Carmen picks up her pace, and soon enough we're jogging towards Headquarters to find out why the heck the sensor broke down. When I look up at the opening of the Black Hole, there are many red lines criss-crossing each other, blocking the only way out of this place.

"If I didn't know better," Carmen says, "I'd say it was Chance who decided to come back down."

I let out a breathless laugh, and shake my head. Carmen smiles. We're on good terms now, I guess, no more the backstabbing-dramatic-sarcastic people we used to be.

Upon reaching the "Wastelands", Carmen sighs and begins hopping between the debris again, and I follow suit, always on my toes, always looking out for danger.

Carmen throws the doors of Headquarters open. Inside is pure chaos. There are so many people, demanding answers and in small groups, speculating different reasons for the lockdown of the Black Hole. I cover my ears at the noise. It's irritating and makes me want to yell for the people to shut up. But I don't. If I want to survive, I mustn't rebel.

Then I stop short.

He's here. From across the sea of people I spot his dark hair and blue eyes. Oh stars. Oh stars. Oh stars. He's here. In the Black Hole.

"Carmen," I grab her arm, and she raises her eyebrows.

"C-Chance. He's over there." The words leave my mouth and Carmen stands on her tiptoes, glancing over the crowd. Her eyes meet his and she smiles. A worried, but happy grin breaks out over his face too, and my chest aches. His eyes shift a little, and come to rest on me.

His smile evaporates, and I quickly avert my eyes, keeping my head down. "I'm feeling unwell, I'll be in the room," I murmur to Carmen, who frowns at me, and grabs my arm, stopping me.

And then a strong, familiar arm wraps around my waist, and I turn around to look into the eyes of Dustin. I thrash in his grip, kicking his shins, and he rolls his eyes, throwing his hands up in mock surrender. I don't know what to think of him now. He means well, it appears, but he's still being a jerk.

"It's just that we've found out why the Black Hole has shut down and locked is in here," he says, and I straighten up.

"Why?" Carmen and I ask unanimously. I have a feeling that Chance is staring at me right now, but I don't want to turn around. I shouldn't be forgiven, not by him, not at this moment.

"Because of me," someone says from my left, and I turn around, startled.

And there he stands. He stares right at me, and I try to look away, but I can't. There is so much I want, I need to tell him, but I'm so afraid. I'm afraid he'll walk away or hate me or...

I don't have any time to think before Chance's lips are on mine. He gently pulls me closer, wrapping his arm around my back, and I can feel it. I can feel his lips against mine, the heat of his breath on my cheeks, the pressure of his arm on the small of my back. I kiss him back, because I'm too scared. What if we run out of time tomorrow? Will I ever get to tell him I love him?

Chance deepens the kiss slowly, savouring every second, every moment. I get lost in his arms, and my fear temporarily evaporates. I pull back slightly for air, his lips trailing to my cheek before he brings his mouth back to mine, and he murmurs my name softly, so quietly that I almost don't catch it. He tightens his arms around me and his kisses turn a little more urgent, like he needs to tell me something, like there's something I've been kept in the dark about.

I match his pace, and on a whim I run my fingers through his dark soft hair. He pulls back, and I kiss the rough stubble on his chin, his cheek which still has a faint bruise on it and the tip of his nose. I've missed him so much, and I don't ever want to let him go. Standing on my tiptoes, I brush my lips against his, faltering for a second as he stares into my eyes.

What about Carmen? I may need to let him go. I will need to let him go.

But I don't want to. However, I must keep my word, shouldn't I? I'm about to pull away completely from Chance when he presses his hand to the back of my head and kisses me again. This time, his lips are soft and comforting, as if he knows I'm hurting. For us. I love him more than ever, and I'm regretting my decision back then. I shouldn't have been so rash, so stupid.

He gently slides his tongue against my bottom lip, and the touch is so foreign but amazing that I gasp, and Chance's tongue slips inside my mouth. He picks me up, off the ground, and I wrap my legs around his hips as he playfully teases my tongue with his own. Unconsciously I let out a moan, and immediately my face heats up. Chance chuckles, and deepens our kiss. I want to stay in this moment forever, where I can just relax and be me, and be loved.

"Get a room!" Carmen yells from behind us, and slowly I pull away from Chance. He steals another kiss or two before I unhook my legs and he sets me on the ground, pressing another kiss against my lips. Dustin and Carmen and Samantha-I've not seen her since I saw the drafts-stand there, watching us, and Sam applauds us both, while Dustin scowls and Carmen just has this weird smirk on her face.

"Hi," Chance says, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly.

Carmen laughs, and shakes her head. "That was one grand entrance, Adams."

Chance spreads his arms, and Carmen walks into them, and they embrace each other. That moment is so sweet, so heartbreaking, I have to look away because I feel like I'm intruding on their private moment. Still, jealousy flickers to life in the pit of my belly when Carmen flicks Chance's nose while he still holds her and they both smile as she says, "You've been very naughty, you know. Everyone's on the lookout for you, and you still have the guts to come back down here?"

Chance laughs, and his eyes meet mine. I stretch my lips into a smile for him, but there's this pang in my chest when I realize that the one who can really make him smile all the time is Carmen, and that he's always worrying about me, and that maybe I'm not good enough for him.

Chance lets go of Carmen, and comes to stand by me. He gently uses the pad of his thumb to wipe away something on my face. The world seems to go silent, even though there's so much noise and chatter.

"Why are you crying, princess?" Chance gently kisses my forehead, and that's when I break.

Through hiccups and sobs I tell him everything, from when he left me and how I lost my sense of touch, to how I "killed" my parents, to the time when he came and how Dustin confessed later on that he loved me.

I tell him every single thing that has been killing me softly, everything that has always been there, an invisible barrier between Chance and I. I let go of all the hidden feelings inside of me, all my insecurities, but I hide one thing, one last thing from Chance.

I don't tell him about the promise I made to Carmen. I don't tell him that I love him deeply, although I do, because it'll be so hard for me to let go of him when the time comes.

Chance gently rubs my back, and that's when I realize we're in the room I've always stayed in, and I'm curled up against Chance, who has his arm around me and is always soothingly taking my hands and massaging them because I'm picking at my skin and pinching myself for no reason at all, and he constantly uses his thumb to pull my lip from my teeth when I get to a topic that's really hard to raise and I begin to bite and chew on my lip. These little things he notices about me just makes my heart melt, and makes me want to kick myself.

"Okay," Chance says, and then asks me to open my mouth. When I do, he places a ball of rice on my tongue, and tells me to eat it. Only then do I realise I haven't eaten both my breakfast and my lunch. As if reading my mind, Chance chuckles, and ruffles my hair, before dropping a kiss onto my nose.

"She missed out one thing, Chance," Carmen says from where she leans against the doorframe. I stiffen, and stare at her, wide-eyed.

"On purpose?" Chance draws his brows together. I know I was supposed to be completely honest with him, but......

"From her expression, it seems so," Carmen casually remarks, and Chance sits up, running a hand through his hair.

"Amber," he starts off, "when, when will you start being completely honest with me? I know I've not done much to prove myself trustworthy, especially after the incident at your house, but Amber, our relationship isn't going to work out if you're not going to tell me anything."

I try not to whimper when he says "our relationship".

"I can say that I kind of blackmailed her, so it isn't completely her fault," Carmen says, and sits on her bed.

"Blackmail? Seriously, I've been here for less than a day, and there are already so many problems regarding my girl?" He turns to me, and taps my nose. "I'm not the naughty one anymore, it seems."

Carmen laughs. "Yeah, yeah. Anyway, we made this deal."

My breath hitches, and I bite my lip.

"As long as I help Amber take Edit down, she'll let me have you," Carmen laughs. "I can't believe she actually fell for it, that I honestly meant it. But hey, see? The cause is more important to her than you."

"What did you say?" I sit bolt upright.

Carmen rolls her eyes, smiling. "Someone needs a hearing aid."

"Shut up," I say, smacking her with a pillow. Chance remains silent, and it starts to worry me. I steal a glance at him. He just stares at both of us, breathing deeply.

"I said, that I didn't mean it. I don't want Chance. He's my best friend, and that's it. Yes, I've been friend-zoned. Happy?" She rests her chin on her hand.

"And you're not going to help us." I say slowly.

Carmen breathes in slowly, before releasing a breath and looking at Chance. "Dude," she says, "seriously, how stupid can your girl get?"

Chance cracks a smile and pulls me to his side. I search his face with my eyes as fast as I can, looking for any hint of emotion. Is he angry at me for not being truthful? Does he have something he needs to tell me? Is there-

Chance rolls his eyes and wraps his arms around me, positioning us so that I'm straddling him. I blush, but Chance just buries his nose in my hair.

"Duh, I'm going to help you. You're not the only one affected by Edit, you know."

"But how? We're stuck in here." I say, slightly breathlessly because I'm getting distracted by Chance, who is now slowly kissing down my neck.

"The sensor will be replaced soon, and then we'll just break that one."

"It's not that easy, Carmen," I say, my voice uneven as Chance presses his lips against my collarbones, before kissing up the other side of my neck at a painful tortoise speed. Again, against my own will, a low moan escapes my lips. Chance raises his head and smiles at me, before capturing my lips with his.

Carmen starts laughing. "You two are really disgustingly in love. I'm going to leave you two lovebirds alone to do whatever you want to..." She gets to her feet and stands by the door. "But remember to use protection!" She yells before shutting the door and speeding down the hall, leaving me blushing furiously and Chance laughing.

I climb off Chance, and lie down in my back, staring at the ceiling. I'm feeling extremely nervous right now, because I don't know what's going to happen and I don't think I'm ready and I-

"You think too much, baby girl," Chance shakes his head and lies down next to me, nuzzling my neck. It sends shudders down my spine, the good kind. Then he turns my head, and presses his lips to mine, and I end up getting a little preoccupied for the next hour or so.

•

Hello! So this is the first romance scene I've written and please excuse me if it is really terrible because I don't have much romantically experience as a person. ;).

The song attached is Crazier (from "Hannah Montana: The Movie" soundtrack) by Taylor Swift.

Have a blessed Christmas (for those who celebrate it)! There'll be a special two chapter update for this amazing day.

-NeverEverGiveUp-