Finn POV

As my eyes opened-I realized it wasn't dark anymore, it was shining bright, and I immediately panicked. I should be in my studio, not here. With fear, I tilted my head to the side and confirmed my terror.

Cheryl was awake. Her head was depending on her palm while her elbow supported her as she stared at my bare skin.

Shit!

I slept off. I was sure she must hate me more than she did before.

And when our eyes met, I forced myself to explain. With a sharp swallow, I began. "I didn't mean to. I wanted-"

"Do you really mean it when you said you love me?"

What?

My pupil must be dilated, for even I could feel the confusion I wore immediately, those words left Cheryl's lips.

"Why?" I questioned the girl staring at me.

"I've never loved anyone romantically but... but I am hoping you could teach me." Her voice was shaky, timid even.

Alright, I am dreaming.

I scoffed at myself and sat upon the bed, scanning the room with my eyes. I waited for another unusual event to hit me.

"Or have you changed your mind about how you feel for me?" She asked softly, with her head inclined, avoiding my intense stare.

I still couldn't believe what I was living, so I climbed off the bed barefooted in my black joggers. Of course, I was shirtless. I'm sure it's usual to appear in the same outfits in your dream, right?

With questioning eyes, I head across the room and peep through the permanently closed window-where everything looks natural. My men were in position, and nothing did I spotted that looked fake, yet Cheryl, the girl I kidnapped, was telling me something that we all knew would never happen.

"Finn?" She called again with a frown on her face.

My heart was beating against my chest when I shook my head. "You're going to stab me or shoot me again, aren't you?" I asked her.

Cheryl lifted herself to a sitting position and folded her legs. Her eyes were still on me; she was partly scared, for it was obvious she was trying to suppress the fear. Although the regret was evident on her pretty face and I wanted to take my words back. "I'm sorry I shot you. I've never been the person comfortable around weapons. I wish I could take it back. I wished I never left this room." She mumbled.

Those words only left me more perplexed as I stared at her unbelievably.

Is this part of my punishment? My hell? For killing Teddy and Reddy? Is this some guilt coming for me? Believing Cheryl wanted me so I could wake up and find her shuddering against the wall.

"This isn't real, is it?" I frowned and swallowed at the girl I wanted. She was pouting on the bed across the room.

I watched silently-with my breathing audible as the girl in my dream began to approach me. Each step she took added more anxiousness in me. I don't know what to feel, excitement? Fear? Worry?

Cheryl halted in front of me. She was tall around girls but tiny around me. She was slender and perfectly sculptured, her blonde hair was slightly bouncing all over her shoulders and arms, and her skin-even with visible wounds were glowing like diamonds as the sun hits her flesh.

When her hand came to my jaw, I immediately became more lost, for her touch was real, but my head was telling me I was a jerk to believe Cheryl could ever touch me that way, stare at me that way.

Her touch was soft and comforting; it raises goosebumps on my skin, God! I love her. I want her.

I stared into the depth of her lustrous-lucid eyes. They were soft yet inquisitive as they shone with the reflection from the yellow sun, bringing life into me and everywhere.
I looked cautiously for hatred, loathe, or fear, but all I saw was honesty.

This wasn't real; I still couldn't believe it.

"Show me how to love you." She pleaded.

Cheryl POV

I felt weak, for my arms still hurt due to what I went through days ago, but my soul was relaxed, and I knew the reason why.

My eyes flew open, and I found him lying there, beneath me. He looked peaceful and calmed and freed from all worries.

And for once since I met Finn, I saw him differently. I was able to see the side of him that I never noticed; I couldn't find that monster of a murderer I had become familiar with. It was a boy lying underneath me. It was someone new, someone hurting, someone who needed to be loved, someone who wanted me to rescue him.

I didn't know how to, because I've never been involved in a romantic relationship, I don't know how it feels to love someone, but I'm hoping I could try and be what he needed.

Steph was right about Finn. Yes! he made terrible mistakes, but at the end of the day, he was just some ordinary boy who was hurting, who was lonely. I always thought he kills for pleasure, but last night, I heard a reason, a reason stronger than anything.

The reason that made me fear for myself-for I feared my dad was a murderer and my mom was nothing but the same.

With thousand thoughts in my head, I quietly watched the man who would surely kill for me. Not just like a proverb, but actually kill for me! The man who killed people he loved because they hurt me.

I still feared Finn, for I've never come across someone like him, but with every willpower I had, I forced myself to feel him.

I moved my body back and let my eyes scan his bared skin, every single inch of his chest. He had a bandage on the spot I shot him, which made me feel so much guilt.

I wish there were a way to tell him how sorry I was, but there wasn't, and it was a painful thing at that moment. Apart from the need to meet my parents that was stinging me on that bed, only not because I wanted to escape from Finn but because I wanted to know the truth about Eric Hayes, and I was sure my parents had it.

I needed to confirm my doubt. My parents aren't terrible. They couldn't be. They were people who helped civilians, right? That's what they are. I thought.

I was scared and preoccupied when Finn's eyes met mine. He looked panicked. He had no idea I wanted him there last night. I wanted him next to me. I think if I was honest, last night, we both needed each other.

That's why I cut him off when he began explaining himself.
"Do you really mean it when you said you love me?"

His eyes suddenly widen as confusion takes over his expression by my unexpected question.

"Why?" He questioned, taken aback.

I swallowed for I couldn't explain it, I still haven't understood everything, but I'm willing to try even though it was with the famous ruthless murderer who kidnapped me. "I've never loved anyone romantically but... but I am hoping you could teach me," I suggested.

It took him some seconds to take in my words when he stared at me like I was some ghost.

He let out a scoff and pushed himself up to a sitting position. His mouth was slightly agape when his eyes scanned the room.

Maybe he doesn't have the feelings in him anymore. Perhaps I was just overreacting, so I swallowed softly and looked away, embarrassed.

"Or have you changed your mind about how you feel for me?" My voice was quiet, but I asked anyway. I wanted to know.

Finn climbed off the bed and looked down from his bare torso to his feet. His eyes were suspicious when he kept observing the environment and even peeped through the window. It was like he didn't believe everything at the moment.

"Finn?" I called him, bothered he was acting differently.

And he confirmed it to me when he said. "You're going to stab me or shoot me again, aren't you?"

That got me to sit up and steadied my gaze on him.
Pulling the trigger was the worst thing I've ever done and also the hardest. I was scared, and I wanted to protect myself, but God knows I never meant to shoot him. I couldn't hurt anyone, not anything. "I'm sorry I shot you. I've never been the person comfortable around weapons. I wish I could take it back. I wished I never left this room." Guilt and regret were evident in my tone.

Finn was puzzled, and all he did was stare at me like everything was a delusion, and I don't blame him. It is not usual for anyone who had just witnessed so much hates from a specific person to wake up to that same person attempting to love them back all of a sudden.

"This isn't real, is it?" His lips formed a frowned when he swallowed with his eyes settled on me, and his breathing became excessive that I could hear while I encouraged myself to stand before him.

Finn was staring at me like I was a dream, so I proved him wrong and brought my hand to his jaw, only he sucked on his breath and became more mazed with his eyes never leaving mine.

He was slightly shuddering, just like his heartbeat was. He swallowed numerous times, I could hear.

I was sure he didn't believe I was real; I could see it in his eyes.

And right there-I wanted to love him, I wanted to make him feel loved, I wanted to prove him wrong about how he saw the world. My parents may have helped make him the person he was at that moment, but I wanted to help make him the person he was meant to be. All I needed was a head-start, for I was just as lost as him.

"Show me how to love you." And so I pleaded, looking through his deep limpid brown eyes.