Page 130 of Uprising

“And you?”

He pauses. We both can hear the nervousness. The hint of something in my voice. That I’m not ready for that.

“I’ll sleep on the floor.” He says gently.

“You don’t have to.” I say quickly.

He smiles. “I want to. I’ll be able to watch over you both. Keep you safe.”

“I need to get dry first.” I mumble.

“Good thing I bought some more clothes then.” He murmurs.

I look away as he gets up. His shirt is sticking to his chest and I can see the outline of every muscle he has.

When I get to my feet I pull the towel so tightly around me. I don’t know how to reconstruct who I was, who we were before, and who we are now.

He walks into the bedroom and I toss the sopping wet towel, replacing it with a dry one.

He’s put some clothes on the bed. I snatch at them before fleeing back to the bathroom once more. I yank on the leggings. They’re fleece lined and my body is immediately grateful for the warmth of them. And then I pull the hoody over my head. It’s Roman’s I realise. It’s his hoody. I can smell him. I shut my eyes, welcoming that scent, feeling the relief as it spreads over me.

And then I walk back out.

He’s tossed his shirt, tossed his trousers, and pulled on some sweatpants. But he’s topless. Completely naked from the waist up.

I stare at him, all but gawp. His body looks leaner. Like he’s lost weight but he still looks so strong.

And then my eyes find a scar, a mark on his chest that wasn’t there before.

His fingertips brush at where I’m looking. He draws in a low sigh.

“That’s where they shot you?” I murmur.

He nods. “They missed my heart by a few millimetres.”

I bite my lip realising how close I was to losing him. “How did you get help so quickly? How did you survive?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I don’t remember. Ben saved my life.”

I step up to him, my heart feels like it’s hammering in my chest so loudly. I want to hold him, I want to touch him, to kiss him too and fix all his pain but I know that’s too far. Way too far.

“I guess you two are even then.” I murmur.

His lips curl. “Yeah I guess we are.”

We walk backto his room in silence.

I feel like there’s so much I need to say, so much I need to explain and yet I have neither the words, nor the energy to do so.

His room is small. Utilitarian. The biggest thing in there is the bed. There’s a clothes rail against one wall and all his belongings seem to hang off of it. It’s a far cry from the millionaire lifestyle that either of us are used to.

Lara is curled up in the bed. Bella jumps up and immediately snuggles into her.

“She really helped.” Roman murmurs.

“Lara or Bella?”

“Bella.” He says. “Having her here, giving something for Lara to focus on, to take care of.”