Chapter 18 - "You intrigue me, Charles Kennedy."

This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real...

Charles tightened his hands into fists, blinking as quickly as he could to make these hallucinations disappear. They were making his throat start to clench again, his heart pounding against his chest, cold sweat to overwhelm his body, and his body was slowly starting to quiver more and more.

But those brown eyes peering into his skull were practically teasing him with such a seductive curve to them. He was even bending his head forward, looking at him from an upwards angle, and as much as Charles didn't want to admit it, he looked oddly attractive.

But he's not here, he's not looking at you, and you need to stop letting your mind trick y—

"I am here." Kane straightened his spine, watching Charles struggle to breathe. "I read your papers; they're making you think you're crazy," he snickered as though it was a joke.

Charles vision was starting to blur, and he parted his lips in an attempt to get more air into his lungs, but it felt as though they had stiffened rock solid. Every time that happened, it felt as though he was going to die, and the more it happened, the more it scared him.

And the person causing him was facing him with such a long coy smirk that only made Charles' blood burn even more.

"I feel as though you're not listening to me when I give you advice." He sat on the bed, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling. "If you don't convince your brain to stop doing this to you, then it won't stop."

The clanks of the cuffs around Charles' hands grew much more severe as he tried to release himself, but nothing worked. All he knew was that his vision was leaving him, his mind was slipping away and he was helpless to his own body.

"It usually takes months of practice, but if you don't succeed on your own," Kane nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, "you might actually die—"

"...Ki-Kiss...m-m...m-m-me..."

In an instant, Kane flung himself upwards, and that was the first time Charles saw him completely taken aback, as though he had never in a million years expected for that to happen. But it didn't take long until his smirk returned. After a short pause, as though he was contemplating giving in, he shrugged his shoulders again and sighed, "I thought you hated me, but I guess not that much if you're willing to—"

"H-Hurry...pl-please..."

Charles' voice sounding as though he was slowly sinking under water, choking as he gasped for air, and without any other hesitation, Kane leaned forward, interlacing his hand against Charles's restraint ones above his head, then inhaled a long deep breath before connecting their lips together and gushing all the air he had inhaled.

That immediately felt as though Charles' throat had unclenched and his lungs had regained their elasticity, and Kane felt Charles' interlaced fingers slowly stop to shake. He pulled apart to inhale deeply once again, before doing it once more, and by that time, Charles could practically feel all his organs start to cool.

But even after that, Kane stayed for a bit longer.

Although they didn't move, they just stayed still, and Charles, without even realizing it, tightened their interlaced fingers and gently pushed his head forward, attempting to deepen the kiss.

However, the same as last time happened; Kane pulled apart right before he could, and Charles was reminded again of who was making him feel these sensations. During the kiss, it was as though everything that had happened faded away, tuned out by the soft lips pressed against his; and he hated that it did.

"You feel better—?"

Before Kane could finish his question, he rapidly pulled his head back when Charles swung his head forward, trying to hit him with a head but. Then, he quickly pulled his hand apart from Charles because he knew Charles' nails would attempt to dig into his flesh. Charles wrists rushed forward, attempting to break these cuffs, but again being unsuccessful.

The feeling of being labeled a maniac by everyone in this facility, including his own father who begged him not to speak on what happened to him, was not only humiliating but bewildering to his own mind. He started believing their stories about switching medications and the rare side-effects, trying to convince his mind that those vivid memories had been delusions.

And it had been all because of him.

"See?" Charles was stunned to see the playful smirk on Kane's lips, who clamped his palms together with excitement. Kane leaned his head forward, keeping enough distance that Charles' couldn't reach him. "It's only the second day and what I'm doing has worked."

Charles' teeth gritted.

"You should be thanking me," Kane said with such smug that it made Charles' blood begin to boil. "I'll take it any second now."

"Why are you doing this to me?!" Charles roared, pulling against the restraints. "You killed my best friend, our families are ripped apart, everyone blames me, and I've been having panic attacks so bad that I'm stuck here for a week!" As much as Charles didn't want to show any vulnerability, it was starting to get really hard to keep his composure when everything around him was falling apart. "I will get you the money, what more do you want from me?"

Charles' blue eyes filled with tears, his mind suddenly booming with images of how life had been when Natalia was alive. Never had he ever expected to find himself in a psych ward with extreme and dangerous panic attacks and on sleeping medications.

He wanted his old life back.

Suddenly, Charles felt his breathing halt in his throat when a thumb crossed his cheek. Kane was intently staring at his face, slowly wiping away the tears that leaked, the smile on his face having faded. Oddly enough, Charles' was certain he had seen a bit of worry and guilt in Kane's gaze as exhaled a long sigh.

"I care about you."

When he said that, Kane's thumb stopped sliding across Charles' under eye, and instead began caressing his cheek as his palm cupped the side of Charles's jaw. He held him for a moment, tilting his head as he examined with more depth the quivering behind Charles' blue irises.

"I want you."

At first, Charles' mind blanked.

"You intrigue me, Charles Kennedy."

There was a sudden silence that engulfed the room afterwards, and Kane separated his palm from Charles' cheek before sitting back down on the bed.

None of this made any sense.

Kane had murdered his best friend in cold blood, and he even insisted that Charles' pay him back the money that Natalia never fulfilled. All of a sudden, he showed up in the room and admitted to wanting to be with him.

"I'm hallucinating," Charles' blurted without thinking.

The worst part of it all was that Kane chuckled. It wasn't the fact that he chuckled, but the fact that his playful nervous chuckle that seemed to bounce of the wall and influence everyone else to at least smile, was causing Charles' heart to skip a beat.

It sounded so...adorable.

"You're not hallucinating, Charles. Ever since I saw you," he breathed nervously, "I've been completely enthralled by you. I want to get to know you, I want to be apart of your life and I want you apart of mine. There's something about you that draws me to you, and I need to know what it means."

The way he had said that, as though he was suddenly breathless, made Charles feel as though his heart would explode from his chest from how fast and hard it was pounding; he wasn't even certain what this feeling meant.

However, a saddened smile stretched Kane's lips as he admitted, "But I can't want you because you're only seventeen and I am a lot of things," he chuckled, "but a child predator is not one of them, even though we are only four years apart. The reason I came here was because I found out you were in the psych ward so I wanted to come see you. Maybe cheer you up, help with your morale..." he grinned.

Charles stayed quiet, his mind spiralling so much that he could faint.

"But after this week, we won't see one another for four years. It's a decision I made before coming here; I need you to grow before I can pursue you. I need you to indulge yourself in your own desires before you fall in love with me, so that I am sure that you chose me, the same way I will choose you, if you let me."

Then, Kane scoffed, furrowing his brows as a smirk curled his lips.

"What am I saying? I will choose you regardless if you let me or not. It's too bad that I have to wait though," he mumbled, letting his body plop down on the bed as he puckered his lips into a pout. "But I know it'll be so much fun when that time comes, don't you think?"

***

"How did you sleep last night?"

Charles' twirled his thumbs one over the other. "I slept much better."

The psychiatrist nodded her head, jotting down his answer. "Anything unusual? Did the same hallucinations occur?"

"I care about you."

"I want you."

"You intrigue me, Charles Kennedy."

Charles slowly shook his head; if they weren't going to listen to him, then he had to take care of it all on his own.

"None. The new medications worked without any issue, so thank you."