"I--I," Maria stuttered as she tried to figure out what to do. "No, Julien, you don't-- you can't... you can't mean that. You're just drunk. You don't mean that."
"I do, Maria," Julien said as he took another step towards her. "I've been wanting to tell you since we got back, but you're always with Arthur. I can't ever seem to get you alone, but he's not here right now, so it's the perfect time for us to run away together. They won't catch us. No one will know until we are long gone, and by then, they won't be able to find us."
Maria took a step back to keep the distance between them, and she brought her hand up to her forehead. The alcohol was making her brain fuzzy, which made it difficult to process everything that Julien was saying in a timely manner. In a way, this conversation felt like a dream. Actually more like a nightmare, but still, it didn't feel real.
