The man led us to a room. The doorway was slightly hidden.

The room had two chairs and a bed.

It looked like a recovery room of some sort. A place where people would be taken if the torture went too far.

He motioned for us to sit down.

I pulled Ana towards the bed so she could sit beside me. I held her tightly.

"You're Rosa Sanchez, right?" The man looked at me.

"Yes." I nodded hesitantly.

He sighed. "Thank god."

He grabbed one of the chairs and sat across from us.

Ana hid her face in my neck.

He looked at me then looked at Ana. "You care about her?"

It hadn't really occurred to me until then.

I did.

But I didn't know why he wanted to know, and I didn't know what he could do with that information.

"Why?" I narrowed my eyes.

He smiled a little. "I assume you don't want to leave if she's still here."

Leave? What does he mean leave?

"I don't understand."

"Let me introduce myself, my name is Beau. You know my brother, Jamie. I don't know if you noticed, but he's gay, and he's coming here."

I laughed slightly. "That's ironic. The guy who works at a conversion camp has a gay brother."

He looked at me sternly. "You know these don't really work right? Either you lie or you just weren't completely homosexual when you got here."

That confused me.

"Why are you telling me this? And why are you being so nice to me?"

He cleared his throat. "They hired me because my parents sent me here and then they 'cured' me."

My eyes went wide. "You're gay?"

"I'm bi, I'm a good liar, and I married a woman four years after I got out. I was lucky. If I don't get your help my brother, you, and your girlfriend, won't be."

"She's not my girlfriend." I let go of Ana slightly.

"Let me guess, you found out you liked girls because one kissed you?"

"No..." I looked down. "What do you need help with anyways? He's my friend too."

He sighed. "So this is going to sound weird..."

...
Three weeks later.

I hated the plan.

But it had to be done.

We had a few days though.

Beau told me and Ana that we could go to the room any time we needed to be alone.

The bed had thick blankets, and it was a nice change from the thin sheet and blanket we got for bed.

We were reassigned to Beau's 'care', which basically meant we didn't have any sessions.

So we spent most of the day in the room.

Ana was sleeping in my arms. It was strange how perfect she felt there.

I ran my thumb along her lips.

So perfect. I smiled.

She must have been awake because her eyes snapped open and she smiled.

I rested my hand on her back.

She frowned. "Why did you stop?"

"Touching you?" I asked.

"Mmhm." She snuggled into me.

"I don't want you to see who I really am I guess." I shrugged.

"What do you mean by that?" She grabbed one of my hands and played with my fingers.

"You know, I'm here."

She looked up at me with confusion. "You're afraid I won't like you... because you like me?"

I nodded slightly. "I'm a monster, who in their right mind would like that?" I whispered.

She dropped my hand. "So, you think I'm a monster?"

I grabbed her face and pulled it close to mine. "No! No! You are... indescribable." I paused. "You are a goddess, you are like a ray of sunshine after spending centuries in a dark room, you are the very color that fills my life." I said softly.

"But you're... a monster?" She asked.

"Yes." I ran my fingers through her hair.

"You make no sense." She shook her head.

"You are too kind to be evil, to be a disgrace. When you were a kid you probably wanted to be a teacher, or an artist, or a doctor. I wanted to be a drug lord. For you, this is just a small flaw."

"So.. what I feel for you is.. a flaw?"

"I think anything anyone feels for me is a flaw."

She sighed. "Do you know what I think?"

"What?" I smiled.

"I think you were brainwashed your entire life, I think you know you aren't evil or a disgrace, but you don't want to admit it because it's all you've ever known. And I think you're beautiful, I think you're perfect, and although I can't say I love you now, because we haven't known each other long, I think I can see myself loving you."

I hummed. "I think you're wrong. And I think we're moving a little fast."

"Then let's slow down." She grabbed my hands.

"What if I don't want to?" I sat up slowly.

She got up and moved into my lap so she was straddling me. I gasped.

"Then don't." She whispered. "But I know why we're here."

"You think so?" I smiled.

"Yeah." She hummed.

"Why's that?" I moved her hair from her face.

Our faces were now just inches apart. My heart was pounding.

"Because you have to lie in a bed naked with a boy, and you don't think it's right."

"Because it's not." I whispered.

The warmth of her breath tickled my skin. "Can I kiss you?"

"Do my eyes not say enough?" I exhaled.

She pressed her lips softly against mine.

I pulled her closer and she wrapped her legs around my back.

She ran her hands through my hair and pulled me as close as she could.

I felt myself aching.

The kisses turned from soft and light to hard and desperate.

I pulled her shirt off, she didn't seem to mind.

I leaned back so she was on top of me and then flipped us over.

Her skin was unbelievably soft.

She gripped my back harshly.

Very harshly.

I didn't really mind it, but she didn't seem like the person to do that, but I ignored it for the moment.

I trailed kisses down her neck. Every feature about her was incredible.

I moved my hand up towards her cheek and realized it was wet.

I froze for just a moment.

Then I moved to look at her.

She sniffled and wiped the tears away. "I'm sorry, you don't have to stop."

"Ana- what?"

"It's fine." She cried.

"You don't have to talk about it, but I can't enjoy myself if you're not happy too." I wiped more tears away.

"I'm fine." She sniffled.

She pulled herself up and pressed sloppy kisses along my jaw and neck as she cried.

I pulled her off. "Stop it."

"I'm sorry." She sobbed.

"You don't have to be sorry, you didn't do anything wrong, I just don't want to do this while you're upset." I said softly.

I grabbed her shirt and handed it to her. She set it to the side and pulled me close. She cuddled into my chest.

"Can you promise me something?" She whispered.

"Anything." I kissed the top of her head.

I felt like I'd known her for ages.

"Promise me you won't call yourself a monster again."

I sighed. "Anything but that."

"Why?"

"Because I am one. I am a disgrace and I bring shame to my family. If I stop calling myself one, maybe I'll believe I'm not one, and if I believe I'm not one, I'll stop watching how I act around you, and that could be bad."

"How bad is bad?" She traced her fingers in small circles along my stomach.

"I don't know, but I hope I never find out."

"I doubt it's actually bad. It's probably something completely normal." She sighed.

I laughed. "But I'm not like other girls."

"Hey, you're the one with Cartel ties, I think I'm the main character here. You're the hot main love interest."

"You're too perfect to be the main character and far too pretty, at least in the books I read."

"The main characters are usually pretty." She frowned.

"Yes, but they're no Aphrodite."

...
My throat hurts.

<3