Regan.
Stay.
I say it as a plea. I need her to know that at the moment, she's my world. I don't even know the reason I couldn't say what I wanted to over the phone. I only needed to be with her.
Steal her for just one moment from Malachi and assuage my heart. I needed to confirm she was fine. I needed to hear all that happened to her in France.
She looks at me, tentatively, her eyes filled with some secret pain. As the night envelopes us, it brings back memories long gone. I recall the nights I had to run with her from my dad and brothers. I recall how I had to give her piggy back rides, because sometimes she was too broken to run.
My fingers trace her jaw line. My eyes look deep into hers; lost in her world. And all of a sudden, I don't see Leah anymore. I only see Rita. I only see the 18 year old girl I had rescued from the vindictive claws of my father.
I see the trembling girl, who had broken down into tears and wails, the instant her family got slaughtered. I see her.
