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Fia moves alongside the other dancers like it’s nothing, but I know better. I watch as a few of them try to yell at her, guide her back to where she’s meant to be without the rest of the arena noticing, but Fia isn’t paying them any mind.

My feet pull me closer, and I shove past another layer of people, placing myself just steps away from her.

“Excuse me, I’m so sorry,” I mumble, leaving my worries behind me.

When the chorus picks up, I beg for the spotlight to hit her again so I can see if she’s okay.

C’mon, baby.

Worry pulses through my veins. Every worry I could ever have surfaces all at once. She started off weak, but her weakness is someone else’s advancement, so not many notice.

But I fucking do.

C’mon, baby.

She staggers to her right, almost running into another dancer. Not caring about the rules of the arena, I jump the rail that’s blocking the next section, determined to get closer to her.

“Sir, you can’t do that.” A weak security guard dressed in yellow sticks a hand in front of my chest. I swat it away with ease.

My tunnel vision zones in the more disoriented Fia becomes.

“Move!” I shove him, and the several rows of people in front of me.

Sprinting and huffing until I’m at the edge of the elevated stage, a police officer and two more flashlight cops create a barrier around me, then my world flashes before my eyes.

“Sir, you can do that,” I hear behind me, but I’m already past them.

All at once, Fia collapses to the floor, and the lights go black just as I climb onto the stage, sprinting toward her. Collectively, the arena lets out a gasp, and everyone from the stage forms a circle around her, protecting her from the crowd. A medic jogs in from behind the stage, but I stop her.

“I’m her boyfriend. Please let me,” I yell, and everyone in the circle confirms with the medic that I’m telling the truth.

In nothing but black, I move the hair from Fia’s face, praying the glowing green of her eyes might shimmer just a little in the darkness for me.

Eyes on me, Sofia baby.

“Sofia…” I croak, holding her limp body tightly in my arms.

Cooing beneath me, I feel her chest rise and fall, and my heart settles.

“Baby, open your eyes.”

The crowd is deathly silent, eyes zoned right on us. But mine are only on her. They’ve only ever been on her.

“Je—” She quivers under my touch, cocooning herself into the softness of my shirt.

“Yes, baby. It’s me.”

“You’re really here?” she groans in my lap, her chestnut waves sticking to the sweat on her temple. As she struggles to take a breath, my heart constricts. Opening her eyes, she finds mine, and the rest of the world silences.

“Why are you here?” she whispers.

“I never should’ve let you leave without me.”

My anger at myself hangs my head low, but it’s no time to address it. It’s over now, and I’m not letting her go.

“Jett?” she asks so weakly it draws me closer.

“Yeah, baby?”