DECISION

Luhan returned like he promised he would, though I didn't know why. Even if he did still care for me, he had no reason to be there. He should have stayed away from me, just as I should have stayed away from him. But there we were, sitting together under the shadows of the tombstones.

My crime still hung heavily in the air. It wasn't something Luhan could just forget. Though he brought me some food and stayed with me while I ate, it was nothing like our times before. There was no smiling and no small-talk. Just his silent company.

Considering what had just happened, it was more than enough for me.

"I spoke with your father," Luhan said, breaking the silence between us.

"How is he?" I asked.

"He's alright, all things considered."

"Did you tell him where I was?"

"No. He seemed to think I would know, but I denied it. He said...he wanted you to run."

Surprised, I stopped eating. "He wants me to leave him?"

"To leave everything."

Everything. Everything I had ever known about life was in that village - my father, my mother's grave, my home, and my friends.

If I left, I would never see any of that again. Ever. And my father might be punished in my place. He was practically asking me to let that happen to him. I couldn't fathom it. He wasn't even my real father. How could he sacrifice himself like that?

"Jessica will be alright," Luhan said, "She doesn't want you dead. Neither do I. I think it would be better for everyone if you do what your father wants."

"And leave him in the marshal's custody, so he can pay for my crimes?"

"I don't think he'd kill him."

"He kept me here for all these years and covered every crime I ever committed. They won't let that go, Luhan. Especially not if I leave."

"You're turning yourself in then?"

I didn't answer him. I wasn't sure. I knew what I had done was wrong, but I didn't want to die.

I wanted to live - to truly live. I wanted to be with Luhan. I wanted the life we had had before.

"It's your choice, Kris."

"I need some time to think about it."

That time had cost me much more than I would have ever thought.

I gave myself three more days. Three days to make sure Jessica was completely stable, three days to spend with Luhan, and three days to choose between myself and my father.

Luhan came to visit me every night, though it wasn't for very long and our friendship still lacked the warmth from before. But he was there and that was all that mattered to me.

The third night had come and I had made my decision: I was going to turn myself in. But I wasn't going to do it without telling Luhan everything first, and letting him know just how much he had changed me. And how much I loved him.

I sat before my mother's gravestone for the last time, wishing her a final farewell. Luhan came into the graveyard with the sack of food he had brought me. I had no intention of eating it that night. I only wanted to focus on him and what I was sure was going to be our last time together.

He didn't give me any type of greeting, just handed me the food. "Have you decided?" he asked, knowing my deadline.

"I have."

He waited patiently for my answer.

"I'm turning myself in."

I saw the disappointment in his eyes, no matter how neutral he tried to remain. He dropped his head, too overcome with the realization that I was about to die. I had already accepted that. I didn't need time to process it. I just needed him.

I carefully touched his face, half expecting him to pull away in fear and revulsion. He didn't move. He let me lift his head, forcing him to look me in the eyes.

"You have no idea..." I began. I hadn't planned how I was going to explain everything to him. I decided to just let the words come on their own. "…how much you have changed me. I was dead. Dead. And you made me feel alive for the first time."

He smiled. It was weak and laced with sorrow, but it was a smile. So true to who he was.

All of my history didn't seem so important then, like he didn't need to know it. He only needed to know one thing. "I love you."

I don't think he understood the depths of what I said. I would have told him how serious it was - how much he meant to me - but I wasn't given the chance.

The graveyard was suddenly filled with the light from torches. My last moment with Luhan was ripped away from me as the marshal appeared, followed by what must have been half the town.

They had followed Luhan and come to take me.

I turned back to my friend saw the shock in his eyes. He hadn't known they followed him, but I did. I could smell them soon after Luhan came there, but it didn't matter to me. It only made it easier for me to turn myself in.

"Grab them!" the marshal ordered.

A dozen swords were pointed at us both and my fear finally kicked in. Not for me, but for Luhan.

"He was going to turn himself in!" Luhan said, as one of the brutes grabbed him from behind.

"He had nothing to do with this! He's innocent!" I shouted. I took a step to help him and a sword was pressed against my throat. The next moment, a chain was thrown around my neck. A blow to the back of my knees knocked me to the ground, before four men pressed down on me at once.

"Let him go!" I cried as I saw them binding my friend and pulling him from the graveyard. "He's innocent!"

Ropes were tied around my arms, binding them behind my back. I might have fought them for Luhan's sake, but I hadn't fed properly in a long time and I was weak.

"Let him go, please," I begged of the marshal.

The tall man stared down at me with his jaw set and his eyes full of hatred. "He's helped you hide, he's just as guilty as you are."

"He's not! He's not!"

He would not listen to me. Luhan was pulled into the crowd of men and torches, hidden from my sight. I was pulled from the ground and dragged from the graves, futilely struggling the entire trek back to the village.

A/N: Thanks for reading. ^_^