┌───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚───┐
REVIVING OPHELIA
𝘥𝘰𝘰𝘮𝘴𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥
└───❀*̥˚───❀*̥˚───┘

STARLIGHT WAS LOST BENEATH thunder and rain as the shell of a girl wept in the street.

Nights like these had long since become clockwork for Kaia Hollenbeck. Nights of abandoning the smiling facade, reliving those chains of memories and suffering alone in her emotional flood. Wallowing, but never long enough to lose herself beneath the waves.

But tonight was different. Darker.

Tonight she was caught in the riptide. Drowning.

Rainfall was not enough to keep her confined to the haunted, hollow halls of Tannyhill; through the storm she roamed sleeping Kildare without destination. Kaia was drenched to the bone, on the cusp of catching a cold, but she didn't care. After feeling so numb for so long, she would welcome anything with open arms. A cold, the flu, even pneumonia.

Figure Eight passed along in a haze and with every step, the crushing in her chest only suffocated more. Kaia had fallen blind to the world around her—enough so that the next time she snapped back to reality, she was far from home. Alone on an empty street corner, standing beneath a flickering light, right in the middle of The Cut.

Somber eyes took in the worn buildings and beat up cars, disorientation flooding bone-deep. How could I have walked this far and not noticed?

Kaia's gaze lifted to the sky; though thunder and lightning quarreled still, the rain stopped. Water clung to her hair and clothes and it gathered into small puddles along the street; she anchored herself to the smell as she sunk onto the curb. She tried to focus on anything and everything but all that led her out into the storm, but to no avail; eventually every thought would circle back to him.

An earthquake of emotion—of sorrow and grief, of guilt and shame—rattled her bones as the chain unraveled.

Kaia remembered the day she first met Weston Albrecht as if it were yesterday. A two-heart collision amidst the academy halls just shy of two years ago—a hopeless romantic and a tall, dark stranger locking eyes like magic. Blinded by naïveté, that moment felt like a Taylor Swift love anthem breathed to life or a Disney princess meeting her ever-after prince for the very first time.

But the magic was quick to die and he sure as hell did not carry her off into the sunset. She was not his princess and they were no fairytale. To him, she was no more than a sex toy and a punching bag; to him, she was barely even human.

If anyone ever told Kaia that she'd one day be the suffering party in a violent relationship—that she hadn't walked away after the very first hit and stayed for a hundred more—she might've laughed herself to death. Long ago, that proud and naïve child swore she would never be one of those girls, clinging to their abusers like a lifeline because they either believed in love's transforming power or feared the repercussions of walking away. The girl could almost laugh at the twisted irony, for that is exactly who she became.

Did she really think she could change him? Yes—with all her heart, yes. She stupidly bought into the age-old lie that if she loved him enough, he would change. Because love conquers all, right?

Wrong. The promises of fairytale were folly, nothing but castles in the air. Her love was never enough. It would never be enough.

Once she accepted things for what they were, only fear remained... and fear was a powerful cage. It turned even the strongest of hearts into glass, and Kaia learned what happened to glass hearts when they tried to flee that cage. They break and they die.

Ice cold sorrow swirled deep in her bones as she remembered it all. The crushing, wrenching, shattering. The speed, the blood, the terror and all it cost her.

A hurricane to life beneath her skin, battering her lungs until she could barely breathe before bursting free in streams of gutted tears. Faster and deeper she drowned in her thoughts and memories until it became clear: there was no escaping this time—no keeping her head above water.

It was Kaia Hollenbeck's time to hit rock bottom; like poor Persephone, it was Hades and his pomegranate seeds that would drag her down.

Appearing as if born from night itself, he brought with him a supposed remedy to cure all ills—both physical and psychological. Judgmental as she might've been, she could tell just by looking at him what the nature of this remedy was, and the obvious was confirmed when he offered to sell to the pretty crying girl; cocaine, ecstasy, scripts—whatever her heart desired. Though Kaia was raised up to know better and be better, she was much too broken to care.

So she damned herself to hell with pomegranate seeds of her own: illicit oxycodone.

With the shadow man gone again, Kaia hadn't a clue how much time had passed her by sitting on that dimly lit curb, toying with the little orange bottle in the palm of her hand.

It isn't worth it, the angel on her shoulder warned. Don't do this. Don't let him win.

Make the pain go away. This is how you do it, the devil opposite enticed. What does it matter anyway? He already won.

The war of right and wrong could have waged for hours more, but the deafening trill of her ringtone tore her clean from the battlefield.

As the black screen woke with an incoming call, a picture of her favorite blue-eyed goof (wasted to oblivion with chopsticks like walrus tusks in his nose) brought the ghost of a smile to her trembling lips. A ray of light on the darkest night, always shining bright at just the right time—yet one she constantly shied away from.

Kaia Hollenbeck's relationship with JJ Maybank could have been the picture of fairytale bliss, if only she would stop running away from him. Instead, they defined dysfunction, chaos and secrecy.

For once in his damn life, JJ Maybank knew what he wanted; the dysfunction and chaos came from Kaia and her broken heart. Whenever things got too good between them—whenever she started to feel safe—she ran like the wind. Always and without fail, the boy who deserved the world was left behind in the dust... yet still he persisted, and she didn't understand why.

Kaia didn't let the call go unanswered for a moment longer. "Hey, you."

"Sugarplum!" A chipper shout in her ear—the personification of the sun peaking through the clouds—managed to brighten her mood only a little, but when it came to him, a little was just enough. "You should get your ass over here right now immediately, okay? Spontaneous kegger at the Chat, baby!"

"Now?" She repeated, quick to notice traces of lightning still illuminating the inky horizon. "You sure that's a good idea, sunshine? Bodies might hit the floor but it sure as hell won't be from bailando."

A sigh of mock disappointment resounded. "Kaia Yve, what's my philosophy?"

"Peak dumbassery is what it is."

"What is my philosophy, you rebel scum?"

"Stupid things have good outcomes all the time," she recited with a roll of her eyes. "You are aware that's totally getting us killed one day, right?"

"Don't trash the philosophy. She hasn't failed us yet."

"She almost got us arrested in Raleigh."

"Don't be such a pussy, babe. We got away, didn't we?" He teased, dismissing her words without a second thought. "Come on, Kai. Ditch the Camerons and escape the castle for one night. Hang out with us instead—you know damn well we're more fun anyway. Please?"

Taking her bottom lip between her teeth, Kaia weighed her options:

1) RETURN TO AN EMPTY CASTLE TO SPIRAL ALONE
AND FORGOTTEN IN THE DARK.

2) GET TRASHED WITH HER BEST FRIENDS AND
BURY ALL HER SORROWS SIX FEET UNDER.

The decision was made without difficulty. "Okay, okay. If you're gonna beg, I guess I'll be there."

"Hell yeah you will!" The sun-bright joy left a tear in her heart; how could I dare feel so sorry for myself when he faces worse every day and still smiles? "Need a ride down here or anything?"

"No! I—no, that's okay," she hastily declined, trying and failing to think on her feet. How could she explain to one so overprotective and nosy why she was smack in the middle of the southside, alone and so late at night? This boy would have a damn stroke. "I—um, there's something I've gotta do for Her Royal Highness first but I'll be there in a bit."

"Are you sure?" The hesitancy and suspicion she dreaded to hear rang loud and clear. "Really, I don't mind waiting 'till you're done. I know you don't like driving at night, so..."

"No need. I'll meet you there."

A deep sigh followed a beat of silence. "Kaia, if this is about what happened, I already told you it's—"

"No, this isn't about us or anything else, I swear—everything's fine, okay?" The girl's heart ached in synchrony with the sting of tears as she told yet another lie. "It's just—Rafe's here, y'know? Y'all can't even breathe the same air without starting World War III and I don't want that handsome face of yours all messed up. He wouldn't be able to help himself—you know that."

"God, I hate that prick," JJ bitterly grumbled, his acquiescence leaving her unsure if he actually believed her or merely chose to respect obvious boundaries; she was grateful either way. "Still don't like the idea of you driving but I'm not gonna force you. Just call me if you change your mind, okay? And be careful."

"Promise." A lone tear fell, inevitably giving way to a hundred more. "Don't get too wild without me, Jordan James, or it's on sight."

"And I'd be real scared if you weren't three feet tall," he quipped. "Don't make me wait too long!"

"Wouldn't dream of it, sire." She sighed. "See you soon."

Lonely silence swallowed the night once again, but the cries of a weeping heart could still be heard. Releasing the last of her tears, Kaia Hollenbeck buried her demons as she did everything else and revived the happy girl facade. If only she knew that after tonight, her carefully crafted mask would shatter into pieces.

A CLAMOR OF DRUNKEN adolescence carried through the trees as Kaia approached the Chateau, feeling the earth disturbed and humming in tandem with the bass beneath her feet.

Despite making the decision to come, she worried about being one with a crowd tonight—especially tonight. Why wouldn't she be? Thus far the night had been spent in tears, roaming aimlessly beneath a stormy veil and procuring illicit drugs.

Kaia Hollenbeck was walking a destructive path of unpredictability and she feared the street corner would not be the end of the road, but it was too late to turn back now,

Breaching the last line of trees, Kaia emerged from the shadows into twinkling lights and droves of restless drunks—stumbling, shouting, stupid drunks wreaking havoc on the Routledge marsh. The chaos was lesser than wild nights at the Boneyard; given the guest list consisted of Pogues (almost) exclusively, they were more likely to make it through the night without a nuclear-level fight.

Weaving her way through the sea of eyes, Kaia sought out her friends first; she wouldn't dare interact with another soul without them (she always felt much too out of her element at Pogue gatherings, being a born and raised Kook). Kiara Carrera was the first of them to grace her sight—a sun-kissed goddess in the flesh, a heart of gold she was fortunate enough to truly meet at thirteen—seated around the blazing fire pit with her environmentalist squad. Kaia's lips mirrored the girl's in a blink; that dazzling smile never failed to be just as contagious as her passion.

"Kyve!" The curly-haired's gleeful and tipsy call carried above the noise, quick to abandon the open flame and come barreling her way. A puff of air was forcefully expelled from Kaia's lungs as the Carrera girl's body collided with her own. "Took you long enough! I was beginning to think you were pulling JJ's leg and weren't actually coming."

Apologetic laughter bubbled in her chest. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. You know how Rose Cameron can get."

"Yeah, Mama's nuttier than a fruitcake." Kiara grinned sun-bright, but the light was quick to falter. Every feature twisted with confusion—brows furrowed, lips pursed and nose scrunched—and she retracted her embrace. "You're damp. Why are you damp?"

Kaia was quick on her feet, lying up a pitiful storm. "Showered before I came. Not sure why now, though—this humidity is already kicking my ass."

"You showered... in your clothes?"

She shrugged her shoulders, eyes downcast and fixated on her snow-white sneakers and their stark contrast against the dirt. "Maybe I did. You don't know my life."

"No, you didn't because that's batshit stupid." Honey-cocoa eyes narrowed slightly, any jest completely erased and replaced by that look—the one Kaia and the boys knew a little too well. "What's going on?"

Kiara Carrera's mama bear mode had been activated and Kaia Hollenbeck knew there was no escaping it; she acquiesced without a fight. "I just went on a little walk in the rain, okay? It's nothing, Kie."

"In the rain?" Kiara repeated, pupils blown moon-wide with incredulity. "You mean the thunderstorm! Girl, what—you could have been hit by lightning!"

"Well I wasn't, so—"

"Hold the phone. Is that why it took you so long to get here?" A helpless Kaia watched as realization engulfed her friend's eyes, setting them alight. Kiara was too smart for her own good. "Kaia Hollenbeck, please tell me you did not walk all the way here from Tannyhill!"

More than anything, the Hollenbeck daughter wanted to sink away into the ocean deep. "Yes, okay? You don't need to make a fuss about it, Kiara."

"The hell I don't! Girl, do you know how dangerous that was? Especially at night and alone?"

"I know, I know." Kaia flinched, heart plummeting to the center of the earth as she avoided her furious gaze. "I just needed some time to clear my head, okay? I didn't mean to walk so far, I swear—I spaced out and when I came out of it, I was here. I didn't mean to."

Kiara's care-induced anger blinked out just as quickly as it came. "What happened?"

"Bad night," she spilled. "I show up at the Cameron house for Mama Time like I always do and no one's there. House empty, Camerons gone, Kai forgotten."

Her defense wasn't a lie, but a half-truth; Rose Cameron's selective memory was but the tip of the iceberg, only one of countless factors setting her off tonight, but Kaia did not elaborate further. She had no desire in the world to indulge a teary heart-to-heart, nor did she wish to drag Kiara down with her; the girl was light as a feather and Kaia would not take that away.

Sadness flashed in her friend's once bright eyes. "Jesus, Kai. I'm—"

"Not the first time it's happened and probably won't be the last." Kaia gave a blasé dismissal, deep-sixing her feelings once more. "I don't wanna talk about it. I'd rather hang out with my besties and get absolutely shit-faced."

"Shit-faced it is, then." Kiara's smile didn't quite reach her eyes, guilt gnawing away beneath Kaia's skin; I shouldn't have said a damn thing, stupid idiot ruining everything yet again. "But if you change your mind, you know you can always talk to me about anything, right?"

"Of course," Kaia appeased with a pearly smile, forced and hollow. I'm sorry for being a liar, she thought to herself. You deserve a better friend and I don't deserve you at all. "Okay, enough of this emotional shit—I want me some mai tais. Please tell me we have mai tais."

"No tais unfortunately. We're gonna force some beers down your throat tonight," Kiara deadpanned. "Yeah, party's a little lame. Thought we'd spice things up a bit with an infamous allergy attack."

Despite herself, Kaia giggled at the memory. "Yeah, that was party of the freakin' year."

"Like we'd invite you to a kegger where you can't even drink. We're not sadists." A true smile returned as Kiara laced their fingers together, leading the way through the crowd and to the cooler hidden beneath the stairs. "Your secret stash, milady."

"Amazing." Kaia cracked open her first can of the night. "Where have our little princes run off to?"

"The boys have already gone hard—God knows where they are," she said. "You and I have a lot of catching up to do."

Kaia hummed. "Interesting. JJ said he'd hold off until I got here. Lying bastard."

"Honestly dude, you should know by now," Kiara teased with a scoff, "he just can't help himself."

"There's my princess!"

Speak of the devil and he shall appear; the girls spared a glance over Kaia's shoulder to find one of their three beloved hooligans bobbing and weaving through the crowd, cheeks flushed and eyes alive with unmistakable drunkenness. Without a moment to brace herself, the ground beneath her feet disappeared.

"JJ, what the hell?!" A surprised giggle tore through the air when the sun-kissed liar swept her up into a triple spin, fumbling with the drink in her hand as the world became a blur. Kaia clung to him for dear life, familiar with just how drastically alcohol dulled his sense of coordination. JJ stumbled forward and brought her back down, dizzy from spinning and giggling like a child on Christmas morning. "Guess the rumors are true then. Thanks for waiting up, loser."

"You were taking too long and I got bored." Intoxicated smile widening, JJ's burnt nose scrunched up as he looked down at her, pinching her cheek for good measure. "Look at you—so small and so damn cute. Prettier than the fuckin' moon—like seriously fuck Aphrodite, man."

Though Kaia could feel Kiara's curious eyes burning holes into her head, she avoided her gaze; seeing his knack for secrecy dulled had Kaia panicking internally, but she didn't let it show. "Yeah, you're drunk off your ass, chief. How much have you even had?"

"The hell do I look like? A math-magician? I don't count shit.

"Mathematician," Kiara corrected under her breath. "Dumbass."

"Whatever, Kie. This ain't English and you're not Mrs. Lewis, so crawl off my ass, will ya?" Quick to dismiss yet another one of their daily squabbles, JJ's smile returned as he threw his arms around their shoulder. "Now shut the hell up about school and let's get trashed!"

"Oh, honey..." Kaia mumbled, an endearing smile on her lips. "I think you're already there."

THE HOURS BLURRED TOGETHER as Kaia drank herself into stupor. To forget everything under the sun was her endgame, but it was all in vain. She drank to forget but despite her best effort, it all came rushing back with the first notes of that song.

Though upbeat and perfect for a party, all she could hear in Kesha's voice was the angel of death's taunts, returning her to that dark night of Columbus Drive.

With those memories tearing her to pieces, Kaia abandoned the crowd and faded into the shadows, tucking away into the Chateau's spare room unnoticed. Resting against the unmade bed, her gaze fixed upon the ceiling beams overhead, tears falling slow as she prayed for those many drinks to numb her into oblivion. Those prayers went unanswered; tonight all the alcohol seemed to do was amplify every little thing.

For a moment or two, Kaia contemplated going a step further and drinking herself to death. She cast away the thought as soon as it came.

You have too much to live for, the angel reminded.

You call this living? The devil was never far behind. Your life is nothing—not anymore.

Their destructive quarrel did not last; all fell quiet as the bedroom door open, her eyes catching JJ as he stumbled across the threshold with two left feet. Everything faded into nothing as eyes of earth and sky met in the lowlight.

"Should've known this is where you'd be." Quick to shut the door behind him, a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes flashed across his face. "Thought you fell into the marsh for a minute."

She mirrored his smile. "Sorry about that."

"Why you hiding out? This is a party, you know."

"All the whooping and hollering was pissing me off," she told a half-lie, "so I left before I snapped, committed a melony and ended up on Women Who Kill."

"A what?"

"A melony—y'know, like felony murder with melons," she clarified, feeling the mattress dip and shift beneath his weight as he laid down beside her. "Saw it on Tumblr once. I was this close to taking Liam Jensen out with a cantaloupe."

"Can't say I blame you. That guy's a tool. Still a weirdo, though." The lazy grin on his lips was quick to falter as he caught a closer look; even if he hadn't long mastered reading the girl like a book, the inflamed eyes were a clear sign—she is not okay. "Hey, you know I hate seeing my favorite girl sad. What's up?"

"Nothing." Everything—everything's wrong and I don't know how to fix it. "Just a long and shitty day."

"Does this long and shitty day have anything to do with you walking all the way here in a goddamn thunderstorm?"

A shallow bitterness overcame like a crashing wave. "That drunk hippie bitch. I'll kill her."

"Whoa. Calm down there, Red Skull—she's just looking out for you." A frown lined his features as he shifted to lay on his side. "You know how dangerous that was? Storms are like... I don't know, like full moons 'round these parts, bringing out all the loonies. What were you thinking?"

"What does it matter?" She asked. "I made it here safe and sound, didn't I?"

"That's not the point, Kaia." A spark of anger flared beneath his skin, furious with her nonchalance, but kept it buried. "You gotta talk to me, sweetheart. Why didn't you let me pick you up?"

"Because I was already here."

"What?"

Sighing in heavy sorrow, Kaia sat up in an attempt to distance herself, but he was quick to follow. "I was already on The Cut when you called and I didn't wanna explain why. I'm sorry."

"None of that. No one's mad here, okay?" He assured as the pads of his fingers ghosted through her hair. "I just want you to be safe, y'know?"

"I know."

A beat of silence passed them by before he pressed the matter further. "Look, you never force me to talk when I don't want to and I'll always show you that same respect. But I know you only go on walks like this when you're upset about something and I-I wanna help. You don't have to talk to me but I'll ask anyway... What happened?"

Kaia thought to leave him in the dark, but knew that decision would cause more harm than good in the end; the consequences outweighed the benefit. "I didn't have to ditch the Camerons for the night because no one was even there."

"What do you mean?"

"It's her week, y'know?" The carefully crafted dam ruptured, shattering to pieces, and all she concealed within herself was doomed to pour out. "I spend two weeks a month with her and she's well aw—and she know this, obviously. She knew I was coming because we just talked about it two freaking days ago and I show up to an empty castle. Turns out the lord and lady of Tannyhill rose off to Key West for the weekend and she didn't even bother telling me. I had to hear it from Rafe. Rafe! Like am I tripping here or is that absolutely fucked?"

Sometimes Kaia cursed the waves for ripping her birth parents away. How would Kaori Zhang feel seeing what maternal hands she'd been forced to leave her only child in? Surely she expected more from Rose Bancroft back in the day; why else would she sign the rights and privileges of godmother over to her?

(In the world of living mothers, Laura Hollenbeck truly was her saving grace.)

Sparks of fury were stoked into flame; JJ was bone-deep pissed at Rose Cameron, enough to fleeting reconsider his position firmly against hitting a woman. If anything could get him to reassess his morals, it would undoubtedly be the one who took the angel at his side and clipped her wings, time and time again. "Are you kidding me?"

"Not the first time this has happened," Kaia dismissed, seemingly without a care (but even in a drunken stupor of his own, JJ could see the scars her mother's detachment left). "God knows it won't be the last."

"I don't give a shit if she does it every freakin' day, Kaia—nothing about that is okay."

"Maybe it isn't but it doesn't really matter, does it? This is just who she is and who she'll always be—it's whatever." She sighed, fiddling with the bracelet around her wrist in shame. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't even be talking to you about this. This is petty bullshit compared to what you—"

"Stop." A startling hiss pierced the air, coming out much harsher than he intended. "God, I hate it when you do that. Quit downplaying it. She doesn't have to put her hands on you to be a shit mother—just shows it in a different way."

"That's... fair, I guess." Her eyes grew glossy and distant—a heart-wrenching window to what she often hid so well. "Just gets some sick kick out of reminding her daughter how easy she is to forget."

"You're not," came a whisper, timid and soft, yet spoken without a second thought. Without room for doubt. "Not to me. Couldn't even if I wanted to."

"Oh," she giggled half heartedly. "So I'm like a nightmare you can't get away from, is that it?"

"Why would I want to?" Those ocean eyes were swiftly sparked to life by a raw intensity she knew too well; burning, adoring, frightening. Before him, no one ever looked at her that way—as if she alone strung up the stars and knew each one by name—and she feared her heart would give out underneath that stare. "Life's a nightmare, Kaia, but you... you're the reason I can wake up—the reason I even want to wake up. I don't know... it's like you help make the nightmare better."

Everything about this stupid boy is magic. Kaia struggled to collect herself and save face, bones turning to fire and ice as his fingertips danced across her skin. "Really?"

His smile could've brought roses to bloom. "Really."

In a blink, his spark lit a flame. The very sight of her left his heart bursting at the seams and in a surge of emotion no longer suppressed, JJ threaded his fingers through her hair and closed the distance between them. Slow, unsure and softer than satin, and she could feel him tremble.

Though every cell in her body wished to fuse with his, Kaia forced herself away from the suffocating safety his embrace provided. "Why did you do that?"

His forehead rested against hers. "You know why."

"JJ..." The sincerity in his voice left her gutted. "We broke up."

"Yeah, because you keep running away from me."

A bullet to the heart. Clenching her jaw, Kaia turned away from him, shrinking into herself and hiding from the truth she didn't want to hear. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. Because it's the same story every goddamn time, Kaia. Things between us get too good and you run—you always, always run and I don't even know why!" She kept her eyes glued to his feet as he paced before her, tears blurring her vision the more desperate his voice became. "If it's something I did then you gotta tell me because I'm going batshit crazy here."

"No," she barely whimpered out. "No, it's nothing you did, okay? God—I promise it's nothing you did."

"Then why do you keep running?!"

"Because I don't know how to be with someone like you!"

JJ froze on the spot. Every word, spoken with a brokenness that unsettled him, felt like a sucker-punch to the gut. Never before had she been so open and honest with him, and he wasn't quite sure what to do it with—how to approach it. "Wh—? What does that mean?"

More than anything else did Kaia Hollenbeck want to disappear into wisps of smoke, but she did not—would not. The girl bit the bullet and jumped headfirst into the lion's den, both afraid of the unknown and embracing it with open arms.

"You're incredible, okay? You're sweet and you're good and I don't feel like the weight of the freaking world is on my shoulders when I'm with you. But he..."

Despite feeling him kneel down before her, she kept her tear-filled eyes fixed on her wrists. Opening the door was the hardest part, she tried to encourage, why not walk all the way through?

"He was horrible. I can't even—I can't even explain it. And that's all I've ever really known, y'know? He was it. You're just so different and I don't know how to—I don't know what to do with it. I have no idea how to be with someone like you and every time I think I've got it figured out, I panic and I get lost in my head and I run because I've never had this, okay? I've never had this and I don't know how to have it and I don't feel like I deserve it because... because he..."

"I know he hurt you, Kaia—believe me, I know." A flash of hatred set his eyes on fire as the pad of his thumb wiped her falling tears away. Calloused and rough, yet more comforting than anything else. "But I'm not him and I never will be."

Horrified, the crying girl met his stare. "Of course not. I wasn't trying to say that—"

"I know." A tender smile lined his lips. "Just needed you to hear me say it."

Suddenly she couldn't look away.

Every cell in his body banshee-wailed in alarm as he fought to tear down those fortress walls he often hid behind, brick by brick. JJ struggled against his fight or flight—against every instinct that told him to run, hide and guard his heart—but he refused to let them win this time. "Look, the real reason I've never done this relationship shit... it—it isn't because I haven't wanted to. It's... There's literally never been someone I've trusted enough to do it with, but you... Like dude, I'd let you hold a gun to my head—safety off and loaded. Not that you ever would—duh!—but that's how much I trust you, y'know? I trust you more than I've ever trusted anyone else. You know that, right?"

Speechless, she nodded her head.

"We're in the same boat here," he reminded her. "I've never had anything this good before and I sure as hell don't know how to have it either... but I want us to figure this shit out. You scare the hell outta me, Kaia Yve, but you're too important to lose. Way too important to lose."

Fresh tears stung her eyes once more—not from sorrow, but a thousand and one things she could not name. "You're too important to lose, too."

"No more running." The brush of his thumb against her cheek left a blooming of heat. "We're so over that shit—like forever, alright? No more running and no more hiding. From here on out, all cards are on the table—we talk everything out and we never walk away. And look—yeah, I-I know I massively suck at that shit too but if you work with me, I swear to god I'll work with you. Just... just let me do—let me be what he wouldn't."

"Okay." For the first time that night, he noticed, the smile he would burn cities to the ground for returned in all its beautiful sincerity. "Gotta say... never pictured you as the mediator in this relationship. It's kinda hot."

A proud grin illuminated his face. "Not to brag or nothin', of course... but I can be serious when it's important enough. Doesn't happen very often but y'know, it is a thing—and that thing is usually you."

"Don't I know it." Her nose scrunched up with a giggle as he tapped it once. "So... Fuck Aphrodite, huh? God, way to make it obvious, babe."

"I don't care if they know," he quickly dismissed. "I wanna be able to call you my girl in public and tell our friends and hold your hand whenever the hell I want—all that sappy simp shit I've never done before. To hell with that stupid fucking kiddie rule. I'm ready to bust outta hiding... I mean, only if you are."

"You said it yourself. No more running and no more hiding, remember?" Kaia's smile softened, fingers ghosting through his windswept hair. "People can say whatever the hell they want—I don't care. We'll break the news tomorrow, okay?"

"Are you sure?" A Kook and a Pogue—the very definition of antithesis—would not be well accepted by many, and JJ knew she would be subjected to the harshest backlash. Especially from her mother. "I don't want you to do this just because of me. You have to want it, too."

"I want what you want, sweetheart. Always have... I was just too scared to really go for it," she admitted. "Besides, if I have to suffer one more stupid tourist throwing herself at you, I'll be taking out some kneecaps."

"Damn." A smirk lined his lips. "Didn't know my girl was so possessive."

"Guess I'm just better at hiding it than your crazy ass is."

"Crazy or not, girlfriend, we been knew you love this ass."

"No printer, just fax." Rolling her eyes, Kaia threaded her fingers through the baby locks at the nape of his neck. "Now shut up and c'mere."

Without missing a beat, the girl stole the breath from his lungs with a mind-numbing kiss.

How could one girl make him feel like he was king of the clouds?

Slow hands ambled down to her hips, electric fingertips trailing heat in their wake; intoxication was instant, dizzying. Humming with delight, JJ shifted their position and settled between her thighs, pressing her deeper into the mattress in an attempt to get closer—to satiate his violent, all-consuming hunger for a loving touch. Moaning softly as his tongue swiped at her bottom lip, Kaia surrendered herself entirely as putty in his hands, using her legs to cage him against her body.

Those calloused fingers crept beneath the hem of her shirt, lips like sweet medicine roamed the soft of her neck and bruised the skin violet, soothing the ache with a velvety swipe of his tongue. The feel of her nails dragging along his scalp and the sound of whispered praises in his ear broke the spell, bringing him back down from the clouds.

The sight of her was more intoxicating than any liquor: swollen lips, pupils blown wide and dazed and all but trembling beneath his touch—JJ needed a moment just to drink her in. Everything about this stupid girl is magic, he thought in secret as his thumb brushed across her bottom lip. Temptation flared like a wildfire he struggled to contain. "We should probably, um... We should—should probably stop."

Brown eyes narrowed curiously, lashes fluttering with every touch. "Do you want to stop?"

Hell no, he wanted to shout from the rooftop; it took every drop of will-power to suppress all he felt—all he wanted to do—but he refused to let it slip. "Babe, you've obviously been through the wringer today and I don't wanna take advantage of that. Don't want you to do anything you'll regret."

"Regret doing you? Never." Though her words rang true, she teased nonetheless, lips trailing featherlight kisses from his taut jaw to the soft of his neck. "And I'm fine—you know I wouldn't do this if I weren't. Whatever you want, I want it too. What do you want, JJ?"

"You." He didn't miss a beat, sighing in bliss as he leaned into her touch. "Want you so bad."

"I'm all yours, baby. Only yours."

All but forgetting every word he knew, it was JJ's turn to steal her breath with another bruising kiss—only this time, he didn't dare stop.

In his arms there was only peace. In his kiss she could let go—she could forget.

(Or so she thought.)

Oblivion did not last. All that goes up must come back down and just as the fables once told, Persephone was destined to fall.

IN A WHIPLASH-INDUCING crash and burn, Kaia went from swimming in stars to losing herself in the darkness between them.

Panic was rising. From the moment her lovestruck euphoria began to fade and the blond boy fell asleep in her arms, every thought began to spiral and spiral and spiral out of control. When breath grew unsteady and her body began to tremble, she knew it was only a matter of time before he woke to fawn over her; she tucked away into the bathroom before he so much as twitched.

(His touch no longer held any power. Its comfort ran dry.)

Heart thundering like a storm in her chest, Kaia sought out three things to anchor herself to—the chilled tile beneath her feet, the flicker of a dying bulb and the dripping faucet—as she stared hopelessly into the mirror. Teary eyes were fixated and frozen, watching as she twisted the orange bottle of pills between her fingers.

This will not save you. This will only bring you lower, the angel cautioned. Turn around and go back to him. Go back to the people who love you and tell them everything.

How much lower can you go? Rock bottom? You're already there, the devil scorned. They don't care about you. Not really—not after you abandoned them for him. Don't fool yourself.

Two voices waged psychological warfare inside her head and Kaia didn't know which to follow. The decision should've been simple enough but while the angel was the tender voice of truth, the devil was seductive—how else could Adam and Eve so easily fall from grace? Kaia was brought up to know the difference between right and wrong, yet still she struggled. Perhaps it was because she hardly cared anymore. She was just so done with this heart of glass and these broken wings.

She wanted—no, needed—everything to stop.

She needed to be free.

You hold freedom in your hand, enticed the devil. It's yours for the taking and yet you hesitate.

Toss them away and go to him, warned the angel. This is not freedom. This is slavery—this is death.

You're already dead, the devil mocked. What more do you have to lose?

Nothing, the shattered heart lamented. I have nothing to lose.

The devil laughed as poor Persephone cried, sealing her fate with a taste of two pomegranate seeds. Two ticking time bombs. Two hands from hell ready to drag her down.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is but part one of a two part prologue and shit hits the fan next time. 🤩

Please welcome my angsty, train wreck babies. They won't necessarily be a slow burn, but it also won't happen right away for obvious reasons (quicker than any other couple I write about—they're teenagers so quicker burns are not uncommon at all lol—but they still got some chaos to work through first).