Chapter 8 #2
“We won’t arrive until tomorrow,” he says without a pause and even gives me a chaste, but toe-curling, kiss.
This time Viola looks at me more seriously. “About that. Tristan told me you two are leaving?”
“He invited me to… his,” I tell her and capture her gaze with pleading eyes. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I might need to come crawling back, so there will be no discussion of alternate living arrangements yet. “But we’ll see how it all pans out.”
Viola whistles. “Oh wow, U-haul it is. I always thought it was more of a lesbian thing.” She gives Tristan’s pecs a stare that says ‘I get it’.
Tristan strokes me through the sheet, and I already want him back on top of me. “All will be well, you shall see. You did say we need to go shopping first? My treat.”
“You are taking the dog though, right? I’m happy to puppysit sometimes, but I can’t really foster right now.”
“Of course I’ll take her,” I say and place her back on the floor before zeroing in on Tristan’s bare chest. “Um… do you have a T-shirt long enough to cover your… lower hips?” I ask, raising my gaze from his crotch.
“What he means is that we can see the outline of your dong,” Viola explains, and I dash off, my brain squirming with embarrassment.
Tristan’s eyes widen, then he lowers his plate to cover his lap.
“I’ll see if I have something.”
I end up giving him my most oversized T-shirt and, of course, it ends up being snug on him. It is painfully hot but will I be able to deal with this level of distraction?
Viola hums. “Maybe Andy can lend you something that fits? He’s a bigger guy.”
At least Tristan isn’t trying to convince us he could just put on his armor for a trip to the mall.
“Good idea,” I tell her and poke my index finger at the middle of Tristan’s chest. “Wait here.” He confirms, with his mouth full of eggs, avocado, and tomatoes, and I make the speediest trip to my room to put on basic sweatpants and a T-shirt.
Dressed like a normal citizen, I step out of our apartment, but instead of heading straight for our neighbor’s door, I pull out my phone and choose my grandmom’s number.
It’s quiet, and I slide down the wall, staring at the screen while the dull sound of an open line echoes in the hallway. It takes a while, but she finally answers.
“Nate! So nice of you to call. We just docked in Naples. It’s a bit chilly, but we’re planning to have gelato anyway.”
How pathetic is it that my grandparents have a more colorful life than I do?
Then again… it is I who’s supposedly met an elven prince, who now wants to take me away to the Nocturne Court.
“I thought at this point you’d be sorry you decided to go on a year-long cruise, but I stand corrected,” I say softly, staring at the cracked plaster on the wall across from me.
“Don’t be silly. There’s so many nice people our age, and we get to dress up and dance most evenings. What more could a lady like me want?”
“I met a guy.” I want her to tell me I should be careful. That I should follow my head instead of my heart, but I suppose I’m asking the wrong person.
“Ooh, must be serious if you’re telling me. Go on. Who is he?”
I do tell her. Well, the censored version of it at least, because if I started yapping about elven princes and shadow magic, she would have worried for reasons other than my heart getting broken.
In this adjusted version of the story, Tristan is a guy who invites me to his house on an island in the middle of the ocean.
And no, I won’t be able to be in touch for a while, and I’ve only met him.
Agreeing to this would be crazy, wouldn’t it?
“I don’t think you’re being crazy at all,” my grandmother says softly. “That’s youth and passion in the works. What’s the worst that could happen?”
I laugh. “He could murder me.”
“If he wanted to murder you, he wouldn’t be so keen to chat with Viola.”
She’s not wrong, but I’ve been burned so many times it’s becoming hard to believe in love. Grandma must sense the hesitation in my silence.
“What do you feel, Nate? Is he kind? Do you get along well?”
He protected me.
He covered me with the cloak when I was cold.
He wasn’t pushy in bed.
Lady likes him. And so does Viola.
“Yes…”
“Then what’s the harm?” Grandma asks. “Everyone thought I was crazy when your grandfather and I got together, but we’ve been happy for so many years now.
In the worst case scenario, you will come back, and you will cry.
But if you don’t follow your heart today, can you be sure you won’t regret it for the rest of your life? ”
My heart trembles, and I rub my face, hating that she’s right.
“I’ll have Viola take photos of us, in case he abducts me.”
“That sounds like a plan to me. And I’ll be on the lookout for those AI voice clones that they keep warning us about.
You have to be careful. But you do know that he’s real, so you’re already doing better than some out there.
” I hear my granddad’s voice in the background.
“Grandpa says hi, and that he will eat double the gelato in your honor.”
That’s it, I guess. I’m going to the Nightmare Realm, and I will become a Dark Companion at the Nocturne Court. And somehow, instead of terrified, I’m just really, really excited.