You never appreciate the freedom you have until you get a taste of what it feels like to be locked up.

A few hours ago, Scarlet Greene, on her own two feet walked herself into a place that has danger written all over it. Sometimes you don't need to be told, or a sign post that warns you away, sometimes, the most magnificent of places are the most dangerous.

All that glitters isn't gold after all.

Scarlet breathes in the air of a freedom she never realised she had until today, wrapped in the arms of a man so beautiful it actually hurts. Her own personal saviour. She doesn't know what would have happened to her if he hadn't showed up and shudders to think it. Yet, she can't even dare to pull away from the embrace and look into his heavenly grey eyes. She's embarrassed. What was she thinking getting all over him like that? He has a girlfriend for crying out loud! Scarlet mentally kicks her brazen butt all over the sidewalk. But that should be the least of her worries, she should be thinking about running as fast as possible from the gates of hell that is Nova and the Dragon organisation. So should Theo.

Finally gathering the courage to pull away from the warmth of Theo's arms, Scarlet takes a reluctant step away so they can be on eye level but immediately shudders as the prickly coldness slices through her, goosebumps rising all over her bare arms. Damn those stupid gates for taking her jacket! Her head sways, prompting Scarlet to close her eyes but then she suddenly loses balance.

Theo's arms are around her again in no second.

"Scarlet?" he whispers, literally sweeping her feet off the ground.

"Hmm?" Scarlet hums. She's feels exhausted.

"Put your arms around my neck," Theo orders.

She hesitates but obliges him. Her eyes stay closed, her head is pounding like a drum. The swaying motion as Theo walks to God knows where is making her even more dizzy. She hears a door opening and then she's being reined into a car seat.

"Thank you, Theo," Scarlet says weakly. Theo just puts off his leather jacket and puts it around her front before locking the door and moving around the car. She notices that he isn't saying anything, he's probably as tired. Yet when he comes inside, his jaw is set as if he's angry. What's the matter with him? He should be happy they even got away. Theo sits back and slams the door, not too hard. But hard enough to the attentive ear. Scarlet jumps a little in the seat. He closes his eyes for a bit but doesn't say anything, and the silence is somehow intensified by the thundering of the engine. It's making her insane, so she closes her eyes, stupidly inhaling Theo's scent that's all over his jacket as she tries to sleep.

It seems like a few minutes have passed since she closed her eyes when a car door being closed startles Scarlet awake. She's about to let a loud yawn out but stiffles it when she notices Theo moving around the car without waking her up. Where's he going? Her heartbeat picks up where it left off. Is he planning to turn her in? But ... but he couldn't. . Theo couldn't. Yet Scarlet can't help the panic rising up her skin, she starts shivering as she swiftly closes her eyes, her head pounds harder and she grasps it with both hands, trying hard not to scream out. She wants to be sick.

The shotgun door is pulled open and the headache disappears faster than it came, but Scarlet can't even find it in her to open her eyes. She feels one of Theo's hands under her knees and another at her back.

"Oh," Scarlet can't help the yelp that escapes her when Theo carries her out of the car, kicking the door shut.

Okay. So maybe he's not selling her out.

She opens her eyes, it's getting dark and it's all too quiet and she can't seem to trust anything now. But it's all a big mistake, because Theo could never do her in. Or could he? And they're going the wrong way! "Hey," Scarlet says softly. "Let me down, I'm awake."

"No."

"Um ... but this isn't the right way."

"I know."

"Oh, okay, put me down then ... thank you really, but I can walk."

"No you can't."

What's his problem? Scarlet is too tired to argue. Yet she can't let something go. Theo is not lost, that's for sure. Then ... "where are you taking us?" she asks.

Theo sighs but keeps walking. Oh, so no telling.

Alright Scarlet, you decided you could trust him, might as well do.

Scarlet's shoulders sag in defeat, and when she lets go of the concern, that's when it hits. There's barely any space between her and Theo, he's carrying her. In his arms, and he's warm. She can hear and feel the thundering beat of his heart as it jumps to his shirt, geez! She can't be that heavy! She can feel his arms, electrocuting her instead of making her feel safe.  Her fists clench at her chest so she can keep from touching him. For all she wants is to cling on to him so that there isn't any space left - even if there's hardly any.

Not good. She scolds. Taken, he's taken.

Right. Her subconscious chides. Because he was totally not taken when you jumped him earlier.

Theo keeps up his steady pace to heaven knows where. But shouldn't they be hurrying? Surely... "Why aren't they chasing us?" Scarlet asks. She's so uncomfortable being this close to him, knowing she should be freezing cold but she is not because she's wrapped up in his body heat. And most of all, she shouldn't like her current position so much. But she does.

"They are," Theo replies and Scarlet does a dramatic little jump in his arms.

"Let me down Theo!" She all but shrieks. What is he thinking walking like he owns the world when they're being chased?

Why are men such ... stupid creatures? 

Hmmm... her subconscious responds thoughtfully. The same creatures stupid enough to walk into danger for you because you wouldn't listen ... I wonder too.

Shut up!

"Why are you so grumpy?" Scarlet suddenly asks as she sways in sync with Theo's stride.

He narrows his eyes down at her. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean," she retorts. "Look at you! You look constipated and you've barely said a thing since we got out of there and you're taking me to God knows bloody where!" The first part is not true, no facial expression would ever make this beautiful man look constipated.

Not that he needs to know that.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Theo grumbles but doesn't answer as he places her on her feet and reaches into himself, removing a bunch of keys.
Scarlet sees red. "Look Theo, I'm grateful for your coming to rescue me but you shouldn't have if it was going to bother you this much!"

Really? Ungrateful bitch! 

Oh shut up already! She's getting sick of ... well, her patronising self.

"What are you talking about? I-"

"You know what I'm talking about!" Scarlet growls. "I'm sorry I didn't listen to-"

"Damn right you are," Theo grumbles again, turning the key in the lock.

What ticks Scarlet off most is his calm demeanour! He seems so fucking relax when it's all she can do not to scream bloody murder!

"Right, but I didn't ask you to come and save me so don't take it out on me!" Scarlet realises something: she's making no fucking sense whatsoever. Who should he take it out on then? Who went waltzing into the gates of hell after he warned her?

Not that she's about to tell him that.

Scarlet is so lost in her rebellious thoughts that when Theo pulls her through the door and slams her back against it, "Oh!" she squeals in surprise. His hands are resting on both sides of her head, caging her in. His breathing is laboured and his eyes closed as he inhales and exhales.

Oh, so he wasn't that calm alright. Good!

Theo groans after a while. She's too stunned to respond. "You think, I'm mad at you because you sneaked out of your house while I slept and walked right into danger despite my warning?"

Scarlet nods meekly.

"Hmm," Theo breathes thoughtfully. "I probably should be."

"Hmmm!" Scarlet scoffs.

"Scarlet Greene," Theo's voice around her name does things to her, but Scarlet couldn't name them if she wanted to. She squirms to stiffle the moan that's threatening her female dignity. "I've never met a woman as ... frustrating as you are," Theo is saying. "For fuck's sake! What's so hard about doing something like you've been damn told!"

Theo looks like a raging storm now and Scarlet is trembling, but not from fear, not from the cold either- it's something else. Something she has no name for but it's burning her entire being, and making her brain fuzzy. "W-what are you-"

"I. Told you. To get the fuck out, Scarlet," Theo says through clenched teeth. "It was plain old fucking English!" He's teetering on the edges of roaring now and for some sick reason, Scarlet is enjoying it. She finds the fact that her calm and collected Theo can also fall apart like normal humans...attractive.

She did not just refer to him as hers! Scarlet takes a deep breath, she's going bonkers.

"Do you know, do you have any idea how dangerous those doors are?" Theo interrupts. "But what did you do? You decide to hold them and stubbornly refusing to let go despite what they were doing to y-" Theo suddenly drops to his knees. What is he doing? His scorching palms rest on Scarlet's legs, on her skin, since the legs of her jeans were sliced into shreds. Scarlet moans. "Fuck!" Theo jumps up again, and then there's light in the little cosy living room, and he's pulling her in the direction of a stairwell, Scarlet's brain barely has time to register the contents of the apartment before she's stumbling behind him without a backward glance.

They walk up the stairs, the wall beside the stairs is beige, and illuminated by a tiny dim yellow nightlight made for coaxing beautiful dreams. There's only one frame with a painting of a rose garden. Up at the landing, Theo opens a door and when they enter inside, it's a bedroom- a very vast and spacious bedroom.

What catches her attention immediately is the floor to ceiling glass window, covered in transparent magenta curtains. Resting against the wall beside it is a white rocking chair, on which there's a big pile of clothes. Her eyes move around to the enormous beauty of a bed, it's a beautiful beige colour and there's a heap of both beige and yellow pillows and throw pillows all over the coverlet, and it's headboard is yellow. It's a nice combination of colours. "Nice," Scarlet comments timidly.

"Hmm," Theo grumbles as he drags her to the bathroom. Her interest in the house dissipates immediately, what's with him? He throws the bathroom door open and leads her in, before closing the toilet lead and sitting her down on it. Scarlet doesn't even bother to look around anymore. She just watches his every move. Theo moves over to a small vanity in the bathroom, pulling out a chest and getting a pair of scissors before crouching down beneath Scarlet. "Hold still," he mutters.

"What are you doing?" Scarlet snaps.

"You're hurt, I'm trying to see how much." He cuts through the torn legs of her jeans, clipping them so that they are now jean shorts. Oh so that's what's got him grumpy. Wow.

There's blood all over her legs and fore arms but other than that, nothing, no wounds. Scarlet knows that.

"I'm fine Theo," she says, grabbing onto the edges of the toilet to stop the urge to massage his scalp. The man will kill himself from stress before his time. When Theo examines her legs, he finds that indeed she is fine.

"Oh," Theo frowns. "Right." He gets up and does a little check on her hands then walks to the sink.

"Why did you bring me here Theo?" Scarlet asks. "I didn't see any sign of us being chased. Why didn't you take me home?"

Theo draws a big breath as he walks back, squats down and takes her arm, slowly wiping at it with a warm towel. "That's the thing Scarlet, a company like NATD doesn't chase. It attacks, trust me there's someone keeping watch at your house right now." He's looking up at her from beneath his long lashes.

"Oh," Scarlet says, understanding. "Right. Won't they find us here?"

Theo looks thoughtful for a moment then shakes his head. "I don't think so, I lost them."

"You, you ... wha ... I thought they didn't chase?" Scarlet stutters.

"Yes, that's the rules. But there are exceptions to every rule."

"Oh," Scarlet gasps as realisation dawns. "I see, I'm the exception to this no chasing rule, aren't I?" Her heart has begun to race again. What do they want from her? Could she have worked for them in her other life? Were they the ones she collected information on people for, using Han? That would explain Victor's need to make her remember. Was she really that useful? Or maybe... or maybe he was making sure she doesn't remember anything again. Holy shit! Scarlet's blood rushes to her ears, they're whirring. What ... Theo must know something! She opens her mouth to ask but he interrupts by doing a little shake of her biceps.

"Scarlet for fuck's sake!" Theo curses, her eyes finally zone in on him. She blinks. "I didn't say that you were, stop assuming things and jumping to conclusions." He gets up and bends so that he can place his lips firmly on hers, leaving them there until Scarlet has forgotten everything, including her name.

Theo pulls away and crouches down again. "Here, give me your leg."

Scarlet lifts a leg for him, and Theo delicately removes her boot and sock before wiping it slowly with the warm towel too. "Do you need a shower?" he asks.

Scarlet shakes her head. "No, later," she says, watching him carefully erasing all the dried up blood marks.

When he's being like this, Scarlet feels she's never given Theo full credit, all along she has thought she was falling for his good looks, but it never was the case.

It has always been everything about Theo, all except his looks.

It had been the both worried and relieved expression in his eyes when she woke from unconsciousness a lifetime ago.

It had been the faint recognition Scarlet managed to find in the grey eyes of a complete stranger.

And the fact that whatever happens, Theo is always there somehow, taking care of her, looking out for her. It's as if he's her personal guardian angel. He's not her one call away, because she's never needed to call him.

It had been the random hand holding and the rare hearty smiles he shot her now and then.

It had been the jokes, and the long amounts of time they spent in each other's company. The fourteen simple dates he took her on, the sharing of personal information and the fact that just like her, Theo trusts Scarlet with his life.

It's not about his looks, Scarlet realises, it never was.

Yet she can't help but wonder if he doesn't feel guilty. All this, it counts as cheating... surely?

"Food?" Theo interrupts her reverie.

"Nope." Scarlet could cry. Why did he have to be in a relationship?

Theo shakes his head. "You really need to eat so-"

"Can I ask you something?" Scarlet interrupts him. "Personal?"

"Please do." He seems to be in a better mood now.

Scarlet doesn't know how she should phrase it, but it's eating her up. So she opens her mouth to say it how it comes out. "Uh ... what about Ivy?" she blurts and her face flushes.

Her subconscious yawns boredly. So you remember to ask now, eh?

"Oh," Theo smiles, a breathtaking soft smile, and reaches for her chin, brushing it with the soft pad of his thumb. "Look at me Scarlet," he says. "Ivy and I are not together." 

"Oh!" Scarlet's heart all but leaps with joy. And she doesn't ask for the why's or when's. Whatever happened shouldn't be something he likes to talk about, and she doesn't care why they broke up, does she? If he wants to tell her, Theo will do it his way anyway. But at least, no more walks down the guilt lanes. That's a relief.

She barely notices when Theo finishes cleaning her legs but squeals when he lifts her off the seat and carries her to the bedroom. What's with him and carrying her? "I can walk you know?" Scarlet suggests pointedly. She doesn't like being made to feel vulnerable ... delicate.

Theo raises an eyebrow and smirks down at her. "Can you?"

Scarlet means to glare at him, but their eyes meet and hold, and she can barely choke out a response. Scarlet swiftly looks down and with great irritation finds that she's looking at her chest. Theo's chest vibrates with barely restrained laughter. Scarlet's face turns beetroot red. "Fuck off!" she snarls but can't help laughing at herself too.

Her heartbeat picks up where it left off as Theo lowers her onto the bed. It doesn't even dip. She makes a mental note to eat more.

Theo doesn't make any move to leave her personal space, he stays hovering above her face. "Do you think I would have kissed you if I were in a relationship?" His hands are resting on either sides of her hips on the bed, his voice a deep velvet that has her knees shaking. "Do you think I could've l - liked you this much, if I were in a relationship?" He's getting closer now, Scarlet can hear the wild flow of her own blood beneath her flushed skin. "I probably would have," Theo answers his own question. and I'm a very principled man, Greene, I loathe cheaters." Theo answers his own question. And he's going to kiss her again, Scarlet can see it as his eyes move to her lips. "But you're just that irresistible, Scarlet Greene."

She’s trembling, her heartbeat fastening and fastening as his face leans lower to hers, it’s not as if this is going to be her first kiss, it’s not as if she didn’t kiss him mere minutes ago. It shouldn’t scare her like this, yet Scarlet knows, that if this kiss happens, it’s going to be it. It’s going to be that one kiss that changes everything, the one that complicates life and demands a label.

No, this, unlike their first three kisses, is not the type of kiss leading into nothing. It’s not the kind where you kiss and move on each to their business. And as she realises this, she can almost see it in Theo’s eyes too. There’s a glint in them, a fire that burns brighter than lust. It both warms her heart and scares her to no end- yet still, it burns every fibre of her fear to ashes, along with everything  surrounding them.

The bed disappears and Scarlet feels like she's floating, beige walls and magnificent glass windows and magenta curtains seem like a distant memory now, everything blurs, until all there’s left for her dazed eyes to see are his eyes that have turned an astonishing azure blue that goes deep and deeper- disappearing into infinty, and all that’s left for her to feel is the intense heat ignited by his skin through his clothes seeping onto her own skin.

One of Theo’s hands comes around her waist, softly sinking into her tank top, and his fingertips graze the skin on Scarlet's back until his palm brushes the skin on her stomach- scorching it. In one pull, Scarlet is on her feet and against the hard panes of Theo's chest.

He looks down into her and her eyes instinctively close. "But we're in luck," Theo whispers breathlessly. Scarlet can't help opening her eyes.
And there he is, looking like a raging storm, it's the second time he's looked like this in one day. Yet this is different. Scarlet has never seen a man look so ... wild.

"Because," Theo continues. "we're both very single."

We don't know that, Scarlet would say if she could find her voice. She would tell him that she could be married to Celine's dad for all they know. After all, they did meet on the day of the accident that claimed a part of her memories.

But Theo then lowers his lips, nibbling at her jaw and Scarlet shudders and loses all sorts of sense, her lips part like she’s resurfacing from the depth of the sea, eager to catch some oxygen- and when his mouth finally touches hers, she does, she feels herself come alive, blossoming like a yellow flower in spring.  And right here in this moment, nothing can convince Scarlet Greene that she isn't the most beautiful being alive- if not magical.