[sub]Collab between [@Narcotic Dollie] and [@BeastofDestiny][/sub]

Kyle burst through the front doors of the mansion and looked around haphazardly for Nori, he spotted a man on a ladder and asked him if he saw a blonde woman walking through here.  He pointed towards the front gate and Kyle took off sprinting down the long and winding path.  It didn’t take him long before he finally spotted her,

[color=LimeGreen]”NORI!”[/color] he shouted after her, his pace slowing as he got closer.  He tried pulling in long gasping breaths of air as he got closer and halted, [color=LimeGreen]”Why-*pant*Why are you leaving?”[/color]

Nori stops for a moment when she hears Kyle call her name but then she continues walking, cursing this ridiculously long driveway. How was anyone supposed to make a quick getaway when they had to walk half a mile to get to the front gate? The brunette turned raven haired man finally catches up with her the blonde feels momentarily guilty as he tries to catch his breath. [i]'Stay strong, Nori, this is the right thing to do,'[/i] she tells herself as she continues to make her way towards the end of the driveway.  [color=LimeGreen]”Why-*pant*Why are you leaving?”[/color] he asks her and Nori's step falters before she can stop herself.

“Leave me alone, Kyle,” she replies, her mouth set in a firm line as she very pointedly does not look at him.

He stares unbelievably at the DJ as she flat out tells him to leave her alone, not even giving him so much as a glance. [color=LimeGreen]”So that’s it then?”[/color] There was a slight pleading in his voice that said ‘turn around and face me!’ [color=LimeGreen]”You get up and leave without so much as saying a word, and you won’t even give me an answer when I ask you why?”[/color] To say he didn’t feel hurt would be an understatement, but despite all that there was a burning feeling in his heart that he couldn’t quite describe that just said, ‘there’s something about this one’.

[i]'Christ, he sounds so sad. Don't look at him, don't look at him,'[/i] she tells herself, keeping her eyes on the ground as she continues walking. “Yeah, I guess that's it,” she murmurs, picking up her pace a little bit. Nori shivers and crosses her arms over her chest. It was a warm day for December, but it still wasn't, 'wander around the town in just your undies and a flannel shirt' weather. “Go back inside Kyle, you shouldn't keep Amity waiting.”

[color=LimeGreen]”You know what, I can keep her waiting cause I ran out of her house to come and find [i]you[/i]”[/color] His breathing felt shaky, but he was determined to press on, [color=LimeGreen]”I don’t believe you though, I don’t think you want me to go away,”[/color] he kept up with her pace and could visibly see her shake, he wanted to give her the suit jacket, but he wasn’t totally sure if she’d lash out if he got too close. She still didn’t look up at him, if this was what she really wanted….he needed to know she meant it.

[color=LimeGreen]”If you want nothing to do with me, that’s fine, but I need you to tell me that to my face. I need you to turn around, look me in the eyes, tell me that you want me gone, that we’re never gonna work out, that this is all just a big waste of time.  The truth is though, I don’t think you honestly believe any of that...and I certainly don’t either…”[/color] There was a pleading desperation in his voice, but if she dared to look at him, he’d be staring at her with honest eyes as he expectantly awaited her answer.

Nori stops and listens to him, each sentence punctuated with the short staccato rhythm of his breath as he tries to get his wind back. Her eyes stay trained on her flats that somehow look even dingier among the plush grass than they did in the marble foyer. [color=LimeGreen]”I don’t believe you though, I don’t think you want me to go away,”[/color] he tells her and the florist screws her eyes shut, making a quiet, distressed noise in the back of her throat. When Kyle asks her to look at him and tell him that she really wanted him gone the blonde's insides twisted in dread.

Slowly she lifts her head and sure enough, in the face of his honest, open expression, Nori starts to lose all of her conviction, just like she had done after the flower shop fight and the anniversary cake. “I,” she starts, swallowing thickly, “I-I'm sorry, Kyle, I didn't mea--,”

[i]"But just in case, one word in writing on the wall is vague. Tomorrow, now today, something will happen. Yet, we don't know where, when, or who is at risk. If he knows you, then he might go after people you have acquainted yourself with. I'm not sure if he's limited his killing to only be at night or not. Hell, he might be walking around in broad daylight."[/i]

The words of Detective Holland suddenly flood her mind unbidden and she falters under the weight of it. [i]'Christ,'[/i] Nori thinks, covering her face with her hands and trembling for a second. [i]'Oh God, I didn't even think about Kyle when Oliver said that, we barely knew each other then. Jesus, if I keep seeing him, what's going to happen to him when it rains again?'[/i] her mind races and her breaths are starting to come out a little more frantically as she spirals into a panic. She can't think about anything for a moment except for the detective that had sworn to protect her, the way her apartment had smoldered in the early morning light, and how there were [i]never-any-new-messages-in-her-inbox-and-oh-God-what-if-Kyle-disappears-too-all-I-do-is-hurt-him-and-now-I'm-going-to-get-him-killed-because-I'm-too-much-of-a-wimp-to-do-the-right-thing-and-what-if[/i]

[i]'Do it,'[/i] her own voice cuts through her internal ramblings. [i]'End it. Don't hurt him anymore than you already have. This is a mercy. Save him.'[/i]

Nori drops her hands and big, ugly, fat tears have started to roll down her face. “Le-leave,” the florist starts, staring up into his blue eyes and it’s too much, she can’t do it. [i]’You have to,’[/i] she reminds herself, so she drops her gaze to focus on his mouth so she won’t see his expression when she says this next part. “Leave me alone, Ky-Kyle,” she says again, her voice wavering as she says his name, before she turns around and continues towards the gate.

She starts to look him in the eyes and for a moment, he really thinks that Nori is going to tell him to leave her be, to get out of her life, but she falters.  Her gaze dropped, just enough to make it believable, but Kyle knew better and with the wavering in her voice, he knew she didn’t want him gone. The tears in her eyes were heartbreaking, he just wanted to console her, to comfort her and be there for her.

[color=LimeGreen]”No,”[/color] he says, [color=LimeGreen]”I won’t...because I still don’t believe you.”[/color] His tone was level and he continues to walk a short distance behind her, [color=Limegreen]”And I can’t just let you go because…”[/color] he was afraid he might be too forward but...he needed to say it, [color=LimeGreen]”I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you ever since you left, I’ve wanted to talk to you for [b]So. Long.[/b]”[/color] He feels a lump forming in his throat and his face is heating up, [color=LimeGreen]”Because I wanted to know that you were alright, that you were safe, if you needed something, someone.”[/color]

Kyle’s fist clenches and is shaking as his own head lowers, tears beginning to form in his eyes, [color=LimeGreen]”I’ve thought long, and hard about it, but the fact is, I care about you and… and just the fact that I’m here now, having sprinted down a half-mile stretch of driveway, just for you. I know I can say that I haven’t felt this strongly about someone since….since Julia.”[/color] The tears were streaming down his cheeks, his honesty overwhelming his emotions and the fear that this woman was just going to walk out on him, [color=LimeGreen]”I don’t want whatever this is to end, and I really [i]REALLY[/i] don’t believe you do either.”[/color]

He looks up, [color=LimeGreen]”So if you really want me gone...you’re going to have to try and convince me a little harder than that…”[/color] A soft smile spreads across his lips, the floodgates having opened as tears continue to pour down his face. There was a look in his eye that said ‘everything is going to be alright’, and he truly believed that.

Nori stops walking as Kyle starts to pour his heart out to her and when she finally turns around to face him again he is actually crying. The sight of it affects her so badly that she honestly feels like she might throw up for a second. [i]'I can't do it. I can't do it and the next time it rains he'll be the one that goes up in flames. He'll be the one on fire and I'll be the cause of it, all because I'm too much of a coward to do the right thing.'[/i] The DJ can feel her resolve shattering and she wants to keep him safe more than anything, but she's never been able to deny him when he's being all vulnerable and open like this.

Suddenly Nori sees the solution, plain as day. [i]'I may be too much of a wimp to do it to him, but if I make him mad enough, then [b]he'll[/b] have to leave me.'[/i]

“What is it about 'leave me alone' do you not understand, Kyle Parker? Are you Americans really so stupid that you can't understand basic concepts?” she spits out, eyebrow cocked as she gives him an unimpressed look. [i]'It's the right thing. This is a mercy,'[/i] she thinks but it still feels like a knife in the heart, to be so cruel to him. “Your inability to imagine me not wanting to be with you doesn't make it fact, it just makes you dense. God, are you really that self absorbed?” she asks in the snottiest voice she can manage and Nori knows that she's never going to forgive herself for this one, not even on her deathbed. She breathes deep and starts to tell the biggest lie she has ever told in her entire life. “Jesus Christ, cowboy, I'm just not that into you. We've only known each other for about a minute and you're slobbering all over yourself. It's pathetic”.