I didn't think I'd go back again.
I mean, I knew I would, but I told myself I wouldn't. That it was just a "one-time thing." That I wasn't catching feelings for a character on a screen.
But there I was, alone in my room, flicking through movie titles like a teenager stalking an ex's Instagram,and there she was again.
Emma Watson.
Or more accurately, her character: a shy, wounded runaway in some post-apocalyptic survival film. Dirt on her face, fear in her eyes. A world around her that looked like Mad Max had a panic attack.
I didn't pick it for the action. I picked it because this time… she looked like she needed someone.
Insert tape. Push play. Watch the world dissolve.
Boom. I'm in.
The sky is ash-gray. The ground's cracked like it's holding secrets. Everything stinks of smoke, sweat, and despair. And then I see her,Emma,huddled in a burned-out diner, clutching a kitchen knife like a teddy bear.
I step forward.
She turns, eyes wide. She doesn't recognize me,not yet. Not like last time. But something flickers behind her stare. Something soft.
"Who are you?" she asks.
I smile. "Let's just say I'm the plot twist."
A bullet tears through the window. She screams. I pull her down just in time.
Protective instincts: ON.
What followed next was… chaos; thugs and gunfire. One guy with a mohawk and nunchucks,because apparently this apocalypse came with an 80s DLC pack.
I fought like a god.
Dodging bullets and smashing skulls. One guy stabbed me and his knife broke. I may or may not have flexed on him while he cried.
But I never left her side.
And somewhere in between hurling a fire extinguisher at a mutant and kicking a guy into a jukebox, I realized something:
I didn't just want her to love me. I wanted to protect her.
Like... really protect her. Like the way I wished someone had protected me from the nothingness I called life before this whole tape nonsense.
She held my hand as we ran. Not because the script told her to. But because she wanted to.
And right then, it popped up.
[NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: PROTAGONIST SHIELD — LVL 1]
While in proximity to a character you care about, all damage is reduced by 90%, and your strength increases by 150%.
Holy sh—okay. Cool,no big deal right?
Except it was a big deal.
Because it meant one thing:
The stronger the connection… the stronger I became.
We found shelter in a tunnel. I wrapped her in a blanket. She looked at me with those soft, tired eyes.
"I don't know who you are," she whispered, "but I feel safe with you."
You ever hear a fictional character say something so real it makes you feel fake?
Yeah,that
We sat there in the dark, side by side. She leaned her head on my shoulder. I didn't move. I barely breathed.
"Do you think the world will ever be okay again?" she asked.
I looked at her. "I don't know," I said. "But I'll make sure you are."
She smiled. That same smile I remembered from the last movie,the one that said I want you to stay.
[Character Affection — LVL 2.9 → 3.0]
Yeah. I leveled up from cuddles.
Don't judge me.
But just as I was enjoying my upgrade and low-key planning our fictional wedding, the sky above the tunnel cracked. Literally.
A long, jagged tear ripped across the sky like a glitch.
She didn't see it but I did.
A second later, I was gone. Pulled out of the movie like someone yanked the cord.
Back in my room. Chest pounding. Skin still warm where she leaned on me.
And on the TV, the movie was still playing.
But she was gone.
Not her character. Her.
There was an empty space where she should've been. And everyone in the scene was reacting like she'd disappeared from existence.
My heart sank.
I didn't just visit the movie.
I'd taken part of it with me.