered by the sound of the balcony door opening.

Cage stepped out, the sleep still clear in his eyes. He didn't seem to be his usual self, with the secrets of the night still lingering upon us both. However, it was the little things about Cage that I noticed. How slack his jaw was, how his red lips tugged down in a displeased frown. "November, why are you out here?" Cage mumbled softly, his voice thick with sleep. "It's four in the morning and it's freezing. You're going to get sick."

"Sorry." I turned back around, trying to shove down the butterflies in my stomach. Cage's hair was all messed up and in that moment, he looked so beautiful with the moonlight glowing down on his dark figure that it was hard to look at him directly. It only reminded me of the things that I couldn't have.

"I wasn't asking for an apology." Cage growled, his voice taking on a more pleading tone. "I'm asking you to come back to bed before you freeze to death out here in negative degree weather, November."

His attachment to me was fake, in Heath's eyes. I wanted to see how much Cage Vickers really did care about me. And this was the perfect opportunity to test it out. It was only a matter of how badly I'd hurt myself doing this in the process. "I want to make a negotiation."

There was stunned silence for a moment. Cage exhaled sharply. "What?"

"I want to make a negotiation." I repeated, turning around to face Cage. He was standing at the edge of the door, not wanting to step out any further into the snow. The heated glare wasn't enough to defrost my will. "I'll come inside if you-"

"November, I'm going to ask you one more time." Cage said the words slowly, quietly, carefully. "Come inside while you still can on your own terms."

"No." It was amusing to watch Cage tick. I don't think very many people, if any at all, had ever refused Cage of anything because they were too intimidated by his presence and too terrified by his psychology to even create the mere air of retaliation. "Let's talk."

Cage's jaw clenched.

"I'll come inside..." I trailed my index finger slowly along the snow-covered balcony railing, feeling it numb after a moment. Cage watched me from the doorway, his eyes expressionless. He waited patiently to hear what I had to say. He wasn't going to like it but I had to try. "...if you let me call my sister on the phone."

A scoff left his lips. "No."

"Okay." I shrugged. I was expecting that answer. However, Cage should have also expected my stubbornness. Propping myself up on the ledge, I tried to keep my face composed as the freezing metal railing touched my bare skin. This was crazy. The drop of a good twenty feet or so loomed dangerously below. Just under that fluffy snow was pure concrete. My fingers twisted themselves around the sides of the railing in an attempt to calm down my pounding heart. However, it would do nothing if I really did slip off and tumble down.

But I was confident I wouldn't. I had great balance. I could walk across a rope. I was runner up for the talent show Ivey held each year when I was ten years old as that exactly- a tightrope walker. How much different could a metal railing covered in icy snow be from twisted rope fibers?

He visibly strained to keep his emotions under check. A small burst of triumph rose in my chest. That little look of panic that crossed his face before Cage composed himself didn't mean nothing. He took a deep breath, the cold air creating a cloud that disappeared quickly. Cage leveled my challenging stare with one of his own.

"What are you doing?" His voice was soft, barely audible. Cage was now a couple of inches away from the threshold. The muscles in his jaw twitched before he forced them down. His dark green eyes were alert, watching me with disbelief. He wasn't alone on that, though. Even I couldn't believe what I was doing. My desperation only grew when his first answer was not agreement.

"I'm going to stay out here until you agree to let me call my sister." My voice was more confident than I was. Casting a nervous glance at the drop below, I looked back at Cage. I was positively numb with cold by now. The furious edge in his eyes gave me enough encouragement to smirk and pretend that it was no big deal to hang my safety on the line for a stupid negotiation.

Cage tilted his head back, fixing me with a look colder than the winter air through cracks of green, carefully observing me. Now he was composed, now there was nothing that suggested the mere hint of a panic as before. "Alright." He appraised me for a second more, then a smirk captured the youth and beauty of his features in a dangerous light. The smile of a predator. Cage gave me a mocking wave. "Have fun."

He turned around and walked back into the room, letting the balcony door slam shut behing him.

The smile dropped off my face instantly.

What now?

I stared at the darkness coming from inside the room, waiting to see if Cage was coming back. Unfiltered panic crawled through my stomach. I needed to talk to Fern. And I was going to, whether it involved Cage or not. There had to be a way. For a moment, I snapped. I did kind of let my emotions take over and complete recklessness was one of the first things I felt. Followed by anger. I wanted Cage to care. What a silly thing to want.

Trembling not from just the cold, I swung my left feet until it was resting on the ledge. On shaky legs, I stood up on the thin balcony railing. Sitting on it was one thing. Walking it was another. Heart beating wildly, I straightened myself up on the ledge until I really was standing on it. A feeling of vertigo rushed through me when I glanced down at the snow below me. One wrong move and I was completely, totally, and utterly dead.

Well, injured most likely but dead sounded more dramatic.

Cage came back, slamming the door hard behind him. The noise startled me and I almost fell off. At this point, I was relying completely on the smallest belief that he actually cared about me enough to agree to my offer because I didn't know what else to do. Four in the morning was a magical time, man.

"Get down." Cage watched me carefully, staying at the threshold. I think he knew sudden movements would freak me out and I really appreciated him staying back. I ignored the threat in Cage's voice and forced a smile on my face like I enjoyed walking on ice-covered ledges with a twenty feet drop below. In his left hand was his gun, which I purposefully ignored.

"If you promise to let me-"

"What are you going to do, November?" Cage suddenly cut me off, his eyes burning with a cloud of emotions. Huh. And I said he was emotionless. How ironic. "Are you going to jump? Let me call your bluff, princess. You don't get to decide what happens around here-" Cage visibly stiffened when I feigned a gentle, balanced wobble, but continued on. "We can talk about this inside. Get down, November. Now."

I was getting to him, I could see it in his eyes. "Wow. That's so...sweet, Cage. But kinda stupid, if I can look at it from your point of view. You want me to get down? Why? I thought you want me dead. Shouldn't you be encouraging me to jump so you can get rid of me and have a innocent story to tell the rest in the morning at the same time?" I carefully took a step, avoiding the icy parts. "I mean, if you really don't give a damn about me-"

"Is that was this is about?" The frustration was clear in Cage's voice. He glared at me, but there was a touch of panic that made standing on a balcony railing with ice totally worth it.

I chose my words carefully. "No, this is about my sister. I'm not asking for that much, Cage. Just one phone call. Why won't you let me-"

"Because it's dangerous." Cage exhaled softly, keeping his eyes trained on the railing where I stood. I didn't notice how he was slowly inching closer because I was too busy trying to figure out if there was agreement to his tone of words. "Because I'm worth more dead than I am alive. We have already been too close to getting caught more than once and that hasn't happened in ten years. And then you show up and everything starts getting fucked up, including me. Because your life is just as dangerous as mine. I will give-"

"Me the world, yes I know." I finished his sentence, bristling with annoyance. "A world that only works as long as it pleases you. A world of restrain and control under you, Cage." Clenching my teeth to stop them from chattering, I continued. "That's not a world I want to be a part of. You won't even let me talk to my sister. She's the only thing I have to call family. It's been four days. I want to go home. What purpose do I even serve-"

An iron fist closed around my wrist.

Hey, that rhymed.

While I was ranting, I didn't realize what Cage was doing. I don't think he knew what I was trying to do either other than an insane type of blackmail. Instead of falling back and breaking my neck like I would surely do soon, I fell forward right into a strong pair of arms that belonged to a very desperate man. So much for that blackmail. I would make a terrible criminal. Sighing, I allowed the wonderful warmth encase me after being cold for so long.

His fingers dug into my back, clawing desperately as if he couldn't hold on long or hard enough. The muscles in his arms constricted around my waist, pulling me into him so tight that I could feel his heartbeats, fast and panicked, against my chest. Cage held me so securely that I didn't know where I ended and where he began. Everything, my whole world, was just him. I could sense the misery locking around his heart, the relief emanating from his body like a wave that consumed all.

"Don't ever-" Cage sounded breathless, his words so soft and so deep and so dangerous that it surpassed all emotion and became nothing. He gently touched the back of my head, running his fingers through my hair and catching the ends in his hand. I could feel him trembling. I was trembling too, but not just from the cold. His voice was cracking and it alarmed me slightly. Was he really that good at acting? "-don't ever do something like that again, November. Is that clear?"

I smiled against his throat and tried to keep the sarcasm out of my tone. "Yes, sir."

"November."

"I'll promise if you agree."

Silence.

"You said Fern was the only family you had left." Instead of being answering, he changed the subject. Subdued but not yet put out, I waited to bring up my little trade again. It was clear Cage wasn't going to answer me until he was ready. He watched me carefully for a minute before delicately saying the next part. "What happened to your parents?"

"They died." I said, my voice blunt. "Will you let me talk to her-"

"How?"

"What?"

"How did they die?" Cage insisted. He seemed strangely adamant to get an answer out of me.

I forced the tears in my eyes back. "The car engine caught on fire. They didn't get out in time."

"How old were you?"

"Cage." I winced with the recalled memory. "Why do you want to know-"

"Your age, November." He repeated firmly.

I took a deep breath. "I was seven years old. Are you going to let me talk to my sister now-"

"What time?" Cage interrupted, staring hard at me.

"What time did they die?" I repeated with anger. He nodded. "I don't know, Cage! Around midnight or so. I don't remember all the details and I really don't want to. Why are you bringing this up? Why are you asking me these questions? It happened ten years ago and I don't feel like discussing my parents' death with you at four in the morning. Let me ask you a question, you bread crumb! Are you going to let me talk to my sister?"

The intensity in his eyes died down at my silly name calling. Cage cursed under his breath and wrapped his arm around my waist, pulling me close. "Yes."

I may or may not have jumped into Cage's arms and kissed his cheek with excitement. "You will?" I squealed with absolute happiness, not even caring about the stunned look on his face. Suddenly, his strong arms circled me in an unbreakable hug. Cage bent his head down and buried his face into the crook of my neck, his unsteady breaths tickling my skin. I couldn't move if I wanted to and I didn't want to. Every part of me was pressed against Cage and it felt dangerously wonderful. "You will be the end of me, I swear." He mumbled.