I Am Fallen.

Erica pushed me gently into a wide, red seat next to her, shoving the popcorn bag between us.

The room was big, filled with chairs exactly the same as the one I was sat in and...dark, the lights were so dim. I didn't really like the dark, it didn't give me a good feeling.

'Why is it so dark in here?' I asked Erica.

Everyone around us immediately turned their heads and glared at me like I'd done something wrong. Erica giggled behind her hands and shushed me.

'Sorry guys, he's never been allowed to the cinema before. You know, the nurses only let him out this week, he's gotten braver over the past three years.' she told them, grinning.

They looked mortified and turned back to face the giant screen. Of course, I had no idea what she was talking about but it didn't seem like a normal thing with the way the people had reacted. I stared at her until she noticed.

'Oh...that was nothing. Just something to cool them off...' she smiled, which somehow made me forget all about what she had said to begin with.

My mouth hung open as I watched her, I forgot about everything as she smirked at me. The people around us, the cinema room, I even forgot that we were on Earth. It was just me and her.

She wriggled a little under my gaze and swiftly looked away to the screen. I felt something wash over me...it made me feel nauseous and awful.

That was when it got even darker and I clutched at Erica's arm, looking around quickly to see how everyone else took this. They didn't seem fazed, just continued to watch the screen where pictures flashed up as if it was an everyday thing.

'Ouch, Zach.' then she saw me cowering into the seat. 'Oh gosh, Zach. What's wrong?'

'Why is it dark...' I whispered. I could barely say that, I was scared.

'It needs to be dark so we can see the film...Zach? Are you scared of the dark?' she muttered under her breath, casting me worried looks as the film started.

'I...I don't know. I think...I think I am.' I trembled. Everything looked warped and changed, the people in their seats were dark shadows moving and rustling amongst the room.

'Zach, we don't have to stay. We can go if you want to.' Erica told me sternly, making a move to get up.

I grabbed her arm to pull her back down and she gave me a questioning stare.

'It's fine. I want to stay.' I assured her. She didn't look like she believed me but remained in her seat, shooting me glances every few seconds.

It was true though...I didn't want to go. Not if it wrecked the film for her. What if she really wanted to come here with me? I couldn't just say 'No, I'm out of here, goodbye.'

I fixed my stare onto the screen, where a man and woman were fleeing in a forest. It was dark in the film too, the only light source was the moon. The woman collapsed and the man urged her on, pulling at her arm as he looked over his shoulder continuously.

There was some music in the background, building and building as the man let out a yell and the woman's scream filled the room, desperate and frightened.

Something jumped out from behind a tree and into view. I squeezed my eyes shut and placed my hands over them quickly. The woman was still screaming in my ear.

Erica muttered something under her breath, too quiet for me to hear over the screeches.

'I don't want to open my eyes!' I sobbed.

I was shaking and flew up from my seat as a hand touched my shoulder. It was Erica, her eyes wide and concerned.

'Zach, you okay?' she hissed to me, not disrupting the people in the seats around us.

I shook my head fast, wanting to get out of there as soon as I could. She nodded once and held my hand to guide me down an aisle and back through the cinema room doors. When we were out of there, she spun and placed her hands to the sides of my face, she must be able to feel the sweat and tears on my cheeks.

'Calm down, shh. It's okay, it's just a film. It's not real.' she cooed, comforting me. Her hands wiped at my tears and she looked straight into my eyes.

'It's okay Zach. Honest. I won't let anything hurt you.' she insisted, her voice quivering slightly.

I felt myself relaxing, I was shuddering less now and instantly I felt humiliated. What sort of angel was I?

'I'm s-sorry, Erica.' I stuttered. I wanted to melt on the spot, I can't believe I just cried like that in front of her.

'It's okay, seriously. Everybody gets scared sometimes.' she said softly, leading me out of the cinema. 'I'm the one who should be apologizing. I shouldn't have put you through that, I should have known it would be overwhelming to you, You've never exper-'

I cut her off by placing a hand over her mouth. She was trying to do me a favour, trying to get me to enjoy things that she did. I appreciated that.

Of course, I was planning on telling her all this but she was still staring at me, focused. For the second time today, I felt everything else around us disappear. It was just me and her.

I felt infuriated, I should know what this means! Why did everything on earth have to be so confusing?

She slowly pulled my hand away and I saw her leaning in, whether that was consciously or not. I had no idea what she was doing but somehow, I felt like I should be doing that too. It felt like I needed to...wanted to.

We were so close that I could feel her breath on my face, could see the freckles that dotted across her nose and under her eyes. Funny how I had never noticed them before.

A car door slammed nearby and we jumped apart. Erica coughed.

'So erm...' her voice sounded uneven, so she cleared her throat and tried again. 'The erm...cinema seemed to be a erm...failure.'

I nodded, not exactly sure that I was nodding.

'So I could erm...take you for ice cream? It won't jump at you, I swear.'

Finally, we looked at each other. I grinned at her and agreed.

'That sounds nice.'

She smiled back at me and led me across the road, to where a place called 'Isabella's Ice-Cream.' was waiting for us.

As she ordered two ice creams, I watched her as I sat at a table.

What had just happened between us?