Extinguish

"Come here." Trace grabs my hand, and I yank back. Hard.

"Don't touch me," I snarl.

"Good god, you practically sleep on top of me and then you bite my head off when I touch your hand," he says, lip curling into a sneer as he looks back at me.

"Fuck off."

"Feisty tonight?" he smirks, and then he's stepping so close to me I can barely breathe. I can't step back, there's only a rock wall behind me, and I bare my teeth and practically growl at him.

"You could dance," he smirks. "You're best when you're angry, you know?"

I place both hands on his chest and shove him as hard as he can. I'm not weak, that we both know, but it barely moves him. "You can blow yourself," I snap, trying to squeeze past him.

His grin broadens. "Come on, Ken. You're actually pissed at me?"

"Was 'fuck off' not clear enough?"

He steps back, and he's actually angry now, I can see it in the set of his jaw. "It was very clear, sweetheart."

"Call me sweetheart again and I will personally rearrange your face."

He looks at me for half a second, and then his face softens just slightly.

I stare at him suspiciously.

"You're crying," he says softly, stepping towards me again.

I jerk back so quickly I nearly smash my head against the rock wall, and then I'm clawing at my face, my eyes, making sure there's no tears standing unnoticed on my cheeks. "I wasn't crying," I snarl. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Ken."

His voice is so gentle it breaks me, so I turn away.

His hands are gentle when they turn me back around to face him. "Hey." He's so close to my face now that I can see those goddamn freckles and the mark on his upper lip. "What happened?"

"Nothing," I try to snap, but it comes out closer to a sob, and fuck, why can't I stop crying? "Nothing happened, Trace."

He wraps his arms around me, tight, and I push him off. Trace doesn't let go, and I know I don't want him to, no matter what I say.

"I don't want to fall apart," I sob into his shoulder, hating that he is strong and I am not, hating that I will make him pay for it later.

"It's okay," he breathes into my neck, repeating my words back to me. "It's okay to fall if you have someone to catch you." And then he's kissing me until neither of us can breathe.