As we run, I feel my heartbeat dance with adrenaline, my feet kissing the land with every large stride I take. My golden locks prance on the end of my neck, catching the breeze. We run like viscous waves colliding with the shore line, strong and powerful. Silas runs beside me but his pace soon quickens, almost outrunning the rest of the group. Everyone one of his strides equal to about two of mine, but I don't care. I haven't lived this kind of moment in a long time. My heart is strong and I no longer feel weak. As I'm running, I feel free, and I smile at this thought.

The parking lot comes into view, along with our vehicles. Maxi, Felix, and Ashley all gather into the large pickup truck, whereas Silas and I jump into my car. I fasten myself into the passenger seat as he gets into the driver's. Before setting off, Silas motions a goodbye to his friends and I do the same. Soon enough, all of us are off of school grounds and hit the open road.

Inside of the car, both of us are panting and sweating like pigs. At the same time, we're both laughing. "That was seriously the craziest thing I've ever done!" He cries excitedly, still panting like crazy.

"I can't believe that actually worked! I didn't think they were gonna fall for that," I say.

"Yeah, I'm actually shocked that it worked. I thought we'd be in handcuffs by now."

I laugh again, clutching my chest. "You and me both." Once I regain control of my heartbeat, I lie back against the seat and close my eyes, trying to relax. This has to be one of the most derotic moments of my life. I never imagined that I would feel alive at a moment like this. In fact, I've never felt more alive. "God, how did we even pull that off?"

"What do you mean?" Silas asks.

"I mean when did you get so good at lying? Those cops didn't suspect a thing," I say. Back there, it was like Silas didn't even have to try. Every word was precise without a hint of dishonesty. That's one of the things about him that I can relate to: both of us know how to lie.

He keeps his eyes on the road as he speaks. "I may or may not have taken some action classes in my early years," he says.

I look at him with skepticism. "No way."

"Yup. It's true. Back in middle school, acting was kinda an obsession of mine," Silas explains with a shy smirk. My expression still reads disbelief and he laughs. "Yes, I was a cliche theatre geek."

"Was?" He smiles fades. As does mine. "What happened?"

He rotates the steering wheel to the left and the car turns to the left, now traveling down another road. I won't say anything more until he answers this one question. And soon enough, he answers, "Life happened."

After that brief conversation, the two of us sit within the realm of quiet. As Silas drives, I turn my head to the window and lean my forehead against the cold glass. The sky is now clear and the stars cast white fire upon the dominating black seas. We drive for what seems like ages, for time is a fantasy in the kingdom of night. You can just get lost in its beauty and stay forever hostaged in its cage of constellations. If night was a prison, I'd commit any crime to be convicted.

I don't even realize that I'm in the driveway of my house. I perk my head up and see Silas with his hands off the wheel and his eyes narrowed downwards. "Something up?" I ask, followed by a yawn. It's strange, asking him that. I never thought that I would care about how he feels.

His eyes blink once at the sound of my question, but his face remains blank. "None of it's true, you know."

My eyebrows fall. "None of what's true?"

"The rumors. They aren't true." My thoughts take me back to when I first heard the rumors going around about Silas. Half his household died mysteriously and no one knew how or why. The only evidence people gathered was the evidence they created, and soon enough, everyone thought Silas was behind the deaths. This is one of the main reasons why I have my doubts about him, and why I might even fear him. Going through something like that can have a traumatic impact a child's life in major ways, and occasionally make them dangerous.

Without moving a muscle, my lips breath, "Oh." This is all I manage to dish out.

"I never hurt anyone, and neither has my dad. When I was fourteen, my mother died of terminal cancer. My older sister threw herself out a window two years later as a result to severe depression. As for me, I've had to go through years of torture, listening to the rumors people make up shit about me and my family. I've heard them all, Rowen. And I know you have too."

I sit quietly and listen as he explains himself, completely engaged in his words. But when I realize that he's finished, the time comes for me to give my thoughts a voice. "Yeah, I've heard them," I say.

"Did you believe them?" Silas asks.

My silence is my answer. How can I possibly tell him that I thought he was a murderer? That I was scared of him? I may not be his number one fan, but now that I've spent time with him and got to see his true nature, I realize how wrong I was to doubt him.

When I don't reply shortly, he nods and accepts my untold truth. "That's what I thought."

"Silas, I'm sorry. For... your family, and believing those stupid rumors. I shouldn't have judged you so quickly."

He nods and sighs deeply. "Yeah, I'm sorry too."

"For what?"

"Lying to you," he says, the very first of his words being the start of a confession. "When I said that I didn't care about you or your so-called problems, I lied."

As he says this, the memory of this afternoon comes flooding back. It's funny. Only hours ago, I couldn't stand even the sight of him. I threw everything I could at him to kick him out of my life. He endured all my shit so he could make one deal with me. One deal that altered the way I think about him now. Tonight, I got to live a single minute. Actually live. And I enjoyed all sixty seconds of it.

Now, as I look at him, all I want to do is understand him for the person he really is. Not the person behind the rumors. "Why are you telling me this?" I question.

He adjusts his positioning so his whole body his facing me. "Because you deserve to know the truth," he begins. "Rowen you closed yourself off from the world, just like I did when I lost someone I cared about. I was in the exact place that you're in now, and I couldn't just sit back and watch you beat yourself up for something that isn't your fault."

For a moment, all I can do is take in his voice and every word his says. My lips are parted slightly, creating a circular incision in my mouth. "There's more to that night that you don't understand," I whisper.

"You blame yourself for you mom's death. I know you do," Silas says. "Because I blamed myself to." Our glances marry as he looks deep into my green eyes. "I was never going to tell anyone about what you did. I just needed a bit of leverage to get you going on the right path."

"So you pretended to care about me cheating off of you just so you could have leverage over me? So you could... help me to stop blaming myself?" These questions form without the consent of my own free will.

"Is that so hard to believe?" Not in a thousand lifetimes did I expect to have something in common with Silas Wells. Never once had I considered that we may be the same. Looking at him now, he truly and deeply means every phrase he says. "I'm just sorry that this whole thing started in bad blood."

"It's okay. I know now that you were just trying to help me." He chuckles a bit and looks out the window on his side of the car. "What?"

He smiles at me. "Nothing, it's just pretty extraordinary that you'd forgive me for deceiving you so quickly."

"Extraordinary," I recite. "Interesting word choice." I've been thinking wrongly all this time. I've been thinking that Silas is someone whom I should fear and hate with every fiber of my living body. I've been wrong all this time.

Silas looks out his window and his eyes meet with night's . "You are pretty extraordinary though, Rowen," he says while looking into the maze of warped shadows. "Remember that."

My phone vibrates from inside my pocket, breaking my concentration. A worried text from Dylan appears on the screen, asking me where I am. Turning the power back off again, I shove it back in my pocket. "I have to go," I say plainly.

Silas warily nods his head, his lips straightening into a thin line across his face.

Hesitantly, I open the door to my car step into the familiar air of my neighborhood. Before closing the door, I face him once more. "I'm sorry," I say. "I never should've judged you so quickly and... I'm sorry."

"I guess we both learned a little something tonight," he says, barring a smile.

"Yeah. I guess so." Just as I'm turning away, I whip right back around as Silas is about to get out as well. "Wait. What about you? How are you gonna get home?"

"It's not far from here. I can walk."

After taking a brief few seconds to clear my thoughts and think, I stop him just before he can shut the door. "You know what? Just... take it. Drive yourself home, and you can drive it back to school on Monday."

"You'd trust me, of all people, with your car?"

"Yes and no. Besides, I guess I kinda owe you and all. You know, for helping me when I didn't even know I needed help."

He smiles, his snowy white teeth glowing in the pale moonlight. "How about we call it even?" He asks.

I return the smile and slightly nod. "Yeah. That sounds good." I resume my movements and shut the door of my car, sending a loud noise through the atmosphere. Turning my back, I hear Silas getting back into the car, shutting his door as well.

"Hey, Hewitt!" I hear his voice ring in my ears as I'm walking towards my house, and I once again turn around to face him. The car window is rolled down. "Your secret is safe with me." The corner of my lips lift upwards and butterflies begin to escape the pit in my stomach. That's all he says: just six simple words to send me flying, and I genuinely believe each and every one of them.

A moment later, my car and Silas drive into the night, leaving me standing in the front yard of my house. I lick my lips but my smile remains as I look back up into the sky. For the first time, I see the stars clearly.

A/N

*sighs* Does anyone know how emotional I got when writing this chapter? XD

Okay, this is by far my favorite chapter so far lol. What about you beauties? What is your favorite chapter so far?

Anyways, what do you think of Silas now? I don't know about anyone else, but I need Silas Wells in my life. Is it just me? Comment down below and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter!!!

XOXO