Chapter 25.

TRIGGER WARNING: mentions of drug use, alcohol and fool language.

“My guardian angel

I only seen you in your halo

I was hoping we could stay close

But we no longer sing the same notеs…” Lost in the citadel - Lil Nas X

March, 2137

Eveline

We are walking in the streets for a while now and I had already taken his hand a few times but being able to hold it without fear of being caught was something totally different, the feeling of freedom that the whole night carried was extremely important in every way, even in the way of dressing and of behaving in public, no one really cared about it and I felt like myself for the first time in years.

And being by his side just made that night even more special.

As we walked he showed me some stores and establishments of all kinds. It amazed me to see a mechanical prosthesis store in the middle of the street and a huge arcade in one of the many avenues in the district, but the more we walked I realized that some rumors were true.

As we turned onto a street full of restaurants I noticed a hidden alley between two buildings where some girls came out dressed in very short clothes and strong makeup and waved to passersby and in another street where I saw several people with painted skin like me and costumed with the most diverse types of themes and I noticed that some didn't seem to be very aware of their surroundings amd I think they are extremely high and Roman noticed too and moved me away from there to go towards the other street, but I wasn't too shaken by the vision, after all this shouldn't just happen there as they said, and I really doubted that at parties at Glory's and Old Waybrook people didn't use that kinds of drugs.

Not everything is perfect after all.

We turned a few more streets and finally arrived at the restaurant he had suggested and ordered what I assumed was Chinese food as they called it, we waited a bit in silence just enjoying the sound of the city and when our food arrived we ate right there and he again paid for everything and I gave him an annoyed look and he just laughed.

Back on the streets we started to follow a huge flow of people until we came to a huge shed painted black with a pink neon sign where the word “Hurricane” blinked for all people to see and a sweet smell of candy coming from inside of the place.

People entered nonstop after security released them and Roman pulled me by the hand over there and showed something to the security guards who pulled the rope and cleared our entrance.

We then climbed a metal ladder that creaked against the heels of my boots and other shoes of the people around us creating an infernal cacophony, and when we reached the last step I realized I was on a metal platform above the dance floor which is occupied with a lot of people almost the entire shed.

People down there were dancing to electronic music with drinks in their hands while the lights created an almost psychedelic pattern. I looked around and saw people descending from the platform by the side stairs that led to the bar on the other side and some down the one next to the speakers.

“My God this is crazy!" I said while I was extremely surprised as people passed by us laughing and running and I leaned over the rail to watch all the movement in amazement.

“You haven't seen anything yet Sunflower, it's only eleven at night, the good part hasn't started yet," He said and I stared at him open mouthed.

"You must be kidding right?" I asked excitedly but he shook his head with a smirk in the corner of his mouth and before I started to think too much he took me by the hand and we walked to the stairs beside the bar where several people were sitting sipping extremely strange drinks that I had never seen.

When we reached the bottom of the stairs the sweet smell that I would have smelled earlier got stronger and mixed with the smell of sweat and various other perfumes which made it a bit strange but not totally unpleasant.

I looked around seeing the bathroom to my right where some girls were talking while drinking a purple liquid and laughing at something, their eyes passed over me and they smiled, the pink haired one smiled and winked at me while the other colored haired one with a auburn hair just watched me curiously, so I looked away and decided to walk towards the bar with Roman behind me.

When I approached a boy a little older than I saw me leaning on the cold metal counter occupied by so many glasses that the poor guy was not able to clean and he grinned at me showing sharp teeth which made me blink in perplexity but soon I disguised my expression and smiled at him noticing that he had blue eyes and dark hair that due to the heat of the environment was sweaty and hung like small traces of black paint down the side of his face.

“What can I do for you today, doll?" He asked and I just rolled my eyes thinking that’s too good to be true and tapped the device on the counter and a hologram of the menu appeared, I quickly read the options and decided my only drink of the night would be a Red Sky.

The only one I knew from that long list of options.

“One Red Sky, please,” I said and he just nodded and looked at Roman who was standing silently behind me, his expression completely closed to the strange bartender.

“And you, what do you want?" The same guy with shark teeth asked and Roman glared at him with a cole expression before deciding.

"A Trip Burned," He said and the guy nodded before going to the other side to prepare our drinks, I then turned to face him and noticed that he had moved a little closer to me, his expression still closed and I just I smiled at him understanding where it was coming from but not caring, so I lifted my hands and stroked the hard lines that marred his face until he closed his eyes and they softened with every touch “This guy is a prick, sorry for that Eve,” He said and opened his eyes to stare at me.

“You don't have to apologize for the behavior of the others Rom, and it's okay,” I say and he nodded, his green eyes burning and in a sudden flash of clarity I rose on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek drawing his attention to me and seeing an expression full of affection take over his face.

He then looped my waist with one arm and he placed the other on my cheek while he leaned in and kissed my forehead.

“Thanks for coming with me, I really needed to see you and talk about what happened, you are very important to me Eve, never doubt that,” He said against my forehead and I hugged him and leaned my head against his chest and I could hear his heart pounding hard against his ribs.

“You are very important to me too Rom, never doubt that," I said and we stared at each other deeply, my violet eyes glazed over with his green ones.

But our trance was broken when the stranger from earlier left our avenues at the counter and went back in the other way to attend to more people and I watched my blood red drink as I settled on a stool near the counter and took a sip from that, realizing that it’s cold and strong.

"You liked it?" Roman asked as he sips his drink l which was orange and seemed to glow in the dark and I nodded.

"It's the only one I know and it has berries that are my favorites and vodka, it's really tasty, do you want a sip?" I said and offered him the straw and he lowered his face enough to catch the straw and take a sip as he looked up at me and it made something turn inside of me.

"It's really nice, you want a sip of mine?" He offered and I nodded trying to get the image from a few seconds before out of my mind as I sipped from his glass and tasted lemon and something sweet in the background and I thought it was funny the drink was orange and not green, but when I got half of it to orange color started to change and turned yellow, the color of sicilian lemon and I thought that was amusing.

“It's really good and it changes color. I've never seen anything like it and it's less alcoholic than mine,” I said and went back to drinking mine which was also half full.

When we were done we left the glasses on the counter and blended into the crowd of bodies swaying from side to side, the sweet smell getting stronger inside the crowd and when we stopped we were in the middle of all that crowd, the music getting louder and louder and the lights flashing.

People were swaying from side to side until I noticed that at the back of the shed there was a huge stage where several dancers swayed and twirled on pole posts while wearing only multicolored lingerie and some are only with their bodies painted.

When I turned my attention to Roman he looked really at ease in the middle of that crowd, his hair always in place had turned into a tangle of curls that stuck to his forehead in the heat and his eyes were brighter than ever as they looked in my direction, his piercings glowing in the colored light making him even more intriguing.

I felt when he pulled me against him and my colored back hit his chest and his hands stopped on my waist as I rocked my hips from side to side, I laid my head on his shoulder and lifted slightly to watch his face, a lock of hair was plastered to his forehead as we danced to the beat of the music.

I lifted one of my hands and gently brushed the curl away and he rubbed his face against my hand which made me shiver so I looped my hand around his neck as we danced, our gazes locked, his gaze burning as well as his touch in each part of me making my body heat up.

My other hand touched his which was warm and splayed against my stomach, my hip in contact with his moved in small circles and when I saw him close his eyes I knew it was killing him as much as me but it felt good to be with him like that.

I then turned in his bond and I came face to face with him, the multitude of bodies squeezing us against each other as we stood staring at each other, our breaths ragged and the sweat and sweet smell of the place doing crazy things with my common sense.

I splayed my hands on his chest feeling the fast beating of his heart and the warmth of his skin and the vanilla scent that always came from him, that damn smell that left me lost, I then ran my hands down his chest until I could tuck them under his black shirt so I can touch his skin and feel his muscles against my palms.

I heard him grunt as my hands reached the hem of his shirt and I could feel the muscles in his belly tense as I gently reached under the fabric and slid them against his chest, wanting to rip his shirt open so I could trace all his tattoos but his hands before gently resting on my waist went down to my ass where he squeezed hard and pulled me close and pressed me against him which made me feel his hard erection against my thigh and when I realized I was rubbing my thighs one against each other and a feeling like a fire burning my insides spread in the low part of my stomach.

I needed him, and soon.

"What are you doing, Sunflower?" He asked with a raspy voice as he rested his forehead against mine and ran his hands up my back and I lowered my hands against his chest, my nails scraping his skin under his shirt making him shiver.

"I really don't know but it's good," I said and he grunted and pressed me tighter against him and I looked up and caressed his face which made his green eyes blaze, I then looked at his pretty pink lips and I bit mine.

“I want so bad to kiss you right now even though I know I shouldn't," He said very softly as he laid his head on my shoulder and kissed my neck and shoulder like he had been doing all night and I caressed his face and he grunted and squeezed me again against him.

“Fuck, if I don't kiss you now I'll probably goong to be fucking insane, I need to touch you," I said and he was startled but didn't react when I pulled him by his shirt and our lips met.

This kiss was different from the first time we kissed in the garage, but at the same time the euphoria it brought with it, he held my face like that time gently but needy and his other hand rested on my waist as I pulled the on the back of his neck forcefully pulling small moans from him.

"Fuck," I heard him mutter as he ran his hands down my back not being able to control himself as I removed his hands from his chest and was unbuttoning his shirt a little to see him and feel his skin against mine in a better way.

We broke apart for a brief moment to catch our breath and when I saw him breathing heavily with his lips swollen and even more inviting than before I almost pushed him towards the restrooms but tried to control myself as much as I could but as much as I needed to do this it didn’t fit inside me.

He then pulled me against him and sealed our lips again making all my worries go away for a while, and that's why I enjoyed being with him so much because even though he distracted me he always helped me deal with all the shit that was ahead and that meant the world to me.

I might be the people's shield, but he was mine.

My arms went around his neck and he wrapped his around my waist making little circles on the paint covered skin, the two of us lost in our own bubble in that crowd and for the first time in months I felt good.

It’s a night full of firsts, and I love that.

It took weeks of just watching him and not being able to touch him, it consumed me until the end and knowing that something bad could happen to him killed me inside, because I knew Nate and neither my dad would let anything go, including the fact that my guard was important to me.

We parted slightly and when I looked up at him I couldn't help but admire how handsome he looked but again that sad glint crossed his eyes and it was starting to make me nervous because he knew something I wasn't aware of and this is freaking th shit out of me but that was a conversation for another time.

“How much time do we still have?" I asked sadly suddenly and he glanced at the Cerberum screen before turning to me.

“It's almost one in the morning, when you want to go we'll go,” He said calmly and I nodded, moving closer to him and hugging him around the waist and laying my head on his chest as he put his arms around me “I don't regret anything tonight, I just wish I had more time with you," He said softly and kissed my hair and I gripped his shirt tightly.

"I wish I had more time with you too," I said and kissed his chest, leaving a lipstick mark there but I didn't care and when I lifted my face from my hiding place he leaned in and kissed me again, but this time it was a calm kiss, his tongue begging for passage gently as he caressed my face and I melted in his arms.

When we parted he looked at me with so much affection and desire that I wished I was Venus, the girl he invent, a girl with no duties and no commitments, but I could never throw it all away and he knew that because he was so like me in this regard it was almost comical to imagine.

We both accepted our burden with honor for those we loved and that would be it, but nothing would stop me from enjoying the little time I had with him despite the fact that it was ending.

“Thank you for bringing me, it meant a lot to me to be with you tonight Rom, thank you,” I said and smiled at him who bent down to kiss my forehead again “But we need to go now,” I said and he nodded.

“Let’s go home, a very important week is coming ahead,” He said and I nodded as we held hands again and walked towards the exit.

Everything with him felt right and in place, and being able to feel that for a little while was enough, because he was the one who would be there, I knew that at some point it would end but for now I was more than happy to have him there with me.

After we left we leave the sweet smell of candy and loud music of the shed behind us as we walked the slightly emptier streets of the Vortex in silence enjoying each other's last moments of company, my hand intertwined with his and my head resting on his shoulder as the only sound that accompanied us was our footsteps.

In life we don't always have everything we want when we want it, but when the opportunity comes we seize it and I did it that day, no matter how little my time with him was with me being a normal girl, every second had been worth it and I would do it all over again just to enjoy it over again but a night like that with him it’s a treasure for me and I love every single second of it.