Free Clarity 2 by Loretta Lost

silence for several minutes. My thoughts turn to the future, and what my plan of action should be. I feel so weak and miserable, and incapable of dealing with this.
    “So this is why you don’t want to participate in the study anymore?” he asks me.
    “ What?” I say in confusion, startled from my thoughts.
    “ Earlier when you were yelling at me, you said you didn’t want me to try the gene therapy on your eyes. Were you just upset, or did you mean that?”
    I shake my head, with my eyebrows drawn together in a frown. It’s difficult to speak. “I wish I could do the study. I wish it more than anything. But now? I can’t stay here in this house. In this city. I have to get the hell away from this place.”
    “But don’t you regret running away last time?” he asks me.
    “Yes, but...” I try to think of how to phrase my thoughts. “I already failed. What more damage could really be done? Even if I do stay—I’m powerless to protect Carmen or make things better. I might even make things worse with my presence.”
    “You have to stay,” Liam insists. “You can’t just leave again. You have this huge opportunity, and if you run away... then he’s won. You can’t let him destroy your life.”
    “Luckily, I hardly have any life for him to destroy. Not here. I don’t have any ties to this place. My life is sitting in a small cabin up north, and that’s where I should return. I haven’t called to cance l my grocery deliveries yet. I should just go back there.”
    “I won’t let you,” Liam tells me. “The life you were living was no kind of life at all. It was some kind of masochistic self-punishment for something that wasn’t even your fault. You need to stay here and be strong, Hel—Winter. Stay here, and let me try to give you the ability to see.”
    “I don’t think I can...”
    “You can’t let a ghost from your past destroy your future.”
    “It doesn’t feel like he’ s in the past anymore, Liam. He’s right here. He’s standing a few steps away in my family home... he’s probably laughing and feeding my sister cake right now.”
    Liam makes a sound of exasperation. “Well, fuck him! You can’t go on running and hiding from everything good just because of this one man. What about me? I mean, ignoring the fact that you promised that if we drove you home, you’d let us do the research...”
    “I’m sorry to go back on my word,” I say glumly. “I didn’t expect that it would be unsafe to be here.”
    “ Ignoring that fact,” Liam repeats with emphasis, “what about us?”
    “Us?” I repeat slowly.
    “Yeah. Am I cr azy,” he asks, “or is there something here between us?”
    My lips part to deliver a response, but I press them together again tightly to save myself from saying something impulsive and possibly stupid.
    “ Maybe it’s just friendship,” Liam says. “Maybe... there’s the potential for something more. I don’t know, but I just... I really like being around you.” He clears his throat awkwardly. “Am I nuts? Do you feel the same?”
    I close my eyes before speaking , almost ashamed of the answer. “Yes,” I say weakly.
    “ Good,” he says, exhaling in relief. “It’s just special, you know? It’s rare to meet someone and have such an awesome connection right off the bat. You can’t just toss us away before we even know what us could be.” His voice grows firm and demanding. “I’m sorry if saying this is uncool, or if it makes you uncomfortable. I just won’t accept you banishing yourself from the realm to live in exile again. This house is your kingdom, and you can’t let some fool shove you out of your domain.”
    I can’t help but smile sadly in spite of myself at the adorable metaphor.
    “If t his is a territorial dispute, you need to mark your space and hold your ground,” Liam says with determination. “He doesn’t deserve to take everything that’s yours. He doesn’t deserve to win. He doesn’t deserve to steal your family,