A shiver raked through Kayleigh's body. She wasn't cold or scared. She was confused. Unsettled. She didn't have a plan beyond the next five minutes, if that, and that riddled her with anxiety. 

She walked briskly from the station to the Puppet Theatre, looking behind her every four steps. By the time she crossed the bridge and reached the bright-coloured barge, the people who got off the train with her had dissipated to other areas and she found herself standing alone. 

Nervous. She was nervous. She felt like she was doing something wrong, illegal even.

“We’re just going to talk. We need to talk. We have to figure this out," she said under her breath. 

She caught a sudden movement to her left out of the corner of her eye. A large man wearing a grey hoodie, large sunglasses that hid most of his face and a baseball cap was making his way straight towards her. His head was lowered but she could feel his eyes on her still. 

The unease in Kayleigh's stomach grew for a whole different reason. She looked around her again, this time hoping to see someone else in the area, someone who would hear her scream should she need to, but the place was deserted. Her hand went straight to her phone instinctively as she turned the other way and started walking in the other direction.

The man’s footsteps quickened behind her, and she increased her pace, dialling Marcus’s number. Just as she was about to hit the green call button, a pair of strong hands wrapped around her waist and pulled her backwards. Without giving it a second thought, Kayleigh hitched her elbow backwards with as much force as she could muster until made impact with hard muscle. She knew it wasn’t near enough to actually hurt her aggressor, but she must have caught the man by surprise because his grip on her loosened.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, she quickly twisted in his hold, swinging her bag to the man's head in the process. He got a full face of Dolce, and before he could shield his face, she dug the side of her phone to the man's neck. 

"Jesus!" he coughed clutching his throat and turning to face away from her.

Kayleigh went to run away from him, but somehow, he managed to get hold of her wrist.

"Let go, you son of a-" 

"Kay Kay, it's me!”

She was about to land him another swing to the head but stopped as she realised the man’s voice was very familiar. Her eyes focused on the broad shoulders and the blond man bun sticking out of the blue cap.

“Marcus?”

"At your service,” he winced, removing his sunglasses and fixing his hat. “Not that you need it. I guess I don’t have to worry about anyone mugging you.”

Kayleigh blinked at him several times. The left side of his face was very red, and the chain of her bag had split the skin slightly over his cheek. Marcus rubbed a little drop of blood away with his thumb and sucked on it.

"Are you insane?" Kay yelled suddenly, hitting him with her bag across his arm. "You scared the daylight out of me, you creep!"

Marcus put his hands up over his face, trying to defend himself from the angry woman.

"Ow! Stop that!" 

But Kayleigh didn’t stop. Getting impatient, Marcus grabbed her wrists and pinned them behind her back. She immediately stilled in his arms, not because she was afraid of him, but because he was suddenly very close to her. Very close.  So close that their noses were touching.

She saw his pupils dilate and felt his breath hitch. His scent hit her senses like a spell, warm and sweet like a summer morning breeze. Just like him. He let go of her wrists. His hands glided up her arms slowly. She could see the fight in his eyes as time slowed around them. 

Then, there were footsteps. Lots of them. And voices. Unfamiliar ones this time.

Kayleigh broke eye contact first and, looking to her left, saw a group of young teenagers turning the corner. Her instinct was to push Marcus away, but his grip on her tightened and before she could react, he pulled her into a deep, passionate kiss.

He guided her gently until her back hit the wall and kissed her harder. The chatter and laughter got louder, and Marcus kept holding her face in his large hands and turning her legs to mush. The heat crept up her neck as she clung on to his grey hoodie-for support. Her heart was almost in her throat when the voices were so close, it was they were speaking directly in her ear.

Thumbs brushed against her cheek, his lips against hers, rhythmically, like a lullaby, and the voices drifted away. She breathed him in, willing his homely warmth to soothe her.

Marcus Burrows pulled away after three full heartbeats of complete silence. The footsteps died away. The laughter faded. And Kayleigh’s breathing was not even a whisper. He scanned the area for more passersby, but once again they had the place to themselves. When his eyes found hers again, they were shining, and Kayleigh didn’t know which way was up and which was down.

“Hi,” Marcus smiled.

“Hey,” Kay breathed.

His hands slipped from her face and traced back down her arms until he found her hands. He raised her fingers to his lips and kissed her knuckles gently. Then, he reached into his pocket and handed her a cap and a pair of sunglasses. “Put these on. Do you think you can fit your hair inside, maybe?”

“Um… no, but I can braid it,” Kay replied.

She knitted her long, brown hair into a plait in a matter of seconds. Marcus smiled broadly at her, then took her hand and guided her down towards Rembrandt Gardens. She followed mechanically; her eyes fixed on their joint hands.

We’re really doing this. This is real, she thought.

“What’s real?” Marcus asked, throwing her into further shock.

“I… said that out loud?”

He laughed at her and bit his bottom lip. “Yep. Come on.”

He led her over the grass until they found a beautiful spot overlooking the water. “Regent’s is nice. Hyde’s is nice. But I like this tiny little spot right here. It’s quiet at this time of day. I can breathe and think. I always tell myself it’s a great place to bring my camera… For some reason I never do.”

Kayleigh watched him as he watched the view. It was now or never. “Abi came over today…”

He closed his eyes, and she stopped talking. She didn’t want to have this conversation any more than he did, but they had to… right?

“I know she’s upset-”

“She’s miserable. We’re not being fair.”

“I know,” he agreed. “We’ll figure it out.”

“Not if we keep avoiding the subject,” Kayleigh said gently.

Marcus studied her for a moment before speaking. “I’m not avoiding it. The last thing I want is to avoid this, actually. I told you already, I can’t go through with this wedding.”

Kayleigh felt like her heart was fired through a slingshot. She tried to keep a steady face, not wanting to deviate from her resolve.

“Why?”

“Why?” Marcus repeated incredulous. “Because I want you. I’d choose you, every time you give me that choice, Kay Kay.”

Kayleigh’s eyes fell to the green grass under her feet. She wasn’t sure that was what she wanted to hear. But then again, she had no clue what she wanted to hear.

“You’d choose me too, wouldn't you?”

The concern in his face was so genuine, Kay didn’t have it in her to bend the truth even a little.

“I always chose you,” she admitted. “Why do you think I broke up with Mason?”

Marcus shrugged but Kayleigh didn’t miss how he avoided her gaze.

“He was ready for the next step,” she said hesitantly, “and I wasn’t ready to let you go. If there was still the slightest chance, even though it seemed impossible at the time, I didn’t want to miss it. I couldn’t commit further with someone when I still had feelings for you. But it feels like you did the exact opposite…”

His lips tightened, confirming Kay’s suspicions. When he spoke again, his voice was on the verge of breaking.

“I was scared, Kay. I was stupid. I’m sorry.”

“I know. I believe you,” Kayleigh said, realising for the first time that she did. “But I still don’t get why you asked her to marry you. This isn’t a date. This is the rest of your life! And I’m sorry, Marcus. I just need to understand, before we do anything crazy. Because this is big. I need to know it’s worth it.”

The girl regretted her words immediately upon seeing the storm in Marcus's usually clear eyes.

“You think we’re not worth it?”

“No, that’s not what I meant. Listen, we both have a lot to lose. We need to be sure-”

“We don’t have to tell them everything,” Marcus interrupted. “But I don’t want to get married. This engagement was a mistake from the start. Looking back, I don’t even know how it happened. I’ll break it off with Abi. You’ll break it off with Jack. And then we’ll take it from there…”

The doubt in Kay’s stomach grew. Everything about this, the setting, his proximity, his hand over hers, felt right. She felt safe. But his words weren’t convincing her, and Rosemary’s words came back to her loud and clear.

He’s just running away again.

“That doesn’t sound like much of a plan,” she mumbled.

Then Marcus cupped her cheek, gently guiding her eyes to his. “If I had the most fool-proof plan in history, you still wouldn't be comfortable with this.”

“We’re going to hurt so many people...” Kayleigh voiced fighting back the tears.

“I know. But I don’t think we can ignore this anymore. I don’t know how I can prove to you that I’m sure about us or that this is worth losing everything for, but I got another chance with you. I’m not blowing it.”

Kayleigh let out a rattled breath. He was so close to telling her what she needed to hear, and yet, the pain in her gut only got worse.

“What if you didn’t get another chance with me? Would you go through with the wedding then?”

Marcus searched her face, her eyes, her soul. Then he searched his and drew up a blank.

“I don’t know. Maybe. You never left my mind, Kay Kay, but the moment I saw you again in front of Marylebone, I knew. I knew I’d never forget you or get over you or even love you just a little bit less. Whether I'd be doing something about it if you hadn't invited me up to your apartment that night is a different story.”

“I didn’t know you loved me,” Kay whispered. Every time he said those words, she felt strange. Giddy. Fluttery. “I thought…”

“What?” he pressed.

“I thought it was like before, or that it was the wine or… I don’t know what I thought. You’re not the only one who’s scared, Marcus.”

He nodded gently, taking it all in. “But… we’ll figure it out, right?”

Kayleigh Moore nodded, wishing she was just as hopeful. But she couldn’t shake the feeling that all this mess was beyond figuring out.

👗👒👜