Episode 50: Scene Four
Francesca left the dormitory in search of something to occupy her time. She couldn't believe that was complaining about having time to herself, but for some reason she didn't want to be alone. She felt vulnerable, and that was the feeling Francesca hated most of them all.
You have got to get yourself together, Fran. It's over and done, so move on.
"Francesca."
The voice caused Francesca to believe her heart had stopped beating. She dared not turn around for fear that her worst fears would be confirmed. She closed her eyes and wished the person behind the voice away, but ultimately knew that the situation was very real.
"Why didn't you leave, Amante?" she managed to croak out, refusing to open her eyes.
"I was going to," Amante confessed, "but I realized that I couldn't walk out on everything that we had--no, everything we have. You know as well as I do that you can't just leave me on the side of the road, Francesca. I mean much more to you than that."
Francesca shook her head violently and put her hands over her ears. "Stop it! Just stop it! Are you trying to kill me?"
"No, I'm trying to do the very opposite, my pet," Amante was now right by Francesca's ear, and he was breathing very heavily into it. "I'm trying to breathe new life into you. You know I always can."
Francesca's shoulders relaxed, though her eyes still remained clamped shut, as she began to give in to the deep romantic tones of Amante's voice. She felt as if she would melt when Amante's smooth brown hand cupped her cheek delicately. "Amante, please stop," she choked.
"Is it because you want me to, or is it from fear?"
Francesca tried unsuccessfully to draw away from Amante. Strangely, the wall she had put up was being torn away mercilessly by Amante's words. The fear was dissolving. She was left not with words, but instead with feelings.
"Don't fight me anymore. Don't fight us anymore," Amante whispered forcefully into her ear, taking extra care to make sure his breath escaped his lips and caressed Francesca's cheek.
"I-I can't...fight it...anymore," Francesca sobbed, "I can't fight this anymore."
Amante drew Francesca right up against his body and into a long, passionate kiss. Both surprised and shocked, Francesca pushed Amante away from her. She looked up into his eyes. In them, she found what she had found since they were kids: gentleness, care, and above all, passion.
Much to her horror, Francesca drew Amante's lips back down to hers. The feeling that shot through her body was one of complete ecstasy. To be in the arms of the one who had offered so much comfort to her during her times of pain and her times of joy gave Francesca a certain amount of comfort she hadn't known before. A blanket of security enveloped her in its warmth. Though she felt it was wrong, she couldn't help but feel good.
For several long moments they remained like that: locked together in their kiss, in their feelings, in them. Time had ceased to exist; the world had stopped in mid-spin. No one else in the world mattered, until...
"WHAT THE HE** IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Francesca tore her lips away from Amante's. Paralyzed by fear, she could only look into the pained and enraged eyes of the one who had caught them together. She felt her world falling and crashing all about her. The unthinkable had finally happened. The secret was now exposed. But the worst part was who had found out:
Allan.