Chapter 2

I was so angry I almost laughed, but my eyes burned with tears.

"Friends?" I shot back. "What kind of 'friends' leave hickeys on each other's chests?"

While Sean wasn't looking, Sadie deliberately turned toward me and tugged her collar down, exposing a large, unmistakable mark.

Then she grabbed Sean's sleeve, pouting sweetly.

"Victoria, what are you talking about?" she sniffled. "I just have sweet blood. Mosquitoes love me. Why are you accusing me like this? Do you want me kicked out of the community too—just like you?"

Sean instinctively touched his collar, guilt flashing across his face.

But the moment he heard her tearful voice, his anger flared again.

"Victoria, enough!" he barked. "Do you have to see everything in such a filthy way? Only someone with a dirty mind thinks like that. Sadie's nothing like you—she's just a kid!"

Sadie wiped her eyes, playing her part perfectly.

"It's fine," she sobbed. "This is Victoria's house. If she wants to live alone, or throw me out because she's in a bad mood, that's her right. I'll leave. If I get killed by a monster out there… well, that's just my fate."

Her crying grew louder, more dramatic.

After the apocalypse, safe zones had popped up everywhere. Survivors clustered together based on usefulness and skills, but most people barely knew one another.

Life was dull and suffocating. So when drama appeared, neighbors rushed out eagerly to watch.

"Look at 506," someone whispered. "Always dragging strange men home. Her life's a mess, and now she's smearing that poor girl."

"It's the end of the world," another scoffed. "We might die tomorrow, and she's still chasing men. Can't live without one, huh?"

A third sneered, "It's not the times; it's the person. Look at her clothes, all torn up. Bet they got ripped in bed. Probably stole fabric from another man to patch them."

"Not like that girl, always clean, always sweet. You can tell she was raised right."

The nasty gossip was brutal, but Sean just stood there and didn't say a word for me.

He knew better than anyone how scarce resources were. He knew I pushed myself to the limit on every mission, trading all my rewards for supplies, everything he needed.

All of it, just to make his life easier.

Once, he messaged me saying his communicator was broken. I took on a mission far more dangerous than anything I'd attempted before. I barely survived, thanks to a skilled partner. My clothes and shoes were ruined.

I couldn't bring myself to wear my mother's dress, so I kept repairing my worn rags and wearing them.

After I sent Sean the new communicator, I only told him the good news. I never mentioned how close I came to dying.

The next time we met, he brought me a full set of clothes and shoes.

"Stop worrying about me," he said gently. "Take care of yourself."

He knelt down and carefully applied ointment to the blisters on my feet.

Everything fit perfectly, soft, comfortable.

Items like that were nearly impossible to get now, so I saved them for when I truly needed them.

But then, out of nowhere, Sean messaged me and said the community was kicking me out and told me to run.

I fled in such a panic that I didn't grab a single thing.

And now, those shoes were on Sadie's feet.

"You said these shoes were for me. Why is she wearing them?" I asked.

Sean frowned and said, "When did I ever give you shoes?"

He looked lost, but also totally sure of himself.

For a moment, I couldn't tell if he was actually clueless, or just playing dumb to cover for Sadie in front of everyone.

Thinking back, after that, every time we met, Sean stopped switching identities. He never pretended to be anyone else again.

When I asked him about it, he said he'd gotten promoted from trainee to full member, so now he could pick one identity to stick with.

"Remember, from now on, only when I look like this, I'm your boyfriend," he told me.

He was about to head out on a mission, and before leaving, he warned me not to pay attention to any other guys using his name. He promised he'd come pick me up and we'd finally live together once he was done.

I didn't want to make things harder for him, so I planned to slip back quietly. If I couldn't get the house, at least I could take my parents' inheritance and their portraits with me.

But I never thought I'd run into him again, looking just like his true self.

"Victoria, sweetheart, let's go inside and talk. We don't need to give the neighbors a show," Sean said.

Something must have crossed his mind, because his voice turned soft as he tried to comfort me.

I grabbed his hand, running my fingers over the scar on his index finger.

He used to never go near the kitchen, but because I missed my mom's cooking, he tried to learn for me, and that's how he got hurt.

Blood was pouring out, but he just grinned and called it his "medal of love" for me.

That same scar was on the hand of the Sean who once promised he'd take me away.

"With everyone watching, let me ask you one last time. Who exactly were those 'strange men' I supposedly brought home?" I demanded, my voice trembling.

Thinking back, I couldn't help it. My nose prickled and my eyes brimmed with tears.