Andreus tried to sleep, but it was impossible. A year had passed since the first and last time he saw her. One fucking long year, he thought. And all that time, he had never forgotten her. Never.

But obviously, it wasn’t the same for her.

He closed his eyes, but the memory of her persisted in haunting his mind. He kept seeing her face – her beautiful, blank face, with its empty blue eyes and equally empty smile. Where was the sunlight that had almost blinded him? The innocence that had made her so precious the mere thought of touching her had his hands shaking with fear?

Unease eventually turned into physical discomfort, and he got out of his bed with a curse.

Damn her.

Goddamn her.

But he was already walking out of his room and padding down the hallway until he reached the bedroom that had been specifically reserved for her use. His fists clenched at seeing the light peeking from under her door – he knew from past observations that she slept with the lights out, so what did this mean?

Was she still awake – or had something happened that made her afraid of monsters in the dark?

Andreus’ heart slammed against his chest as he slowly reached for the knob.

It turned easily under his fingers, and his heart slammed harder against the wall of his body.

He came in without making a single sound, and the door swung shut just as silently behind him. But even so, he knew. Even with her sitting so still on the bed, long dark hair gathered over one shoulder, pajama-covered-knees tucked under her chin, and her gaze turned towards the infinite sea of blackness outside her windows – he was damn certain she knew she was no longer alone.

His hackles rose. She was ignoring him. Again. Just as she had so patently ignored him the moment she and her brother came out of the airport, her gaze meeting his without actually seeing him, smiling at him without actually meaning it –

“Damn you.” The words crushed the silence in the room, but she still didn’t turn towards him, and he found himself even more livid – and broken. His long-legged strides ate the distance between them in moments, and soon he had one knee on the bed as he reached down to clasp her shoulders. “Look at me, damn you.”

And when she still didn’t move a muscle, his ire rose and his pain deepened. His grip tightened, and then he was forcing her to face him –

“What is it, damn you? Just spit it out.”

But her blank blue eyes only stared up at him.

“You’re messing with my brain,” he growled, “and I don’t fucking liking it.”

The words were so unexpected it startled Hallie out of her stupor, and she said haltingly, unthinkingly, “That d-doesn’t make sense.”

No, he thought grimly, it didn’t make sense. Nothing about her made sense. Nothing about them made sense, and yet for some goddamn reason his life had become interlinked with hers the moment they had met.

His gaze trained on hers, he said curtly, “Something’s wrong. Isn’t there?” The way she jerked was his answer, and his jaw clenched. “Spit it out.”

Hallie’s lip started to tremble. “I can’t.”

The pain ravaging her voice made him want to kill whoever it was that hurt her, over and over until that person knew angels like Hallie should only be cherished.

“No matter what it is,” he said quietly, “you know you can tell me anything. You know that. You’ve always known that---”

Hallie shook her head. She wanted to believe him. Oh, how she wished she could believe him. But she just couldn’t. She was too ashamed. “I just can’t,” she choked. “It’s different now---”

“Nothing’s different---” Her tiny cry of pain cut him off, and Andreus’ blood ran cold.

“Everything’s different,” Hallie whispered. “And there’s no…there’s no going back.” The pain of remembering the past made her numb, and she squeezed her eyes shut, wishing there was a way to forget everything.

“Imagine…imagine a man you’ve loved your whole life.”

Who’s Daddy’s girl?

Me, me, me!

“Someone you t-trusted without question…”

Daddy, I’m scared.

Come here, sweetheart. Daddy will protect you.

“And then all of a sudden, that p-person changes.”

Hallie? Can Daddy come in?

The memory of those fateful words clawed at her mind, forcing her to relive her nightmare in terrifyingly vivid detail.

The way Nelson Athanas licked his lips as his gaze slowly ran over her body, the heavy rasp of his breath, and the stifling, sickening feel of his embrace as he pulled her to his body – one that she no longer thought as reassuringly, comfortingly solid but had become grotesquely corpulent.

I just miss my little girl.

And most of all, oh God, most of all, she remembered her silent screams –

No! Please! No! This can’t be happening! No! No! No!

When her eyes flew open, and she let out a gasp as if she was drowning, Andreus didn’t even let himself think. He simply broke into a run and yanked her into his arms. A part of him expected her to struggle, but she practically crawled onto him instead, causing Andreus to fall back on the bed.

She curled atop his body, head pressed against his chest, and a moment later, her tears began to seep into his shirt.

“Can you imagine it? Can you imagine how it felt,” Hallie asked painfully, “knowing that his touch has changed?”

He whitened.

“But you still let his touch linger. Y-you let his hand stay where it’s not supposed to be…”

Oh God. No. Fuck no. Not Hallie.

“You let things happen because you just wish…that maybe…” Her voice cracked, and something in him cracked, too. “Maybe it’s not real. Maybe you’re just imagining it.” Blue eyes lifted to his, and this time it wasn’t blank at all. This time, he saw in it a whole world of pain.

“But you’re not.”

Horror at what she was saying, at realizing what she had to fucking go through made him cup her face with shaking hands. ““Theo.” God. “How much did he hurt you, Hallie?”

“Never in the way that would leave scars.” Her voice was toneless. “Yuri protected me.”

She looked at him then, as if waiting for him to say something else, and his face hardened. “Are you thinking I’d blame you for this?”

“It’s possible, isn’t it? That I could’ve done something to make him change---”

“Bullshit.”

“Because it would have been legal, you know. Yuri told me I’m not his child,” Hallie revealed shakily. “I’m our mother’s indiscretion---”

“Doesn’t fucking matter. He acted like your father your whole life, and he knew you loved him like a father. Nothing you could do or say could make someone cross that kind of line. It’s a choice, and that man chose to be a monster.”

When she only looked at him, he cupped her chin, saying fiercely, “There is no way you can blame yourself for this. And if you don’t see that for yourself, then you’re a fucking idiot---” The words were out before he could stop himself, and Andreus cursed under his breath.

“Did you j-just call me an idiot?” Hallie’s voice was full of hurt.

Andreus silently cursed again. “I didn’t mean to---”

“Liar!”

His temper threatened to get the better of him at the slur, but Andreus fought to keep his voice steady. “Fine then. I did call you an idiot, and I did fucking mean it---”

Hallie’s hands flew to cover her mouth.

Ah, fuck. He had always known he sucked at doing this kind of thing, but only now did he see for himself just how bad he was at comforting other people.

“Hallie---” And then he saw it.

The faintest sparkle in her eyes, and the way her slim shoulders was shaking –

Well, fuck.

“You little liar.”

A teary smile precariously made its way to her lips as she lowered her hands. “It took you long enough to catch on.” If he had gone on and on saying one platitude after another, she might not have completely believed him. But hearing Andreus actually call her an idiot?

It had convinced her he was telling her the truth like no other words could, never mind if the line of thinking also made her appear masochistic.

As Hallie pressed her palms against his strong chest, warmth spread through her at the thud of his heartbeat and the fiercely protective way he was gazing up at her.

“You’re okay now?” Andreus asked unsmilingly.

“Not yet…” The betrayal was still too raw, and she didn’t think the nightmares would fade anytime soon. “But I think in time…”

“You will.”

It was almost like he was ordering her to be okay, and…since this was Andreus, he probably was.

Andreus saw a helpless smile bloom over her lips, and the sight struck him like a bolt of lightning.

Fuck.

Several awful truths suddenly hit him.

They were alone, they were on her bed, and she felt too damn good in his arms.

“I should go---”

“No!”

In an instant, Hallie had turned into dead weight above him, and Andreus would’ve smiled if not for the excruciating way her soft, trembling flesh was now pressed against his.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

“Get off me.”

The low, furious growl would’ve terrified most people, but this only made the tiny brunette on top of him shake her head.

“Hallie, dammit.”

“N-No.” She wasn’t sure if it was courage or sheer stupidity that was making her defy him. All she knew was that when she was close to him like this…she felt like there was something in the future to look forward to.

“I said get off me, dammit.”

It was just too bad Andreus clearly didn’t feel the same.

“No.”

Andreus’ teeth gnashed against each other. “You know I can push you off me without any trouble, right?”

“But you won’t.” Her voice was muffled against his chest. “Right?”

Andreus swore in Greek then, and she almost giggled.

“Umm…you do remember I’m also fluent in Greek, don’t you?”

He cursed some more, this time in English.

“Is it really that bad---” The rest of Hallie’s words turned into a gasp as Andreus suddenly held her by the nape…just before his teeth nipped her ear.

Ooooooooooooh.

“Now,” Andreus whispered into her ear, “do you get it?” He bit her ear again, and she made the most delicious jerk against his body. When he tried prying her off him, she no longer resisted – but she didn’t let him leave her bed either, catching hold of his hand before he could sit up.

“Please just stay?”

Hallie’s plea, uttered ever so sweetly, was his downfall.

Ten minutes later, and both Andreus and Hallie were lying on their sides, facing each other in the darkness. “Andreus?”

“Did you want me here just to pester me the whole night?”

He heard her giggle, and it was the most beautiful sound in the world. He heard joy in it. Peace, too, and most of all, he could feel the way she had reclaimed her innocence through it.

“I just want to ask you a question.”

“Can’t this wait until tomorrow morning?”

“Nope.”

He released a heavy sigh of exaggeration, and he smiled at the way it made her giggle. He could listen to that sound forever.

“Just one question, I promise.”

“Just one fucking question,” he warned, “and if you ask more, I’ll be reaching for the duct tape.”

More giggles.

“I’m not fucking around here.”

“I promise.”

“Then what’s the damn---”

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

Andreus choked. “That’s seriously what you want to ask?”

“Uh huh.”

But it was a lie, and they both knew it. Maybe she really did want to know the answer, but more than that he could sense the pain of her father’s betrayal, still lurking like her own personal boogeyman. And so when she sat up and asked again, “Do you or do you not have a girlfriend?”

Andreus knew exactly what to say. “I plead the Fifth.”

Hallie choked back a surprised giggle. “Why won’t you just tell me?”

“Which answer is likely to get you to shut up and sleep?”

“I’m serious---”

He hauled her down and had her under him in an instant. “So am I.”

Even knowing it would be futile, Hallie still found herself squinting madly in hopes of finding his face in the darkness. “I don’t understand what you’re trying to say,” she whispered. “Why can’t you---”

A hollow laugh played in the darkness, and her voice trailed off.

Ah.

And now, she did begin to see.

“The fact that you don’t get it is answer enough, baby doll.”

And now it was getting clearer and clearer –

“I’m saying it doesn’t matter what my answer is.”

Too clear now actually that she found herself yearning for the darkness she had once foolishly shunned.

“I’m saying that my answer doesn’t matter.”

Hallie’s breath caught when she felt his fingers graze the edge of her cheek.

“I’m saying I’m not like your brother.” His fingers touched the corner of her lip. “I’m not like Helios or Kellion. I’m not like you---”

“But you know things like that don’t matter to me---”

His fingers moved over her lips to silence her.

“It may not matter to you now,” Andreus said grimly, “but sooner or later it will.”

His fingers left her lips.

His body left hers.

And even though they were lying on the same bed and staring at the same blanket of night, it was no longer the same.

Hallie fought hard not to cry, and Andreus struggled not to say all of it was a lie.

I’ll make him realize he’s wrong, she thought fiercely.

I need to stay as far away as possible, he thought bleakly.

But in the years that passed, neither of them had been able to do what they wanted.