"Who are you?"
Eva swallowed, feeling that her throat was dryer than ever at his question.
I'm the girl you saved.
I'm the one you played hide and seek with.
I'm the one you fed blueberries to.
I'm the girl you call Birdie.
I'm Eva.
Her eyes darted everywhere but on his face as she gasped out when he suddenly grabbed her chin and made her look him in the eye. Her breath got caught in her throat at the way he was staring at her and just like all the other times, her body wasted no time in coming alive.
"You better tell me who the fuck you are before I go completely berserk." his eyes narrowed and Eva felt a faint shiver travel down her spine. She didn't know if it was fear or an indication of something else.
"Why don't you tell me who you are first?" she asked back, her voice soft and no matter how faint, she caught the slight flicker of confusion pass his glossy orbs before it vanished just as quickly as it had arrived.
"I don't think you're in the position to bargain—"
His words were cut off midway when she hesitantly raised a finger and traveled it down from his temple to his bloody scar, her orbs softening when she felt his wound. His eyes contracted further down as he bore into her very soul and watched her fidget with a close gaze.
"What do you think you're doing—"
"Does it hurt?"
Theo visibly flinched, letting go of her chin as he flexed his hand which had just left her skin. And just like that, Eva ignored the hard glare he passed her and remembered the frail boy who had looked up at the Moon and cried on his dead mother's body.
When had been the last time that he had received somebody's unconditional love?
His mother, the thought echoed in her head and her eyes watered when she realized that the time period was in decades.
She looked up to see him blinking his eyes, bewildered. "Who—"
"No," she replied, her voice firm and he tightened his jaw at her defiance. "Who are you?"
Silence passed between them both and Eva knew then.
He didn't remember.
Something had happened to him and that was why he didn't recognize her and didn't know his own name.
"You— You're Theo," she spoke out, her voice coming out choked as his eyes briefly widened, and then he grabbed her hands to pin them above in a tight grip. She wondered if it would leave marks. Would it matter?
Not to her.
"And I'm supposed to trust somebody that I don't even know?"
Her heart cracked at his words but she still managed to remain unaffected on the outside. It wasn't his fault, she reminded herself internally.
"Try to remember," she pleaded. "You know me, Theo."
His brows narrowed as he looked down for a moment and that was when chaos erupted.
"Eva!"
Both their heads whirled in the direction where the voice came from and Eva's eyes widened when she saw Gwen, Kai, and Davina step in through the open entrance. That meant she had reached quite close to the door when he intercepted her in between.
Her eyes flashed to his hands where his darkness crackled in its intensity and without thinking twice, Eva took his big hand in her two smaller ones.
His attention had been grasped. He gazed at her, his face blank and emotionless as Eva spoke without turning her eyes away from him.
"I need you all to leave," she said softly yet in a tense tone.
"What the hell are you talking about—"
"He's not himself right now as you might've noticed." Davina interrupted Kai, her voice calm yet Eva wondered if it was a tremor she noticed in her voice.
"I'm going to be fine."
His hot breath ghosted past her lips and Eva's came out in small pants at their too-close proximity. She was certain that her cheeks were brighter than a tomato considering how he was looking at her in the presence of his childhood friends.
"Uh scream if you need any help— Hey!" Kai's small cry of pain easily indicated that somebody had smacked him at the back of his head and Eva had a faint guess of who it was already.
"We'll be right outside." Eva nodded at Gwen's words but still didn't lower her gaze from his unblinking eyes.
The darkness around him hadn't lessened and when the door silently closed, leaving a cranny still open, his power only increased but surprisingly Eva didn't feel suffocated.
"I can hurt you." were the first words he spoke after their audience had not so silently departed and Eva couldn't help but chuckle at his threat.
He raised a brow, familiar amusement glimmering behind those unfazed orbs and Eva realized that she wanted a reaction out of him. She couldn't bear the sight of him looking blank and confused any longer. It squeezed something in her chest and made her want to—
Slowly releasing a small breath, she placed her trembling hand on his chest and watched him stumble back instantly, a flicker of shock crossing his features.
"What're you—?"
She stepped toward him and a giggle escaped her lips when he kept on backing up, his expression horrified. He seemed to have forgotten that he was the one chasing her only minutes ago.
"I don't think I know any... perverts," he mumbled out and that was the last string of Eva's remaining sanity.
Her lips parted on their own as a laugh burst out from them in full force. She threw her head back, her eyes crinkling as giggle after giggle escaped her without stopping. Her heart thudded inside her chest as she looked at him and burst out into another fit of chuckles.
When was the last time she had laughed so hard?
She couldn't remember...