I managed to get through a week with the focus on making further memories with Leo. We did most of them at home and I had the desire to capture everything. From watching him cook to cleaning up my chaotic messes, his domestic side was firmly imprinted in my mind and phone. After work we would often go on walks together too, just enjoying the time hand in hand and seeing the seasonal changes. Sometimes we’d stop by a coffee shop and sit across from each other laughing and getting lost in one another’s eyes. And then there was the constant passion that was now a part of who we were.

It was dangerous to have such a beautiful week together.

And that was what signalled the collapse of one of my support beams. As the second week started, I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe. Everything I had enjoyed in the past seven days were now things I was dreading, feeling their timeline enclosing on my throat and making it harder to focus. I didn’t want to do anything but stop time.

It was ironic how time became an obstacle again in our relationship.

Rolling over in bed after waking up Wednesday morning, I blindly reached out for the other side of the bed, my eyes snapping open when I found the space empty. Panic surged through my body as I shot up, darting my eyes around my bedroom for a sign of the dark haired man. Leo wasn’t anywhere in sight.

Flinging myself out of bed and careening down the short hallway, I found the living space just as silent as the rest of the house, my mind blanking as fear settled into place. Had the three weeks gone by that quickly?

“Leo?!” I yelled out, running back to the bathroom to find it as empty as everywhere else. I started to cry, at first just letting out some tears but the longer I was alone the wilder they became, engulfing me completely. Dropping to my knees in the living room as the emotions took over, I sobbed over my sudden loneliness, beating at my chest as air became harder to take in.

And then I heard the front door open. My blurry focus moved up to see his familiar shape in the entryway and suddenly my legs were working again, sprinting over the small space so I could collide against Leo. He managed to balance both of us and whatever he held, his breathing stopping at my dishevelled state.

I cried harder than I thought I ever could then. The grief was immense, and the idea of losing him felt raw and destructive. The lies I had fed myself up until this point were eating at me.

That I would be fine.

That everything could just slowly go back to how it had been.

Leo had changed everything in my world. It would be impossible to go back. I knew I couldn’t cope this way any more. The looming time over our heads would destroy me before the three weeks were up. This only made me more desperate, clinging to Leo as if doing so would stop anyone taking him from me.

I was still struggling to breathe, and could vaguely hear Leo saying my name, but his other words sounded too jumbled and far away. Was he already leaving me again? The mere thought broke whatever resolve I had left and I fell into darkness.

When I opened my eyes again it was bright outside and I squinted a little until something moved into my line of view. It was Leo. The concern in his face was evident and his hand slowly reached for me, as if he would break me if he moved any faster. There was a tremble when his hand finally connected against my cheek, and his eyes searched mine for an immeasurable time.

“You slept for a day,” he informed me softly and my eyes widened for only a moment, the effort feeling too much right now. I sunk into the bedding further, swallowing slowly. My throat ached, and my head was pounding.

It would be typical of me to work myself into such a state that I got sick in the process.

Leo seemed to think along the same lines and nodded slowly. “You’ve been running a fever.”

I managed to nod and then tried to swallow once more, feeling the strain of a dry throat. Again as if he read my mind, a bottle of water was soon in my face, a straw placed in after Leo uncapped it. I took a couple of sips, relishing in the cool liquid running down my tender throat.

“Thank you,” I managed and Leo smiled, though his eyes were still troubled and searching mine. I tried to avoid his gaze but his hand moved to my face, grabbing my chin and turning me back to him.

He sighed. “Why were you like that yesterday?”

“I guess falling sick ma-”

“Stop lying to me, you’ve done enough of that.” I groaned inwardly at his ability to know everything about me. Knowing I wouldn’t get to see more of his own personality grow or show him more of mine made a tear slip down my cheek and he was quick to wipe it away, all whilst still staring at me. “Yerin, baby please.”

I closed my eyes then, shaking my head slowly, feeling dizzy in the process. Biting my lip at the nickname, I felt my chest begin to ache in pain. I wanted to disconnect from all my emotions, they were getting far too taxing to endure.

“Yerin.” His voice was stronger now, more demanding. I opened my eyes to look at Leo and saw his own were wider, panic nestling into his face. “Why did you cry like the worst thing had happened to you? Why did you cling to me like I was leaving you? I would never leave you.”

His words were the sentence of my remaining control, breaking down and shaking with the intensity of my feelings. Strong arms enveloped me then and I buried in deep, half sobbing, half choking on the efforts of my emotions. It was pitiful, just how much more could I cry? I was frustrated that I couldn’t even make it through more than one week without letting myself fall.

“Yerin!” He was calling for me now, shaking me out of my stupor and I looked up at Leo through my tears, trying to get a grip over myself. But I couldn’t seem to and he let go to move out of the bed, annoyed that I had shut down on him. Scrambling to grab a hold of Leo again, I reached for his torso and clung to his back, closing my eyes as I tried to stem the tears.

“Don’t leave me,” I whispered. He stilled for only a moment before turning around to face me, narrowing his gaze on mine.

“Do you think I’m going to?” he whispered back and I bit at my lip again, dropping my focus. His body became rigid in mine and I glanced up to capture the steely gaze as he looked over my head. His jaw was taut and he finally looked down at me, seeing all he needed to. “Are they taking me away from you?”

“L-Leo, we knew this was an experiment.”

“This,” he repeated, flailing an arm about. “What we have, it’s not real to you?!”

“You know it’s plenty real,” I managed, coughing a little with how hoarse my throat felt.

“But to them, it’s not anything more than an experiment?” he concluded and I didn’t answer. Leo clenched up a fist as he sat back on the bed beside me heavily. “How much time do we have?”

“Ten days.”

“Ten?!” he echoed and I nodded weakly. He began to shake. “So… yesterday when I went to get you some breakfast, you panicked thinking I was gone already?”

Nodding, I rested against his side, noticing his shaking stop. I smiled, nestling into him as my head started to ache too much. We needed to stop talking and just rest some more together. I was growing too tired, the sickness and emotions draining what little energy I had.

Leo sighed as I half settled into him and scooped me up, disorientating me as he placed me back into our bed. I reached for him to come down beside me and he complied, though his body was still stiff. I whined gently. “Leo, relax.”

“I can’t.”

“I’m sorry,” I whispered and he kissed my forehead before gazing into my eyes. I felt the endless tears build up in my ducts again. I gave him a watery smile. “I wish we could do something to stop this.”

“Don’t worry,” he soothed, smiling at me as his eyes grew determined. I didn’t like that look. A moment ago he had appeared out of control and now a serene calm seemed to settle in, something that looked all too calculating to truly be peaceful. It made me worried but his hand on my hair gently it was making it hard to fight off the sleep that was encasing me.

“Leo, I don’t want you to leave me whilst I sleep,” I murmured, finally letting my heavy lids droop and I tried to cling on, making sure he wouldn’t do anything whilst I slept.

“I’m sorry baby,” I vaguely heard but I was too far gone to reach out and hold him steady, submitting to the darkness and losing sight of Leo.

I couldn’t stop him.