I am Laliana Summers. A writer of adventures instead of having them. A girl with a weak spot for PopTarts. Someone who runs instead of fights. A blurter of words when it is the worst time to say anything. An orphan. An awkward dork. I am all of these things and more. But as some crazy stalker placed the blade tip against my cheek, hellbent on carving a freaky twisted love letter of a message on my actual face, I forgot everything that I was. The knife nicked my cheek, sending a small trail of blood down my face.

I thought of Princess Ara. The hero of her own story. I wanted to be like her. That desire sparked something in my mind. You made her. Some of that comes from you.

The idea that I could have even an ember of what Ara had, filled me with a newfound determination. I glared up at the man, bravery suddenly snaking through my body, and after taking a beat to prepare, I hawked a loogie at him, hitting him in the right eye.

Jolting backwards, he lifted the arm that had me pined and wiped wildly at his eye. "What the hell!" he shouted, roaring with rage.

"I really.... don't have time... to explain a loogie to you right now..." I gasped, crumbling to the ground, trying to catch my breath. Then I stumbled to my feet and ran, my body off balance as I moved towards the street.

The world tilted and I hit the pavement, too dizzy and out of breath to keep my feet under me. I continued to crawl, determined to get somewhere seen. If I could find someone, anyone, I would be safe.

The man yanked me to a stop, pinning me to the ground, knees on my legs to hold me in place. He raised the knife, eyes flashing with manic glee. "For that... I'm going to make this hurt." He brought his arm down, the knife flashing in the moonlight with a terrifying finality.

But the pain never came. Suddenly he was gone, vanishing as a shadow came into view and tackled him to the ground next to me. There were a set of flashes, making the entire scene look like it was happening in slow motion. Every moment that followed erupted into light one moment and was swallowed into darkness the next, warping time.

Aiden and the man rolled, each trying to pin the other. I scrambled backwards, reaching for my phone. With unsteady fingers and after three misdials, I finally managed to call the police. "Hi... um... I was attacked... the guy is still here... being detained-ish. Can you come to..." I spotted the street signs and filled them into our location. I couldn't hear their response. The sound of Aiden and the man struggling against each other the only thing I could hear.

I hung up, eyes glued on Aiden. The man wiggled free from his grip and lunged for me. Aiden yanked the man back by his hair, punching him in the face and knocking him to the ground. The flashes continued growing faster and wilder, highlighting the scene around me.

Aiden managed to pin the man to the pavement as he howled. "LET ME GO!"

Where the man's face was contorted with rage, Aiden's was cold and focused. In his element. Eyes a terrifying calm. "I recommend you stay down," Aiden replied, his voice emotionless. "Or I'll knock you out."

"GET OFF ME YOU—!" The man's bellow was cut short as Aiden slammed his elbow into the man's temple, silencing him. The man went slack, unconscious.

Looking up, Aiden's eyes found mine, his face transforming from cool and collected to one of open concern.

He dragged the unconscious man and dropped him against the wall nearby to keep an eye on him. The flashes continued and it was only once Aiden was crouched before me, twin ocean storms filling my vision, replacing the icy glaciers that had been there moments before that I realized the flashes were paparazzi cameras. They had watched the whole thing and done nothing to help.

That realization made me snap, tears pooling in my eyes and rolling down my cheeks. "Are you hurt?" Aiden asked, his voice far away as the paparazzi moved closer now that the danger was gone, wanting a closer shot. He touched my cheek where I had been cut, his fingers coming away with small touches of blood.

"They just watched," I whispered. "They saw me in danger and did nothing..." I wiped at my eyes angrily. "I don't want them to see my face. I can't... do this..." My voice cracked.

He nodded, his eyes sharp. "I'll take care of it." Pulling me to my feet, he gently leaned me against the wall and placed his arms up on either side of my face, blocking me from their view. The flashes grew wild as they pressed in.

I burrowed my face into Aiden's neck, suddenly afraid. Terrified of the voices that filled the space around us. Asking questions. Shouting suggestions. I felt like an animal in an exhibit. A statue they wanted to pose.

Aiden turned us so that he was facing the crowd, and brought his hand up to pull my face closer to the nape of his neck. "I got you," he murmured in my ear. "He can't hurt you anymore."

My body shook from fear and exhaustion. He wrapped his free hand around my waist, keeping us close together, letting me borrow his strength as the paparazzi attempted to shove cameras in our faces. "It'll be over soon," he promised.

But I could barely hear him over the sound of his pounding heart against my ear. And for one selfish moment, I let myself believe that everything was okay. That he was going to hold me forever and that everything was going to be okay.

...

"His name is Chad Walker," Tate said from the driver's seat, eyeing me in the review mirror. I sat wrapped in a blanket next to Aiden in the back seat of the car, my eyelids heavy as Tate relayed the information he had gotten from the police. "Apparently you aren't the first person he has stalked."

My body shook at the memory of his wild eyes staring down at me. "The police were baffled that he found his way into your apartment. He's known for following celebrities from location to location, but not breaking into their houses or becoming violent."

My eyelids closed and as the car turned onto another street, my body tilted, my head falling onto Aiden's shoulder. I would have tried to move it but the idea of exerting any energy only made me more exhausted.

"She asleep?" Tate asked.

"If not, she will be soon," Aiden replied. They were both silent for a moment. The sound of the engine filled the car, pulling me closer into unconsciousness.

"Where were you, Tate?" Aiden asked.

"We heard a crash at the back entrance of the museum. Someone knocked out one of the guards. By the time we got back around, you were both gone."

The blanket fell off my right shoulder, making me shiver. Aiden reached over and tugged it back up, moving my hair out of the way as he nestled it back into place. "So there may be another one."

"Maybe..." Tate answered. "Or he just moves fast."

"Why was she alone?" Tate asked.

Aiden was quiet, his shoulder tensing underneath my head. Tate sighed. "You're a moron."

"That, we can agree upon," Aiden replied, sounding tired.

"What are you doing man?" Tate asked, slamming his hands onto the steering wheel.

"I don't know," Aiden answered, his voice chorded in frustration. "She's still shaking."

"I have the heater up as high as it will go. Wrap your arm around her or something."

Aiden sat frozen, his body tense next to me. "I don't think that's wise."

"Well... you should have thought about that before you sat down across from her that night." Silence filled the car again. "I saw your face. I knew this would happen. I warned you." Tate muttered. "You have a good heart dude. And most of the time you let the wrong people in... but I don't think she's that."

"I'm not dating her Tate," Aiden snapped.

"I think you need to stop lying to yourselves. I'm tired of being BOTH of your relational therapists!" The car took another turn, causing my body to shift closer to Aidens. "Look. It may be fake. But I don't think either of your feelings are. And if you don't figure things out soon... whatever this is, won't end well."

Aiden sighed. "She doesn't want to see me anymore."

There was a pause. "She told you that?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

Aiden hesitated. I felt his breath on my face as he turned to look down at me. "Because I kissed her—"

"WHAT!?!" Tate hit the breaks, causing Aiden to wrap his arms around me to keep me from flying forward as the car lunged to a halt.

"Dude! Watch out!" Aiden snapped, resting my head back against his shoulder. "We just saved her. Try and not kill us for a while okay."

Tate laughed. "Dude... you need to warn me before you drop a bomb like that." The car began moving again. "So you kissed... That's big!"

"Freak out a little more quietly," Aiden replied.

"That seems like a weird reason for her to never want to see you again. You a bad kisser or something?" Tate snorted.

I nearly snorted too. But I was too sleepy to do more than twitch my lips up slightly. I remembered asking Aiden the same thing not that long ago.

"It's more my reaction than the kiss itself."

Tate swore. "Aiden, what did you do?"

"She asked me if I regretted kissing her and I said I didn't know."

A loud groan filled the car. "You really are a moron."

"I know."

"So..." there was a pause. "Do you? Regret kissing her I mean?"

Silence filled the car. Long and deafening. "I don't want to talk about this Tate."

"I think you do," he replied.

"She's not mine to kiss Tate."

"She could be."

"No." The word came out as a warning growl.

"You are a good guy Aiden. You need to stop believing that you aren't. I don't think Laliana would pick a loser."

"She didn't pick me," Aiden whispered.

"Hasn't she? She could've kept fake dating those psycho celebrities. But she chose YOU instead."

"Some choice she was left with," Aiden scoffed. "She was forced."

"If you had just met her. Run into her one day, without any of this. Would you have said no to a date?"

"Just drop it, Tate."

"I'm just saying that she's made it clear how much you mean to her. And it's now up to you to figure out how much she means to you."

---

Have you ever fallen asleep on someone's shoulder? How did that go? Was it a stranger or someone you knew?