Serix walked with Cassie back to their room. As they returned to the more populated parts of the caves, the humans began to take notice of them. Many of them stared at Serix with an odd mixture of interest and disgust. They probably didn’t trust him even though the proof of his innocence had been found and verified. [i]Stubborn fools[/i]. He glared at them whenever he met their unfriendly gazes. There was no remorse in their eyes for what they had done, and it frustrated him. It wasn’t that he wanted their pity —no, they could keep any murmurs of sympathy to themselves— he just wanted to see at least a hint of regret in their faces for torturing an innocent male. Instead, the humans were so blinded by bias and hatred for [i]what[/i] he was that they were unwilling to accept [i]who[/i] he was. Thus, the cold stares and whispers persisted.

When they got back to their room, Serix immediately sat down on the bed. He closed his eyes and let out his breath slowly. The walk from the hold hadn’t been very long, but he still felt exhausted. He had only eaten once in the past three days, and he hadn’t had a single drink of water. On top of that, his body was spending large amounts of energy to repair the gashes in his back, which left him even more fatigued. He planned to spend as much time as he could sleeping and letting himself recover during their permitted day of rest.

Serix felt Cassie sit down beside him. She sighed and he opened his eyes, meeting her blue gaze. Then, she leaned forward and they kissed. He longed to hold her in his arms as he had when they first arrived in the hold, but at the same time he knew he couldn’t risk getting close enough to her that she might accidently brush against the cuts on his back and shoulders. And so, he was forced to content himself with the short brush of their lips before Cassie pulled away again to speak.

[b]“I love you, Serix,”[/b] she said, resting her forehead against his.

“I love you, too, Cassie,” Serix breathed. He wanted to lean in and kiss her again, but stopped when he heard a sound from the front of the room. He glanced up to see a young, light-haired female standing in the doorway with two plates of food. She stared at him with one wide, round eye —the other one was veiled by her hair— and tensed as if he might try to attack her. Serix felt a pang of irritation. It was his first time meeting this girl! What basis did she have to judge him as a danger? He looked away so the human wouldn’t see the frustration in his eyes. He didn’t want to scare her off. After all, he was hungry and she did have food.

[b]“I-I’m Terra,”[/b] the girl paused uncertainly. [b]“Y-you two missed breakfast… I thought you both might be hungry, so I-I mean... here.”[/b] She handed the plates to Cassie before hurrying out of the room.

[b]“I wouldn’t be surprised if that girl was scared of a mouse,”[/b] Cassie smiled and handed one of the plates to Serix. [b]“She’s so skittish.”[/b]

“I’ll say,” Serix muttered, lifting a forkful of food to his mouth. As he ate, he wondered what their lives were going to look like in the caves from now on. There was already tension so thick between him and the humans it could almost be cut with a knife. It would be a while before he was ready to trust any of them again. Then there was the new probation period Ryan was going to put him on. He loathed the thought of being observed by another human all day long, especially after everything that had just happened.

Serix was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn’t notice Cassie get up from her spot and move around behind him. He watched her in confusion before he realized what she was going to do. “Cassie—” he started, but she had already put her hands on his shoulders. He sucked in his breath when a fresh wave of pain washed over him. There was no hiding [i]that[/i] reaction. Cassie jerked her hands away in surprise, and, before he could stop her, she lifted his shirt to see why he had flinched. She gasped and then grew silent, and he closed his eyes. This was why he didn’t want her to see. He didn’t want her to worry for his sake when there was nothing either of them could do. He should have tried harder to keep the gashes hidden from her.

Suddenly, Serix felt her take his face in her hands and lift his lips to hers. He kissed her back, reaching tentatively to place his hands on her sides. After a moment, they parted and Cassie broke the silence. [b]“I… I am so sorry, Serix… I… I can’t believe they did that to you…” [/b]she whispered. [b]“Serix… do you… do you think we should leave?”[/b]

“I don’t know what I think,” Serix shook his head, running a hand through his hair and averting his gaze. “I’m sorry, too. You shouldn’t have to keep dealing with this… with [i]me[/i].” He sighed and went on softly, “I didn’t want you to see what they did. You didn’t need that burden.” He looked up at her again. “You actually fit in here, Cassie. I don’t want to ruin that for you.”