Tempted Trapped and Too Late to Run

She stood frozen at the edge of the kitchen, staring through the sliding glass door, thinking it over for several minutes. There was really no point in making herself suffer more than she already was.

Seriously, what was the use in pushing through the pain? Her stomach was cramping so badly she could barely breathe, sweat beading on her forehead.

Eventually, she shuffled over to the coffee table and dropped into the armchair, reaching for a warm piece of bread. She started nibbling, slow and mechanical.

She'd only managed a couple of bites before she spotted her household registration booklet sitting in the corner of the table. Her hand paused, midair. She glanced at Dylan.

He didn't look up, just said, “Finish eating. Then we'll go to the registry office." Clara's grip tightened so hard on the bread, it squished out of shape.

The moment she'd walked in and seen Dylan, she almost convinced herself that everything wild from the night before had just been a dream. But now-hearing that she knew it wasn't.

This was reality.

Did Dylan actually care about her?

She took a few more tiny bites, waiting for the pain in her stomach to fade before finally asking, "Do you like me, Mr. Dylan?"

Dylan turned a page in his book, his tone flat. "What do you think?"

"No." She answered fast, maybe too fast. "If you liked me, you wouldn't act like this."

she'd loved Z- but their love had always been a little twisted, the kind of

from the page,

hadn't he told her she looked like Shelly,

at all. Maybe he just liked her face, because it reminded him of someone else.

I just a stand-in for someone, Mr.

the book aside and stood up. "Are

was time to go

disbelief flickering across her face. Was Dylan actually

he really going

picked up a burning coal. She ducked her

herself time.

her thoughts spun. She couldn't marry

it came to Z? A

ached at the thought of Z. She'd given him

sweet words-never imagining it

If he ever found out,

he'd been every time she tried to break

to leave quietly, her heart hadn't felt this

down. She couldn't take

Dylan's point of view, she probably looked lost and miserable, not even