The plan works. He frees Arianna and stumbles, holding his head as I gawk at him. Red liquid starts trailing down, with each passing second the stream of blood getting more.

Is it me or has the bar gone quiet?

"Prendili! Get them!" he shouts.

The bottle gets yanked out of my grip and when I look up, Adrien is standing next to me with worry, muttering words I can't comprehend.

His hands are warm against my shoulders as he shakes me, I blink, staring at him, as he keeps repeating himself with urgency. Blinking again, the world refocuses, and I understand what he says.

"Run!"

I survey the club. The man is on the floor. But a lot of guys, clad in black, are making their way to us, from everywhere. Are they his bodyguards? I knew something was off about him.

Did I kill him?

Oh my god, I'm so screwed.

Then I notice Dylan by Arianna's side. Adrien pushes my purse into me before grasping my other palm and pulls me in the opposite direction as Dylan and Arianna dart to the rear door.

With the last tug, my limbs regain their senses and I try to sprint. I ignore my ankles twisting once in every three steps, the adrenaline pulsing through my body overshadows the ache.

I peer, five men are racing towards us.

We are officially fucked.

I clutch Adrien's hand as he runs ahead, and I follow him as we rush out.

The pavement makes it harder to run as Adrien takes different turns to lose them and I struggle to maintain my balance. They keep drawing closer with every second.

Each time my foot slaps the ground, pain shoots up my legs, lagging further behind. My muscles scream in protest. The sad reality of never showing interest in any physical activity therefore not having the capability of running dawns on me in the worst moment possible. We make a turn and I peek backwards. The men aren't in sight.

I let go of him and stop, panting.

He halts and spins to me. "Eleanor, we need to move faster." He reaches for me, but I pull away and shake my head.

"I can't more than this," I wheeze.

He curses under his breath while pushing his fingers through his hair. A quick glance ensures they haven't reached yet. "Take them off," he declares.

"I will not run barefoot in these streets, do you know how many bacteria-" I begin. But he cuts me short by covering my mouth with one of his hands and places the other around me and hauls us into the nearest dark alley.

My back hits the cold brick house, his grip on my shoulder tightens as he removes his other hand.

He presses his index finger to his lips. Adrien carefully peers over the side, taking in the surroundings.

We stand there in silence, in fear of my heels' clicking giving away our hiding spot. I concentrate on the sound of their footsteps, loud and clear, echoing in the dark and silent night.

One palm placed on the wall, and his other on my shoulder, still holding it in a firm grasp. His cologne tickles my nostrils as I try with desperation to calm my ragged breathing with deep and even breaths. His chest rising and falling in equally rapidly, lesser than an inch apart from me.

As the noise recedes, Adrien peeks out, scanning the surrounding before securing my hand in a tight grip. We make our way to the bridge. It's our only path of returning to our hotel.

Halfway through, far voices speaking in rapid Italian grow louder in worrying speed. Adrien's grasp tightens as he jogs, making me run behind him. Expecting to keep on going in a straight line, he makes a swift turn into a narrow alley, causing me to almost lose my balance. He climbs up the stairs to a house two at a time and as he reaches the landing helps me go up the five steps. He peeps out. They come closer and his hand settles on my bare shoulder-blade.

"I think the guy was a drug lord, maybe the owner of the club or something. I saw him getting off his car when I was on the phone," he mutters. His focus set on the entrance of the alley. Oh shit. "He had about twenty-five bodyguards. Probably eleven of them are chasing us. We can outrun them," he whispers, his warm breath tickling me. His jade eyes lock with mine. "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen," he softly promises. He gently squeezes my shoulder in reassurance. I nod and he smiles.

The shuffling footsteps near. I shut my eyelids and focus on them. They're panting too. They part and only two men's steps' echo in the vacant passageway. I cease breathing and Adrien's arm slides around my waist, pulling me to himself protectively. He places his mouth next to my ear, "Be ready to run," he murmurs, tingling my skin.

But then they stop. One of them complaining that they would have seen us if we were here. With reluctance, the other agrees and they retreat. Relief washes through me as I relax and dare myself to open my eyes and instantly become trapped in his. An unreadable emotion flickering in them. He scans my face, darting from my eyes to my lips and back up again, repeating a few times.

The sounds grow distant, but my heartbeat's rate accelerates. I'm almost certain it has to do with the intensity of Adrien's gaze and not this absurd situation I've got us all into.

"We should start moving," I push out the words, and something in him snaps. Hesitantly, he nods and backs away.

He descends the steps and holds out his hand for me and helps me climb them down too. We make our way to the end of the alley and enter a narrow and darker than the previous one.

Halfway through it, he stops and turns, letting go of me. "We have to stay here until we're confident they've left from the main ways that lead to our hotel," he states and leans to the brick wall next to him.

The humidity can be sensed. This could only mean we are still near the river. It's too dark for my liking, and I'm grateful that life is not a flop action thriller movie, otherwise, this would have been the beginning of our problems.

I nod and lean to the wall across from him. The contact causes chills to run down my spine as the warmth from all the running is replaced by the cool air. Tonight is going to be a chilly night for me. With a sigh, I rub my palms on my upper arms.

The realization of what I did creeps into my mind.

I hit someone with a beer bottle. Not just any man, a club owner or maybe a gangster. Also ran from a bunch of bad guys. This is literally my first ever actual adventure!

An unfamiliar sensation courses through my body as my lips tug upwards until I'm full-on grinning to myself.

"What?" Adrien's voice brings me to reality.

I shake my head. "Nothing," I mumble. The strange sensations mix with shame and fear.

Did I kill him?

What if he dies? Oh my gosh, I'll be a murderer! I'd be screwed.

My Harvard admission? My future? Mom and Dad!

"Do you think he died?" I blurt out, unable to function better or control my thoughts and drumming heart.

The only source of light is from the moon and a faraway building's widow. Adrien appears odd in this lighting when he looks at me, his eyes fix on my face. Without hesitating, he replies, "No,"

With fidgeting fingers, I open my mouth to reply, but he's faster, "He shouted orders. I'm pretty sure he's alive and thirsty for our blood. Don't worry," he offers a small smile.

I rub my brow while gulping the fresh salty air. If he is attempting to be funny, it's not working.

Eventually, he sits down on the ground and I stand there, surveying the entrance, shifting my weight from one leg to the other. The pain in my feet getting too much to bear, I try to occupy myself with anything.

Adrien loudly sighs, drawing my gaze to himself, he stands and takes off his jacket, and walks to me.

Tilting my head, I regard him with confusion. He ties the sleeves around my waist; I protest, but he ignores me.

"You must rest, we'll probably be walking all the way back," he recommends.

Before I can respond, loud voices break the silence.

We stand still and I hold my breath as the men talking Italian near us.

From what I've been able to gather, they're the same pursuers. Adrien peers the entrance. His hand finds mine and engulfs it, ready to run if they spot us.

But the footsteps stop, as two of them convince the other that we can't be here either. They don't come further and retreat.

His shoulders visibly relax as I sigh. He looks down at the same time as I glance up and our eyes lock, his lips part and I draw away my gaze.

Adrien takes a step backwards and clears his throat. He suggests, "I guess they'll keep monitoring this area for a while, we should rest until we're sure they've left,"

I nod my agreement. He goes and sits on his previous spot and watches me expectant, with raised eyebrows.

Enough trouble for a night, I decide not to cause more problems by offending him so I walk and sit next to him.

The cold ground makes me almost regret my decision of sitting. My arm brushes with his, my skin welcomes the warmth of it.

I should have worn something warmer.

I stare at my legs and cover them with the sides of Adrien's jacket.

"That was a cool thing you did there," Adrien expresses in a soft tone, the edges of his mouth turn upwards. I gape at him, heat rushing to my cheeks. He adds, "I never expected you would do that. It was great." A warm smile spreads across his face, crinkling the corners of his eyes as he fixes them on me. His dimples on full display.

"I shouldn't have-" I begin, but he interrupts.

"You did the right thing, I'm glad you did that," he reassures with a wide grin. "From now on, we should be careful not to piss you off when there's a beer bottle in your reach." I roll my eyes and he chuckles and continues, "Who knew Eleanor Evans, the one and only scrawny with glasses, could be so dangerous! I should avoid getting on your bad side at all costs! Man, I definitely don't want my skull split in half."

I cross my arms in front of my chest. He laughs again as I mumble, "Not funny,"

As his laughter dies out and he shifts into a serious expression, focusing on his clasped hands. He talks in a low voice, "I shouldn't have said those stuff in the club, I didn't even mean them. I'm sorry,"

I shake my head, "No, I should be the one apologizing for ruining your night,"

"You didn't ruin it, that asshole did. Don't apologize, I shouldn't have left you there alone, anyway. I'm sorry for everything I said from the start." He keeps tapping his feet together, avoiding to look at me. With a sharp intake of breath he continues, "It was a shitty thing to say, about the whole flirting. But did you mean it when you told me you were being polite?" he asks, squinting.

"Yeah, I was serious." I nod.

For a second he stares at me blankly before starting to shake with silent laughter while I stare at him with confusion. "What?"

A wide grin playing on his lips, "You're truly one of a kind,"

If I'm supposed to understand his comment, and what he means, I don't. And my expression shows it. He shoves his hand through his hair and shakes his head dismissively. His gaze moves from me to the alley's entrance.

Exhaustion kicks in as we sit in complete silence, minutes ticking by. I press my head to the wall, closing my eyes with the promise of opening it in a moment. But as it nears its end, I promise myself another minute. Until eventually, I give into the calmness, and the warmth from Adrien's body as my head gets heavier to hold in its place. Not long after, it tilts to the side, landing on something hard but warm. Too tired to care, I fall asleep.

✈︎ ✈︎ ✈︎

"Eleanor," Adrien's tender voice and the feel of his finger lightly caressing my face, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear wakes me. My eyes fly open. "They're gone," he whispers.

I pick my head from his shoulder, nodding, and rub my eyes. He pushes himself off the ground and helps me up. With a hand on my upper arm and the other on my waist, he steadies me.

"Do you think you can walk?" he questions in a soft whisper, scanning my features.

I nod again as I try to untangle the jacket's sleeves. With a struggle, I unwrap it from myself. He includes, "Keep it, you're cold." And puts it on me.

After he secures my palm in his, we make our way back to the main street. Walking to our hotel wordlessly, Adrien wraps his arm around my shoulder, helping me to stay steady and not to stumble.

For the first time, this proximity isn't scary or stressful. But maybe that's because my brain is too drained to produce those feelings.

After what seems like forever, we reach our hotel and go to our rooms.

As I fish out the keycard from my clutch and unlock the door, I realize Adrien has not moved an inch. I push it wider and step in it before turning and facing him.

His green-blue eyes, looking darker, greener locks with mine.

He opens and closes his mouth a few times before finally saying, "I forgot to tell you, you looked gorgeous tonight," and looks away, a deep flush coloring his cheeks. He clears his throat and with a glance at my face adds, "Good night," and without waiting for a reply rushes down the hall.

I yawn and close the door. He truly is a weird guy.

Too tired to give a second thought to it, I fall face-first on my bed and into a deep slumber.

+++

((Thanks for reading this chapter.

I enjoyed writing it, hope you enjoyed reading it.

So, things are going to get a little interesting and tbh, I can't wait for you guys to read chapter 45 XD Yes, I'm really excited for it =))

Therefore, I'll be updating tomorrow too =))

Thanks again for reading, lots of love <333 ))