Chapter 44
Ember
Arthur and I spend the entire rest of the week together catching each other up on everything we’ve missed, and by catching up, I mean making out on his bed, (I’d say I’ve caught up very well with his lips in the past few hours). To be honest with you, it’s been absolute bliss. I haven’t felt pure happiness like this in well, ever. When I finally pry myself away from his grasp, much to his pouty face, I suggest an idea, “do you fancy heading up to Alexandra Park? I remember you mentioning that you’d never been there and it’s absolutely gorgeous at night.”
He pulls a face like he’s considering it before piping up with a wink, “I can think of something a lot more gorgeous that I want to see right now.”
Who is this man and what has he done with Arthur.
I immediately swoon, my body clearly isn’t getting the memo that my brain actually does in fact, want to get out of this bedroom and go explore with him. I snap back to reality and throw a cushion at him, “Oh come on! Think how romantic it could be, our first date, stood at the highest point of the city, overlooking all the lights…it’s romantic.”
He blows out a melodramatic sigh and says, “Oh go on then, as it’s you,” before giving me a brief kiss on the cheek, “it’s colder out there tonight though, so best be needing this,” he picks up my favourite jacket of his, his beige aviator with a thick woollen collar, (AKA, the one that somehow miraculously survived the stains from vomit-gate all those months ago), and gently props it over my shoulders whilst wrapping his warm arms around me. His eyes fixate on mine, “there, perfect,” and somehow, I don’t think he’s talking about the jacket.
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“I’ve just looked it up and I think you must have failed to mention somewhere along the way that apparently Jacob’s Ladder is over 274 steps up to Alexandra Park”, Arthur moans as he trudges slowly up the deep stone steps.
“Such a whinger! You’ve only done about ten steps so far” I laugh, marching ahead. I can almost spot him in my peripheral vision shaking his head.
“That’s ten steps too many.”
I turn around and grab his hand as I heave him up the steps, I didn’t think I’d have to do this until I had a literal toddler whose little legs would naturally refuse to keep up with mine, but instead, here I am giving a helping hand to a 6ft, nineteen-year-old, man. He’ll likely ask me for a piggyback next.
“It’ll be worth it, I promise.”
After about 10 minutes of walking, (and Arthur moaning), we finally reach the steps at the very top and begin to walk across the short path leading up to the viewpoint. As we stand facing the kaleidoscope of gold and amber lights that are illuminating the city, I let out a soft gasp. This breathtaking city never fails to amaze me with its beauty in the day, let alone at night. It somehow feeds my soul in a way I’ve never felt back home. I could quite happily spend the rest of my life here, drinking in all of its Georgian architecture and historical vibrance.
Arthur obviously caught my little gasp and asks, “what’s that?”
“It’s just so,” my eyes still glued to the view, “…beautiful,” it comes out as a whisper. His fingers lightly intertwine with mine as he turns to face me whilst his eyes scan my face, his thoughts unspoken yet the pit of my stomach is an absolute butterfly zoo right now. His sandy tousled hair begins to swirl around as the fresh evening breeze starts to pick up and I see nothing but pure adoration in his deep blue irises. It’s during that moment that an idea flashes in my head, I’m not 100% sure how he will react to it, but alas, in this moment, it feels right.
“I have something to show you” I say, letting go of his grasp. He looks at me questioningly as I shuffle further away from him. I turn my head up to the sky, shutting my eyes and focusing on the desire in my mind intently. Once I can feel the power shooting through my veins, I sharply shove my hands towards the sky, palms upwards facing, and fingers spread.
The sky blazes with explosions of red, blues, purples, and greens over the city. The reflection of colours sparkle in Arthur’s eyes as he stares up at the night sky and although his mouth is agape, I’m struggling to read whether it’s in awe of the firework display or in fear that I’m the one who created it. I look at him with anticipation, waiting for him to respond. Still nothing. I take it upon myself to rip the plaster off and ask, “what are you thinking?”
His eyes divert from the sky over to mine now and I can see the hint of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, he begins to step over to me and hooks an arm around my shoulder, “I was just thinking about something that Sam said the other day when he was talking about his ‘the meaning of life’ module.”
Seriously Arthur, I ignite a big ass firework display directly from my hands right in front of your face and all you can think about is Sam’s philosophy coursework.
He obviously notes the confusion etched across my forehead and quickly clarifies, “it was all about the improbability and rarity of human existence. Did you know that the probability of us existing alone is 1 in 10 to the 2,685,000th power?”
I roll my eyes now impatiently but still smiling, “what does this have to do with anything?”
He smiles, “Ember, the probability of us existing is 1 in 10 to the2,685,000th power. The probability of us existing alone is an extreme rarity, the probability of us existing together is quite nearly impossible.It just made me realise…how lucky am I to be under the same sky as you?”
In the infamous tone of Chandler Bing could he be any more adorable?
My eyes begin to well as I give him a soft kiss on the forehead, internally breathing down a rush of relief before saying, “that means so much to me. Even though I wanted to make this date even more romantic, to be honest, I mainly wanted to show you that even though I let you down with magic before, that doesn’t need to skew your opinion of my magic as a whole. It’s a huge part of who I am, and I just wanted to show you the positivity in it. I wanted to show you my truth in a way that I should have from the beginning.” I meant every word. I’d decided after I visited dad that magic was something that I wanted to continue. I just knew that this time around, I’d need some help. Allegra had agreed to give me some lessons when I came home for the summer, she wanted to help me learn to control it, especially after that night. If I was going to do it, I was going to do it right this time. I did ring her however, and explain the grand gesture I wanted to show Arthur. Both her and mum actively sobbed on the phone when I told them, gushing about how dad would be so proud of the woman I was becoming. I was anxious, but Allegra had told me everything that I needed to know. At first, I was worried that it had the possibility of turning out catastrophically. After all, it was literal fireworks. But she assured me that this was different to any other spell that was found in the books, it was something that couldn’t be learned or rehearsed. It was something innate, something that could only come from the heart, the heart of a Hallow.
Arthur starts shaking his head, “you know what I think when I see you in your element like that?,” he says, eyes fixed on mine.
I draw in a breath, desperate to find out.
“I don’t think you’ve ever looked more beautiful.”