NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES soap and water went on my face, I still looked a little bit yellow and I eventually gave up. The paint barely came out of Harry's hair but he never complained. We had fun and last night was one of the best ones we ever had. After our little war, we finished painting the room and left it to dry. Taking showers was next on our list and we were both in there for hours trying to wash the paint off. Harry wanted us to watch a few movies but it was clear we were both exhausted. So, instead, we fell asleep on the sofa with the TV still on.

I woke up to a pillow hitting my shoulder and I groaned, rolling over and falling off of the sofa with a loud thud.

"Oh, shit, I didn't think you would do that. Are you okay? Did you break anything?" Harry panicked and I heard him toss the pillow to the side.

"Only my dignity," I whined against the carpet. "What time is it?"

"A little after five," he told me.

"Just leave me here to die." I muttered, burying my face further into the carpet. "It's too early in the morning for this crap."

"Sydney—"

"We barely got two hours of sleep. Back away from me before I slice your fingers off with my own nails."

He laughed, "Everyone is going to be here soon and we're going out for breakfast, remember? We need to start getting ready." I kept my eyes closed and remained perfectly still. Maybe if I stayed this way, he would leave me alone and allow me to go back to sleep? "Don't make me drag you upstairs."

"Five more minutes."

"Translates into another couple hours. Get up."

I lifted my head up from the carpet and sighed, "If I start getting ready, will you leave me alone?"

"Sure."

"Fine."

I pushed myself off the floor and stretched my arms and legs before going upstairs to brush my teeth and wash my face. Did it really matter if I stayed in my pajamas? I decided to keep them on and I rubbed my eyes as I walked into the bathroom.

Turning on the light was unnecessary because the light from the hall was enough to bright up the small room. My toothbrush sat on the counter and I picked it up, applying toothpaste and starting to brush my teeth. I leaned against the counter in an attempt to keep me from falling asleep on the floor. It was tempting...the rug under my feet was indeed very comfortable against my toes.

Harry joined me, the two of us sharing the little counter space and often nudging the other out of the way so we could finish brushing our teeth. After realizing I was going to hog the sink, he moved over to the toilet and spit in it, receiving a soft chuckle from me before I rinsed my toothbrush off to put back in my bag.

Socks covered my feet and I decided shoes were not a necessity for the time being. No one was here yet but it would not take them much longer. Running my tongue along my freshly brushed teeth, I laid back down on the sofa and closed my eyes, a relaxed sigh pushing its way through my lips.

That was, of course, before King Kong himself sat on me.

"Umph!" I grunted. "Oh, ow! You're sitting on my ankles!"

Harry tucked some of his hair behind his ears and looked up at the ceiling, "Is that what I'm sitting on?"

"Off!" I shrieked. "Off! Off! Off!"

"Hmm," he stretched his arms and yawned. "I think I'm getting a little tired." He looked at me for a brief moment before holding back his laughter. "Good thing this couch is here."

"Don't you dare—"

He laid down on top of me.

"Harry!"

His hair covered my face and I struggled to scream for help because his locks kept trying to fall into my mouth. The smell of his shampoo was strong and as much as I enjoyed the smell, my lungs were caving in. My arms were in no position to push him off me and my legs were weak as hell.

"Move," I demanded, shaking my body in hopes he would just roll off and hit the floor like I had done. "Harry, move."

"I don't remember the couch ever being this uncomfortable..." he trailed off.

"Because you're crushing my bones! If you don't—Pfft, ack, gah!"

The feeling of hair in my mouth made me squeeze my eyes shut as I panicked and tried to get his hair out of my mouth.

"Sorry," he said, still not moving at all. "I've gone boneless and sitting up isn't a very good option right now."

"Mmph!"

"Gravity, gravity, oh, gravity...why art thou such a heartless bitch?" he wondered aloud. "It's holding me down, you see."

I turned my head to the side just as the doorbell began to ring. The house grew silent except for the fish swimming around in their aquarium. At least ten seconds passed by before the doorbell rang for the second time. Harry groaned and sat up, running his fingers through his hair and getting up to go answer the door.

The sound of the front door opening made me stand up, too, and I walked into the foyer where my shoes and bags were waiting for me. I stopped once I saw Harry standing by the front door. It was open but not to where I was able to see outside. My eyebrows rose and I took a small step forward.

"Harry?"

He slowly turned his head to look at me and I saw both pain and betrayal in his eyes. For a moment, I misunderstood. I never knew why he looked at me that way until he stepped to the side, opening the door some more to allow me to have a look. A lump formed in my throat as the person standing there turned around until their back was no longer facing me.

Elijah.

It was still dark out but I was able to make out his sinister features. A smile crept across his face and he shook his head before rubbing his hands together, "My, my, my, look who we have here." My mouth opened but words refused to come out. What was I supposed to say? This was the last thing I expected to happen.

Harry watched me from the corner, his eyes burying themselves deep into my soul and my heart ached. How did Elijah find me? There was nothing that could have led him here. Then again, he managed to find me the night I was attacked. Behind him, I saw multiple cars approaching the house. My heartbeat slowed just a tad bit. Elijah would not do anything to hurt Harry if all his friends were here.

"You're coming with me, love."

I acted fast, spinning around on my heels and running in the direction of the back door. I unlocked it without a single problem and dashed outside, hoping I was right about Elijah not hurting Harry. Running around the pool, I unlocked the gate and kept going. I was getting closer and closer to the woods and I heard footsteps that were not my own trailing right behind me.

PRESENT TIME

Branches tore at my skin as I tried to move them out of my way. The wind attacked my ears, screaming in them, telling me to stop. My arms moved back and forth quickly, arguing against the wind, motivating me to keep going. My feet constantly hit the ground and the sound was loud and repetitive. Tears threatened to spill out of my eyes and I could not let them fall. I would not let them fall. Crying only made me feel sorry for what I had done and I would stop. I could not stop...not now. My thighs ached due to my lack of exercise but I kept moving. I pushed my body forward through the pain.

"Sydney!"

Hearing his voice made me want to stop right there and wait for him to catch up. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and let him hold me. I shook the thoughts out of my head and continued to move the tree branches to the side. One managed to claw at my left cheek and I bit my bottom lip to keep myself from crying out in pain. The tears began to fall and I wanted to yell at myself for letting them escape. I should not be crying.

Not right now.

My name echoed throughout the woods and my heart was aching. His voice was loud, so full of pain. I was the cause of his pain. He should not be chasing after me. He should be back at the house with everyone else. Our friends were probably trying to figure out where we were. I frowned. Those were not my friends. They were Harry's. He continued to shout my name and each time my name echoed throughout the darkness, it felt like a bullet to my chest.

"Sydney, stop!"

I looked over my shoulder to see if he was getting close. I could see a light off in the distance and I knew the light was coming from him. It was dark out and the light was giving him away. He knew I could see him coming. Why did he still have the light? I turned my head back around and just as I did so, my shoulder slammed into the nearest tree. I whimpered as I gripped my aching shoulder with my other hand. My feet came to a stop and I placed my back against the tree, trying my best not to scream. The pain was excruciating.

More tears spilled out of my eyes and I shook my head constantly. I should not have looked back to see if he was close. Now, my shoulder was aching and I had come to a stop. I wanted to curse myself for being so idiotic. He was getting closer and my feet were glued to the ground. I was not able to move and this made me cry even more. I could hear him getting closer and I forced my eyes to close tightly.

"Sydney," I heard him take a deep breath. Both of us were exhausted from running. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

My bottom lip trembled. There was another bullet to my chest. His voice was soft and tired from all of the yelling he had been doing. I almost wanted to hug him. Even with my eyes closed, I could tell he was holding a candle. The heat from the little flame touched my face and when I opened my eyes, his emerald eyes met mine. His eyebrows furrowed together as he watched me carefully. The candle flickered and I looked down at the ground, ashamed.

"Why didn't you stop?" he asked me, the pain in his voice growing. "I kept calling you and...and you wouldn't stop."

"You need to go," I whispered. "You shouldn't be around me." I tried to get away from him but he put an arm up against the tree, blocking my path. "Move your arm." He refused to listen to me. His eyes buried into mine as if he was searching for my thoughts. "Harry, move your arm."

He sighed but did not move his arm, "What's gotten into you?"

"You wouldn't understand," I told him, hoping he would move.

His eyes softened, "The man that was looking for you back at the house..." I stayed quiet as he started to put two and two together. "Was what he said about you true? He wasn't lying? You actually did that?"

"Please," I begged. "I have to go and you're only getting in my way."

"Stop trying to run away!" he shouted, letting the candle drop from his hand. It landed on top of the damp leaves and the flame died out. We were in the complete darkness. "You can't just leave and expect everything to be okay. What about everything that happened? What about our friends? What about all of the people you've met while you were here?"

"I've put them all in danger!" I cried. "I put them all in harm's way by staying here! Now, move your arm and let me go!"

"What about me?" he asked, his tone cold. "What about us? You can't just run away and pretend the past seven months of our lives didn't happen. But none of it matters to you, does it, Gwen?" My eyes widened and my body shook with fear. He knew. He sighed and I could tell he was running fingers through his hair. "Why'd you stop running?"

"I hit my shoulder against a tree."

"Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," I lied.

"You don't have to run," Harry protested. "I can keep you safe. I'll find someplace safe for you to stay until we can get this all figured out. Just...Just don't go. I can't lose you. What if you leave and I never see you again?"

I squeezed my eyes shut and a tear dropped. Why was he making this so difficult? I wanted to hit him for making me feel this way about him. He was such an ass to me at the start. I hated him for the longest time. But when he started warming up to me, I loved him. God, I loved everything about him. And now I had to let all of that go to keep him safe.

"You can't be here," I told him. "Go back to the house, Harry. Go back to your friends and go have a great time. Forget about me and forget about everything we had. It doesn't matter anymore. None of it does."

"You don't get it, do you?"

"Harry—"

"I love you!" he yelled, his voice echoing through the woods. "I can't just forget about you. I refuse to forget about you. You're my world, Sydney. If I lose you, my world will crumble. Don't you understand that? I'm not going to lose you over this madness!"

"I'm sorry."

Harry opened his mouth to argue but I pushed him. He staggered back and I was running again. More tears fell from my eyes and I no longer tried to fight them back. I was a coward for leaving him like I did but in time, he would grow to understand why I did what I had done. He would not be upset with me anymore. In fact, I knew he would be happy for me. He did not have to hate me because I already hated myself. I hated myself for putting myself in this position. I hated myself for falling in love with all of these people, knowing I would have to leave them at some point. I hated myself for falling for Harry. I hated my heart for disobeying me.

"Sydney, wait!"

My feet carried me as fast as they could and my vision was blurry now. I knew he was chasing after me again; this was a game of cat and mouse. He was the cat and I was clearly the mouse he was following...hunting. He should not be chasing after me anymore. He now knew the truth and he should be getting as far away from me as he possibly could. Why was he chasing me when he could be running away? I wanted him to get away from me. With it being completely dark out, I knew it would take him a while to find me. He dropped the candle and that was his only chance of locating me.

"Dammit, Sydney! I told you to stop—"

A gun was fired and I covered my ears, falling onto the wet ground below.

I had no idea how long I stayed laying on the ground...five, ten, fifteen minutes? Images of Elijah shot and hurt filled my mind and I pulled at the grass around me. There was no way I could go through this again with Harry. What if I went looking for him and I found his deceased body on the ground? I would never forgive myself for putting him in this huge mess of mine. All of this was my fault and Harry never asked to be a part of it.

Pushing myself off the ground, I took off running again.

"Harry!" I called out, not too loud but not too soft, either. "Harry, where are you?" The only response I received was the sound of my feet constantly hitting the ground. "This isn't funny!" More tears poured out of my eyes and I stopped to wipe them away. They were blurring my vision and I needed to see clearly.

Please be alive.

Please be alive.

Please.

"Sydney."

The sound of his voice caused me to place a hand over my chest and take a couple deep breaths. I turned around to see Harry standing there, his hair sticking to his forehead from all the sweat. His breathing was loud and the look of pain still existed on his face.

"Or Gwen," he spat at me. "I...I don't even know which one to call you. Which one are you?"

"Harry, it's me." I weakly smiled at him. "I'm still me. I'm still the woman you met at the herb shop. I'm still the woman you let move into your home. I'm still the woman you fell in love with, yeah? I'm still her. But I need you to listen to me. It's not safe out here and this isn't your fight. You have to get out of here before someone gets hurt—"

He reached behind him and pulled out a gun, pointing it right at me.

"W-What are you doing?" I yelped.

I heard footsteps behind me and my body froze when a hand touched my shoulder. Elijah's breath was hot against the side of my neck and he stroked my skin gently, "It's such a shame, really. I thought the two of you would have made such an interesting couple, seeing as how you moved on from me faster than lightning itself."

"I thought you were dead," I whispered. "I heard the gunshot after you told me to run—"

"Do I look dead to you?" he snapped.

"Harry," I tried again. "What are you doing?"

He had a firm grip on the weapon, his finger resting on the trigger. His face was blank now, not a single ounce of emotion present. He looked cold, just evil. Elijah walked around me and joined Harry on the other side, both of them looking at me. Elijah was clearly amused by this and I hated him even more.

"Ironic, isn't it?" he laughed. "You were so busy trying to keep your little secret hidden that you didn't even think about the possibility of him keeping something such as this from you."

My vision became blurry again and I looked down at the ground, "Harry, what is he talking about?"

He said nothing.

"Oh, this is just too good!" Elijah cackled. "How do you think we found you, Gwen?"

I stood there, letting my mind digest everything that was happening. Harry was an assassin, too, and I was his mission. This entire time, I was trying to keep him safe from my past when he was just toying with me. In the end, he was going to kill me and act as if I never existed.

The gun he owned.

The big house he lived in.

Jillian's brutal murder.

His bedroom door always being locked.

All of his wounds when he showed up at Olivia's apartment.

The suspicious phone call he had the night I was attacked.

Elijah found me that night because Harry was the one who called him.

It all made so much sense now.

My knees buckled and I collapsed on the ground, feeling my world crumble around me piece by piece until it was nothing at all.