30. Welcome Home #2
“No, no,” Flora insisted. “Go on.” She ripped his hand from his face. “Yell at me. Tell me you hate me,” she said. “Tell me all of it.” Flora was nearly in tears as she kissed the hand in her clutch and added, “Please… anything just to hear your voice.”
When he finally looked at her, tears were welling in his eyes. He just shook his head but didn't say another word.
“I want to talk to you,” Flora said quietly. “But not… until you want me to.”
She wanted him to stop her as she turned to walk away, but he didn’t.
I love you, she thought. But he wouldn’t believe her if she said it now.
Kestra and Ross, whose home was mostly intact, welcomed Davy to stay with them in Perri’s old bed, and the Eldon home always had a rolled up cushion for Flora in the room where Feya once slept.
So, that night, Flora laid on the old cushion, swaddled in blankets as the cold night breeze crept through the windowsill.
On the walls were untouched paintings of houses and waterfalls under the stars, much like the ones in Flora’s own bedroom.
Flora sighed, blinking back memories of a little girl with pretty brown eyes and silky blonde hair.
Something of that girl was still out there.
“Are you still awake?”
Flora peered up at the shadow blocking the doorway. Catching the glimmer of her open eyes, he made his way in. Apprehensively, he settled on the carpet beside her, folding his hands at his waist as he laid down. Together, they stared at the cracks in the ceiling.
“I wanted to apologize,” he said. “I shouldn’t let my frustration control what kind of person I am to you. Not after everything you’ve been through.”
“Honestly,” Flora said, “I’d be more hurt if you weren’t frustrated. I deserve your anger.”
“No,” he replied with a sigh. “Never. You never have. I’ve been choosing to be angry, instead of facing that I was just… hurting.”
“I’m sorry.”
“I know.” In silence, he tapped his fingers against his chest.
“None of it was what you think,” Flora said, rolling to face him.
“And he’s not what you think. He’s not the Shadowkeeper, not in the way that you think he is.
Siren has this gift, where he can control the emotions of anyone he touches.
That’s how he tames the scythes, calms them.
But he’s not the one making them go around killing people.
” She added, “I think he got sick of me looking miserable all day, and he offered to numb my pain and fear for a while.”
Noec didn’t respond, and Flora felt her face flushing with red as his fingers stopped tapping. He sighed shallowly.
“I was lying to you,” Flora said weakly. “When I said I would come home to you. I was sure I would die out there, but I knew you wouldn’t leave if you thought that, too.”
In the dark and silence, she tried to discern the look on his face.
She couldn’t say it now, not when he would see it as manipulation.
“Just tell me you weren’t lying when you said he hadn’t hurt you,” he said.
“I don’t care about the rest. I’m your friend, and I always will be.
” His kind words stung, and when Flora couldn’t bring herself to tell another lie, he exhaled a deep sigh.
“You scared me so badly, Flora. But I can’t begin to imagine how scared you must have been.
” He paused. “I’m sorry that I’ve been… emotional. Pathetic, even.”
She was reluctant to speak, because every time she opened her mouth, those three words were lead on her tongue. Finally, she managed to say, “It’s not pathetic that you love me.”
“I...” he stuttered. “Please, let’s just forget I said anything.”
Flora rolled back to face the empty ceiling, her hand cupping the hollow in her chest with a shuddered inhale. “Right,” she said.
“I was just caught up in everything, I didn’t mean?—”
“Right.”
Noec turned onto the pile of blankets and faced her, desperate to decipher her expression in the dark. “Flora?”
She shook her head and bit her lip, afraid to speak. But he caught the aching look in her eyes as she evaded his gaze.
“Do you want me to go?” he asked.
“Please, no,” she said, unable to hide the breaking in her voice.
He crawled closer, looking down into her eyes. His hand settled over the fingers that clawed at her chest, and he whispered, “I’m here.” Gently, he repeated, “I’m here, and I care, and you’re not alone anymore.”
“I need you, Noec,” Flora strained. “Don’t go.”
“I’m here,” he said, brushing the hair from her eyes.
She squeezed his hand. “Don’t go.”
So, even as the night settled into silence around them, he stayed.
And when he rested his head on her chest, his warmth was just enough to keep the burning in her lungs at bay.
At even the slightest of movements, Flora fought a twinge of panic, aching at the thought that he might soon slip away.
But, even as the birds of midnight cooed outside, he stayed.
Gradually, his breathing settled into gentle, even waves, and his heartbeat slowed into a rhythmic lullaby. Flora stroked the hair behind his ear, enraptured by the sleeping creature in her arms.
“I love you,” she whispered, and she meant it with every fragment of her soul.
And to her horror, the hand around hers squeezed.
“... what?” he said, with a dreamy blur to his voice.
“I—” she froze. She surprised herself when she had the courage to repeat, “I love you.”
He propped himself up and looked down from close above her, searching deeply back and forth between her eyes. It was as if her heart had halted beating in her chest.
“Flora...” he muttered.
“I love you, Noec,” she said again, placing a hand on his cheek. “For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved you.”
He came closer, so close that his nose brushed against hers as he shut his eyes.
His breath warmed her lips, and she could taste him in the air they shared.
After a moment, he pulled back enough to see the glimmer of her nervous gaze.
Flora’s heart fluttered as she saw the words already written in his eyes.
With a gentle smile and adoration on his tongue, he replied, “I love you too.”
She tangled her fingers into his hair and pulled him in, his lips finally against hers as though there was nowhere else they were meant to be.
A strong hand wove gently over Flora’s skin, curling around the back of her head.
He tasted like a breath of spring in the wintertime, like the dew in the air when a drought meets the rain.
He tasted like lust and love, memories and dreams.
Tenderly, painfully, his kiss escaped from her bottom lip, pressing along her cheek and down her neck. Flora’s breath hitched, and she could feel his kiss curl into a grin against her collarbone. He hovered there, his breath like a teasing caress.
Then, he pulled back just enough so that he might study every piece of her. His finger traced the frame of her chin, and his eyes held her in ways his hands hadn’t yet known. That sweet, happy smile grew on his lips, and Flora realized in that moment that Noec was hers—truly and completely hers.
She couldn’t help but grin. She couldn’t help but giggle, and he couldn’t help but chuckle softly with her as excitement blossomed between them. They laughed together just like they always had, and they held each other in a tight embrace as they did.
“I love you,” she repeated as his smile kissed her forehead.
“I love you too, Pixie. More than words can tell.”
For as treacherous as the past week had been, the next day didn’t seem so bad. Flora walked with a lightness in her step as she entered the main room of the house, where Noec sat on the couch poking at the radio.
“I can’t get it to play music again,” he said.
“Oh, I think the battery must have died,” she said as she took a seat next to him. “Don’t worry, I’ll take it home in two days and get it charged up for you.”
He smiled at her. “Thank you,” he said, leaning in and pressing his forehead against hers for a moment. “I’ve been looking forward to dancing with you again.”
Flora looked up, and as soon as she did, Elia and Heron swirled around and pretended to look busy, an unmistakable grin tugging at Elia’s cheeks as Heron absently wiped a clean dish with a dirty cloth.
“Ahem,” Heron coughed, though his voice was still tinged with a smile. “Why don’t you two go grab Flora’s brother. We’ll have breakfast ready by the time you get back.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Flora said, setting the radio by the door, where she stood a chance at remembering it later. “Thank you guys.”
“Mhm,” he replied, sharing a knowing look with his wife as she muffled a giggle.
“Nothing gets by them, huh?” Flora said as Noec opened the door.
“I’ve never had much of a poker face,” he replied with a grin, holding the door.
“Um…” said Flora. “What’s going on?”
Outside, there was what appeared to be a fluffy, winged brown tiger playing fetch with two twin girls and a small red ball.
The ground shook as he sprinted back and forth, diving into the air with a dramatic twirling of his wings, then thudding awkwardly to the ground with the ball in his mouth.
His blue eyes caught Flora’s, and he spat out the ball.
“Woah!” he said. “Yuck, how’d that get there…?”
The two girls giggled, running up beside him and petting the tufts of soft coffee-colored fur on his shoulderblades. For once, Flora saw a toothy smile on a scythe that wasn’t a threat.
“You’re an idiot,” Flora said, her hand on her hip as she walked to them.
“I’m telling you,” he said, his voice coarsened by the filter of his scythe form. “There’s definitely going to be a market for big cat toys.” He gasped. “Oh my god. Do you think I can snort catnip?”
Noec blinked. “I really hope not.”
“Come on in, Davy,” Heron called from the door. “Elia and I want to talk to the three of you over breakfast.”
Davy sneezed as Zana booped him on the nose. “What have you done?” he cried. “I’m meeeeeeltinggg.” His voice trailed off dramatically as his skin began to crack and shatter into a cloud of ash.