Chapter Text
"Zack, your bandages are all muddy and wet, you'll catch a cold at this rate."
They hadn't stopped their journey for 4 days to reach the border in time and be able to hide properly, which meant to sleep outside and oh well - it had been raining all the time. Zack had lent her his hoody and now he looked like something right out of the swamps as a result.
"Tch. Oh c'mon, you're noisy. I lived through really dangerous situations and tis' nothing but water... And mud... And maybe some animal's shi...".
"I know Zack, but I mean it. I can help you if you want. I think I saw a pond outside the hut. And maybe the oven can be lit."
"Naaw I'm fine. I'm still a monster after all, right? In prison they told me everyday. As if I could forget THAT! I COULD NEVER FORGET THAT WITH THAT WHOR.... W - what are you doing, Ray?"
"It's called a hug?"
"No shit Sherlock. But why. I -?"
After all she was the only one allowed to touch him. First he was scared and flashed back to his past, but when she had stitched his wounds back in that damn slaughter house, he somehow had gained the trust.
Distracted by his thoughts, Zack couldn't react fast enough as Ray untied his bandages at the back of his head, slowly pulling them down row by row.
"Listen Zack. You are NOT a monster to me. Back in that house you were the only one being true and honest. That may sound twisted, but trapped in that hospital, away from you, I understood that. Even if we never make our promise real, it was still no lie. We will keep it in our hearts forever, cherishing it, remembering how it gave us strength and someday it may be still fulfilled."
Still pulling at his bandages Ray looked deeply into Zacks eyes. The lively blue had returned, just as when they had left her floor together back then. Trapped by his own reflection in these perfect pools of blue he couldn't help but see himself with her eyes...
"Hello? Here's Zack. The fuck did you do with the Ray I know in your hospital?!"
"They didn't do anything, but bother me. But I just realized what I wanted in life since we met. It's not what they did to me, it's what you did to me."
"Huh? That's so damn fucked up. I guess I like it, although I don't get it. But still my burns look all nast-mmhb."
Going even further, Ray had started to kiss Zack. First his cheek, making him choke on his own words and blush like a young school boy (huehue the irony, he never saw a school in his entired life... Okay I'll lead myself out).
"R-Ray, what the hell are you doing?!"
"Do you remember that time on my floor? When you said I should desire you? It was your greatest wish back then, it seemed."
"Tch. F-forget about that. That was j-."
"Zack? Shut up."
Tracing kisses on his burned face, Ray finally had made her way to his mouth.
"The answer is, I did and I still do."