Kill Switch by Penelope Douglas

“You’re going to do it again,” I said, dropping my hand.
“You should’ve just left me there. Why didn’t you?”
She was quiet, nudging her cheek into mine as she found
her words. “Because I was afraid of life without the hope of
you to look forward to.”
I fell silent, understanding instantly what she meant.
Looking back, I’d always felt the same way. Whether or not
we were together, I wanted her, and I’d always want her.
“We can’t hide forever, though, Damon,” she said. “Not in
our mazes, our fountains, our treehouses… We live in the
world with other people, and I want to respect myself. I just…I
needed to think.”
“You want them to respect you,” I retorted.
This was about what people were going to say about us.
She thought they weren’t going to trust her now that she was
in love with the same guy she sent to jail.
“People think because I’m blind that I’m dumb,” she told
me. “They treat me like a child. I want to prove I’m capable.
That I’m someone.”
“You should’ve been strong,” I replied, my fingers
freezing now all of a sudden. “If anyone knew what a vile cunt
this world could be, it was us. But all I needed was you, and
all you should’ve needed was me, and fuck all the rest. We
would’ve done it. We would’ve won.”
“I came back,” she said again. “I was barely gone fifteen
minutes. I came right back.” She kissed my temple. “And we
will win. We will.”
Sure. Maybe.
“Okay, there’s Banks and the guys,” I heard Rika say and
noticed the headlights coming through the rear window. “We
have about three more seconds before GGabriel figures it out.”
My eyes grew heavy again, and my heart was pounding in
my ears. I didn’t feel so good.
I swallowed. “I sometimes wonder what I’d be like if I
grew up in Michael’s house. Or Kai’s.”