30. Don't Leave Me

-kaeden pov-

"I almost didn't recognize you,"

I break the silence first once we get inside the flat.

Finley's seriousness along with his unnatural silence was killing me.

He forces me to sit on the stairs before going into the kitchen. He comes back with the first aid kit and starts to clean the wounds on my wrists from the handcuffs being too tight.

He finishes bandaging them up and pulls his hair back into a small ponytail before prepping my t-shot and injects it for me without saying a word so I could rest my shaking hands.

"Finley, what's wrong?" I ask.

Not knowing where the silence was coming from.

He stops and sits down one stair below mind taking off his sunglasses and putting them to the side. It was so quiet, you could hear every creak in the hardwood floor and the sound of sirens going off in the distance.

"I had to use your deadname Kae. It made me feel so sick inside even though I knew it as the only way to get you out alive." Fin sighs and I wrap my arms around him from behind. Just resting my chin on his shoulder.

"It's okay, I know you did what you had to," I forgive him and he holds my arms against him.

"You started an entire revolt last night. There were riots in your name and London practically burst into flames," He says and leans back, resting his head on my lap while hugging my legs.

"I didn't start anything, Petunia did," I reply and he suddenly sits up.

"Yeah but you didn't have to say anything," he says and faces the wall. I stand up out of spite and disgust.

"He killed a little girl! A beautiful little girl! She was transgender but she was still just a girl and you expected me to do nothing!" I yell, he stays staring at the light pink wallpaper and gently scratches it.

"I didn't say that. You are puting words in my mouth," He says quietly.

"Well, it sure did sound like it. What the fuck Finley. My people are out there giving their lives, getting deported, or being put in conversion camps. People who are suffering because of something they didn't choose!" I slam my fist against the wall in anger, not for him but for everything that was happening and how frustrating it was to just watch as it goes down.

Finley stands up and stares at me.

The tears collecting in his beautiful hazel eyes took all the anger from me and turned it to concern.

I reach out to him but he shoves me back and walks into the empty living room with his back to me. Small slits of light come in through the dusty windows as he walks to the center of the room. He looked so vulnerable and small as he wrapped his arms around himself.

"Finley, I can't stand by and do nothing," my soft voice echoes through the light empty space and he nods.

"I know," he says and tilts his head up towards the ceiling as if that would stop the tears from falling.

"I knew the moment you picked up that little girl, the moment the crowd stood still and you had this stone cold look on your face as if you were disgusted by the entire world and wanted nothing more than a rebellion. I knew the moment you spoke that you were the one and this is your destiny or whatever the fuck you want to call it, But..."

His voice cracks with the amount of pain he had on his heart and this is why he had been so quiet earlier. His body starts shaking uncontrollably as he tries to hold back the tears and stay strong but it was too much to handle.

"You're going to get yourself killed Kaeden!" He turns around and faces me so I can watch him fall apart at the seams as if I didn't already feel guilty from the black and blue bruise he carries on the top of his forehead.

"Don't you see how much I fucking love you! I love you so much that I'm willing to support you in this fight even though the only thing I want to do is hide you in an attic like Anne Frank or take you to another country until it's over!" He cries out and starts to hyperventilate from the crying and the panic.

Unable to hold myself back and fearing my love would harm himself even more by passing out, I force him into a tight embrace. He fights me for the first few seconds before losing the energy and collapsing into me.

"Kaeden...Before I met you, I loved no one, not even myself. I had no reason to be here, I'm nothing but a screwup in my family!  And everyone hates me because I fucked with their emotions. I fucked so many people just because I wanted to feel something but got nothing in return, I was so alone!" He coughs out and I gently my hand up and down his back in comforting motions.

He grips the back of my t-shirt as he cries into me, I can feel his tears soaking through to my chest.

"But now I have you, and I thought I knew what love was before but that was some bullshit lie because you make me feel things I never thought possible. And now you're going to be the leader of this movement, the government is going to assassinate you, and I'm going to be alone all over again. You promised me you wouldn't leave me! You promised!" He slams his fist against my chest and I take it.

"Baby, calm the fuck down. I haven't died yet!" I try to laugh through my own river of tears because this is what we've become.

"You know what I mean," He mutters through his fast breaths before his body becomes lifeless deadweight.

"Fin...Finley?"