137 I Love You (1/2)

He would follow me into the darkness and back.

Who doesn't want someone who would?

I didn't.

Now, I do.

”Can I ask you a question?” I heard him ask, his voice was husky and sweet.

”Shoot.” He stared into my eyes for the longest moment before opening his mouth. His lips darted out as if to taste my skin, but he licked his lips to wet them.

”If I ever asked you to put a gun to my head and shoot, would you be able to do it?” My eyes widened at the question. My hands fell to my sides, and my body recoiled. ”Don't,” he gulped as he closed the s.p.a.ce I had created between us.

”What is the meaning of the question?”

”Answer me, Mia,” he ordered, firmly. The palm of his hands slid from my arms to my shoulders and then went on to cradle my cheeks. How the tables had turned.

”If you betrayed me... if you pulled your gun out first. I would.” I lied.

”What if I pointed it at your head and told you that I didn't love you? What if I lied?” He stunned me.

”Lie?” I choked out.

”Yes, what if I lied and told you that I didn't love you? That I never did?”

”I would believe you,” I whispered. His hands grew firmer and his face came closer to mine.

”Why?” he whispered. Agony... that was what I heard.

”You can say that the earth is flat and I would believe you... You can lie to people unlike any other. You would make me believe you.”

”Why would you not believe in me?”

”Because...” I couldn't tell him why. How could I tell him that I was the one that should not be believed in? That I couldn't expect honesty when I was lying.

”I love you,” he whispered. Frozen, I listened to him murmur to me. I stared at him, unable to figure out a word he had said.

”I love you, Mia...” he whispered again, breaking through the haze of murky water under which I was drowning.

”No.”

”Yes...” he hissed.

”How do you know?”

”I've told you... ” I shook my head. ”And you love me, I know.”

”No.” He smiled and then lowered his face to mine. His tongue tasted me first, and then his lips pressed to mine, hesitant and searching. I let him in, resigned and sad. I felt betrayed.

Why would he say that to me?

He pressed harder, urging me to tell him everything.

This time, I did.

I told him that I was scared.

I told him that I would pull the trigger if he betrayed me.

I told him that if he wanted me to trust him, he would have to earn it.