Page 34 of The Order

But I loved it.

I craved it.

I craved the fear he fills me with. It's a fear to walk the line.

Fallan moves closer to the window, looking over my expression with furrowed brows.

“What?” he questions.

“You know where to find me when you're tired of your lap dog,” I mutter, letting my smirk finally meet my mouth at the sight of his dazed expression. Hunter is wide-eyed, looking between the both of us.

“Is there something so enthralling on my face that you can’t break your pathetic stare right now?” I question, pushing Fallan further.

“Enthralled is not the word I’d use to describe what I feel when I look at you,” Fallan says, lowering his eyes as that typical sense of hate passes over his expression.

“Don’t worry, I’m not too fond of you either.” I begin, turning toward Hunter’s worried expression. “Your friend, on the other hand, is a breath of fresh air,” I say, easing his tension with another smile. Fallan scoffs, shaking his head at the exchange.

“He almost makes you forget we're not really people, right?” Fallan says, reminding me once more where we both land in this society.

“I never said you’re not people,” I utter, watching the pair's eyes wince at the statement. “Why are you working this booth anyway? It seems like the last place either of you'd want to be,” I say, trying my best to shove down the feeling of pain I get the longer Fallan’s hateful stare is on me.

“The popcorn most of you are so carelessly tossing to the ground is banned in our sector,” Fallan begins.

“We get to take home the scraps,” Hunter clarifies, popping a piece of the treat in his mouth.

How could something as simple as this be banned in their sector?

“Was that too much for you to process at once?” Fallan questions.

Angrily, I look up at him, wondering just how much badgering I can take before going in there and testing to see if his strength is only an illusion.

“Fallan, you’re not the one who should be questioning someone else’s intelligence,” Hunter snaps, making the raven-haired giant’s smile fade in a second.

I can’t stop the laugh from escaping my mouth. It's the first genuine laugh I have allowed myself in months. It sounds foreign once it leaves me. I force my hand over the noise, stopping myself from drawing more attention to the two than I already have by lingering at the counter. My smile falls away from beneath my hand. Hunter looks pleased, and Fallan, for the first time, doesn’t look utterly pissed off by my existence.

“Glad to know Hunter’s shitty jokes are funny to someone,” Fallan says, pushing away from the counter and nudging the boy playfully in the arm. If I had to guess, these two are more than casual friends. They’re close, possibly as close as Rae and me.

“I have a feeling your humor wouldn’t be any better,” I begin, ready to challenge Fallan again.

“Who’s humor?” Max’s voice questions. I pull away from the counter, looking toward the blonde. His hands are deep in his pockets, his eyes on me.

“Have you just been talking to yourself for the past ten minutes? Every time I looked over here, it looked like you were going on to yourself,” Max says. It doesn’t surprise me that he assumes I’ve not acknowledged the pair of men staring at him from within the booth.

“Actually, Hunter here was telling me a funny joke-” I begin, full of smiles. Max pauses me, pinching the bridge of his nose as his frustrations grow.

“You fucking spoke to her? Outside of your regs?” Max questions to the two. I feel my smile drop. Max’s eyes focus on a nearby Official, ready to wave him over.

“Sir, I-” Hunter begins.

Fallan is going to open his mouth and escalate this situation.

I move in front of Max, placing the treats back on the counter to nudge him back several feet. I grab his chin, dragging his eyes down to face me.

“I asked him to speak to me. Let it be me if you want an Official to be upset with someone. I broke regulation, not them,” I say, holding back his hand, ready to wave over the man dressed head to toe in black.

“Why the hell would you do that?” he questions. I pause, a bit dumbfounded by the nature of the question.

“I just wanted to tell them thank you-”

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