30. You Think I’m Weak, But You’re Wrong #2
“Being dead isn’t so bad. I have my own place without crazy responsibilities to run back to.
” He turned to wrap an arm around my neck and wrench me forward, choking me in his embrace, but I didn’t mind.
“This kid… he’s given me a lot of my purpose back.
He means the absolute world to me, as does our team.
I get to be with my friends and family because of him, and that sure as Gehenna beats where I was before he contracted us. ”
“Yes, you’re all together, and I cannot be with you…
” She brushed her eyes clear. “I miss you all so, so much, but I’ve been too scared to speak to you after all that happened.
I know that I could be with you whenever I wanted to as a Death Elemental, but I felt it was wrong to expect you to be welcoming of me after all we’ve been through, and how different lives we live. ”
He combed her tears away with his thumb.
“You are still part of our team the same as you were when we were alive. Now that Nick has reunited us… maybe we should start rebuilding the pieces. We’re all so worried about keeping the world from exploding that we neglect ourselves, like we’ve always done. ”
Seraphine moved her hands to her stomach and held her bump tightly.
“I won’t lie and say I am not thrilled to be having a child, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t have loved one from you just the same.
I want you to be part of my life, to help me navigate the chaos, and to be a very close friend, someone I can love in a new way.
I know that is selfish to ask of you, Stark, but it is what I truly desire. ”
Stark stared at her stomach for a moment before he moved to cup it as well.
“I know. It is hard for me, to watch you be with another man, even after I knew we were headed towards combustion. Part of me hoped that we would find our own way after a while, even after we failed so many times. It’s very silly of us to keep holding onto each other like this, knowing that we would have been in the same position even if I were alive. ”
“Do you really think that would be the case?” she whispered breathlessly.
He nodded gently. “Yes, I do. We were never made to work, Phina. We split so many times… it was only a matter of time before we finally gave up. Honestly, I think our last fight finished us off.”
“Maybe so,” she admitted.
He let his fingers trail down her long white locks until he could wind them around his hand.
“I am angry at the universe for how it has treated us, but I am not angry at you. You cannot put your life on hold for someone who died centuries ago, and I cannot expect you to, but I also need to find a way to move on as well. Because of Nick, I have a chance to live as close to a normal life as possible, which means I need to find ways to enjoy myself and pass time. This is my forever, and it would be nice to share it with someone else.”
Seraphine kissed his nose tenderly, and the action made them both sigh softly. “Do you think we could ever be friends? That we could be part of one another’s lives in some way again? That it wouldn’t be too much to ask of you?”
Stark finally broke into a soft smile. It was still hesitant, but it was for her, and she knew that. “I’m sure we can be. You know, I thought this talk would be crippling, and make me feel worse than I already did, but I feel very at peace right now.”
“I do, too. I don’t know why I waited to so long to do this.”
“Cause you’re both dramatic babies,” I stuck in.
Odysseus smacked a hand to his face while the two laughed hysterically, their sad tears replaced by happy ones. He moved to take my hand and pull me up from the couch. “We should give them some privacy, eh?”
“Yeah, yeah.” I ruffled Seraphine’s hair, something she absolutely hated, and I knew would break up her sad mood.
Sure enough, she began to scowl darkly, which made me giggle harder.
“We’re gonna go hit up Alice and Claude and see if we can force some dinner out of them.
You guys wanna join us tonight?” I coaxed my secret plan to reconnect all of them.
“That sounds lovely,” Seraphine assured.
“Come along, you.”
“Hold my hand!” I demanded stubbornly, and Odysseus obliged with a kiss to my temple. Seraphine and Stark watched us with loving smiles as we skipped down the sidewalk, swinging our interlocked arms.
Once I knew the door was shut, I stopped Odysseus in his tracks, which made him tilt his head at me. “What’s wrong?” he moped.
I laced both of my hands around his and squeezed them tightly, frowning to myself under the light of a streetlamp above me. “Promise me something?”
“Anything,” he immediately said.
“Promise we won’t ever lose one another? That we won’t let things get that bad?” My voice trembled with sadness as I asked this.
Odysseus realized how serious I was and slid his arms under mine to pull me into his chest. I let him cuddle me like this, as I truly needed the support at the moment.
“We’ll never lose our love for one another.
Our love is different than theirs. Their love was more of a good friendship that was pushed too far.
What we have is much deeper, much more stable. ”
“You think so?” I said within his chest.
He stroked my hair peacefully. “I know so. The universe destined us to be together, while Erasmus forced them to make it work. That is a much different situation.”
I kissed him tenderly, really let my lips do the talking, and he luckily understood everything I wanted to say.
Alice raced around the kitchen at lightning speed as she tried to finish dinner in time, which, she would have had she not made ana entire feast for us, but that was Alice.
Bianca and Jackson had stopped in for similar reasons, which meant Alice had her sous-chef to help, and Jackson could torment me to his heart’s content.
Odysseus was laughing so hard he was hysterical as Jackson kept opening his arms and legs to free me, only to collapse them and drag me back into his arms each time I wiggled for freedom.
“Jackson, for the love of the Gods, let me go!” I wailed angrily.
“I am letting you go.”
“No, you’re not!”
“You’re just too slow.”
“I’ll show you too slow…!”
“My goodness, what did we miss?” Seraphine giggled as she and Stark came inside. They seemed much more themselves; Seraphine was back to her glowing self, and Stark held a gentle grin that made all our shoulders relax.
All the Shadows were a bit unsure of what to say or do, so to break up the awkwardness, I punched Jackson in the side of the head.
He howled in pain and threw his arms around my neck to put me in a lock, where we wrestled to the floor to fight for dominance.
Odysseus went back to squeaking out his adorable laughs while May laid a five-dollar bill on the coffee table.
“My money’s on Jackson. He’s yet to lose one of these fights. ”
“Have some faith in me!” I cried out from under Jackson’s left leg.
May gestured to my awkward position. “I know, because you’re giving me so much to work with right now.”
“Submit, shrimp!” Jackson cackled like a villain.
My arm jutted out from our pile of bodies to bang on the floor repeatedly. “I submit! I submit! Let me go you hog!”
“Eh, five more minutes.”
“JACKSON!”