"Thank you for everything. I adore you. Good night" Keith whispered back to her. Their final kiss of the evening was so bitter sweet, but he knew she needed sleep and he needed to accept the fact that this may never happen again. Watching her climb up the ladder and sliding into her window, Keith let one tear fall. Would she love him tomorrow? Would this make her realize how important they are to each other? Or, with the morning sun would this all be gone? His chest hurt so much he actually fell to his knees, unable to rise for a few moments. Finally forcing himself to stand and then climb the fences and vanish into the night, Keith couldn't help but hate himself. She was the woman of his dreams, the one he'd do anything for, and yet he couldn't convince her to stop this game. Memories of her explaining why she needed the game flooded his mind. Her image needed to be preserved, this was who she had spent so much time becoming and it was the only person she knew how to be around everyone else. When Keith got to his bike, he opened his phone and sent Alex a text.<br/><br/>"I love you."<br/><br/>While his phone was open, he also sent Erika a text.<br/><br/>"Call me as soon as you can if it's convenient. If not convenient, call me anyway" She needed to know that they had at least made progress, but he doubted it would last very long. Steel became steel once again, cold, hard, and sleek, the aura of forced confidence shrouded him as he rode off into the night