“What’s wrong?” March said, his voice lower as he, too, analyzed my every feature. “What happened? Did someone do something to you?”
Tears in my eyes—now they come.
“How did we meet, March?” I choked. “Tell me, please tell me—how did we meet?”
Because I didn’t know if I could remember, and I didn’t dare try tothinkback—because if I didn’t remember, what would be left of me?
If I couldn’t think back, why would I bother breathing?
If I lost March, I’d have lost. That’s what it felt like to me.
I’d have simply…lost.
March looked confused. “What? What do you mean?”
“How did we meet, March? Tell me, please. When you first saw me, when we first spoke. Have you forgotten?”
He leaned back a bit and I let go of his face, let my hands slide down to his chest, over his red shirt. I could hear his heart beating wildly underneath my palms.
“Please,”I whispered.Please, please remember…
“You were sitting at the other side of the table when my eyes opened. Your face is the first thing I saw. I thought I was dreaming because you couldn’t possibly be real,” March said, eyes wide, unblinking, locked on mine. I held onto his every word like it was my lifeline—because it was. “You were the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen in my life. Still are.” His hand moved up to my cheek.
“Then I saw you in the trial,” March continued. “We spoke for the first time.” His fingers wrapped around my jaw.
Tears, warm and big, slid down my cheeks. “I asked you who you were. I asked you why you were in my head.”
Yes, yes, yes you did!
I saw it. Isawthe whole thing in my mind, the memory faded butthere.He spoke, and I saw how it all happened, and I was shaking by now. Crying.
“Then I followed you out of the palace, Velvet. You were trying to run away. I watched you, and if the Labyrinth had let you go, I’d have stopped you. I’d have kept you here with me.”
My heart jumped. The memories were there.
“Why?” I whispered, simply because we didn’t know each other yet then.
“There’s no point to any of it without you,” March whispered, and he looked like the words surprised him as much as they did me. “It’s just a feeling. I don’t know where it comes from—it’s just there.”
It was.
It was right there in the middle of my chest, too.
He remembers.The whole world could have been handed to me in those moments. We hadn’t forgotten.
I rose on my tiptoes, locked my arms around his neck again and kissed him.
March didn’t hesitate. Our lips yearned for one another, and we knew exactly how to move with each other, like we were made for this very thing. Maybe we were. In those moments, I’d believe that this was why I existed.
I had never once felt moreconnectedto the world. I had never once felt less alone.
Our tongues clashed and our breathing tangled, our arms tightly around one another. We were chest to chest and our hearts beat as one. Andthatwas something I was sure I’d never forget if I lived a thousand lives.
“You’re okay,” March whispered against my lips when we slowed down.
“I’m okay,” I said, a smile tugging at my lips. “What is this place, March? What are you doing here?”
He let go of my face but kept an arm around my waist when we stepped to the side to see our surroundings once more.
