As I made my way down the stairs, I noticed that Neena stood at the end looking nervous but when she saw me, she quickly engulfed me in a hug.

'Are you alright?!', she exclaimed but I was more concerned about Ethan who was already making his way to the door.

'Yeah. Um, did you call Ethan?', I asked and she replied with a nervous expression, 'I texted him when we left'.

'Thank you', I said and hugged her once more unable to even imagine what would have happened if he hadn't arrived.

'I need to talk to him', I said and ran out before I could lose him.

He was already across the lawn and walking towards a sleek black motorbike which I'd never seen before other than his Audi.

'Ethan wait!'

He stopped in his tracks but he didn't turn, instead, his shoulders remained poised in anger.

'Thank you', I said not knowing what to tell him. It was the first time I had ever seen him so angry or display any form of violence. To be honest, I was a bit scared.

He turned on his heel and I met his exasperated eyes, while the rest of his face showcased an amount of disappointment I had never been exposed to in my life, that it made my throat hurt from unshed tears.

He turned again for a second to place his helmet on his bike and then faced me again, doing nothing to close the almost five-meter gap between us. He simply folded his arms against his chest prodding me to speak.

'Say something', I said softly unable to bear the silence.

I hated the first fights. They were always unpredictable, like one door away from goodbye or a second chance.

'What do you want me to say?', he spat that I flinched.

'Well maybe how you managed to scare Noah shitless', I started but he cut me off with a scoffing laugh.

'Are you fucking serious Salome?', he asked in disbelief.

He had never used swear words when talking to me.

'I...'

'You were almost raped! You fucking walked into a trap without the common sense to get back up or notify the police!', he shouted.

'Neena was-'

'Neena called me! SHE called me! Not YOU! What the bloody hell were you even thinking?!', he asked lifting his arms up that I took a step back even though he was nowhere close to me.

'I thought I could handle it. I thought I could talk him out of it', I whispered unable to look at him anymore.

'You thought you could talk a rapist out of it? He wasn't even in his right mind! He was bloody wasted!', he said incredulously and ran his hand through his hair.

'I-'

'This isn't one of your bloody fairytales Salome! This is real life where a villain is a fucking villain!', he said and marched up to me so fast that I took another step back and that made him pause with a quick frown appearing on his face.

'I never meant any of this to happen', I gasped and I could feel my breath hitch with each forced heartbeat.

'Well, it did! What if I was late?! Fuck, what if I hadn't known?!', he fumed and turned around to look at anything else but me.

'Ethan, I'm sorry', I said and placed my hand on his arm which made him look at me.

His eyes were glistening.

Ethan was...scared.

'I'm safe. You got here in time', I said softly but he looked up at the sky willing his tears to go back in.

'Go home, Salome. Neena's standing there', he said looking away and took my hand off of his arm.

As I saw him start to get on his bike, an old fear which I hadn't felt in almost two years crept up, causing me to dart after him and pull him back. It almost made him lose his balance but he was quick to catch his bike and not fall.

'What the hell?!', he exclaimed.

'DONT YOU DARE GET ON THAT BIKE NOW!', I screamed and before I knew it, all of the tears I had held back, all of the demons which had circled me the past few days, had finally come out to play.

'Salome', he said and held me steady with a stunned expression.

'Don't you dare ride off and leave me again, Karthick!', I cried and then there was no stopping it.

I could no longer see clearly and my head sounded like a cave with too many echoes.

'Salome, it's Ethan', I heard and for a second I got a glimpse of a pair of sea glass eyes but I was blinded by the voices again...

...' I'll be back. It's just a visit', said Karthick.

'You're not in your right mind. You'll get distracted', I said and put my hand on the handle as if that would stop him.

'I'll be safe, Omi. I just need to go home now', he said and met his sad eyes.

'Please, you can go tomorrow', I said but he shot me a smile that could have fooled anyone that he was okay and started his bike.

'I promise, I'll see you soon'...

'He's going to die! I told him not to go!', I screamed and I felt my knees give in.

'Shit! Salome! No one's dying! Neena get over here!'

My old K-Pop ringtone started to play in my head. No, not this song and I crouched to the ground holding my hands over my head, squeezing it as if it would make it stop.

'...there's been an accident...'

No.

'Karthick died...'

'No!! Please!! Make it stop! Make it stop, please! It hurts!', I screamed crying out in pain.

'Omi! Please! You're not there, you're here with me and Ethan', came Neena's voice through the repeating statement that my best friend was dead.

'Omi', said a voice which had never addressed me that way before and I opened my eyes to see Ethan crouched beside me trying to pull me into his arms.

'I'm here, it's okay. You're safe', he said gently and his voice acted like a balm to my wounded heart. With every word he said, I could feel the voices leave one by one as if they knew I couldn't be hurt anymore.

'Please don't leave me', I whimpered as the tears kept falling down.

'I'm not going anywhere. Just stay with me, Omi. You're here in my arms, you're safe. They can't get you anymore', he said softly into my ear and I hummed in response as I clung to him like he was the branch on the edge of a cliff.

'It's okay', he kept saying as he rocked me back and forth and before I knew it, my eyes were tired and I was asleep.