A few weeks after that…
Gavin is seen casually walking around in the middle of the street, he then looks around, checking if there's anything off, before turning as he walks into an alleyway. He then leans back on a wall, as he waits for something, looking around to check if anyone could find him.
Suddenly, the wall beside him explodes, bursting with flames, as the sound of an alarm can be heard. The building behind Gavin seems to be a store of sorts, as a mysterious hooded figure jumps out of the hole in the wall, carrying a few bags of various items as they run away, as Gavin then follows close by.
Gavin and the hooded figure run out into the streets, as guards, policemen and their cars start chasing the both of them as the hooded figure then fights back, "Emburst!", the hooded figure yells as they fire a huge fireball at the police chasing them, slowing them down and injuring a few others as a wall of flames block the way. The hooded figure then suddenly glows a bright red, as flames surround them as the hooded figure transforms into a huge Phoenix, as it prepares to fly up, it turns out the hooded figure was Courtney, and the two just committed a robbery. Gavin quickly catches up to Courtney, as he jumps on her back and the two quickly fly away, quickly escaping law enforcement.
After a few minutes of flying, the pair land in what seems to be their base, as Courtney quickly untransforms, as the two enter the house. Courtney drops off the bags on the ground as she quickly takes off her cloak and jumps onto the couch,
"sighs Well, that was another successful day...", she says with a deep sigh, as she rests on the couch, exhausted,
"Yeah, all that stuff should last us another few weeks before we go out again", Gavin replies as he jumps onto the couch next to Courtney, as they both sit there in an awkward silence, both still panting a bit after the tiring escape.
It turns out, ever since that day, Gavin has been mindlessly helping Courtney, working together with her as they commit theft, robberies, burglaries, etc., with Courtney doing all the heavy work, while Gavin does intel and lookout. Gavin has also been living with Courtney, helping her do housework wherever they stay, keeping her company, and just helping her survive in a world where everyone hates her. As for Courtney, she still feels bad for Gavin, but she also still doesn't understand why Gavin would help her... This entire time all she could feel is shame, guilt and pain as she knows that Gavin was really a nice guy, but now is probably only doing all of this out of pity, even after doing all of that to him, and even getting him caught between the crossfires one of her own consequences, but yet he stayed, no matter what, even helping her do even more horrible acts in the process. She could do nothing but feel bad.
Gavin sits there on the couch, spacing out and staring into the void as he wonders,
"What am I doing... Why am I even here, why am I even helping her? After everything she did...", Gavin thinks to himself as he looks down at his hands, as he then turns to Courtney.
He then takes a good look at her, as he feels his gut wrenching with bad feelings, but at the same time, his heart beats faster as he feels this strange feeling coming over him. Every time he tries to say something, there's always something that gets in the way of his words. Every moment with Courtney now feels like a challenge, even during the more peaceful times... His heart gives him a strange feeling every time that happens.
"No, no... that can't be...", he thinks to himself as he realizes his face is flushed and red as hell, as he thinks about all this. He tries shaking his head, trying to get that feeling off his mind.
The awkward silence finally breaks, as Courtney confronts Gavin,
"H-hey, I've been wondering...", she says shyly as she plays with her fingers, as Gavin jumps a bit in shock, not taking the time to look, as he decides on only hearing out on what she has to say, being too nervous to even take a glimpse at her.
Courtney takes a deep breath before talking,
"Y-y'know, why are you... Why are you helping me? I-I thought you hated me?", Courtney says softly, feeling bad for Gavin for having to put up with everything she has to do.
"I-I...", Gavin stutters in response, as he struggles to let out what he has to say,
"You what...? D-don't you hate me? After everything I did... All those horrible crimes and, and... gulps nervously K-killing... everyone you loved...", she says softly with a hint of guilt, as Gavin's eyes widen at the mention of the destruction of his hometown, causing him to tear up, as he feels his heart beat faster as the memories of his traumatizing past come back to his head,
"I-I don't know...", Gavin replies as he slowly starts to have a mental breakdown, wondering what he's doing, what is going on?
"What do you mean you don't know?", Courtney continues to ask Gavin, who's starting to have a small trauma or panic attack, as his eyes wander everywhere, trying his best to avoid the sight of Courtney, but still occasionally looking at her, his vision gets blurry and hazy,
"Gavin! What's happening, are you okay? Gavin!", she exclaims as she tries to get close to the trembling boy, but Gavin uncontrollably pushes her away,
"Ow! That hurt a lot...", Courtney says as she sheds a tear, as Gavin continues to have the traumatic attack, as it gets worse when combined with his overthinking, as Gavin then falls on the floor.
The boy lays on the floor as he begins to have a panic attack, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably. Courtney then picks him up into his arms, trying to calm him down,
"Gavin, calm down! What's wrong, what's going on...!", her voice then slowly fades away…
"She's right... Why am I doing this, why am I still even here? Why am I helping her, when I hate her so much... Do I even hate her? Why am I helping a criminal survive!?", he continues to overthink as he feels his mind melt, he blurrily stares at his hands as they seem to spark, it's sparking everywhere, he's gone mad.
Courtney continues to hold Gavin, trying to help him as he feels himself slowly falling unconscious…
A few hours later, Gavin wakes up on a bed in a dim room, he then sits up, rubbing his eyes as he looks around to see what's going on or if anyone's there. He then sees a bright light from a lamp next to a sleeping Courtney on a mini sofa, snoring peacefully, it seemed that she brought him there and stayed with him the whole time.
Gavin then falls flat back on the bed, as he sighs deeply and covers his face with his hands,
"What am I gonna do now...", he whispers to himself, when suddenly, Courtney seems to wake up,
"Gavin...?", she says as she yawns a bit, rubbing her eyes as she looks over at Gavin laying on the bed,
"C-Courtney...?-", Gavin replies, but is quickly cut off as Courtney rushes over to him as she gives him a hug,
"Gavin... I was so worried...", she says with a soft, worried tone as she hugs him tightly, as Gavin is frozen in shock, once again lost in his thoughts as he's wondering what he should even feel.
They then separate after a few seconds, as Courtney sits next to Gavin on the bed,
"So, Gavin... Are you alright?", she asks him, but Gavin doesn't reply, sitting there in silence as he thinks about what he should even do, feel, or say,
"sighs It's okay, you don't have to say anything...", Courtney says as she just sighs and looks away, as Gavin looks up at her,
"Listen... These past few weeks, I'm thankful that you stayed with me but... You really didn't have to do all of that", she continues to talk to Gavin as he just sits there, listening,
"You could've left any time, y'know... Why didn't you?", Courtney asks him again, as Gavin clutches the sheets, gritting his teeth as he tries to think of a reply, yet hold back,
"Well...", Gavin says nervously but stops before he could actually say it, as Courtney looks at him,
"What is it?", she asks again, as he looks into his eyes, hoping to finally hear what he feels about all of this.
Gavin then takes a deep breath, before sighing as he continues,
"I just... I don't know... I felt something, this feeling in my heart, that I just had to help you", Gavin finally explains, as Courtney listens closely,
"When I heard your story, I really wasn't sure, I didn't want to believe you, but at the same time I felt bad... So I stayed, but as for the crimes, I... I actually don't know why I helped you with those. But anyway, for these past few weeks, when I've lived with you, I... kind of understand, you aren't bad at all, and, I guess I can believe that story now as well, which might seem pretty bad for me...", he says, joking a bit at the end to try and lighten the mood, as Courtney smiles a bit and chuckles,
"Heh, thanks, Gavin...", she says with a grateful tone, as he gently holds his hands, smiling sincerely at him as they lock eyes.
When this happened, Gavin's gut feelings finally vanished, as he finally understood what the feeling in his heart meant. He felt his heart beating faster and faster, his face blushing harder and getting redder with each second that passed as they gaze into each other's eyes as the heartwarming scene plays.
After a minute or two of the couple locking eyes in complete silence, they both immediately look away, realizing what they were doing,
"coughs S-so... I guess I'll go get some sleep now...", Gavin says nervously, as he lays back down on the bed, covering himself with the sheets, as Courtney gets up and fixes herself,
"clears throat Y-yeah, I agree...", she quickly replies as she quickly rushes to leave the room,
"G-good night, Gavin!", she says to him as she quickly shuts the door, leaving Gavin in there with his newfound thoughts…
And starting that day, the two got closer and closer, they continued living with each other, casually committing crimes on a monthly basis to get basic necessities, escaping law enforcement, and actually having some quality fun... in a life of crime.
Gavin stares at Courtney's smile as they run away from law enforcement, as she enjoys the thrill of escaping, as Gavin realizes, "Damn, this is about to be one hell of a ride...", he thinks to himself, as he knows what's already coming up for him in life... It may not be good, but at least he gets to enjoy the fun, with her. He then continues chasing after her, running with her as they both escape.
Gavin was no longer afraid, putting aside the past and his memories as he realized, it's no use staying in the past, when there's nothing you can do about it anymore, what matters now is the future, as there are always endless possibilities, and an infinite journey ahead, even beyond the end…
And after a month or so, the two eventually started dating, continuing the same life but on an even more intimate level, for the next 2 years, eventually leading to the current events, where we are now...