by awkwardxfreak

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No matter how much she doesn't want to admit it, Vanessa Dawson is still having a hard time accepting the tragedy that has been weighing her down for the past few years.The painful wounds and haunting memories inflicted upon her are still fresh and have not yet completely healed; and as indifferent and heartless she makes out to be, the cracks in her mask are slowly beginning to reveal her broken soul, piece by piece.

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"You don't know who I am and what I'm capable of," Vanessa threatened, her voice low and menacing. Tristan blinked twice. "Stay away from me, if you know what's good for you." She glared at him one last time before turning on her heel and walking towards the direction of the parking lot.

The relief that she felt from making herself clear and saying what she wanted to say was short-lived. Because moments after she walked away from him, he suddenly grabbed her by the wrist, forcing her to turn back around.

This was the first time she has seen him up close, the first time she has ever locked into his ocean-deep gaze, as if her soul was penetrated by his effervescent rays of sincerity—not knowing if she felt mocked by the way his fire deluged her ice.

"Vanessa," he implored, his voice calm and soothing, as if he was taming a cornered wild animal. "Hear me out, please."

She was enthralled by depths of his eyes once more—those ocean blue eyes that made her feel unreasonably incandescent, made her want to crash against its waves and drown, never to resurface again.

It felt like a lifetime had passed before she finally managed to snap out of her stupor.

They were still looking into each other's eyes, still standing at the same open space. He was waiting patiently for her response, his face filled with quiet apprehension.

Panic suddenly emerged in her throat, incapacitating her capability to speak. She wanted to say something, to express how frightened, how overwhelmed she was with everything he did to get close to her.

She couldn't find the right words to say. In that moment, all she wanted to do was break free from his grasp and run away. She didn't want to admit it, but she just couldn't handle his tremendous persistence. It was too much.

What she did next was the easy way out.

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