"And their hope grew with a hunger to live."

-The Curse, Agnes Obel

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"You're zoning out again."

I roll my eyes and turn my attention from the view outside the window back to Alec, who is staring down at his homework on the bed in front of him. His legs are folded beneath him as he scribbles writing across the page while I sit across from him on my knees and watch him closely.

In the late morning sunlight, his dark hair has a few innocent golden streaks, and it almost makes him look vulnerable, but his brow is furrowed with concentration and his soft lips are puckered slightly which banish the thought completely. He's wearing dark jeans with a light grey sweater, the sleeves rolled up to expose his forearms.

"I'm daydreaming," I explain quietly, gazing at his perfect brown eyes flickering across the page.

"About what?"

I was thinking about the day Rosa and Jasper tied me up and tortured the voices out of my mind. Since then, the voices have disappeared and my mind feels clear, almost fresh. As for Rosa, she is no longer headmistress here. She left before we could tell the police about what she did. I guess Seth's threat actually worked. The police left a week ago since they couldn't find anything that would lead to the deaths, but at least we know. And Jasper? He's still here, but I heard he's leaving soon since it's nearly his eighteenth birthday. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Maybe a part of me will miss the old Jasper.

The breeze from the open window gently lifts my hair. Outside, I can hear the chirping of birds and the swishing of the trees when the leaves brush against one another, making a sound a lot like waves lapping against the shore.

"Everything," I murmur absently, gazing at the bruises around my wrists from the handcuffs. They are beginning to fade, but whenever I see them, a nasty feeling fills my gut when I remember what happened.

Alec looks up from his math homework and puts it aside. When he sees me staring at my wrists, he gently takes hold of my hand and presses his lips to my bruises, keeping his eyes trained on me. When he pulls away, Alec murmurs, "You know I won't let that happen to you again."

I smile a proper smile and shuffle forward on the bed so our knees are touching. I place my hand onto the hem of his sweater and lift it up to get a glimpse of the bandage wrapped around his abdomen. I glance up at him and ask, "Does it still hurt?"

He grips my hand and places it onto the place where Jasper stabbed him. "No."

I gaze up at him for a long time, pressing my lips together. I still feel guilty about it. If Alec hadn't come to save me, he wouldn't have been hurt.

I break his stare and pull my hand away, staring at my lap. His sweater falls down again as I sigh and change the subject. "I bet you're getting annoyed of me being around here so much."

He shakes his head slightly. "No, it's nice that you're the first thing I see in the morning. And ever since you started staying here the night terrors have stopped."

"Tell me about those," I say, straightening up a little.

He looks away and then back to me, a brief hesitation. "Flashbacks of my mother. Flashbacks of what I did to that teacher." Pause. "I used to get nightmares about seeing Elena fall from the roof." He doesn't say anything for a moment, but finally continues, "I don't get those ones anymore. Since I met you, I started having nightmares of you being stabbed, and when I looked down, it was me who was stabbing you. But since the incident in the basement, I haven't had any."

I put my hand on his cheek and move my thumb in small, smooth circles. "Thank you. For protecting me. I didn't tell you when it happened. But thank you for finding me."

He smiles gently, pulls me to his chest and wraps his arms around my back. I bury my head in his neck as he presses his lips to the top of my head. "If anything were to happen to you..." he murmurs into my hair.

I ease myself away and look up at him, smiling kindly. I lean in and press my lips softly to his.

The door swings open all of a sudden and Seth strides in. When he sees us embracing, he recoils and spins around, covering his eyes. "For the love of God!"

We share an amused look and shift ourselves off the bed. Alec puts his arm around my shoulders to steady himself and, while he trails his finger softly along my bare neck, he says to Seth, "We weren't-"

"Alec!" Seth interrupts, spinning back around. "I don't want to hear any excuses. I've seen enough!"

I chuckle and even Alec can't help but smirk. Alec reminds, "Should I remind you of the time I walked in on you and Kristen Haigh-"

"Stop!" he protests, making us both laugh. "Don't remind me," he adds, massaging his temples with a stressed expression. "That girl has been a pain up my ass ever since I showed her a good time-"

"Okay that's enough of that!" Alec interrupts.

"Seth, maybe you shouldn't have walked in without knocking," I suggest.

He makes a face. "Excuse me, Olivia, for thinking you two could keep your hands off each other for like ten seconds."

"What can we do for you, Seth?" I ask calmly.

"Everyone is gathered in the library for the meeting," he says, crossing his arms.

Alec nods, his 'leader mode' back on, and we follow Seth out the room and down the stairs to the library. I keep my arm around Alec's waist and help him to stay walking on his feet. After what happened with Jasper, he was taken to hospital. The doctors said he was lucky that the knife didn't meet any of his major organs, but he still needs help walking.

We stride through the open doors and all falls silent, conversation coming to a complete stop. Standing before us is pretty much most of the student population- Fighters, Socios, Wallflowers and all.

Everyone stares and the awkwardness makes Seth laugh under his breath as he worms his way through the closest crowd. We follow him as people part ways for us to get through, until we stop in the centre of the crowd where a large circle is formed.

And in the middle of the circle is Molly, grinning happily at us and swaying on her feet.

I smile as Alec's hand locks with mine and we approach Molly who is now stood beside Seth, who is a good foot taller than her.

"Thanks for coming," she says happily to the three of us.

"You want to begin or shall I?" Alec asks.

"The floor is yours," she says, taking a step back.

Alec nods firmly and turns to the crowd, and even though it's impossible to see everyone at once, it feels like he's speaking directly to everyone in the room. "Thank you all for coming," he begins. He turns to me for a moment and I smile in reassurance, not that he needs any.

"Things have changed. This school- it's changed. And we must learn to change with it," he says loudly, strongly, confidently. "We have all lost people we care about to a darkness that is no longer with us." I think of the voices and shudder. "And with this loss, we all have common ground. Wallflowers, Socios and Fighters. I- we- believe that, together, we can form a stronger bond and abolish the divides between our groups."

There's a round of applause, and I feel my heart warm with pride. Molly steps forward and continues in a powerful voice for her petite frame, "This is the beginning of a new era. As the new leader of the Socios, Alec and I have established a truce."

There's another round of applause, louder this time, some students hooting and calling, while others just grin excitedly to one another.

"To a new era!" Alec shouts and everyone yells the phrase back, even louder, while he shakes hands with Molly.

To a new era, says a quiet voice.