Wrong.

It echoed endlessly inside Mia's head as if she was standing inside a cathedral and he had screamed that simple word at the top of his lungs.

Wrong.

Mia looked at herself through the mirror and then bent down to splash some water in her face. Her eyes were tired and her skin looked pale. She was exhausted.

All this, all of what had been going on with Eli – the lying, the secrecy, the clusterfuck of emotions that went on between them... it was getting to her. That's why she'd told Eli she'd be spending the night at Zoe's tonight. That she needed the distance. The space. She imagined he did, also.

Clicking off the light and stepping into Zoe's living room where Zoe was sitting with her laptop – big surprise – Mia felt her body relax after what felt like an eternity of stress. Perhaps getting involved in all of this with Eli had been too much after all. He had warned her, and Caleb had, too, but she hadn't listened. She wasn't even in deep yet, but she was already mentally exhausted, and on top of everything, she had to act normal and attend school every day. It was just too much.

"Thank you again for letting me stay here tonight," Mia said and sat down on the couch next to Zoe. "I can't tell you how much I needed that."

"Hey, no problem." Zoe briefly looked up from her laptop and offered her a smile. "What are friends for?"

Zoe really was an exceptional friend. Even after learning that Mia and Eli had been 'secretly dating' from Anna, she had just shrugged and said it wasn't really her business. Zoe wasn't too caught up in girl-drama like Anna, so as she had put it to Mia; "Whoever you want to date is your private business. You don't judge me when I hack into people's secret stuff, so why should I judge you for who you choose to sleep with. Besides, Eli seems cool."

That was all. She didn't say more, no more comments or questioning of why she chose him or why he was staying with her. Mia could hardly comprehend how cool Zoe could be with it all, but then again, Zoe was an individual.

"So what are you doing?" Mia asked while wrapping a blanket around her legs.

Zoe sighed frustratedly. "Trying to ignore Ceynius. He keeps messaging me, while I'm trying to work."

That caught Mia's attention and woke her up. Ceynius was Caleb. "You're still talking to him?"

"Yeah, he won't leave me alone. I can't block him out." She growled, trying to close a black box that kept popping up.

"How are you able to stay in contact with him?" She frowned when a thought occurred to her. "You told me he's unable to track down – you even tried with your little bug which he killed, so how are you able to stay in touch with him?"

Zoe bit her lip. "It's kinda complicated."

"Try me."

Zoe sighed, then looked at her. "Alright. He invited me into his space."

"His what?"

"Imagine if you will that cyberspace is like actual space; each star is a hacker with their own universe or galaxy. Some are bigger and better, some are smaller and easier to crush."

"Right," Mia said, nodding when she followed.

"Ceynius, or whatever his name really is, is not a star or a universe," She continued. "He has created something entirely different, something he's calling a black hole. A black cyber hole to be precise."

"And what is so special about that?"

Zoe looked seriously at her. "Mia, you have no idea what he's managed to create; A black hole. A space where literally no one can trace him or find him, a place where he's completely isolated – off the cyber grid. Nobody knows what's in there and nobody can get in unless he invites you inside himself. It's unheard of, it's simply uncanny. He's managed to create a place where he's completely safe and untraceable."

Mia had to swallow. She didn't speak computer, but she could imagine it was the equivalent of someone being able to create an exact replica of the Mona Lisa. Or something like that – something that was equally impossible. "So... he invited you into his... black hole?"

"More like dragged me into it. He swallowed my galaxy, so to speak, and he's taken control of my computer and won't release me. He's keeping me prisoner, doing whatever he wants with my server and makes it glitch every time I cross him or misbehave, according to him. Kinda like BDSM for cyber hacking."

Mia couldn't help but let out a burst of laughter. That was hilarious. "So what are you going to do?"

Zoe sighed frustrated and pouted. "I've been trying to find a way out, but it's impossible I tell you! Every time I overwrite one of his security protocols, two new reproduces. He's taken the hydra concept and converted it into a digital form. You know, the greek mythical creature that grows two new heads, every time you—"

"—cut one off, yeah, I know." Mia frowned. "So you can't get out? At all?"

"No, and he's starting to piss me off!" She growled. "These messages keeps popping up all the time, like; 'watcha doing, Smurf?' 'You made a calculative error in your dissertation, Smurf', 'Did you try cracking my new firewall, Smurf?' 'Are you trying to find me on Facebook again, Smurf?'" Zoe read in a high-pitched voice and then closed her laptop. "I'm not a smurf!"

Mia had to bite the inside of her cheeks not to smile. It seemed that Caleb was growing a little crush on her. Understandably enough – him and Zoe had more in common than a pair of identical twins, and Zoe's work had to be fascinating to him.

"So, just to get this straight; You're only able to stay in contact with him because he's invited you—sorry, dragged you into this black cyber hole," Mia quickly corrected herself after the glare Zoe sent her. "No one else can get into this metaphorical hole? He's safe there as you said?"

"Well, yeah. Safe in the matter of cyber contact," Zoe shrugged. "His black hole is untraceable, but that should be impossible. That's what annoys me, but is kinda amazing at the same time. Everything – no matter what movies say – is traceable. It all just depends on how great a hacker you are – and I'm the best," She growled and looked at Mia with a stern glare. "When I say it's impregnable, it's impregnable. I couldn't believe it when he first dragged me in and I couldn't trace him. I thought it was some kind of really weird fault."

"A fault? A fault in the... metaphorical stars?" Mia smugly grinned.

Zoe gave her a deadpan look. "Very funny. You keep making jokes, I'll continue to try and hack myself out of his black hole."

"I'm sorry," Mia snickered and then wiped off her smile. A new thought occurred to her. "So this cyber hole... Nobody can read your messages or trace the link between you and him? In other words, it's a completely safe line of communication?"

Zoe gave a shrug that resembled a yes. "Well, that is if you actually assume you want to communicate with him. He's not giving me much of a choice here."

Mia leaned back into her seat. Her heart started pounding after what Zoe just confirmed.

A safe communication path. That meant... that meant Eli could probably communicate safely with his friend through his black cyber space without being worried that Caleb's signal would lead the people who where after him back to him.

"I'm gonna go to bed," Mia said, standing up and grabbing her iPhone from the counter. "Sleep tight."

"Easy for you to say," Zoe muttered. "I think I'm going to pull an all-nighter, thanks to Mr Chatterbox here. I can't get any work done."

Mia let out a small laugh, then went to the guest bedroom Zoe had prepared for her. Closing the door and locking it, she sat down on her bed and dialed her home number. Thank God she was so old fashioned she still had a landline and an answering machine.

As suspected, Eli didn't pick up when she called. Why would he? Technically he didn't live there and nobody could know that he did, so why would he answer?

When it went to voicemail, she spoke. "Eli, it's me. Are you there? Pick up the phone. Please." She waited a few seconds, but nothing happened. "Eli... I'm not sorry about earlier. We need to talk about what we are, but it can wait for now. I learned something new about Caleb tonight, something that might be a way to put you in contact with him without it being traceable. If you would just—"

"How?"

Jesus, his voice startled her. It sounded even more lethal over the phone.

Swallowing a lump, she continued. "Hi. Are you okay? Is Elana—"

"Tell me or I'm hanging up."

Mia sighed, but then explained to him everything about the cyberspace and the black hole, then about the link between Caleb's and Zoe's communication. When she was done, there was no reply. "Eli? Did you understand that?"

Another moment passed. Still nothing.

"Eli?"

"I got it. Thanks. Have fun with your friend."

"Eli—"

Disconnected. The beeping cut her short and with a long sigh, she pulled the phone from her ear.

Why did he have to be so difficult? Everything about him was difficult. His ink, his words, his mind, his ways, his past, his present and most likely also his future. Why couldn't he just be simple on one point?

Standing up and dressing up in her clothes again, Mia grabbed her overnight bag and walked out of the guest room again. Zoe hadn't moved since she left her, but when she saw Mia coming out with all her stuff, she raised a brow. "What's wrong? Are you leaving?"

"Something has just come up," She replied, hoping that Zoe would be as understanding about this as she had been with the rest. "I'm so sorry, I know you prepared for me—"

"It's okay, Mia. Whatever you need. I'll just see you Monday then?"

Mia smiled gratefully. Zoe was a blessing. "You bet. Thank you."

~~~

Mia unlocked her apartment and walked in with a nervous flutter in her stomach, fearing the tension that might strike at any more, only to walk in and instead see the most strange and comical thing she had ever seen in her living room. It completely made her stop up and just stare.

There, leaned up against her couch, sat Eli with her laptop in his lap, with Elana sitting behind him on the couch with a bunch of Mia's hairstyling shit. Bobby pins, scrunchies, headbands and even some of her pink hair clips. She was working on Eli's hair, which was positively filled with plastic flowers, butterfly hair clips and bobby pins. Several chunks of his hair was tied up with pink and yellow hairbands, which made it look like he had antennas on his head.

– All the while Eli just sat there, typing away on Mia's computer with a serious expression.

Mia cracked and let out a laugh. It made Eli shortly glance up before he turned his attention back to her computer. "You're home."

"Yes, I am. What are you guys doing?"

"I'm hacking and Elana wanted to play hairdresser."

"Oh. Wait, what?"

"Hairdresser."

"No, did you just say you were hacking?" Mia questioned and frowned. "I thought you said computers weren't your thing, back when Caleb—"

"I said they weren't my thing, not that I didn't know how to work them," He irritatedly replied, typing a little harder on her keyboard. "Caleb was always better, but I knew how to hack before him."

"Right..." Mia nodded and then finally took off her shoes and her jacket. She had completely forgotten to do that by the adorable sight of the tattooed guy getting his hair fixed by a five-year-old. "So what are you hacking then?"

"Your friend Zoe's computer."

"What?!" Mia sputtered. "Zoe's—why?!"

Poor Zoe. Her computer had been getting violated so much lately, she was feeling physical empathy for it.

"You said Caleb created a black hole, a hole which nobody can trace or find. The only way to get in is to get invited or dragged in. Zoe is already in, so I'm trying to access her system so that I can—"

"—so that you can get in contact with Caleb through that," Mia finished for him when she followed his line of thoughts, to her own big surprise. She shook her head, impressed. "That's genius."

Eli didn't respond. He just kept typing again, the crease between his brows growing deeper. The harsh light from the computer lit up his face and made his eyes seem even more lethal as they stared the computer screen down.

Something suddenly occurred to Mia. "My computer was password protected."

"You seriously think I wouldn't be able to get into your computer?"

She sighed and decided to drop it. There was no point in talking to him about personal property and invading privacy at this point. He had obviously already cracked her computer a long time ago. "Did you guys eat dinner yet?"

"I cooked Elana pasta earlier."

"And you ate as well?"

"Not hungry."

"Well it's almost eight o'clock," Mia noted after a quick glance at her wristwatch. "You should put Elana to bed."

"You do it, I'm busy."

Mia blinked twice in surprise. "Me? But... I-I don't know her that well and I don't speak..."

Eli abruptly stopped typing, turned halfway to face Elana and then signed her something. She pouted, but after a few more signs from Eli, she brightened up and nodded. Eli then turned back and resumed typing on the computer without a glance at Mia. "She's okay with you tucking her in as long as she gets to eat Coco Puffs for breakfast tomorrow."

"Oh," Mia said and then looked at Elana who was already getting up off the couch, running to the bedroom. "Alright then."

15 minutes later, Mia had managed to tuck Elana into bed. It was difficult for her, though. With any other small kid, she would've sung a song or read a story, but since Elana couldn't hear, that was pretty much out of the question. Finally, they settled for drumming on their stomachs until Elana had then fallen asleep a few minutes later, a small smile on her little face. She looked like an angel sleeping. Hell, she looked like one when she was awake, too; smiling and shining with joy.

That was probably what completely sold Mia about Elana; Perhaps she knew what was going on, perhaps she was oblivious, but in either case she stayed happy and cheerful, even though she was missing her brother. That, to Mia, was an amazing thing coming from a five-year-old.

After dimming the lights and shutting the door, Mia came back into the living room and experienced a strange kind of déjà vu; Eli hadn't moved, just like Zoe hadn't when she had emerged from the guest bedroom at her place. Maybe that was a geek thing; Sitting there, completely caught up in something without moving. You could sit there for hours and not notice time fly by.

Eli was monitoring the screen, but at the same time pulling out all the hair-stuff from his hair. He didn't even look at her as Mia walked up to the couch and sat down behind him like Elana had, only she placed a leg on either side of him so that he was nestled between them. He didn't comment, didn't even give it any notice. He just typed some code into a black box in the computer and then sat still again while it processed it.

An impulse made Mia softly place her hands on his shoulders and begun massaging them. They were as hard as dense wood, but his skin was soft and warm beneath her touch. She liked it.

"I'm not your boyfriend."

Mia stopped massaging for a moment. So now he wanted to talk. "But you're not just my friend either."

"We don't have anything. I've fucked you a few times, that's it. That's what I do. If you can't handle it, it's not my problem."

"That's it? What do you mean?"

He sighed after a moment, then begun typing some more code. It honestly looked like Chinese to Mia. "I don't do friends. Caleb was an exception. Look where that got him."

"We can be friends, you know," Mia said, pressing her lips tightly together. She didn't know if a friendship was what she wanted, but a relationship – or at least attempting to make one work with him – wasn't really the best thing right now, either. None of them were in a good place at the moment to start anything up. "You can keep staying here, but the flirting and the sex has to stop then. No more calling me 'princess', and no more half-nude drawings. Platonic friendship."

He scoffed. "A platonic friendship between a girl and a guy that's already fucked? And they said stopping global warming at this point was ambitious."

"We can do it, Eli," Mia said, forcing some firmness into her voice. "You just have to learn to trust me like I trust you."

"You trust me?"

"Yes, Elijah. I trust you. I wouldn't have let you stay here if didn't, nor would I have felt comfortable with you being here without me, but I do. I trust you, and that's that."

Mia felt like she had said what needed to be said. They had established they were going to try for a friendship, or at least now he knew that that was what she was offering him. He now also knew that she trusted him, which she truly did, even if it meant that that trust would probably cost her her privacy. She didn't mind it. Eli could go through all her stuff if that's what it took for him to trust her back. It would perhaps take some time, but eventually—

"C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S."

His suddenness surprised her and pulled Mia out of her thoughts. "Huh?"

"They're called C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S." Eli curtly repeated, still typing away. "The people who are after me, that's what they call themselves."

• • •

I could use a beer right around now.