"Distance gives us reason to love harder."

T H E F I R S T few weeks Falcon and Freya spent separated didn't dull their relationship in the slightest. Freya received a text and a call when she woke and a call when she went to bed.

Even with miles between them, they were inseparable.

But as time went on and Falcon's time diminished, things became slightly strained. It was neither of their faults; simply the result of life catching up.

"Twelve months, huh?" Falcon's voice hummed through the speaker. "What did he get charged with again?"

Freya pulled apart a sweet bun, scraping out the fluffy insides and popping it into her mouth before taking a bite out of the crust.

"Endangerment," she answered with her mouth full, resting her head in her palm as she laid on her stomach in bed.

Falcon snorted at the word.

"He did more than just endanger," he grumbled. "He signed your fucking death warrant."

Freya let out a puff of air from her nose, glaring at the pixelated face on her mobile.

"Language," she scolded.

She watched as an amused smile crept on his face.

"Sorry, baby," his smile fell slightly as the instinct to kiss her rose up.

"What's wrong?" Freya questioned, not missing the millisecond crack in his expression.

There was silence for a moment until Falcon's lips jutted out in a childish pout.

"I miss you," he watched her lips turn down in a frown through the phone and cursed the stupid machine when it froze for a second too long.

He hated not seeing her in person. He hated missing out on the tiniest of facial changes. The habitual twitches and quirks that she did were rarely caught by the camera.

"I miss you too," Freya mumbled quietly, depressingly biting into another sweet bun.

Falcon's eyes suddenly snapped to the side where Freya knew his clock laid. She knew what was coming before he even opened his mouth.

"Shit, I gotta go," he swore under his breath, casting an apologetic smile towards Freya. "I'm sorry, baby girl. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

Freya let out a breath, knowing 'later' wouldn't be until tomorrow.

"Okay," she answered softly, mustering a smile for his sake.

"I love you," Falcon sang through the receiver.

"I love you too," Freya barely had time to answer before he hung up and she was left alone. As usual.

It had been happening more and more often. They'd be halfway through conversations and he'd have to leave. They used to be able to talk for a few hours a day, but now Freya was lucky if he found an hour or two amongst his busy schedule to quickly give her a call.

She knew she shouldn't be hurt by it. After all, he was running an entire company; it was expected that he would have little time for anything other than work.

However, her heart didn't seem to get the message.

Freya huffed as she let her head fall from her palm and into the plush material of her blankets. She wouldn't think about it right now.

Her mind wandered back to the events of yesterday that her father had informed her about. Penn had been brought to trial after her father had pulled a few strings.

He had been dished out a sentence of twelve months for endangerment of a minor. While her father had attempted to get him charged with the endangerment of both her and Falcon, the court didn't take to Falcon.

Freya felt what little temper she had rear up at the prejudice they had placed against him. He didn't choose the family he was born in. He didn't choose to be surrounded by those people.

But she had to count her small blessings, she supposed. The court took to her, obviously. Being so small and young, it was easy to win them over once she was brought in. Even though he still hadn't been given the maximum sentence, Freya figured a year was better than nothing.

She flipped herself over to lie on her back. The things that had happened all that time ago still frightened her when she thought of it. After all, Kace was still walking around somewhere, alive and possibly searching for Falcon at that moment. The possibility of them taking her again to act as bait continued to pop into her head, but she knew it was close to impossible.

Her father rarely let her out of his sight; if it wasn't him, it was some strange man Freya had never met and who never introduced himself. In short, Freya was kept under a watchful eye that rivalled the security around Area 51.

Or at least, that was how it felt.

Deciding she was sick of lounging around her room, Freya grabbed her phone and was up and out of her bed in seconds, heading outside the room. She came face to face with Kendra as soon as the door opened.

"Woah, slow down," Kendra chuckled slightly. "Where are you off to in such a hurry?"

She readjusted the basket of clothes in her arms to rest on her hip as Freya thought about her question for a moment before shrugging. She didn't really have a plan of where to go, she just knew she couldn't stand another second alone in her room.

Kendra took a moment to look over the girl's face and her lips twitched down into a frown.

"He's acting up again, isn't he?" her lips thinned into a straight line.

Freya shrugged again, letting her gaze fall to the floor.

"He's busy," she mumbled.

Kendra raised a single eyebrow before letting out a sigh. She placed the basket on the floor beside them before gentle holding Freya's head in place so her attention was brought back to her.

"No man is too busy for their woman," Kendra stated with a firm voice. "Doesn't matter what work he does. He has to find time for you."

Freya smiled a little at her protectiveness.

"He does find time for me," she assured. "I'm just a little... I don't know. Selfish, maybe? I always want more time than I'm given, but that's on me, not him."

Kendra stroked the sides of Freya's cheeks with her thumbs, a soft smile adorning her face.

"It's okay to need more," Kendra said softly. "It's not a bad thing and it's certainly not selfish."

There was silence for a moment and Kendra dropped her hands from Freya's face.

"Have you talked about this with him yet?" Kendra asked, her hands finding their place at her hips.

Freya shook her head, her lips pursing before she gave them a quick lick to soften the slight pain from their dryness. She bit into her bottom lip, chewing at the inside of her cheek as nerves filled her stomach. She couldn't imagine actually telling him. She'd rather just deal with it.

"Darling," Kendra's voice broke Freya out of her thoughts. "You cannot go through this relationship without telling the man how you feel. You have to communicate."

Freya's nose twitched as she let the words run through her brain. She tried to open her mouth to form a sentence but found that she couldn't. A breath escaped her as she closed her eyes and tilted her head back.

"I'll try," she said in a quiet voice, focusing back on Kendra.

Kendra's face lit up with a grin.

"Tell me how it goes," she encouraged, picking up her basket of clothes. "Now I've got work to do, but there's some food down in the kitchen if you're hungry."

Freya's stomach growled at the mention of food and a blush floated to her cheeks before she scurried off in the direction of the stairs.

She had to convince herself that it would be okay.

She would talk to him, he'd understand and they'd spend more time together. Maybe.

But as she sent a text through to his phone, she was beginning to doubt her ability to have this conversation.

Perhaps "we need to talk" sounded slightly too much like a breakup line.