Beautiful ending I loved it. Suspicious feeling the girl at the end is also the girl in the picture. (Don't confirm). Also, Blaze is so full of himself, you were right he is a coward. There is a big difference between confidence and arrogance and Blaze leans towards the latter where Ray is trying to ease his way into confidence. I also see a struggling Pennie, it is like she is fighting on another front that she is completely innocent on too, the matters of the heart. Will, her world gets shattered there as well?
More will be revealed soon ;) As for Blaze, yeah at this point of time he is quite arrogant and sadistic. He has been through a lot, but it doesn't really excuse his behavior. Keep a look at his vocabulary though, you may notice a strange consistency. And yes, Pennie has found a new battle regarding her feelings, she just hasn't realised it yet.