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"We're not them, Grey," I mutter softly. "We'll never be our parents."
His eyes falter slightly, scanning my face. "I know," he whispers. "We're better than that."
I nod. "We make the rules. And in some weird turn of fucked-up events, our life here is better than our childhoods."
Grey smiles. "It's better because of you."
The curtain behind him opens, my body tensing for a second until I spot Theo. I gesture for him to come in, Grey not bothering to turn around to look.
"I'll give you a moment to talk," he says, kissing my forehead and standing up. "Then, you better come out and get some food or else."
I laugh softly, watching as he heads to the end of the aisle, pausing to give Theo a curt nod. When he's gone out of sight, I smile brightly up at Theo from my knees.
"That was very cheeky of you," I muse.
He laughs, sitting down on the floor in front of me. "It wasn't my idea. But it seemed stupid not to go along with it."
I shake my head with a smile, cheeks turning pink. "There were definitely some benefits for you."
"I think that was his way oftrying," Theo says. "Don't be fooled though—there were still threats involved."
Rolling my eyes, I sigh. "Of course there was. Interesting way totrythough."
Theo lifts an eyebrow at me, pressing his back against the bookshelf. "It makes sense though. He doesn't like to share, so he picked the most secluded way to do it. He didn't have to see me and judging from what I could hear through the wall, he's still a possessive shit."
"You're possessive too," I shoot back. "Leaving fingers on my bed."
He shrugs. "I gave you a flower. Girls like that shit."
"Oh,that'sthe part you are focusing on," I scold playfully. "Here's the finger of your enemy… it's in a rose though."
"I'm nothing if not unique," he smiles.
I shuffle forward on my knees, positioning myself so I can take a seat next to him on the ground. He reaches for my hand at the same time as I offer it, clutching it in his hold.
"Are you really okay with this?" I ask wearily. "We haven't had a chance to discuss it."
Theo hums in agreement. "Yes, speaking of discussing things. What's the fucking deal with these punishments? Why didn't you tell me?"
I shrug. "I thought I could handle it. I still think I can. I just didn't want to worry anyone. Well, worry isn't the right word. I didn't want either of you to fly off the deep-end and murder anyone."
"I'm serious, Avery. Imagine how I felt when I told you that you wouldn't avoid me any longer, just to have you disappear again."
"That was outside of my control," I whisper sadly. "It's been killing me not being able to see you lately. I was so worried that you'd hate me."
He squeezes my hand. "I don't know what this shit is," he says, nodding in the direction of the society table outside the shelves. "But whatever it is, it's obviously something big. I assume it ties into the fact that you thought you had to avoid me."
I nod, confirming it. "When I returned from that night in prison, I was warned to keep away from all of you by Mr. Whittingham. He threatened me… and you. He said he'd send you all away if I didn't comply."
"You thought you were protecting us," he points out.
"Yeah," I sigh. "And he wanted me to spy on everyone. When I wouldn't give him the information he wanted, he started assigning me to tasks. Just mediocre shit like cleaning the facility, doing paperwork. But he basically tried to starve and exhaust me with it. That's when you noticed I wasn't at meals."
Theo stays quiet and I wonder what's going through his mind. I give his hand a little squeeze, showing my appreciation.
"I'm so happy you approached them to try to help me. That would have been hard."
"Not hard," Theo replies coolly. "Just annoying. But I knew that they had some sway that I didn't have. I'm not too proud to ask for help when it comes to you."
