It couldn't be real. The man facing her could not be Davyn. Not with his perfect black suit and scarlet shirt and tie, not with that look of boredom on his face. He gave no sign that he had any clue who she was.

Maybe in a cruel twist of fate, Snitch Gravel just happened to look exactly like Millie's boyfriend.

"It's a girl," he deadpanned.

"Yes, I know," Harkin said, sounding a little apprehensive.

Millie couldn't take his eyes off the person in front of her to look back and assess how this turn of events influenced everything. She didn't even have the strength to let out a word, ask Davyn what was going on. Why she was still afraid.

"Well, don't just kneel there, take a seat." He indicated the chair waiting in front of the desk.

She couldn't. She didn't think she'd ever be able to move.

"Do you want me to make you?" Harkin growled from behind.

The threat got her moving into the chair. Her shoulders and knees shook, and she was a second away from choking on her tears. Her mouth opened, but no words came out. There were too many questions for her to be able to pick just one.

"Now, what is a little girl like you doing in a place like this?" Snitch Gravel or Davyn asked. "A bit far away from home, aren't you?"

The only answer she could give was a sob. Was it really Davyn, or had she gone insane? Maybe she was terrified enough for her mind to conjure the one person she truly loved to replace the evil. Except it made everything much scarier.

"I think you broke her brain, boss," Harkin said with a laugh.

Davyn smirked at this, but it was a perverted version of the smirk she knew, of the one directed at her before he said something naughty. "I do tend to have that effect on people." He leaned over the desk, coming closer to her. He smelled like Davyn. "So, what is this? Why are you here?"

To find you. To figure out what you're doing.

She opened her mouth, but the words wouldn't come out. Why are you doing this? Tears filled her eyes again. Her heart beat into her throat, making her nauseous.

"Was this a dare?" He pressed on. "To see if you could catch a glimpse of Snitch Gravel?"

The way he said it, the emphasis on the verbs, made her certain he wanted an answer. The outing he gave her felt safe, so she just nodded.

"Huh, I didn't think it was a thing," Harkin said.

"With that crowd outside the school, I wouldn't be surprised," Davyn retorted, then turned his cold gaze back to her. "Well, here I am. So what now?"

She had no answer. She just wanted to crawl into a ball and cry, forget any of this ever happened. The sound of footsteps from behind indicated that Harkin had moved closer.

"This isn't good. We can't just have random people waltzing in here."

"Agreed." Davyn turned to her, his eyes narrowed and calculating. Then his attention shifted to the papers strewn in front of him, and he started jotting something down. "What do you want?"

"What?" she choked out.

"Now that you're here and confirmed I'm real, I believe you must want something. I won't accept that you just took on that dare without thinking of a way out. So what will it be? What do you ask of me?" He leaned forward again, shuffling one of the papers towards her.

Her gaze took it in out of reflex, and there was one lone word written there.

"Leniency," she read out loud.

It made Harkin laugh, and Davyn looked amused again.

"My, my. Interesting request."

"Stupidity is not free," Harkin said. "We can't just let you go."

The words removed the knot from her throat. "No, please, I just want to go home. Please let me go."

"Why, so you can go around bragging that you saw Snitch Gravel?" Harkin gave a harsh laugh. "I don't think so."

She turned to Davyn with desperate eyes, but he looked as cold as ever. Even when they weren't getting along, she'd never seen him so emotionless. He was like a giant block of ice behind a desk.

"I won't breathe a word about this. Won't tell anyone," she pleaded. She halted once a new paper was pushed before her. She blinked and read the question out loud. "What are you getting out of this?"

"That's a fair question," Davyn said. "But you are a liability."

The second his final word was out, Harkin shoved her off the chair and onto the floor again. She curled up in a ball as he seized her shoulders and turned her to face him.

"You can't think you're just walking out of here," he said.

"No, please no. Let me go!"

His grip on her tightened until she felt her bones would crack under the pressure. She cried out in pain. Her heart drummed so loudly, she was convinced one of her veins would burst and she'd die there, bleeding at the foot of the desk occupied by her boyfriend.

"Baron."

Davyn's voice had him backing off instantly. Millie whimpered on the floor, but they were not done with her. Harkin hoisted her up, not caring that his grip was painful, that it felt as if he was yanking her arm out of its socket. Davyn was as impassive as ever.

"I think we made our point," he said, his voice calm and even. "This is not a place for children. Not somewhere to enter on a dare. And you will never mention this again. To anyone. Because if you do..." He opened a drawer and placed a pistol on the desk.

She stared at it, unable to believe that there was an actual gun in the room, that Davyn had just threatened to kill her. She definitely got the message.

"Consider your request for leniency approved."

Harkin nudged her towards the door, and she took it as her cue to get out of there.

Her footsteps thundered down the stairs, and she was unaware of how she got out into the street, how she managed to hail a cab. The road back to Davyn's place was a blur as her mind kept mulling over the last half an hour.

It was impossible.

And yet, it was the truth. Davyn was Snitch Gravel.

Harkin had hurt her, and he hadn't moved a finger. He'd threatened to kill her. He'd acted like she was nothing, like he didn't know her.

He was Snitch Gravel.

She hurried up the stairs and to the door she knew so well. Her hands shook so badly, she could hardly fit the key in the lock. But she couldn't falter. She didn't have time to waste.

The moment the door finally opened, she rushed inside, threw it shut, and leaned her back against it. Her breathing hitched. Before she could take a step, vomit crawled up her throat. She leaned over and let it out right there next to the door. It burned her throat, and she fell to her knees, but she could barely feel it. Nothing could touch her anymore. Not when she'd left her heart back in that office.

No, move!

She couldn't linger there. Her hands shook, but she placed them on the floor and pushed herself back to her feet. The way to the bedroom seemed to last forever, but she got there and began gathering her things. Every trace of her had to disappear from that place.

Her clothes, her toothbrush, her perfume and deodorant, her paints. She'd have to leave her paintings and the easel behind because she couldn't carry them down the stairs. The easel was never hers to begin with. Maybe she should throw the paintings out the window. It hurt losing them, but leaving them there hurt even more.

"Millie?"

The door opened and closed.

Her heart jumped into her throat, and she let out a whimper.

It took Davyn a moment to appear in the makeshift doorway. He was wearing grey jeans and one of his AC/DC t-shirts, his expression filled with worry. The ease whith which he'd shifted back into his normal self terrified her.

"Are you--?"

"Stay away from me!" She stepped back, throwing her hand out as if it would protect her from him.

He froze, his eyes roaming from her face to the pile of clothes and other stuff on the bed. She didn't even have where to put them because she'd never brought outright luggage to his place, just a few random objects at a time.

"Please," he said, his voice low and soothing. "Let's talk."

"Talk? Talk?!" Her voice came out screeching and hysterical, but she couldn't help it. "You're Snitch Gravel!"

"That I am, but--"

"All this time, it was you! Controlling the bullies, the drugs, everything! You really did plant the drugs on Karen, didn't you? You'd do anything to get people out of your way!"

His expression turned to stone, and it was like facing Snitch Gravel again. The fear almost made her throw up again.

"It wasn't me all this time. I've been Snitch Gravel for the past four months."

She faltered, her mind making desperate calculations. He'd become Snitch Gravel while he was with her? How was that even possible?

"That makes no sense! Snitch Gravel was a thing before we even met. How could you be him for four months?"

"He wasn't a thing. He was Harkin's imaginary friend. He only became real when I filled in the spot."

"What the heck? Do you think I'm an idiot?"

"Why would I partially lie?"

"I don't know!" She clutched her head in her hands. "I have no idea who you are!"

Davyn winced, and the pain crossing his face made him look so human and vulnerable. "You do. I'm still me, darling."

"No! Don't call me darling. Don't--" Her voice cracked with tears.

"I know it's not ideal, and I don't expect you to just swallow this and throw yourself into my arms. It will take some time to--"

"Shut up! Just stop it!" She couldn't think about this, couldn't try to comprehend the long-term consequences of what had just happened.

"I won't shut up. That would mean giving up on you."

She let out a laugh, distorted by the terror seeping out of her. "I think I'm the least of your worries right now, Crime Lord."

"Actually, you're the first of my worries."

"No, not after everything you've done! How could you even...?" The extortion, the bullying, the drugs. The guns, the threats.

"How could I even what?" He narrowed his eyes at her, looking more dangerous than ever. "Take up this life?"

There was something rotten inside him, something he'd warned her against, and she hadn't listened. There was no other explanation.

"What you fail to understand is that I did this to protect you."

He hadn't just said that. "Protect me? They hurt me! You let them hurt me and watched!"

"What the hell were you doing there anyway?" he snapped back.

"What does it matter?"

"It matters because you forced my hand."

"What?" She must've heard wrong. "You're telling me I forced you to hurt me?"

He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. It made her take a step back. But he didn't charge at her, didn't yell. Instead, he took in a deep breath and shut his eyes.

"Harkin and I are not friends."

"He calls you boss!"

"Yes, he does. Because I took over something that he was in charge of. Do you think he's happy about it?"

Who cared what Harkin wanted? Where was he even going with this? He waited, as if  he actually expected an answer from her. When she stayed silent, he groaned.

"He's not. Yes, I'm his boss now because it suits him and he needs me, but that doesn't mean he likes it or that it will stay that way. He's dying for the chance to have something on me, something that would give him power over me. So, what do you think would have happened if I showed that I know you, that I'm desperate to keep you safe?"

She shook her head, rejecting his explanation.

"He would use my feelings for you against me," Davyn said, stressing each word. "He would barter your safety for control over me. And I can't be weak in front of him. I can’t give him this. It would be the end of both of us."

"You let him hurt me."

"You shouldn't have been there! Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to watch that? "

"Oh, I'm sorry that it was hard for you!"

"Millie." He pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Your control is more important than me."

"I'd rather not get killed. I'd rather you didn't get killed either. This is not a game!"

And that was the problem, really. That he'd put them both in mortal danger.

"This shouldn't be an issue," she said between her teeth. "There should be no danger to avoid. You shouldn't be Snitch Gravel."

He had nothing to say to that. Of course he didn't, because he knew it was surreal. How could he be a feared crime boss? He was just a boy, barely eighteen. And yet, he was so believable as Snitch Gravel. He was definitely not just a boy.

"But I am," he finally said. His eyes moved to the pile of clothes on the bed. "And I understand if that's a lot to take in."

She stared at the clothes, too. Her heart broke, and tears ran down her cheeks. It wasn't a lot to take in. It was unacceptable.

"There's a duffle bag under the bed," he offered.

She leaned over and pulled it out, then stuffed her possessions inside it. Time seemed to have frozen as she finished packing. The moment she zipped it up, it became very hard to breathe.

"You don't have to go," he said, as if reading her mind.

"You are not who I thought you were."

"I'm exactly who you thought I was. I..." He turned away from her, leaning one hand against the wall. "This was not an easy decision to make. There were many factors going into it."

Of course, his scientific factors. "Did you even consider me as one?"

"Yes. You were one of the most important ones."

It didn't make any sense. "You thought I'd want you to be this... thing?"

He winced. "I wanted to keep you safe."

A hallow laugh left her throat. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"It was about pulling Harkin out of Saint Agnes, stopping the drug dealings inside the school."

"That worked marvelously."

"Unfortunately, any sort of organic change takes time."

"You sound like a prerecorded message." She picked up the bag and took a step towards the door. He didn't move out of the way, and she halted. She didn't dare come closer.

"I won't stop you," he said, reading her mind, as usual. "If you really want to leave."

"I do. Get out of my way."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!" All she wanted was to be away from that place so that she could breathe again.

He tilted his head, watching her. The intensity of it made her stomach flutter for a moment, and she hated herself for it. The fact that he wasn't moving didn't help.

"Why would you even dare to assume I'd still want to be here?" she pressed on.

"Because I believed you when you told me that you loved me."

His words hurt. They were a reminder of a time when she'd do anything for the chance to spend one more second with him. Now, she couldn't get out of there fast enough.

"Feelings don't just go away, Millie," he continued. "I understand that you're shocked, that you're scared. But once these fade, you'll realize you still feel love."

"All I feel is fear. And betrayal."

"I never betrayed you."

"Yes, you did. The moment you let Harkin lay a hand on me."

Davyn winced and finally stepped out of her way. Even if her knees still shook, she forced her legs to move forward and past him. He didn't make a grab for her, just let her pass.

"I'm sorry about that. But I felt it was necessary in the greater scheme of things."

She halted in front of the door. With escape so near, the fear had faded, and she was flooded by rage. She wheeled around, glaring at him.

"Tell me, in this grander scheme of things, did you take into consideration that you might lose me?"

For a second, he only stared back. Then he shook his head. "I did. But I believed in our love. I still do."

"Stop saying that word! This isn't love!"

"Oh, but it is. The all-consuming and complicated kind."

The kind he'd mentioned when he was trying to warn her to stay away from him. She hadn't listened then. She was singing a different tune now. Because the man she thought she loved had something inside him that she couldn't handle.

Max had hit the nail on the head. Davyn was dark. And his darkness had suffocated her love and turned it into ashes.

"Goodbye, Snitch Gravel," she said and left herself out of his life.

♣️♣️♣️

Well, that took a dark turn. Millie doesn't seem able to handle what she just found out and Davyn... Well, he did what he thought was right. And maybe he really didn't think she'd just leave 😅 silly rabbit.

Now it seems it's over. But will it stay over? Stick around and find out.

Thanks so much for reading. Your support is appreciated.