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50
Ethan's pov

"I should have known." I said for the thousandth time that evening. My chin rested against my hand and my eyes stared ahead to the dull white paint of Malcolm's office. "I should have known Glory coming to the outside wasn't to see me, but to ruin me."

"There's no way you could have known Ethan." Malcolm said. "Glory as well as the Institute board are really good at holding on to their real intentions." 

"You don't understand." I said. "This isn't the first time, neither is it the second. She does this every damn time she notices I'm beginning to get comfortable with my life, she always finds a way to destroy the lives of everyone around me. She did it with Lacy, with Fiona and now Ivy. What have I ever done to Glory Curt? Why is she hell bent on ruining my life Malcolm?" 

Malcolm looked at me, his eyes soft with what I knew quite well as pity and care. "Don't put this on yourself Ethan, don't do what you did with Lacy. Don't let yourself feel like you had the power to stop what happened. The Inc is solely responsible for that, okay?"

"But that's the truth Malcolm, I can't lie to myself and say this isn't my fault. If I had been more careful, if I had paid attention to details, Ivy's parents would still be alive." 

"This is not your fault." 

I shook my head, covering my face with my hands. "I promised her, I promised to protect her from them. I told her not to worry about the Inc, but I should have known better." I rubbed my eyes, drumming my fingers on the table. "I failed, Malcolm. I failed again." 

Silence fell in the office, enhancing my thoughts just before Malcolm decided to speak.

"I wonder why they'd do such a thing. What does her parents have to do with all this? They could have just wiped their memories or anything else, killing them was kind of too far, it only means there's something else involved in all this. They'd never set a condition for a human to stay here with us. That's definitely not what the Inc would do." 

I scoffed. "It's funny how you can't see it yet Malcolm. All this still leads back to me. Glory was only trying to prove a point. She told me not to get close to Ivy because she thought she'd sway me away from my true potential, whatever the fuck that is." I raked my fingers through my hair. "She's trying to do everything in her power to separate Ivy and I. And I never thought I'd say this but- she won." 

"No she hasn't. You still haven't talked to Ivy, like really talk."

"I can't face her Malcolm." 

"You have to. She might not even blame you for anything, she might just understand." 

I scoffed. "Anyone would blame me. She just lost her parents Malcolm, both of them, and on top of that, she was forced to come here. Her parents were nice people, they loved her, they accepted me despite not even knowing me that well, not every parent would do that. Staying with them reminded me of how it felt to have parents. I didn't only fail Ivy, I failed them too." 

Malcolm sighed. "Things would get better, Ethan."

"Will they?" I stood up, letting out a breath. "I hate this place. I hate Glory. I hate life itself." 

"Don't we all." Malcolm said, "but you should talk to her, don't walk away." 

I nodded. "I'll talk to her." 

I wouldn't dare walk away. It was the same mistake I made with Lacy, and I wouldn't dare make it again, cause Ivy isn't Lacy, Ivy's different, and if it takes ripping my heart into two to see her again, and listen to whatever she had to say, then… I'd do it. I'd listen to her. I mean, I could at least give her that. 

_ 

They had made her change. With her back turned towards me, I noticed her hair wasn't pulled up in the usual ponytail they always were, they were a little bit wet, and rough around the back. She was putting on the usual black body hug t-shirt coupled with black jeans, but they weren't leather jeans. 

I found her at Base 8's balcony, where Malcolm told me she had been given a room. I knew some people around this base, most of them weren't really good friends with me, and I wondered why Glory would try to separate me from her here at my sector when she was the same person who gave her the condition to come to the Inc's dimension.

My heart hammered against my chest dreading this conversation before it even began. 

Letting out a deep breath, I walked closer to her, so now I was standing right beside her, my nervous and sweaty palms found their way to the railing, gripping hard, as I stared ahead, the cold breeze increasing my anxiety by the second, as it made an attempt to dry Ivy’s hair. 

She knew I was standing right beside her but she didn't utter a word, she just stared ahead, drinking in the dark and dead looking bases of my sector. 

The Rebel sector was most popular for its Shadows. Dark shadows capable of consuming even the brightest light. 

She took in a deep breath, letting it out, I noticed how shaky it was. "Why is it so dark?" She asked into silence. 

Out of all the questions, I wasn't expecting her to ask this.

I dared to glance at her direction to find her somewhat red and swollen eyes on me. 

I melted. Just the thought of her crying when no one was around was capable of tearing me apart. It was capable of breaking my last reserve. Capable of bringing me to tears.

So I looked away.

"I guess that's because no one actually cares enough to make it brighter." 

"Cause no one's happy here?" She asked, her voice soft and cracked. 

My jaw clenched so hard. My knuckles went white due to the tight grip I had on the railing. Her voice drove me mad, it made me want to hurt somebody, it made me want to hurt the person responsible for making her sound like this. 

It made me want to hurt myself. 

"I guess so." I struggled to make out. 

Silence fell upon us again. 

What was I supposed to say? What could I possibly say to change anything? Apologizing wasn't even an option. It was like adding a little bit of salt to everything, and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her even more. 

I was scared that I might say the wrong thing. 

"Why did you lie to me?" She asked suddenly, making my heart jump right out of my chest in guilt. 

When I didn't reply, she spoke up. 

"Imagine my surprise when Caramel told me, not too long ago, that everyone here remembers their pasts. Why did you lie about that? Why didn't you tell me about Fiona? Why didn't you tell me about Glory? Why didn't you tell me about Caramel? Why Ethan?" Her voice broke when she said my name. 

Immediately my eyes found hers, just in time to find tears slide down her cheeks as she stared at me with questioning eyes.

My heart squeezed in pain, an unfamiliar kind of pain. I felt so weak to the bones.

"Ivy please don't-" I stopped when she stepped away from me. 

"Just tell me why." She said. 

There were no words to describe how emotionally frustrated I was right now. 

"I was only trying to protect you." I said. It was the only reason I could think off, cause that was the only reason why I kept everything from her. 

"To protect me?" She asked with furrowed brows. "From what? Your Inc?" She gave a humorless laugh, as tears streamed down her face. "Look around you Ethan. Look at us. I'm right where you thought you were protecting me from. What was the point?" 

"What else was I supposed to do?"

"Tell me? You were supposed to tell me Ethan. If you had, we could have avoided all of this. My parents- my parents would still be alive."

Devastated, I looked down, unable to meet her gaze because I knew she was right. We could have found a way. We could have been more careful together. 

I made a mistake. One that would take me a lifetime to change. 

"I'm so sorry Ivy." I said, My gaze met hers.

She sniffed, wiping her tears. "Yeah." She said with a nod. "I bet you are." 

She slid her hands into the back pockets of her jeans, taking in a deep breath and sniffing. "Well at least one of us is happy." She said. 

Confused, I met her gaze. "What do you mean?" 

"Aren't you happy? You've finally gotten rid of me and you're back to your home. You can now hunt down humans like me and kill them for sport." 

I literally felt my heart breaking at her words. 

"That isn't me anymore Ivy, you know that."

"Do I? The truth is Ethan, I never really did know you. I just had the illusion that I did. I was so stupid to think that you actually cared about me-"

"I care about you Ivy. You have no idea-"

"Yeah, I have no idea. If you cared about me, you'd have told me everything, you would have told me that I was busy hugging and thinking highly of the very woman who started all this crap." 

"Ivy you don't understand-" 

"I do understand, you wanted to protect the image of your Inc, you didn't want me to sell them out because deep down, you actually want to be here."

Another piece of my heart broke. "I don't want to be here."

"You don't have to lie to me anymore Ethan, I see past it. I now know the real you. The side of you that you tried to hide from me." 

"Why are you even saying all this?" 

"Cause realization dawned on me too late. You and Fiona played me. You both made me think I finally had people besides my parents who actually did care."

"You think I was putting on an act about my feelings?" I asked, disbelief coating my words.

"I don't think, I know." 

"Then you have no idea how wrong you are Ivy. I-" 

"I don't want to hear anymore lies Ethan."

I bit the inside of my lips untill the familiar taste of copper was all I could taste. 

"I'm done listening to lies." She repeated.

Instead of saying something to deter her from that thought, I kept quiet. 

"I'm honestly trying my best not to hate you, but the more I see you, the more I remember the reason why I'm here. The more I think about the things I shouldn't have done. I shouldn't have ordered for you, I shouldn't have even let you into my life. If I hadn't been so stupid- if I hadn't been so stupid to think I could help you, I wouldn't be here."

"I know you regret it-"

"I do, Ethan. I regret it 100 percent."

I swallowed, nodding as I said, "I understand."

More tears streamed down her face and I knew she was trying so hard to hold back a sob.

"I don't want to hate you Ethan. That's why I- I think it's best if we just-"

"I get it." I stopped her, knowing she didn't really want to say it, and knowing that she was hurting and saying those words would do more damage.

That was the last thing I wanted. 

I already knew this was coming, it was expected, so I wasn't a little bit surprised. 

She nodded. Wiping her tears with the back of her palms. "Yeah." She said, her voice quiet. 

I let out a shaky breath. "I just um- I came here to let you know that I'm here, anytime you need me, I'll always be here." 

"Don't worry about that, I won't be needing you." 

Then again, I didn't expect her to say she would be. 

I felt myself nod, shoving my hands into my pockets to keep them from shaking. "Are you sure this is what you want Ivy?" 

She hesitated for a few seconds before she shrugged. "It's not about what I want Ethan, it's about what I need. And what I need, is to be away from you."

"Okay." I said. "If that's what you need, then… I'll respect that. Just- just please be careful. A lot of people are going to pick on you, seeing as you're human, and-"

"Your kind kills us for sport on a normal day? I get it." 

"All I'm asking is for you to always watch your back, or I'll disregard every respect I hold to your decision."

"Just go, Ethan." She said, turning away from me. 

"First, promise me." 

She turned to me again. "Promise you what?" 

"That you wouldn't do anything stupid, cause I know you Ivy." 

"Well it's good that you do, since I bet you know I'm not going to promise you anything. After all, I'm best known for acting stupid, you'd just have to wait and see the next stupid thing Ivy Fisher's going to do." She said.

"Ivy-"

"Goodbye Ethan. I suggest you start heading back to your Base. Last I heard Base 1 is still a long distance from here." Her gaze lingered on mine for a few seconds before she retreated slowly turning around, and walking away from me.

I raked my fingers through my hair, fighting the urge to let out my frustrations by yelling my heart out. 

She was speedily diving down the wrong route. If she was planning something stupid, then it definitely wouldn't be good. Now that I held no place in her life, there'd be no one to talk her out of doing something really stupid. With my heart thumping like I just ran a marathon race, I turned around, walking back to Base 1.

Wait, I paused. Roman- Roman could talk to her. 

They had taken him to the willing sector, but I had to get him here.

The only thing is, In order to get him here, I'd have to talk to the higher authority, so I guess I'd be paying Glory a visit sooner than expected.

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Bye Beauties!

Nora.