It was evening when Thomas escorted her to the front door of her apartment. All the way, he enthusiastically recounted the events that took place on Luke's birthday party - from the comic table tennis competition to his joking and getting closer to Luke. As he spoke to her, his eyes gleamed with an unknown glow and his face was radiant. Scarlett listened intently and watched him with delight, eager to absorb every bit of his excitement. He acted like a small child who recounts what happened to him at school or when he played with his friends. She realized how much she actually missed those little things that make a monotonous everyday life unique. When the only thing you want is to come to your loved one and tell them everything that happened to you that day or just lie in his arms while the pleasant silence is overshadowed by his balanced heartbeat and calms you down. Is that too much for someone like her?

"Did I talk too much?" He smiled uncertainly and ran his fist over the back of the door. Scarlett leaned against the doorframe as she watched his full lips that were slightly parted and the hazelnut-colored eyes that left her breathless and lost every time.

"No," she shook her head briefly and spread her lips into a smile. "Actually, I'm so glad you had a good time."

''Me too. It is good that we can spend time together outside of this case. It's nice, isn't it? "

"Yes, it really is."

He watched her for a few moments, his gaze flickering slightly from her lips to her eyes. He bit his lower lip. He seemed to be struggling to do something that might cross the line; something like when he kissed her and after that called himself an idiot because he thought he ruined everything. He usually considered himself a man of control, a man who always knows how and why he would react. But when it came to her, no rules applied anymore.

''See you tomorrow, Scarlett. Have a nice rest," he lightly touched her shoulder with his hand and, turning on his heels, left Scarlet alone by the doorframe. Her heart started pounding like crazy, almost wanting to jump out of her chest. It looked like she was going to have a panic attack at any moment. However, she knew that it was not a panic attack, but her body's reaction to weighing a very difficult decision. The decision she had been trying to pass over her lips all evening.

"Thomas, wait," her voice trembled more than she wanted. It sounded much determined in her head. She squeezed her eyelids once more to gather herself and let out a shaky exhalation. She found herself a few steps in front of him, watching her in confusion, but a glimmer of hope shone softly in his eyes. She looked at him once more for a few seconds, almost as if she wanted to seal that moment in her mind forever. She swallowed a huge lump that blocked her air supply and, clutching the collar of his shirt made of very fine material with her hands, pressed her lips to his.

Thomas groaned softly under her lips, his shoulders tense. It was obvious that this was something he did not expect, although he secretly hoped for such a sequence of events. He parted his lips briefly from hers to look at her. It seemed that he was trying to make sure that this was really happening and to ask for confirmation of what he would do in the following moments.

He placed his hands on her warm cheeks and kissed her passionately. There was a longing and passion in his kiss that she hadn't felt in a long time. He nailed her to a wall not far from them, still kissing her incessantly as her hands slid down his waist. She dug her fingers into the fabric of his shirt with pleasure, and he moaned softly again.

Hearing the thump of someone's shoes on the stairs in the distance, they snatched from each other's arms. Panting, they watched each other in silence. Thomas licked his lips and looked up the stairs, and Scarlett took the opportunity to pull the keys out of her purse and unlock the door. She quickly found herself in the hallway of her warm home as Thomas followed her with a dose of uncertainty. She tossed her purse and cardigan off on the floor and locked the door behind them. She threw herself lustfully on Thomas's lips again, but he held her with his hands.

"Are you... are you sure you want this?" He asked in a whisper. "I don't want you to rush into something you're not ready for.

She placed her index finger on his lips, which were still red from the force of the kisses, in order to silence him. "I'm yours, Thomas Calligan."

Her words seemed to convince him as they moved towards her bedroom the next moment with her legs wrapped around his waist and his arms on the lower part of her back. He laid her on the bed, kissing her gently on the bare neck. A sigh escaped her lips, and her womb trembled with excitement. He ran his hands over her breasts and stopped on her stomach. She deftly unbuttoned every button of his shirt and carefully checked out his naked torso. She ran her fingers over his warm and smooth skin as he removed every piece of clothing from her.

With each kiss they shared, they felt closer to each other. As if, they had become one. Nothing existed but the two of them. How strange that love is, it makes you strong and weak at the same time. Sometimes you look for it all your life, and sometimes it finds you on its own when you least expect it. It brings to your life a person who at one point represents nothing to you but a canvas stained with feelings and qualities that will become the only thing you want to frame and hang in your heart.

They fell asleep embracing as Scarlett breathed in a balanced rhythm with Thomas' heart with hers head on his chest.

Scarlett was awakened by the sun's rays, which broke uninvited through a curtain and fell on her sleeping face. Reluctantly, she curled up and felt a certain weight over her. Thomas's muscular arm like a shield was wrapped around her. Although it was quite a simple gesture, it gave her a certain amount of security.

She turned to him and met his eyes. He was awake and was smiling silly at her.

"What are you doing?" She asked him embarrassed.

"I'm watching you sleep."

''How long?''

''Quite a while. I wake up very early ", a smile appeared on his face again. Scarlett giggled and ran her fingers through her thick, tangled hair. It occurred to her how hard it would probably be to comb her, but she quickly dismissed the thought from her head. That was not on her priority list now. She was still focused on the brown-haired man lying in the bed next to her and caressing her cheek gently.

"I can't believe this is really happening," he whispered. ''Isn't it weird? I always thought that there was no person who could move the ground under my feet, and you did it with such ease that I don't know when I lost my heart. "

Her heart pounded harder, and her full lips in the form of a rose bud parted slightly. She felt as if she would stop breathing at any moment.

"I could say the same thing," she said. "After Andrej ... I thought it was impossible to feel anything for someone else. Next to you, I felt safe and the same calm that I felt before. And that scared the hell out of me. I tried to resist it, but I realized I couldn't. I can't run away from something that makes me whole again. "

In response, he clung her to himself and passionately lowered his lips to hers. His hands were on her cheeks again, and she realized how quickly she was getting used to the weight of his fists on her cheeks so that when he removed them, she felt naked.

"You'll never feel any different than whole, Scarlett Young. I promise you.''

She wanted to stay all day in in bed with him where nothing exists and nothing matters except the two of them. After so much time, she finally felt happy. She finally had a brother she had been looking for a long time. She finally felt someone's love without remorse. She was finally happy. She was finally relieved.

But it was short-lived. She knew she had to leave the warm bed and Thomas' embrace and go to Sebastian Carter's cold and eerie dungeon. She could no longer avoid him. She had to talk to him.

Although she was full of energy that she had been missing for so long, as soon as she entered the Grand Valley of the Sanatorium, she felt completely drained. She wondered if there were invisible energy vampires at the entrance to the facility. She rolled her eyes imperceptibly and after checking in at the front desk like every time, she headed to her most problematic patient. She thought all the way about how to win him back because she was sure she wouldn't talk to her again. She crossed every line of professionalism and, she had to admit, she somewhat agreed with what George Wilson had said the last time. Maybe she really let feelings take control over her.

She was too enraptured by her thoughts and possible options to apologize for not noticing that she was already in front of the well-known glass shield that separated her from the sinister killer.

Sebastian, as many times before, sat on a plastic chair and was engrossed in a book whose title she could not read because he was obscured by Sebastian's slender and long fingers. He looked at her disinterestedly under his long and thick lashes.

"Oh, it's just you," he concluded monotonously. "You've been gone a long time. I thought you gave up on your conspiracy theories. "

"I came to apologize."

His eyebrows arched in semicircles, and his eyes flickered with interest. He licked his tongue and set the book aside. Scarlett could now see that it was a cult classic Kill a Mockingbird. How ironic, she thought.

"To apologize? Well, that's something new. No one has apologized to me so far ", he smirked and walked towards her like a peacock admiring his feathers. He was opposite her and watched her predatorily. Although he tried to hide his gaze with an innocent blink, Scarlett saw certain coldness in his gaze. He was as wary as a lion lurking a carefree gazelle and preparing to grab it by its throat with his sharp teeth. Scarlett reflexively swallowed the lump at the thought.

''I've crossed a certain line, Sebastian. I allowed my emotions to cloud my objective reasoning. I'm really sorry about that. It's not for me to address you that way. "

"Call me a monster? Don't worry, you didn't hurt my feelings. I've heard a lot of worse things about myself. Freak, abomination, bastard ... you can choose, I have a lot in my repertoire. "

''I'm sorry about that.''

''No need for that. Those who said those words were not sorry. "

There was a crackle in his voice that he hid deep beneath all that sarcasm, arrogance, and manipulation. Scarlet was aware that he played on the card of compassion, but she knew he was honest with the things he was telling her. There was something about him that didn't give her peace. Something she wanted to discover.

Sebastian wandered aimlessly around the room, flapping his arms next to his body. Scarlett decided not to procrastinate any longer. There were too many unanswered questions, and those answers were more necessary to her than ever before.

"Why did you leave traces on the last victims, Sebastian?" A smile flickered on the edges of his lips when she asked. "Did you want to be caught?"

"Did your smart head come up with this by itself? Extremely interesting theory. "

"I didn't come to play, Sebastian. I need answers. "

He smirked and lightly bit his lower lip. He ran his fingers through his thick hair and stood facing her again. Scarlett looked at his face in detail and wondered how she hadn't noticed dimples in his cheeks so far. They gave his beautiful face an inviolable charm and innocence that you could never connect with something as sinister as brutal murders.

"I don't think that's smart, doc."

"Why not?" She defied him, and his face, on which playfulness vibrated until a few moments ago, became serious.

"I'm afraid the answers will put you in a situation you won't like."

"What's that supposed to mean, Sebastian?"

He hesitated for a moment to answer her. He looked away, and then rested his fists on the thick glass.

"That would mean that the answers would put you in danger. Should I be even more precise?"

"Sebastian, what are you hiding?"

"Why do you worry so much, Scarlett?"

"Because I want to help you, I've told you a thousand times," she replied impatiently. "I know you're not used to people fighting for you and being interested in what you have to say, but I'm interested. I haven't written you off yet. I still consider you a person. A person who can be redeemed. But I can't do that if you don't give me the answers. "

''Why?''

"Because I trust you."

His eyes widened and his lips parted slightly. She could have sworn his lower lip quivered. He bowed his head and thought in silence for a few moments. Scarlett was left staring at his beautifully shaped fists that were still leaning against the glass pane.

"Okay," he finally said. He raised his head and met Scarlett's eyes. His gaze was determined, but there was a dose of fear that he skillfully concealed. "I'll tell you some things and believe me; you won't like it at all. But on one condition. "

''What condition?''

"You have to get into the cell."

"I can do that now."

"No, not now," he shook his head quickly, still answering in a whisper. ''Tomorrow. Come back tomorrow.''

"Why tomorrow?"

"Scarlett, don't ask unnecessary questions," he protested. "Do you trust me or not?"

She was silent for a moment, but answered without thinking.

"Yes, I trust you."

"Excellent," he nodded contentedly. "Then see you tomorrow, Doc."