Darius

Sitting at the bar, enjoying a drink with his friends there was Darius. He was inconfondibile. His sleek black hair with a white stripe on the front were his mark. When he moved to Silverwood last year with Romer many had commented about his looks, but after some too close encounters the talks quickly faded. What is he doing here? Could it mean that Romer is with him? And just this thought caused my heart to race.

Then he suddenly stood up and started walking to the exit. Without hesitation I said to the girls “I'll be right back” and started following him. Tara and Cara where shocked as they didn't know what happened, but seeing my face they didn't even try to stop me.

Trying to hide myself I hurried after him, with my pulse racing inside my ears with a mixture of fear and hope. Maybe he could tell me how Romer is or maybe I could even meet him.

Darius had parked on the other side of the lot and as soon as he got into his car I decided that I would follow him wherever he'd go. I tried to keep a reasonable distance, and as we trailed through the narrow streets of the town my mind couldn't stop thinking. It was risky, but I couldn’t let this opportunity slip by. This was the closest I'd be to Romer in the last six months, and I had to explain how I got trapped in that situation. Because mybiggest pain was not the one from rejection, but the one I caused him by breaking his trust. I couldn't forget how his eyes looked at me in total disbelief at first and then they turned into that dark blue that felt colder as a glacier.

Darius drove for a while, eventually making his way out of town and heading toward the mountains. My grip on the steering wheel tightened as I followed him onto the winding road that led to the mountain peak that overlooked the entire city.

Finally, he pulled into a small, secluded parking lot halfway up the mountain. I slowed down, with my heart pounding as I watched him step out of his car, while trying to look for a place where I could hide my presence. He got out of the car and turned around slowly, his eyes meeting mine. I felt my entire body freeze when he raised a hand, gesturing for me to come over.

I hesitated. What did he know? Why did he led me here? Taking a deep breath, I parked close to his car and stepped out, walking cautiously toward him.

"You shouldn’t have followed me," Darius said as soon as she approached. His face was calm, tone wasn’t harsh, but it carried a weight of warning.

"I... I wasn’t—"

"Don’t play dumb, Lya. I know exactly what you’re doing," he interrupted, crossing his arms. "You’re following me because you think it’ll lead you to Romer."

My heart sank, but I didn’t deny it. "I just want to see him. I need to explain. He thinks I betrayed him, Darius, but I didn’t."

Darius sighed heavily, looking away from me for a moment as he leaned against his car. "It doesn’t matter what you say, Lya. Romer’s made up his mind. He doesn't want to see you."

"But he’s wrong!" I said with my voice cracked with desperation. "If I could just talk to him, I know I could make him understand. I would never hurt him and I never ment to do it either that night"

Darius shook his head slowly. "It’s not that simple. He’s not ready to listen. You need to let it go, you need to let the thought of you two go."

"I can’t." My voice was trembling now. "I love him, Darius. How can I let it go when I know he’s out there believing a lie? He trusted me once... I have to make him see the truth."

Darius was silent for a long moment, his eyes studying carefully my face. "Lya, I know you’re hurting, but Romer is... different now. He’s not the same person you remember. All that pain changed him, and not in better"

Ny heart clenched at his words. "What do you mean?"

"I mean that the anger, towards you for betraying him and towards his self for putting so much trust in someone else… it consumed him. He is literally not the same person anymore and even if you net him, you would be scared of this Romer”

I swallowed hard, with fear creeping into my chest. "But he’s still Romer. He’s still my mate."

Darius looked away, his expression unreadable. "Even if you still believe that, it won’t change anything. He doesn’t want to see you."

I felt my eyes filling with tears but I blinked them back. I couldn’t give up. "Then I’ll wait. I’ll wait for as long as it takes."

Darius sighed and straightened up from his car. "You’re not going to stop, are you?"

"No," I said firmly. "I can’t."

Darius shook his head, looking almost resigned. "Fine. But don’t follow me again. I have things to take care of in the city, and you’ll be seeing me more often. But it won’t bring you any closer to Romer."

I bit my lip, feeling a bit of hope despite his warning. "I understand."

With a last look at me, Darius got back into his car. "Take care of yourself, Lya," he said, and then drove off, leaving me standing alone in the parking lot. The cool mountain air around was exactly what I needed to refresh my mind and my thoughts. And while immersed in the replay of all that happened I felt my phone buzzing in my pocket, and saw it was Tara.

"Lya? Where are you? We’ve been waiting forever. Is everything okay?" Tara’s voice crackled through the line.

I took a deep breath, and said "Yeah... I’m coming back. I’ll explain when I get there."

But as I hung up, I felt the weight of Darius's words. Did really Romer change that much or he said it just to scare me? Because if he wanted to do the latter, he achieved the contrary, now more than ever I knew I couldn't give up on Romer.

Romer had to know the truth.