Contrary to what Zadia said about the both of them staying up, she had fallen asleep around two in the morning. Her eyes had shut and as she drifted off into whatever dreams awaited her, her head had slumped, using Roman's arm as a pillow. Roman was uncomfortable by the sudden closeness, his stomach turning as he pushed lightly on the side of her head to get her to move. Although that did work, it would only last a short moment before her head would come back down onto his shoulder.

Roman huffed deeply and eventually allowed it to stay there, his uncomfortableness disappearing, slowly. As he spent the night paying attention to their dark and secluded surroundings, he looked at Zadia way more than he wanted to admit. He couldn't explain it, but she looked weird when she slept...

He shook his head, not pondering the topic any longer. He had more important things to think about, one being finding water and food. Hypothetically speaking they could survive weeks without food, but that's only if they had water. Seeing as Zadia is diabetic, their weeks would decrease to days. She could go four days max without any food and two... maybe even three days without water.

Roman leaned further down so he could rest his head on the large and fairly dry log. While he stared at the flickering stars, he could hear the faint sound of crickets and many other noisy insects. And although it was brief, Roman heard the coyotes howling. They were so loud he thought it would wake Zadia, but she didn't bulge. He scratched his face a lot, due to the mosquito bites. They were having a field day with him, and upon realizing this, he raised the blanket over Zadia's head so they couldn't get to her.

The pain in his head wasn't as bad as before, but he could still hear the ringing in his ears and couldn't see as much in his right eye. This prompted him to shut his eyes on several different occasions and press his fingers to his ears, hoping to find some relief. He'd timed himself, counting up to one hundred and then flashing the flashlight throughout the trees to keep any animals that were lurking away.

This would go on until six-thirty in the morning when the sun began to rise. He waited a while, just in case to shut off the flashlight for good. Reaching into his pocket, he grabbed the floss packet that he usually always carried on him and began flossing. It irked him that he couldn't brush his teeth, especially since brushing his teeth was the highlight of his mornings. He felt like a kid again, living on the streets and trying to make ends meet.

When he finished flossing, he moved the blanket and placed a hand on Zadia's warm shoulder, and shook her awake. "Gotdamn, do you have to be so rough?" She muttered groggily, snuggling into his arm. She was so sleepy and couldn't fathom doing anything but sleep.

"It's time to get up," Roman told her, shaking her off him. "We've gotta keep moving."

"Ten more minutes." She tried to reason.

"You'll have enough time to sleep when you're dead, which will be soon if you don't wake up."

She groaned and sighed deeply. "Well, when you put it like that..." Prying her eyes awake and moving off his shoulder. She sat up, before yawning and stretching. "I can't believe I fell asleep."

"Yeah, so much for the both of us staying up." He said sarcastically, stuffing everything back into his bag. He wanted to leave and search for birds. They would be flying any moment now and could lead them to water.

"I thought I could pull through, but sleep was calling my name. Why didn't you just wake me up earlier?"

He thought it was a good idea for her to rest, but he didn't confess that. "Didn't want to hear your voice." He said instead and stood up, stretching. The bones in his body popped with ease, fixing the tension it was storing. Walking in front of her, he held his hand out for her to take.

Zadia accepted it and with the count of three, Roman helped her to her feet. "You weren't complaining about my voice when I was speaking yesterday."

"Could've sworn I said shut up about a hundred times yesterday." He resorted and looked down at her foot. "How's the ankle?"

"Hurts like hell didn't feel it much when I was asleep." She frowned, moving closer to look at his face. Her hand pressed against his chest, while he put his hand on her waist. "Jesus, those mosquitoes tore up your face." She told him and backed away, both their hands falling from where they were positioned. "They must've liked me, they left me alone."

"Probably because you talk a lot," Roman said, not mentioning that the reason she wasn't bit was because of him. He picked up the duffel bag and placed it around his shoulders after double-checking if he had everything. "We're all set, come on." He said and gripped her side as they began walking shoulder to shoulder.

Their shoulders barely aligned because even though Zadia was tall, Roman was taller.

"No more piggyback rides? I was just starting to like it." Zadia joked, watching her step. She felt so dirty and would give anything for a bed and a hot shower right now. Much like Roman, not being able to brush her teeth was foreign to her. Her body all around was tired, beneath her stomach cramping. She'd give anything for some painkillers too.

"I gotta get my energy back up, before carrying you," Roman explained. "I'm just gonna drag us both down if I don't."

Zadia looked at the cut on the side of his head. It had bled through the bandages she put in last night. The bandages barely stuck to his skin. "Your cut looks worse than it did last night." She let out and turned around. She was kinda pissed off. Not at Roman necessarily, but at the situation, they were in. This was all Cortez's fault. "Why aren't you angry by any of this?"

"There's no time to be." He answered, looking for signs of birds. He didn't see any. "I've gotta focus on getting us out of here and being angry gets in the way of that. It clouds people's judgment... makes them do stupid things." He looked down at the compass in his hand and walked ahead. "I keep thinking of the bright side of this situation."

Zadia glowered. "How could there be a bright side to any of this?"

"Cortez went against everything, just to put a bounty on my head yesterday. And yesterday happened to be the same day, the article about Eliśa was released, which means our plan worked. He's getting tons of backlash from everyone and he's also gonna have to deal with my bosses now."

Zadia's lips twisted. "I don't think he cares, matter of fact I doubt any of that is gonna stop him from coming after us again."

"Which is why I said, anger clouds people's judgment."

"So that's it? You're just gonna let everything play out and not do a thing."

Roman shrugged. "Yeah. There's nothing more for me to do right now." He looked at her briefly. "What?"

"You want my honest opinion?" She inquired.

"No... but if it gets you to drop this subject then, by all means! Speak your peace Zadia."

"I think the asshole deserves more than whatever the media and your so-called bosses are gonna do to him. He's nearly killed us, trafficked people, ruined our... well my life, and had your sister go through a lot..."

"Don't bring my sister up." He grumbled.

"Right, sorry... but the guy is a menace to society. That's also a great movie by the way and you should totally watch it when you get the chance." She pointed out. "He needs to be punished."

"And he will be."

"How exactly? Because it's starting to feel like you guys are enjoying this cat and mouse game."

Roman paused, standing still to glare at her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He asked, taking offense.

Zadia flexed her fingers awkwardly, avoiding his heated glare. "Nothing... it just... it kinda feels like the two of you got this Batman and Joker thing going on. You stick to a script and he takes advantage of that and pulls outrageous stunts because he's expecting it from you. The both of you are playing a game and not taking into consideration what other people are losing."

"Not taking into consideration what other people are losing." He repeated and scoffed. "If I wasn't taking into consideration what other people were losing, I wouldn't have put my whole life on hold to help you and the kid." He argued.

Zadia scoffed at his absurd comment. "You put your life on hold to help your sister, Abel and I are just fucking casualties you happened to pick up." She corrected, speaking her mind. "And besides those stupid defense moves you thought us and shooting a gun, you haven't done shit to help either of us!"

"I haven't done shit?" The glare on Roman's face deepened. He was annoyed with her and the audacity she had to even say any of this. "Whose fucking safe house are staying in?! Whose food are you eating? Whose buying you guys the things to wear? Whose trying to get your life back? Whose going out and making bullshit deals just to get you insulin? I am! Me!" He yelled in her face. "I'm doing all of it, without any fucking complaining. I'm the one risking everything to keep you guys alive. Especially you!"

"You doing all that is the least you can do!" Zadia yelled at him, her finger pointing directly at him. She didn't care that they were both invading each other's personal space, she was irritated with him and wanted to get her point across. "You don't have a right to fucking complain, not when you're part of the reason why we're  screwed!"

"So which one is it Zadia? Am I or am I not doing shit?" He asked her, his body fully turned towards hers. "I don't know how many times I've got to tell you, I don't owe any of you shit. Get that through your fucking skull!"

She clapped. "Congratulations Roman, here's your award for doing the bare minimum." She stuck her middle finger at him and glared. "Now get the fuck outta my face!"

"Make me!" He resorted, wanting to see how this would play out. If he moved and let go of her, she'd fall easily on her own and wouldn't be able to stand without him. "Go ahead, make me!" He said again.

Biting down hard on her lips, Zadia saw what he was trying to do. "Fuck you, Roman!" She wasn't going to fall for his tactics and fall on her ass.

"No, fuck you  Zadia!"

She pressed her pointer finger into his chest, ignoring the fact that she could feel the beat of his heart. "Fuck you!"

"Fuck you!" He shouted, using his free hand to pull at his hair. "It just had to be you out of everyone in the world to be stuck with."

"You fucking bastard!" She cursed her fist clenching. She hated him so much and couldn't believe that they were somewhat cordial last night.

"Yeah, well it takes one to know one!"

Zadia closed her eyes, breathing heavily. She squeezed Roman's shoulder, feeling her lower muscles starting to contract. "Fuck." She said under her breath, feeling the inevitable.

Roman rolled his eyes at her sudden reaction. "What is it now, Zadia? Looking for more ways to get on my nerves?

"Shut the fuck up!" She retaliated, awkwardly trying to cross her legs. "I... I've gotta pee." She admitted out loud and for a long second, Roman just stood there staring at her. To her surprise, she watched as a big smile started to form against his lips, his angry expression vanishing. "Why are you smiling? This isn't funny Roman!"

"Puedo alejarme y dejar que te enojes." He said in Spanish and chuckled, backing away from her. (I can walk away and let you piss yourself.)

She held onto him tighter, hoping to keep him still. "Roman, stop." She said, trying to keep him from leaving. "Don't go."

He chuckled, harder this time, trying to pry her hands off him. "Nope, I'm leaving you here."

"Roman!" She whined. "This is serious, I've got to pee. I can't hold it."

He was finding this whole thing hilarious. It was entertaining watching her squirm around. "You want my help? Apologize then."

Zadia frowned. "Fuck you, I'm not apologizing."

He started to tug his arm. "Let me go then."

She grabbed him. "Okay, okay. I'm sorry!"

Tilting his head, he bit the bottom of his lip. "You mean it? Because it doesn't sound like you mean it."

"Roman, you imbecile!" She said and sighed. "Yes. Yes, I mean it!"

He rolled his eyes at her, knowing that she didn't. Instead of letting her suffer any longer, he grabbed her. "Come on." He said with a huff, guiding her to a more private area that was surrounded by more trees. When he found the right spot, he looked to the ground, patting it with his foot. "Hold onto this." He told Zadia, propping her up on one of the trees so she could lean on it. Kneeling, he dug his fingers into the dirt, making a hole in the ground. "Alright, it's good to go."

Zadia looked at the hole in the ground. "It's come to this."

"Sadly," Roman muttered, sticking his dirt-covered hand out for her to take. He led her to the hole. "Okay, all you've got to do is keep all your weight on your good leg and I'll hold you up so you won't fall." Zadia unbuttoned her pants, pulling them down. "Woah! Give me some warning next time." He said, peeking up at the trees.

As she squatted, he leaned forward trying his best not to drop her.

"I'm wearing a sports bra and you're helping me pee, we're practically BFF. There's nothing left for me to hide from you." Zadia said and began peeing. "Wait a minute... Do you even have friends? I mean, besides Lynn and Adam."

"Mind your business." He answered, ignoring the sound of the liquid coming out of her.

"I'm gonna take that as a no then." She summed it up. "You don't look like the type to have friends... at all. You seem so closed off. Makes me wonder how you acted in high school."

"I didn't go," Roman spoke. "I was homeschooled, thankfully."

"That explains a lot." She stated as she finished. Roman dragged her up, and kicked some dirt in the hole, while she pulled and zipped up her pants. He kept his gaze off her. "You act like a robot sometimes, it's always shocking to see you show emotion. You have a nice smile though." And upon realizing she said that last part out loud, she cringed. "I mean everyone has a nice smile, we're all just beautiful people with smiling faces."

Roman rolled his eyes at her attempt to backtrack. "Watching me smile, now that's a new weird, even for you." They were back on the move again, walking back to the direction they came in. The sky was beginning to get brighter. There was still no sign of any birds. "What else have you been paying attention to?"

"You didn't do any burpees this morning." She told him.

He raised a brow. "Who's to say I didn't do it while you were sleeping?"

"There's no hand bruises on your chest." She pointed out, making Roman stare at his chest and then back at her. "See. I'm a good watcher."

"Watcher? I think the word you're looking for is nosy."

She shrugged. "Same difference." She glanced around. "You think they're still looking for us?"

"I'm not sure, but we're so deep inside the woods they probably decided to leave us for dead. That's what I would've done."

Zadia's stomach rumbled and she sucked in a breath. She was hungry, but she wasn't about to make a big deal about it. It wasn't her first time battling hunger. "New subject. Name a game."

"The quiet game?"

Zadia narrowed her eyes at him. "Nice try, name another one."

Roman hummed in thought. "Two truths and a lie?"

She let out an exaggerated gasp. "Now that's a game I never thought you'd mention. Who else have you played with?"

"Mind your business." He groaned.

Zadia smirked. "You played with Lynn, didn't you?" She asked, but Roman kept his head straight, refusing to answer. "It was her." She laughed. "I'm starting to see you two in a different light. At first, I didn't know how you guys could be a couple, but now I see it."

"We aren't a couple."

"...if you say so."

He looked at her. "Would you start the game before I change my mind? I don't even wanna do this."

"Okay, okay. Calm down." She quickly said before he changed his mind. "I had a twin. I've never tried soda. When people cry, I laugh a lot."

His lips twisted, eyebrows knitting together, thinking about what she just said. "The last one is a truth." He said and paused. "Second one is a lie and the first is a truth."

Zadia snorted. "Did you read a file on me or something?"

"No, you just look like a twin eater."

"I do not." She laughed but rolled her eyes. "I did have a twin, but he died during birth... therefore I couldn't have eaten him." She added. Talking about her twin wasn't something she usually did. She'd forget on several occasions that she had one because her family rarely spoke of it. "Soda is nasty, so I tasted it once and made sure to stay away from it, and I do start laughing when someone starts crying around me." She nodded. "Your turn."

"Umm." Roman started, watching his step. "I don't drink. I've got an ear tattoo. I can't whistle."

"I've seen your ear tatt—-"

He cut her off. "Why the heck were you looking behind my ear in the first place?"

She shushed him, waving off his question. "I think I've heard you whistle before but I'm not too sure if it was really you... but I know for certain I've never seen you drink. Not even when Adam or Lynn does so. Therefore, the first and second one is true and the last one is a lie. Was I right?"

Roman remained quiet and then nodded briefly. "Yeah, you were right." He said and looked at her seriously. "I can't believe you had a twin."

"I can't believe you don't drink."

His hand tightened around the compass, face dropping to an unreadable expression. Zadia's smile dropped instantly because of this. "I think I've underestimated the weather today." Pinching the bridge to his nose, their walking ceased. "There's supposed to be birds out here, but I haven't seen or heard any and there are only two reasons I can think of that explains why."

"Which is?" Zadia inquired, worriedly.

"One. There is no river on this end of the woods and we're too far out to reach civilization, which is why if those rangers are looking for us, we haven't come in contact with them." He ran a hand through his hair with his free hand. "Two. We're having a heatwave today and the birds know this, which is why they aren't here."

"It could be both." Zadia's breathing increased. "We went off the trail and stumbled here of all places that most likely isn't mapped out because everyone knew better than to be on this side. And yesterday... It was hot as hell and it didn't rain. It makes sense."

"It does or we could be wrong."

Zadia shook her head, pushing away the support of his arm so she could lean on another tree. "I highly doubt that." She palmed her forehead, trying to calm herself. "What do we do now?"

"I... I don't know."

Her eyes widened. "You don't know?" She repeated. "How could you possibly not know?"

"Because I actually don't fucking know!" He snapped at her.

"Well then let's figure something out!" She snapped back. "Because I refuse to just give up and die here, where no one would know what happened to us."

"Like anyone would give a shit!" He expressed, out of nowhere. "Your family doesn't give two shits about you, they disowned you! And what, you think Abel and Santino will care? They'll mourn you and forget you in three months tops!"

She stared angrily at him and gulped. He had a point. Her family wouldn't care, but surely Abel and Santino would.

Right?

Her jaw trembled. "Don't project your insecurities onto me, it's not my fault the majority of the family you have either despise you or don't want any contact with you. I don't fucking blame them... you're the biggest asshole to ever walk the earth." She pushed herself off the tree and snatched the compass out of his hand. "You stay here all you want and die, but don't expect me to do the same, you prick." She took off in the other direction, hopping and using the tree as support to move on.

Roman stood there, watching her go. He internally cursed himself, not sure why he said that to her in the first place. It was uncalled for. He could feel a pang in his chest. Her comeback stung, mostly because she had a point. There was an apology weighing on his lips the further he watched her go, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. "Fuck." He muttered.

—————

Zadia stormed through the wilderness, furiously. She knew she looked ridiculous, with all the hopping around she was doing but she didn't care. She had to get out of here and away from Roman before she committed murder. He had issues, issues that she couldn't comprehend. To her, he was every bit of Satan she could imagine.

That was her nicest way of putting it.

"Fucking bipolar asshole!" She cursed sucking in the earthy air, hopping onto the next tree for support. Her working leg was beginning to cramp just as much as her lower stomach. "I'm a good person!" She let out, touching the rough tree bark. "I don't deserve this, I don't deserve any of this!" A part of her wanted to break down like a lunatic and start screaming, but she didn't want Roman to witness it.

She wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

Even though she left him behind, she could hear his feet shuffling against the fallen twigs and leaves, silently trailing her.

Even though Zadia hated him, she was kinda grateful he still stuck around, because truthfully she couldn't imagine being here all by herself. If death was knocking at her door, she'd rather answer that door with someone, than no one. The thought of dying alone felt the same way as making a doctor's appointment for the first time without your mother near.

Petrifying.

Zadia wanted to throw a rock at him, give him a taste of his own medicine, but there was this strain in her. She wasn't him, she was somewhat kind and sometimes caring and they didn't have anything in common.

They were totally two different people.

"Why'd he have to be such a dick?" She thought silently, taking a short break to wipe the sweat from her face. It was hot, the trees doing nothing to shield her from the sun's wrath. "Is it because I'm black?" She joked in her mind but chuckled out loud. She was going insane. Her body felt dizzy, muscles stiffening. Pulling Roman's phone from her sports bra, her grip tightened around it, reading the time. It was one-forty-five in the afternoon already.

Time was moving fast, not giving a damn if she could catch up or not.

"Zadia." Roman, called lowly. It was the first thing he said after his little outburst. His eyes were fixated on her, watching her move in circles, or at least that's what it looked like. "Zadia." He called again, more eagerly this time when he saw that she was ignoring him.

"Fuck off." She practically shouted, voice raspy. She was still catching her breath, throat dry. The thought of drinking her piss crossed her mind so many times, but she knew it would make her worse instead of better.

Besides, it would be outrageous to take that route.

Roman groaned. "Fine, don't stop. Just turn around." He instructed, staring at the chunky bushes next to him. 

"Why?!"

"Would you just fucking do it?" He sighed heavily.

Zadia huffed but eventually began to turn. "Holy shit!" She cursed and blinked. "Are those real?" She questioned him, eyes lingering. She began to hop towards him.

Roman's hands reached out and he touched the berries with dark bruised indigo skin. He squeezed it and then sniffed it, nodding to Zadia. "Blueberries." He pronounced. "Very much real and very much okay to eat."

Zadia raised a questioning brow at him. "You sure about that? This wouldn't be your way of trying to poison me, would it?"

A sly smile graced his face. "As tempting as that sounds. I'm telling the truth." He pointed at the ground, trailing with his fingers the other blueberries that were scattered around. "Some animal already had a go at it, and since there's no dead body it means they didn't die from eating it." He concluded. "They're perfectly safe."

"You eat one then." She challenged him.

Roman shook his head. "I'm not hungry." He wasn't, he was just thirsty, his heart beating rapidly.

Zadia eyed him suspiciously. "Our last meal was hours ago and you mean to tell me you aren't hungry?"

"I'm not hungry and I don't like blueberries. So it's either you eat these or don't, I don't care."

Zadia looked at him and then back at the bushes. The blueberries looked so tempting the way they hung low. "Fine." She picked one off and popped it in her mouth. She moaned, devouring the sweet and flavorful taste. Zadia grabbed more this time, stuffing her mouth as much as she could not caring about Roman's prying gaze. "These. Are. So. Good." She said while she chewed.

"I can see that."

"You sure you don't want any?" Zadia asked, looking strangely at his pinpoint pupils. She'd never seen pupils that looked like his, and as she thought about it, they didn't look like that a while ago.

"I'm sure," Roman said and coughed. He backed away from her as he coughed some more, his chest stinging each time. With both hands on his knees, he launched forward feeling his stomach clench in pain. Even though he heaved, nothing came from his mouth.

The remaining berries in Zadia hand dropped, as she watched him, unaware of what to do. A low growl came from behind them and they both froze. "Roman?" She said anxiously, hearing another growl.

Roman wiped the curve of his lips, with his jacket sleeve and rose to his feet slowly. "Don't panic." He warned her just as they looked at the biggest bear they'd ever seen. The bear stared at them curiously, standing. Roman looked at Zadia who was breathing heavily. "Zadia. Don't panic." He said sharply.

"It's... it's looking right at us." She stuttered.

"That's normal, just... just calm down and under no circumstances do you panic." He turned his gaze back onto the bear. It had very thick black fur, which gave its body a round and a rather large impression. The bear's ears were big and pointy. "Go! Get!" He yelled, spreading his arms to make himself seem as big as possible. "Go!" The bear tilted its head, its wet snout sniffing the air. From his experience in the woods, he knew that this black bear was just curious and more tolerant of humans. But because both Zadia and he were bleeding, it was best to get it away. "I said get!" He yelled again.

With a final glance, the bear turned around walking off in another direction.

"We're alive," Zadia stated. She couldn't believe it. "Roman. We're alive."

"Shh." He shushed her, lifting his head at the sky with a raised brow. "You heard that?"

"Heard what?"

He frowned, trying to listen closely but his mind could barely concentrate because of the pain he was in. "You don't hear it?"

Zadia stayed silent for a moment, trying to figure out what he was talking about. Her eyes lit up when she heard it, it was faint but she could hear it. "It's a helicopter." She let out, eyes on the trees.

"I've got a flare in my bag. It's just one, but if we turn around and go back to that opening we passed not too long ago, they could see us. We could get out of here."

"They could be the bad guys."

The helicopter was getting further away. "Doesn't matter at this point. We'll just try our best to take them out. Our choices are limited, it's either we die here or by them."

Zadia bit her lips but eventually nodded. "Okay... let's do it. We should do it." They draped their arms over each other's shoulders and walked as fast as they could back in the way that they came. Zadia could feel Roman's skin, it was so hot and red that she didn't even feel his sweat. He was completely dry. "You're so not okay."

"Do you have to keep pointing out the obvious?" He grunted, weakness in his bones.

"Yeah. I don't know if you noticed or not, but it's kinda my thing." She said, lighting up the mood.

"Well, being an asshole is sort of my thing too." He told her.

For a while longer they walked, their arms flailing to keep their balance. Both their chest heaved as they drew in huge gasps of air while forcing themselves to keep going. "We're almost there."  She said, feeling him stumble to his left. "Don't give out on me."

"Who's the motivational speaker now?" He breathed, eyes barely open. When they finally made it, their legs gave out almost instantly, the both of them fell to the ground. "The flare." He whispered, head in the dirt.

Springing into action, Zadia unzipped the bag that was around him and pulled out the flare gun. She aimed it high and fired, orange smoke filled the air as it blasted into the sky. "I... can't hear it anymore." She said, tears welling in her eyes. "We missed it." 

"They'll see it," Roman said, but even he wasn't sure.

Zadia clasped next to him on the ground, pulling at her locs. "They're long gone."

"Stop thinking negatively, that's my thing."

Zadia buried her head into her lap, rocking back and forth. "Seems like you're starting to rub off on me."

"I have that effect on people." He spoke, eyes shut. "Or at least that's what I'm told." He lifted his hand in the air, feeling the wind blow. "Why are you so scared of it?"

"Of what?"

"Death."

Zadia gulped. "I'm not... I just don't want to accept it."

"How come?"

"Because if I accept it, it means I've given up and I can't give up."

Roman chuckled dryly. "You're gonna have to accept it one of these days. We all are."

"You're the weirdest person I've ever met," Zadia admitted. "The way you think is so bizarre."

"I've said the same thing about you before." He confessed.

She looked up at him and moved closer. He still wasn't sweating, but he looked sorta at peace "How come you're not afraid?"

"Because death isn't infinite." He stated, simply. "Even when I'm dead, I'm alive."

"Roman?" She said his name, fingers wrapping around his hand. She held it firmly, his skin hot against her sweaty fingers.

"Hmm?" He hummed, not minding her touch this time around. He kinda found it comforting, dying like this didn't seem half as bad. Nothing about this felt awkward. Instead, it felt sorta... natural.

"Shut up." She whispered. Roman opened his eyes, and watched her, not saying a word. Blueberry residue covered her mouth to the edge of her lips. She looked like she put on lipstick with her eyes shut. "Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, her eyelashes batting.

Roman sat up and shook his head. "Nothing." He muttered.

Her eyes went to his swollen chapped lips and lingered there longer than they should have. She instinctively started to move her head closer, and closer, until their forehead touched. They looked at one another, daringly. All it took was one move, one move that would spark something in both their lives. Roman gulped, nervously waiting for her to cross that line. Zadia stopped midway, her lips parting. "Do you hear that?" She asked.

With his forehead pressed to hers, he looked down at her lips slightly confused and didn't answer at first. Not until he felt the harsh wind against his face. "I do." He whispered lowly. "It's our way home."

Zadia let out an ugly laugh, one that made Roman snort. Looking at the sky she spotted a helicopter in the distance. "That doesn't look like it belongs to law enforcement."

Roman smiled, even though it hurt like hell too. "I only know one person who could get a yellow-tailed helicopter in the air, without the air traffic control on his ass." They both let out a breath they didn't know they were holding, until now. The weight on their hearts, lifted.

Adam had come to their rescue.

They were getting out of here, alive.

Not edited. Excuse any errors and point them out.

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