Come home with me… and I swear I will not make you regret it."
Kaira's breath caught.
For a moment, just a moment, something in her expression wavered. But it disappeared just as it came.
Then she shook her head. "No."
The word came out softer than she intended, but it did not change.
She gently pulled herself out of his hold, taking a small step back, putting space between them again.
"You should not have asked me that," she said, her voice quieter now, but steadier. "Do not make this harder than it already is."
Finn frowned slightly. "Harder? I am offering you a place to stay. A way out of all this."
"And at what cost?" she cut in, not harshly, but enough to stop him.
He went silent.
Kaira shook her head again, her gaze dropping for a second before lifting back to him.
"I have nothing to give you, Finn," she said. "Nothing you think you see in me… it will not last when reality settles in."
"That is not for you to decide," he replied.
