Chapter 20 Reyes
Reyes
A quiet knock breaks the silence in the house as I’m drying off from my shower.
“Just a sec!” I shout as I toss on a shirt and pair of shorts, expecting to find Lillith outside.
We’re supposed to start building the greenhouse today, but I didn’t tell her what time.
Leave it to her to be enthusiastic enough to come get me before I’ve even had breakfast. As I swing the door open, I’m already craning my neck to look at her.
I blink at nothing, then drop my eyes to find Nyx standing there, shifting between his feet. “Hi,” he whispers, his toes curling against the ground.
“Well, good morning, beautiful.” He makes another of those little squeaks, and my grin spreads. “I was just getting ready to come see you.”
“You have breakfast?” He glances around my back towards the kitchen, and I wonder if he’s noticed what’s on the counter yet.
“Come on inside. Did I take too long this morning?”
“No,” he says as his eyes dart around, and I give him a minute to indulge his curiosity. He’s never been inside my house before, and there’s enough in here to keep him exploring for hours.
Snooping, some might call it, but I don’t mind.
After I pour us each a glass of water, he wanders over to join me at the table, but when he looks at the plate, his brows meet. His bewildered expression as he stares at the pink slices makes me laugh. “What is this?” he finally asks, picking one up and twisting it in front of his face.
“It’s called a watermelon. I found a vine behind the corn with a few ripe fruits. The people that lived in this village before us must’ve been growing it, because I didn’t plant it.”
He returns the slice to the plate, and his eyes go wide as he licks his fingertips. “It is sweet.”
“It is very sweet. See these black things? Those are the seeds, so don’t swallow them.
Save them, and we will grow more of these in the future.
” I take a bite, trying to stifle my laughter as he intently watches me eat.
He studies me, like he wants to make sure he does it right.
Holding a slice daintily by the rind, he picks out all the seeds he can find, then takes an absolutely enormous bite.
He closes his eyes and groans, and I lose it.
I laugh so hard, I’m convinced watermelon is going to come out of my nose, but he’s too focused on chewing to pay me any attention. A tiny stream of juice drips down his face, and after he wipes his mouth with the back of his hand, he licks that, too.
“Do you like it?” I finally collect myself enough to ask, and he nods without opening his eyes.
“You are teasing me, but this watermelon makes it okay.” Aside from my rogue laughter, we don’t talk much as we eat.
Nyx has always been happy to sit in the silence, so I never force conversation.
I cut him a chunk of bread to give him something more substantial, and he accepts it with a sweet smile.
Once we’ve polished off our food, he sits back and rubs his stomach.
“Are you full?”
He nods with a thoughtful expression on his face. “We should have watermelon more often.”
I grin as I grab the plates to wash. “There are only a few of them right now, but I saved another one just for us. Don’t tell anyone, because if Elas finds out…
” I trail off as arms wrap around my waist and squeeze.
Nyx hugs me from behind, and the open show of affection is almost too much to handle.
I cover his arms with mine as he leans his forehead against my shoulder.
“This is okay?” he asks.
“Yes, this is more than okay. What did I do to deserve a hug?”
“You were thinking of me.”
“I always think of you,” I respond, and he squeezes me again before he releases me.
I turn around, and he stares up at me with one of his tiny smiles. As I tuck his hair behind his ear, he says, “You have not given me my flower yet.”
A surprised laugh sneaks out of me. “Someone’s demanding this morning.
You showed up before I was prepared! But if you want your flower, I’ll get you your flower.
” I wait for him to argue, but he only raises his brows and glances towards the door, like he’s waiting on me to get moving.
I laugh to myself as I step outside and find a cluster of daisies, and when I come back in, he’s peeking inside a box.
The door shuts, and he jumps as if I caught him doing something wrong.
I frown as he pushes the box away. “You can look at anything you want. What’s mine is yours.”
“After the flower,” he says, and I huff a laugh. When I tuck the stem behind his ear, I press a barely there kiss to his cheek beside it.
He flushes, and his eyes drop to the floor, but I can tell he’s holding something back.
It’s only been three days since that first morning, but it’s become our routine now—I show up with breakfast, brush his hair, and give him his flower.
If he broke that routine, it’s for a reason, but I’ve learned that sometimes he needs a little nudge.
Spending time with him has been a dream come true.
Every day he lets me see more of himself, and with every defensive layer that’s peeled back, I fall harder.
Mostly, we’ve worked in the garden and taken walks through the woods.
He came to my training session with Ronan yesterday, even though he sat at a distance.
It was nerve-wracking, knowing he was watching, but Ronan went easy on me.
He did, however, mention several times that I’ve stabbed him and punched him, and I’m still waiting for the retaliation.
Nyx continues to shuffle between his feet, and I put him out of his misery. “Was there something you wanted to do today?”
“You have the rocks?” he asks, and I bite back a grin again.
“So it was you that left those?”
“You are teasing still. You already know it was me.” He levels a stern look at me, and I can’t contain my smile any longer.
“Yeah, I do. They’re in here.” I lead him into the bedroom and show him where they’re lined up in a row on my windowsill.
“You keep them like I keep my flowers.”
I glance at him, and my gaze snags on the daisy behind his ear before moving back to his eyes. “You’ve kept them?”
He nods, gesturing towards his house. “I hang them so they dry. That way I always have them to think of you.” He doesn’t seem to realize how much that statement means to me, because while I’m over here half swooning, he simply walks over and picks up a rock.
He spins it, inspecting it from every angle as it shines in the sun.
“Today, we will find more rocks so you can think of me, too.”
“That sounds amazing.” I fight to keep my emotions at bay, and the smile he flashes at me is the widest one I’ve ever seen.
He returns the rock to the windowsill and takes my hand.
“Come,” he says, and he leads me out the door.
I’m so amused by his insistence that I don’t even think about putting my shoes on as we leave.
He likes it that way—when I’m barefoot like him—so I don’t go back for them.
We approach the deeper pool where people will sometimes bathe, and I strain to listen for signs that anyone’s here.
You walk in on Elas scrubbing his ass one time, and you learn to pay attention.
No one is here, but Nyx guides me past it.
“You find all the hidden places in these woods,” I tease, and he gives me a somber nod, like he takes his duty as the forest’s secret keeper very seriously.
We walk along a small branch of the creek that diverts deeper into the trees.
Years of erosion have smoothed the rocks underneath, and it’s only a shallow stream that flows over them.
We step into the water, and I enjoy the trickle as it flows over our feet.
This spot is serene. Isolated, despite how close it is to the village.
“I come here when my mind is loud,” he says, and I squeeze his hand.
He bends over and picks up a rock, smoothing it between his thumb and forefinger.
It’s the same self-soothing I’ve noticed he does with shirts and blankets, and I wonder where the habit started.
“Does it help you to be out here?”
He nods and releases my hand so he can stare at the glowing mark on his knuckles. “Before, everything was… what is this word? Chaos?”
“Yeah, chaos,” I agree softly.
He tosses the rock back into the water and searches for a different one. “It was chaos, and being here helped. Being with you helped, too. But now, it is quiet. Not silent, but quiet enough that I can forget they are there.”
“That’s really good, sweetheart,” I say, and he glances up at me with another half-smile.
“Is your mind quiet, too? Did the trip to your old home help?” Our conversation at the overlook flashes through my mind, and the guilt that comes afterwards makes my eyes drop to the ground.
Water splashes, and Nyx appears in front of me.
He grips my chin with wet fingers, and I begrudgingly lift my head.
“What is your face?” he demands, and I laugh despite myself.
“It seemed so important at the time… like I had to prove to myself that I could be brave enough to leave. We needed the greenhouse, and I’m glad we have it now, but it wasn’t worth what I put you through. I never wanted to hurt you.”
“I know this.” He releases my chin. “This is new to me… talking. It is hard sometimes, for me to remember I have someone to listen.”
“You always have someone to listen,” I say softly, and he smiles again before he goes back to hunting for a rock.
“That day, I wanted to ask you to stay, but I didn’t know how. When you touched me, I felt the bond. That was the second time I should have said something, but I was scared.”
“You aren’t to blame,” I say, but he shakes his head.
“Neither are you. There is not always blame. Sometimes things just are.”
“You aren’t upset with me for leaving?”
He tilts his head back and forth, and I appreciate the honesty.
“I was, then. But it was not fair to expect you to understand what I didn’t say.
I know this.” Another rock doesn’t pass his inspection, but the next one he pulls out makes him pause.
“This is the one,” he decides, and I move closer to see what he’s chosen for me today.
Heart in my throat, I step up behind him until my chest almost meets his back. “What’s so special about this one?” I ask, and he twists his face to look at me. He’s only inches away, and breathtaking this close.
“Hi,” he whispers, and I grin as he turns back to the rock in his hand. It’s dark, nearly black, with tan veins running through, and he traces them with his fingertip. “Is it not obvious?”
“Uh, no?” I say, and he clicks his tongue.
“All these lines, they hold the darkness together, just like you hold me together.”
“Nyx,” I whisper, wondering if he has any idea what his words do to me. “Can I hug you?” He turns towards me, and as his face tilts up, mine tilts down, and the nearness is intoxicating.
He nods and lays his cheek on my shoulder. He fits so perfectly here in my arms, and I pull in a deep breath as I bury my nose in his hair. “I like this,” I whisper, and he nods again.
“I like you,” he whispers back, and I breathe another quiet laugh.
“Good, because you’re stuck with me.” He doesn’t say a word, just snuggles closer.