Bruce Huang (Castle)

"We need to talk." I stood in front of Miranda as she scrolled through her phone. Stephanie was borrowing her shower, singing her heart out. My ears are bleeding. We planned to move her to my room tonight during the change in guards. After all, most of the guards on duty were used to us sneaking off to see each other.

"Alright." That's it? That's your response?

I stared at her in disbelief. In front of me was the woman I loved more than anything and she wasn't going to even give me a proper response. My pocket was heavy, and it wasn't just the knife.

"Why do you always blame me for things? I'm trying my hardest to make this work." My voice was cool, unlike the thoughts whirling through my head.

"I don't blame you, sometimes things are just a lot to handle." Her voice was sad, something out of character for her, even with me.

"Is it the voices?" Am I pushing things?

"Does it matter?" Miranda looked at me coldly, a sharp contrast to her warm arms that held me just minutes before. Where did I go wrong?

"Of course it does! You matter to me, which means so does your mental health!"

"My mental health is just fine." Clearly, I wasn't getting anywhere, but we had been putting this conversation off for too long.

"That's not what it seemed like earlier today. Do you not trust me?" Watch yourself. Remember what happened last year?

"Are you seriously bringing this up now?" Our conversation was quickly escalating into an argument, and I was too into it to notice.

"Yes! I care about you and I hate that you don't talk to me!"

"I do talk to you! You're just being childish!"

"Me? Childish? I'm not the one who's so terrified of my father finding out about my relationship that I've hid it for five years!" After the media caught evidence of us going on a date, we had to play it off as besties. Sometimes it hurts to see the headlines, "Bestie Goals!" or "Miranda King and Her Mysterious Friend Strike Again!" It had been five years too long, in my opinion, but Miranda had her own way of dealing with things.

"You're pulling that stunt?"

"Yes! I'm risking my literal fucking life to help you." If one of us screwed up, there was no way to cover things up. Whereas I would be merely throwing my life away, Miranda would drag her father's status along with us. I desperately wanted to shove my hand in my pocket, to remind me what I was doing.

"I didn't ask for your help." The words cut through my thoughts sharply. We were hardly part way through our argument, but I could still feel the tears.

"Maybe you didn't, but you need it! Are you seriously going to risk your life to help these kids but not to talk to me?"

"Maybe I am." Talk to me!

"What the fuck Miranda?" My voice was raw, and I'm sure my face was at least slightly red. Of course, we argued frequently, but they were usually over dumb things, not life or death.

"I'm trying! You know this is hard for me. Give me a break, you're starting to sound like my dad. I just wanted to help someone..." Each sentence was less stable than the last. Before I could respond Miranda had already dropped to the floor. Shit.

"Hey, it's okay." I kneeled down to her height. Even though I've known her for years, she'd never broken down like this. Sobs broke through the air as I did my best to hold onto her. The last time she cried even close to this was moments after I first met her. She had just killed some guy who obviously meant a lot to her a week into camp. The woman never told me the details and I never pried, we merely accepted that what happened happened and we would start over with each other. The little waitress story I told Stephanie was a load of bull, but it was also the alternate reality I dreamed of. If this camp didn't exist, and Miranda and I were just normal girlfriends.

"I'm s-sorry." Miranda was still on the floor, a melting puddle of emotions. Digging into my pocket I grabbed hold of my earbuds and handed them to her.

"Here." I wasn't sure what was playing, but I hoped it was one of my chiller playlists. Hearing a song about wanting to fuck someone was not going to help this situation.

After what seemed like an hour, Miranda had finally relaxed. I watched as even the curls in her hair seemed to loosen. My girlfriend was the most beautiful woman in the world and I would do pretty much anything for her. I'm so fucking whipped.

"-Bruce?" Miranda was looking at me, eyelashes still thick with wet tears.

"Hm?"

"Where'd you even get these?" She gestured to the earbuds as she repositioned herself against me.

"Let's just say I know someone in the industry."

"Yo wassup?" Minseok plopped into the seat across from me, slamming his cup against the table.

"Does your dad seriously let you out in that?" He was wearing some mesh shirt//leather jacket combo and an unnecessary amount of jewelry paired with a hat pulled low over his face.

"Nah. It doesn't matter since he's on a trip now." He leaned forward and I could almost make out the outline of his eyes through the shadow from his hat. "What are we doing today?"

"I wanted to go to the arcade."

"Seriously? That's where we went last time!"

"And?" Minseok sighed as I got up to head to our next destination.

"How's it going with the girlfriend?"

"Same as always. She's amazing and I'm an idiot." We laughed as we continued the random small talk.

"Excuse me!" I turned to find a girl trailing behind us with a few of her friends.

"Could we get your numbers?" It took me a moment to realize that she was asking for both of us.

"Do you happen to be gay?" Usually, Minseok led these conversations, but I wanted to try my hand at it.

"What?"

"I'm a girl. Want proof?" I gestured to my chest, knowing full well I was as flat as a board.

"Oh! We're sorry!" Their faces flushed before they quickly left. Minseok patted me on the back, amused.

"Can I pass for a pretty girl?" He winked, or at least tried to.

"You can't even pass as a pretty boy." The rest of the day carried on as we caught up with each other.

"How's the brother?" We were playing some knock-off version of Tekken and I was kicking his ass.

"I don't know, we don't talk much." The conversation ended abruptly until I managed to knock him out again.

By the time late afternoon rolled around we figured we should probably head back to our respective homes.

"Hey, I thought you might want these." He threw a package at me, which I barely caught. I looked at the box.

"What the hell? These aren't even out yet!"

"Hey, I figured my best friend needed something better than those freebies flights give you." Shoving the gift into my pocket, I gave him a quick hug.

"Thank you!"

"Don't die out there!" I chuckled at Minseok's words.

If only he knew.

"I'm sorry I've been ignoring you." Miranda's voice cut through my thoughts again.

"Nah, I got it. It's just hard to make sure we're both staying alive dealing with these kids if I don't know what you're planning." I probably shouldn't have blown up at her, after all, she had her own problems.

Miranda sat up, almost knocking her head into my jaw. Her makeup was smeared, but it somehow made her eyes seem even bigger. If I looked into her eyes, closely I could see the small flakes of gold scattered among the darkness.

"I know it's been really hard, but we've made it the past five years," she smiled, "I've got all the files we need if they say otherwise."

"Even if-"

"Even if it ruins my dad's career." Oh my god, I love her. Miranda wrapped her arms around me. "Will you stay with me?"

"Forever?" The question had startled me. Did she know?

"I mean, if it makes you uncomfor-" I could see the doubt clouding her eyes again. Now. Pulling the small item from out of my pocket, I steeled myself.

"This doesn't have to be official, just a promise." I held the ring out to her. It was silver, not quite thin enough to look delicate, but not big enough to be a distraction.

"A promise?" Seriously? She was just asking me to stay with her. For a moment, I wondered if I had made a mistake, but the smile on her face said otherwise.

"Just don't ditch me." I'm so eloquent it hurts. Haha.

"Of course!" Next thing I knew, my back flat on the bed.

"Man, your dad is going to freak." I thought about the scandal the newspapers had latched onto when we were on our second date. Her dad wasn't homophobic in the least, it was the people who put him in his position that were.

"If we make it out of this alive, that'll be the last thing on my mind." She rested her head on my shoulder, and I could feel my cheeks flush. I love you. I love you. I love you. Her lips grazed my neck as I rubbed her back. After some time, my hands eventually found their way to her waist as she ran her hand through my hair, hovering over me. I missed this.

"Hey, so can I get a change of clothes?" We startled as we turned to the voice. The one and only Stephanie had poked her head out of the bathroom door, awkwardly.

I ran my hand through my hair and straightened my shirt as Miranda quickly jumped up, face flushed.

Dammit, Stephanie.