I shifted on my feet, seeing a glimmer of hope that she never showed. “Why do you think?”
An abrupt laugh left her mouth, followed by a cloud of breath in the cool air. “At first? I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure if you came back to finish the job or…” Her big, gray eyes stunned me for a second with the fact that she trulythought I’d tried to hurt her. “Or maybe you came to make sure I was okay. Although, this is the first time I’m admitting that aloud.”
The words flew from my mouth quickly. “It was to make sure you were okay.” Then, I shook my head, pulling up my own hood and storming over to her. “I didn’t say it enough in the past, and it’s obvious since you had the mere thought that I could have been the one to hurt you, but I would rather split open my chest and pull out my own heart than ever let someone touch you.”
Her eyes widened as she pressed onto my arm wrapped around her lower back. Her chest tipped upward, and her lips parted with…fear? Surprise?
“What are you thinking?” I asked.
She blinked, and her eyes grew glossier by the second. My heart was humming, and I wanted to pull her up those decaying stairs to the place she grew up in, shove her into the nearest room, and prove to her how truthful my words were.
“I’m thinking I like hearing you say those things, even though I promised I would never, ever let my heart get invested again.”
I immediately pressed my lips to her forehead to hide the emotion that was clogging my senses. What Journey didn’t know was that I knew exactly how she felt. Being this infatuated with someone came with consequences. I’d lived with them, and so had she. Abandonment and desertion by those who were supposed to care for you, and had promised to do so, went a long fucking way. We were both jaded when it came to love and stability.
“Your heart doesn’t really give you a choice. It wants what it wants, and we want the same thing.”
I dropped my head, wanting to do nothing more than pinch the bridge of my nose to stop the burning. But instead, I grabbed onto her hand, looked up at the orphanage, and remembered why we were here.
“Are you going to confront Sister Mary?” I asked, changing the subject. Journey pulled away and glanced up at the same three-story brick building that I was. The windows had tiny, orange flames flickering behind the cloudy glass, and that was the only light that I could see.
Journey’s warm hand left mine, and she pulled out a small key from her jeans. “Sister Mary is the only parental figure I have ever had.” Her shaky breath puffed out into the air when she took a step forward. I followed closely behind, peeking over our shoulders for the tenth time in the last few minutes. “I know she has kept me safe all these years, but I have a feeling she knows more than she told Headmaster Ellison.”
“And if she doesn’t?” I asked as we stood in front of the oak and wrought-iron door with a key dangling from Journey’s fingers.
She shot me a sharp look, and my rebellious girl was back in action with her dewy eyes and crescent-like smile. “Then, we start uncovering the secrets that I know she has hidden inside this building.”