Free Before the Dawn by Kristal Lim

gotten their
hands on him. Right? She called his phone and got his voicemail, so
she left him a message to call her back and she had to be content
with that because there really wasn't anything else she could do
about it right now.
    The doorbell rang then and, when she saw
Trevor outside, she couldn't help herself. She was so happy and
relieved he looked okay that she threw her arms around him and
hugged him as tightly as she could. "Oh, thank God you're safe!"
she whispered against his neck and he just made a sort of
comforting rumbling noise as he held her close. "Last night really
happened, didn't it? It wasn't just a dream?" She was silently
begging him to tell her that none of it had been real.
    "It was more like a nightmare," he said
softly. "Especially when I saw you running away from that guy and
you looked so scared. I wasn't sure I could protect you." His lips
grazed her ear as he spoke and, instantly, the mood between them
altered. She was suddenly very aware of how tall he was and how his
body was wrapped up against hers. She also realized that their
faces were really close.
    They both made the decision to move even
closer and their lips met in their first kiss. She felt slightly
guilty for letting the thought flash through her mind for a few
seconds, but this was nothing like kissing the Prince in her
dreams. That had been a seduction, tempting her with the promise of
how wonderful surrendering to passion could be. Trevor's kiss was
different. It didn't demand, it asked for her response. It was warm
and passionate, yes, but it didn't try to take her over. It was
just—Trevor, and being with him and being close and sharing
themselves with each other. It kind of felt like coming home.
    When they finally broke apart after several
minutes of being lost in each other’s kiss, they were both
grinning.
    "That was," Trevor thought for a second,
"different." He leaned his head down again and gave her another,
quicker kiss. "Why does it feel like I've done that a thousand
times before?"
    "I don't know," Aline replied with a smile.
She couldn’t believe how light and happy she was feeling right now
in his arms.
    "You know," he said conversationally, "when
all of this weirdness is over, we need to go on a date." He winked
at her.
    "Absolutely!" she agreed. "But no dancing,
though," she quickly added.
    He nodded. "You bet. I have two left feet
anyway." Then they just smiled at each other goofily for a minute
or two, enjoying the strong new feeling of closeness between them.
Finally, he asked, "Are you ready to go?" She nodded and locked up
the house behind her, and then she made an uncomfortable discovery:
Trevor drove around in a motorcycle.
    "Have you ridden one of these before?" he
asked a bit worriedly when he saw the expression on her face.
    "No," she answered. "Never." She felt like
her entire body was starting to freeze up.
    "What's wrong?" he frowned. "If you've never
ridden one and you're nervous, it's okay. It's completely safe. I'm
a careful driver."
    She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
"I'm sorry if I look freaked out about this, but I have a bad
history with motorcycles, one in particular." Then, in a quiet
voice, she told him about the accident that had killed her mom.
    "Oh, God." He looked miserable. "I'm so
sorry. I had no idea."
    "It's okay." She tried to smile at him.
"Anyway, it's still early. We could catch the bus instead?" she
suggested. "It stops a block away from here. That's what I usually
do when my dad isn't around to drive me to school."
    "Sure," he nodded. "We'll do that." He seemed
eager to make her forget about the memories that had suddenly come
rushing back to her. She told him he could leave his bike in their
driveway then they went off to the bus stop. While they walked, he
noticed the way she was limping, so she also told him about the
poor state of her feet.
    "What?" He was aghast. "Then you shouldn't
even be walking around at all. Aline, this is crazy. You're going
to make your