26. Titus
Idon’t know when it happened, but something shifted, as if overnight Nolan switched sides, leaving the dorm split.
Wonderful.
I’d told myself that I was going to be impartial with her, act as if she didn’t exist, at least for Julez's sake, but then that had gone out the window when she showed up for cello practice.
I knew that everyone was required to play something or learn, but what were the odds she played cello of all things?
And I’d never admit it aloud, but she played well. At this point, it’s as if she can do no wrong; everything I’ve seen her attempt, she’s great at.
No wonder she and Gavin bump heads; they're much the same, and as unfair as life might be, I bet if she’d grown up with us, she’d have fit right into our group instead of being at odds with us.
The only thing that made all of this worse was that she also had violin practice with Julian, and while he had been thrilled, I don’t think it’s a surprise to anyone that I’m not.
The last thing I need is for her to have more time alone with Julian; he already insists on her being around as often as she will allow.
I wash the shampoo out of my hair and let out a sigh. Even in the shower, she’s here, taking up room in my mind.
So damn annoying.
“Your head is going to explode if you keep thinking so hard,” Julian says from the other side of the curtain before sniffing the air. “Actually, I think I smell it…”
He laughs at his own joke, and I roll my eyes, hearing him spit and rinse his toothbrush.
Har har.
I feel the shudder in the air and quickly pull the curtain back.
“Don’t you dare,” I hiss, reaching out to grab his arm, grounding him and earning myself a glare that would make lesser men crumble. Hell, I almost do, but this, what he’s trying to do, is dangerous.
His magic fizzles out, and I reluctantly let him go.
“You can’t keep pushing it, Julian. She’s not stupid.” I pull the curtain back in place before I soak the rest of the bathroom. Even with the curtain between us, I feel his gaze. I hate when we fight, but I know it’s coming.
Shifting between the realms is easy enough for him, but explaining it, not so much, and she’d called him out on it right away.
Thankfully, he’d been smart enough to get a key made to explain, but something tells me that won’t hold up forever, and if he keeps pushing his luck, there will be consequences.
She’s ruining everything, but I won’t let her destroy him. I can’t; she can do whatever else she wants, but hurting Julian, intentionally or not, is not an option for everyone, not just her.
“How hard was that for you to admit out loud?” I hear the sass in his question and, once again, roll my eyes.
“It’s not hard to admit she’s smart. She beats Gavin. Only an idiot would argue about her brains.”
“So then, what is it that makes you hate her?”
His question stops me short, fingers buried in my hair as I rinse it clean.
Do I hate her?
It takes me a second, but I really dig deep, and while I might not love that she’s here or spending so much time with Julian, I still don’t hate her.
“I don’t hate her,” I tell him, getting back to washing my hair. This shower has already taken much longer than necessary.
“Well, you must have some kind of problem with her. You avoid her every chance you get if she’s not with me.
You only speak German around her so that she can’t understand what you're saying, and you try to stare a hole through her skull whenever she’s around.
” I don’t need to look to know he’s ticking each thing off on his fingers as he goes.
“I don’t glare at her…” Do I?
“Yes, you do.”
“What does it matter? So what if I don’t like her? There are plenty of people I don’t like. Most people actually!” That’s the truth, too. I just don’t do people, especially not the way he does.
“Yes, but you don’t like her more than you don’t like the general public. You’ve never gone out of your way to speak another language so other people can’t understand you. It seems petty even for you, so what is it about her?”
He’s not going to let this go, and honestly, I don’t really have an answer he’s going to like. This is going to be an argument. I can feel it, but I also don’t think we can avoid it.
“Everything,” I tell him in hopes that being honest will help to put out some of this fire before it hits a full blaze.
Everything about Wren is perfect, and the more I see her with Julian, the more I think they might be perfect together, and that scares the shit out of me.
I’ve never needed anything or anyone in my life, not since my mother died, but I need Julian.
The curtain whips open, and Julian is there, staring at me, reading every damn emotion that I’m sure is written all over my face the way only he can.
“Theodore,” his voice is quiet, and I hear the sadness in that one word, my full name.
He knows I hate it, but worse, I hate the way he’s looking at me right now.
“You know I would never turn my back on you. I love you. The universe can’t take that away.” He’s said the same thing for years, and I’ve always believed him, but I also didn’t think either of us would find a mate.
Mates are rare, even more so for fae. I thought we were safe and happy.
I should have known better.
“Let me ask you the same thing, Julian. What is it about her that you like so much? Why are you so drawn to her?” I choke out the question, hating how weak I sound. I’m standing naked and wet before him, but that’s got nothing on the way I feel, small and pathetic.
I watch him as he thinks for a moment, but I don’t really need him to answer; I see it written on his face, shining in his eyes.
“Everything,” he echoes my answer, and it feels like a punch to the gut.
I step out of the tub, moving around him to grab a towel, needing to be anywhere but here right now.
“Don’t, Titus. I chose you. Even if we are mates. She will be mine, the same way you are. This isn’t a her-or-you thing. I can love both of you.” He reaches out, his fingers curling around my bicep, and I freeze.
I want to believe him, want to revel in his touch. Fuck, do I want that to be true, but how can it be?
Mates trump everything, and even if they didn’t…
“Until she makes you choose.” The words are out before I can stop them, and I wish I could shove them back in.
She wouldn’t.
I don’t need to know her more than I do to know that Wren isn’t that kind of person; she’s much too nice. And fucking sad. She thinks she hides it so well, but there’s a sadness in the depths of her eyes that she can’t seem to shake even when she’s smiling.
Just like always, Julian knows just how full of shit I am.
He tsks, dropping my arm as if I had burned him.
“Yeah, I don’t think she’s the one we need to worry about that with,” he snaps before he poofs, and this time I’m not fast enough to stop him.
Fuck.
This one’s on me.
I dry off, taking my time to allow us both a moment to breathe as I get dressed and head down after him.
I need to apologize. Not only do I hate when we fight, but I also know that despite my worries being real about them being mates, I know deep down that Wren wouldn’t do that.
Not to me, even if I probably do deserve it, and certainly not to Julian.
This is just my own self-consciousness worming its way into my mind.
I still don’t like her, though, but that might be a topic for another day because if we fight about Wren twice in one day, I might lose my mind.
I make it to the bottom of the stairs before I realize something’s off, too lost in my own thoughts to hear the yelling, but it’s impossible to miss now.
Wren sits on the couch, her hair disheveled, and the red mark on the side of her face from her pillow tells me she’s probably been up only seconds longer than I’ve been down here.
“I said stop that shit. She deserves to be able to sleep in, even if we don’t have a fucking room to give her!” Julian shouts, pulling my attention to him and Gavin, who stand toe to toe and nearly nose to nose.
Something must be in the air, or maybe Julian was just looking for someone else to argue with now.
Though from the looks of it, Gavin started this, and with the way he’s glaring up at Julian, I get the feeling he isn’t about to let it go either.
“I told her I’m not going to tiptoe around just because she can’t seem to come back at a normal time. That’s not on me. She’s a big girl!” Gavin shouts, pointing at Wren as if Julian doesn’t know who he’s talking about.
“It’s six o’clock in the fucking morning, asshole!” Julian says, his voice booming without yelling, and somehow that’s worse. It takes a lot to piss Julian off completely, but it seems that between the two of us, we did a great job.
“It’s fine, Julian,” Wren says in a rush as she stumbles up from the couch, nearly tripping herself on her blanket in her haste.
The second she gets there, she moves between them, a hand on Julian’s chest, her back to Gavin, her presence just enough to make him step back as if he might get cooties if he touched her.
I watch as Julian takes a breath, and I feel the air stutter and stir before he takes another, deeper breath, settling him down just enough to keep his form.
If any other mortal stood before him, I wouldn’t be worried about a momentary slip, but Wren isn’t normal, and I doubt she would miss it, even if it only lasted a second or two.
“You're so fast to defend her, but you don’t even know her. She’s probably out sleeping with some guy, whoring it up the same way her brother always was. Somehow she’s got you blinded…” Gavin shakes his head, stepping back as if in disbelief.
It happens fast, so fast that I nearly miss it, but Julian doesn’t. Wren stands before him, the only thing he sees as her face collapses and her eyes fill with tears.
Her hand comes up, slapping across her mouth, but not before the most heartbreaking whimper escapes her.
And then she’s gone. She turns and runs, shoving past Gavin, still in just her pajama pants and a tank top, no shoes or the bag she always carries with her.
Gavin looks confused for a moment before it transforms into something smug, and I feel like the Gavin I knew is gone.
Julian is on him before I can make it across the room to stop him, but if I’m being honest, I’m not in that big of a hurry. He kind of deserves a little something for that. I mean, I don’t even like the girl, and I feel bad.
The pain on her face wasn’t just hurt feelings.
Julian grips his shirt, slamming Gavin’s back into the wall as he snarls down at him.
“Since when are we proud of making girls cry?” he spits the question in Gavin’s face, and his smirk melts away.
“Cry?” he asks as if he can’t comprehend what Julian just said.
“Yeah, cry. You went too far,” I tell him, coming up to stand behind Julian. He glances my way, and while he doesn’t seem super happy with me either, at least I’m not Gavin.
“Wren isn’t the crying type,” Gavin says as if we’d lie about that.
“Well, maybe next time she says she’s out at the library late studying, you should fucking believe her and stop being such a dick about it.” Julian lets Gavin drop, and he stumbles but remains upright.
“Next time you make her cry, I’ll drop you in the unseelie court and see how you fare.” Julian turns and walks out the door, no doubt wanting to find Wren, and for once, I don’t follow him.
If I ever thought she might actually need him, it’s now, and if I’m right, like I think I am, I need to at the very least get used to him giving her time, too.
I don’t have to like her to tolerate her, for Julian.
Though as I make my way into the kitchen to start breakfast, I can’t stop thinking about her spending late nights in the library.
Most know better than to be there alone or late; I ensure they're warned away, but I’d never done that with her, and I’m not sure anyone else would, given where she rooms.
I make a mental note to check in on her later to ensure she’s not about to go missing.
If I don’t, Julian might never forgive me.