I saw him close his eyes and quickly open them up.

"I can't."

"Yes you can," I encouraged.

We'd been arguing ever since we got to the lake house and now it was almost one in the morning. All of this work just so he could go to sleep. It reminds of when I compared spying on him to babysitting.

I was sitting cross legged on the edge of his bed as he laid on top of the covers due to the summer heat that began to rise in the room.

"I could hurt you again." He put his hand behind his head and gazed up at the ceiling in an attempt to knock the sleep from his eyes.

"I'm sure I can defend myself," I assured him trying to make him recall my last encounter with his darker side.

His eyes became droopy and his long lashes were fluttering like a butterfly testing its wings.

I was hopeful when they finally closed completely but then they popped open again.

"How would I know if something is real or if I'm dreaming?" He worriedly asked.

I thought for a second since I wasn't trained in medicine like Mom was.

"What are the color of my eyes?"

His irises met mine and a small smile took over his face.

"Brown."

"How many fingers do I have?" I held out my hands to him and he put them in his to count every individual finger.

"Ten."

"Remember those two things and you'll know if you're dreaming or not." I slipped my hand from his and stood up. "While you try to sleep I'm going to go make some food because I am starving."

"It's after midnight."

"And that matters because?"

I strolled to the door but glanced back at him before leaving.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite, King Psycho."

After flicking off the light in the room, I journeyed to the kitchen which was warm and cozy. The floors were covered in chestnut wood and the cabinets were a clean white.

This was much more contemporary than Vincent's kitchen.

I opened the fridge to see nothing but water bottles and beer. Going to the cabinets, and again, I saw no traces of food. However, I did wander over a pizza delivery pamphlet and quickly ordered a pie.

After ending the call, my eyes wandered over my social media accounts that had over a thousand notifications. I barely even have that many followers.

I clicked on one of the apps and saw my name tagged in many posts but only beside one photo.

It was of Saoirse and I from the photoshoot.

And we looked good.

The comments under the photo that I saw were nothing less than positive and were getting shared as every second passed.

Fly Girls was the name of the show and the title was hanging above our heads in the photo.

My mouth hung agape and I decided to scrambled for the remote for the tv on the kitchen wall.

We were making headlines.

I grabbed a beer from the fridge and hopped on the counter. Of course the channel I was looking for was the first to pop up: Dirty Jaws.

It was the most popular gossip channel in the country.

"It has been reported that Director Ray Wilson was seen walking out of Clark's Therapy Center in downtown New York."

A tape of Ray walking to his new white Volkswagen was shown on the screen. His face was covered with his dark sunglasses and his hand was up attempting to block the camera man from filming him.

I see the world still has yet to forget about his breakdown on the last day of us filming. Poor guy.

"Speaking of Ray Wilson, he just wrapped up filming a movie starring Kiana Washington and Vince Carter. A lurking eye has informed us that Vince Carter's personal assistant for the film might be starring in the new teen drama Fly Girls. Who is this girl and what did she do to rise to fame so fast?"

"Holy shit."

I hadn't even auditioned for this show and I was already benefiting from it. Is my dream really coming true?

Behind me I heard a sheer sound which made the hairs on my neck stand on alert. I felt a presence at my back and in seconds my movements went still.

I brought my chin just a bit over my shoulder, just enough for me to see my attacker standing a few feet away with a knife in his hand.

I guess his dream of resting didn't come true. The real monster decided to came out to play.

"Vincent, what you doing buddy?" I slowly heaved myself onto the floor from the counter so I could look at him.

"You tried to kill me." His forest green eyes were now filled with wildfires while he gripped onto the base of the kitchen blade.

"That was before remember. I don't want to hurt you anymore," I tried to remind him while maintaining a safe distance between me and the sharp blade he beheld.

"I'm going to kill you," he seethed. "And that is a promise that I am keeping."

Vincent charged at me at an unexpected speed and I managed to weave away from the knife.

His movements had always been sloppy whenever his other side took over, it was almost like he wasn't trying. But I knew that if he got his hands on me I wouldn't know if I could free myself.

A slash was thrown my way to which my arm now dripping with blood paid the price for. It healed as expected but way laggard than usual.

I hadn't taken Vincent's advice. Personally I didn't find injuring myself intentionally very pleasing.

The only time I would potentially hurt myself would be at the skatepark and I haven't been there in God knows how long.

"This isn't a dream Vincent." I dodged another one of his blows while trying my best not to scuffle with him.

Vincent kept inching toward me and I ran out of corners to back into.

"What color are my eyes?" I pointed to them and he focused. I even saw his eyes shading lighter.
"How many fingers to I have?"

He's waking up.

I thought.

That was until he stabbed me again.

I groaned when the blade pierced my shoulder and the crimson began to drip down my healing wound.

Alright, that's it.

I stepped forward to grab his arm which had the knife. With a trick taught to me by Nova, I was able to grip his wrist hard enough to weaken his grasp on the blade.

The knife clanged to the floor and I kicked it to the side.

I tackled him to the floor when I saw him try to come at me again. He landed on his back and thankfully his head didn't hit the wood.

Vincent went to grip my neck but I grabbed the knife on the floor and held it up to his.

A low chuckle thundered from his chest and I could feel the vibrations going through my fingertips.

"Isn't this déjà vu?" He continued to laugh. "Second time's a charm. Do it, Amari."

He was right. Memories of that night in the basement flashed over my mind and I did have the opportunity to kill him.

Weirdly it was just like this.

I told myself that I wasn't a murderer that night. That I didn't kill for fun or because someone couldn't pay for their drugs on time.

If I had the opportunity to kill someone it would be for justice.

"I don't want to kill you Vincent. You need help. You want me to kill you because you just want to die. I know you've had it rough ever since you were born, but you have to keep fighting. It's going to be hard, but you have to keep going." I gradually loosened my grip on the knife as I saw his eyes change back.

"I know you want to die, but whenever you think of dying I want you to think of your kid. He needs you. Prove to him and prove to yourself that you can be the father that your dad never was."

Vincent dropped his hand to his chest and his head to the floor with closed eyes. He inhaled harshly before showing his green eyes that were back to normal.

And they were focused on me.

"You're eyes are brown and you have ten fingers." He bit his lip as his breathing became moderate. "Even though I wasn't in control of my actions I heard every word. Thank you."

"Did the mean Vince Carter just thank me?" I asked with sarcasm stinging my tongue.

He rolled his eyes and I retracted the knife from his neck.

"You know you can get off me now?" He places his hands on my thighs. I was still straddling his waist.

"Oh."

I went to scramble off him but he held my waist and caught the back of my neck. With nimble fingers he traced my jaw and brought my face down to his.

Our noses were meters away from each other's and I could feel his warm breath fan my cheek.

"If you're going to kiss me you already know how I feel about that."

"Do I?" His voice was laced with fervor and generosity. "I remember the last time we did you wanted nothing more."

My eyes shifted from his and his lips that seemed to be getting closer.

Vincent held my neck and I saw his lips rise to skim my forehead. A month ago I would've called that the kiss of no tomorrow. The one he had given Claire outside of Kiana's and the one he'd given me shortly after.

However, this was different. Way different.

"As I said, I'm not going to do anything until you say so." He brushed one of my curls back into my puff with his finger.

My head began moving before my thoughts could process anything.

I wanted this. I wanted him.

But was it out of lust or actual feelings?

The doorbell rang which made me stop moving any closer to him.

"I hope you're hungry because I accidentally ordered an extra large pizza." I saw him give me a confused look. "I was hungry!"