35. Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Five
Morgan
Days passed with Cody making sure Morgan felt safe and comfy and had everything she needed.
At least, she thought it was a few days.
Three…four…she wasn’t entirely sure. She mostly stayed in his room, requesting lots and lots of cuddles.
He even brought their meals into the room to eat in bed together.
Right now, Cody was out in the kitchen, making their lunch in what he explained was a magical gamified oven, which helped explain why he was an excellent cook all of a sudden.
The past few days kind of felt like a never-ending cozy sleepover, but she knew it had to end eventually.
She couldn’t spend the rest of her life hiding in Cody’s room because she… because she…
Nyrah did not die, she reminded herself for the one millionth time.
And Cody had filled her in about Nyrah, how she was being manipulated by Temica, the gift shop lady.
Morgan was still wrapping her brain around that info.
Cody also mentioned some weird stuff to do with Golden Hearts.
She had one herself, apparently. Cody had one.
Nyrah did not, but was something called a Heartseer, and somehow that made her destined to only find love with someone who had a Golden Heart.
The whole thing sounded like an insane fairy tale.
It was bad enough Morgan was dealing with the immense guilt that went with stabbing a person, but now she learned Cody had been in another world and had come back for her…
Her stomach fluttered. She actually liked that part of the fairy tale; thinking about him being heroic in a magical world, fighting his way back to her.
She couldn’t help but believe it. All of it.
It was Cody telling her everything, and she trusted him.
She’d seen what Nyrah was, wings and all.
She had yet to see Yana in her true form, but was very curious about it.
She was having a hard time picturing Yana with green skin and pointy elf ears.
One day, when Morgan finally left this room, she would fill in the blanks that her imagination was having trouble piecing together.
Cody returned with grilled cheese sandwiches and crispy fries. Comfort food. It smelled delicious, and she had regained her appetite. She thanked him for the meal and dug in. Everything that magical oven made tasted heavenly, and this meal was no exception.
“So, you plan on beating the game,” Morgan said, covering her mouth as she chewed. “Does that mean you lose all the game stuff, like this oven?”
“Probably.” Cody bit into a fry, but paused. “There’s also, uh…one other thing that’s going to go back to normal once we get rid of this game stuff.”
“What?”
Cody set his plate down and rubbed the back of his neck, looking mildly uncomfortable.
Morgan threw a fry at him. “What is it? Tell me. After everything you’ve told me so far, how could there be anything else you can’t tell me?”
“Okay, so…another thing that will go back to normal is my uh…refractory period? Pretty sure I’ll need a bit more than two seconds between rounds, and I don’t know if I can do it five times in a row in one night. Didn’t exactly have that superpower beforehand.”
Morgan laughed. “That night was pretty insane. But I wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth...or whatever that weird ass saying is.”
Cody laughed, leaning in for a kiss. “It’s not like I’ll need a lot of time, just…a bit more than two seconds.”
“So, that’s a game thing? Weird.”
“Pussy petting,” Cody said, as if that explained everything. He clearly noticed her confused look, so continued: “Every time I pet a pussy it boosts my Stamina back to one hundred percent. Doesn’t matter if it’s an actual cat or your pussy.”
Morgan was about to eat another fry but stopped, staring at him. “Seriously, out of all the weird shit you’ve told me over the past couple days, this one is the weirdest.”
“So, I guess that means you don’t remember the fishing montage date?”
“The song? And how the date went by super fast? Like a montage.”
“Fishing…montage date?” She certainly remembered their fishing date, and that the day seemed to fly by, but she didn’t remember any music.
“Yeah, there’s music and shit in this game, but I think I’m the only one who notices it. And Knife, too, when he was still attached to me. Apparently, Henry the parrot is into songwriting.”
“Henry…the parrot,” Morgan repeated. “Wait, the white bird that sits on the gift shop lady’s shoulder?
“Yeah, that creepy motherfucker.” Cody visibly shivered. “Apparently, that parrot helps take care of a lot of the game stuff and likes writing songs.”
Morgan shook her head. “This is some mega weird shit, Cody.”
“No kidding.” He polished off his sandwich and watched as she finished up her own lunch. “You seem to be acting more like yourself, by the way.”
She gave him a smile. “I’m starting to feel better. I think I’ll be ready to go out by the time Saturday rolls around. It’s Gracie’s birthday party.”
Cody’s face fell. “Babe, today is Saturday.”
“No.” Morgan shook her head, convinced that he was messing with her. Even though he had absolutely no reason to mess with her, and she knew he wouldn’t, not while she was still in her fragile state. “It…it can’t be Saturday.”
Cody grabbed his phone and turned it on, displaying the date and time.
As she read the word ‘Saturday’ on his screen, she felt like she was going to throw up her entire grilled cheese sandwich.
Her heart started to race, and she jumped out of bed.
She needed to shower. Wash her hair. When was the last time she showered?
She needed her outfit, the green dress she picked out weeks ago.
And Gracie’s present, which she also purchased weeks ago, thank goodness.
But both of those were at her apartment.
And she was here. And she needed to brush her hair.
And do her makeup. But she didn’t have any makeup here, either.
And where were her glasses? She swore she left them on Cody’s dresser, but now she couldn’t find them.
Cody rushed over, grabbing her shoulders lightly. “Calm down. We got this. You’re sure the party is today?”
“Yes! I know when my niece’s birthday is!” Morgan grabbed her phone from the dresser, where she had discarded it after calling Doug that first morning. It was dead. “Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! My phone is dead. What if Doug needed me for something? What if Gracie needed me?”
“They’re fine,” Cody assured her. “They know you’re here. If Doug actually needed you for something he would have stopped by.”
“Right. Right. I need…I need…”
“I think you need to take a few deep breaths.” Cody gave her arms a reassuring squeeze. “And then explain to me exactly what you need to do to get ready. That is, if you want to go.”
“I want to go. I definitely want to go.”
She took in a deep breath and let it out, and repeated it four more times.
She was beginning to feel more grounded.
“I need to take the fastest shower ever. Then we need to go to my apartment so I can get my party dress and Gracie’s gift and maybe throw on some makeup and do my hair, if I have time. ”
“What time is the party?” Cody asked.
“It starts at two o’clock. So, we have like, an hour?”
“Just over an hour. We can do this. Go shower!”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and ran out to the bathroom.
Morgan reached for Cody’s hand as they walked down the dirt road to Doug’s cottage.
“You sure?” he asked, even as he threaded his fingers into hers.
“I just spent four days at your house and we’re showing up together. I’m pretty sure Doug has figured it out by now. Besides, I suddenly have this overwhelming feeling that life is too short to hide the person I love from my own family.”
Cody stopped walking so he could cup her face with his hand and guided her in for a kiss, slow and soft. She loved when he did stuff like that. It made her all swoony.
“I love you, too,” Cody said. “And I agree. Life is too short to not let the entire world know who I love.”
Morgan slapped him playfully on the chest, and they started walking again. “Jesus. You don’t need to be that mushy.”
“You love it,” Cody teased.
He’s not wrong, Morgan thought, smiling to herself. But it didn’t make it any less cheesy.
“Am I even invited to Gracie’s party?” Cody asked.
“Pretty sure she’s fine with ‘Mr. Pinecone Man’ coming to her birthday party. She talks about you quite a bit.”
“She does?”
“Yeah…” Morgan slowed her steps and turned to look at Cody. “Did you say Gracie is one of the people you need to gain Friendship Levels with?”
“Yeah, she’s one of them. She’s at…” Cody squinted and then got a far off look in his eyes before refocusing on Morgan.
It sent a shiver down her spine. Gracie got that exact same look in her eyes all the time, but she always brushed it off whenever Morgan asked her about it.
“I’m at Level Two out of Five for Gracie. ”
“What did you just do?”
“What?”
“When your eyes kind of…looked away?”
“Oh, I was checking my game screen. I think about and…bring it up. It’s like a big pink screen that only I can see.”
“Hmmmm.”
“What is it?” Cody asked.
“Nothing,” Morgan said, because it had to be a coincidence. Maybe Gracie just…looked like that sometimes. It didn’t necessarily mean anything. “Let’s keep going. We’re already a couple minutes late.”
When they arrived at Doug’s cottage it looked like the birthday party was in full swing.
It also looked like nearly the entire town was there.
A picnic table was loaded with pink-wrapped gifts and there was an abundance of extra lawn chairs and picnic tables set up, all filled with platters of finger foods and a bowl of punch surrounded by paper cups.