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[ She should be used to this, but still she feels herself react, before he even touches her. The tremor starts in her chest and reverberates through her. She steps back, feels the solid counter keeping her instead of space. Elena looks at his chest, his mouth, and her lashes flutter. World's best poker face? Yeah, no. ] Because -
[ She licks her lips. She owes him this much. ]
- if you didn't know, it wasn't going to be real. [ Her eyes lift to meet his. (I wanted it to be real, and she says it because it's always real; that's the problem.) She wants her voice to be unfaltering and right; everything it just was. But even she hears the strain. ] And because - you can't... [ She shakes her head; her eyes fill. ] You can't kiss me again.