Page 127 of The Last De Loughrey Dynasty

Archer had no reason to love me after tonight. And I’m so scared that when the ribbon snaps, our love does too.

How foolish to believe I was lovable.

My tears ran in silence down my cheeks. You could hear the music from inside the school even out here. And if my heart didn’t feel as if someone had rammed a dagger right through it, the night would actually be mesmerising with the stars so clear.

I narrowed my gaze to my freezing feet, where the toes had turned slightly blue. It was July, but the nights were still cold. Especially in a dress with no sleeves.

I froze as the shadow of someone tall crept up behind me.

My head snapped around, and I was ready to jump up from the stone stairs I sat on.

Nathaniel stood behind me with a pack of cigarettes and a lighter in hand. We eyed each other for a brief moment before he walked down the few steps and lowered himself beside me, flipping the cigarette box open.

“You look like you could need one,” he said coolly, holding a single one out to me.

After a moment of hesitation, I took the cigarette from him, not having smoked a single one in my entire life before. Nathaniel grabbed one for himself too and laid the box beside us, lighting first his own and then mine.

I took a drag before asking in a quiet voice, “where did you get those?” I knew he didn’t casually smoke, and it was forbidden at Aquila.

“My dad’s a chain smoker. It’s easy to pickpocket him,” he answered, exhaling the smoke through his mouth. “I needed one to process my surprise.” I assumed his surprise explained his clenched jaw and hard expression.

“You wanna talk about it?” I asked.

He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “Doyouwanna talk about it?” Nathaniel asked me in return.

I inhaled another drag of nicotine, feeling a slight burn in my lungs before I answered while I exhaled the cloud of bitter smoke, “I’ve met Archer’s parents.” Biting the inside of my cheek, I kept myself from giving into the pain once more. “His father said he was promised to marry a girl for his family’s benefit. He never said a word to me about that, and the worst thing is, he didn’t even try to defend himself or me in front of hisfather.” I turned my head to look at the boy I couldn’t stand at first but now so confidently called a friend. “Was I that naive to consider that sharing a future with him was possible?”

Nathaniel sighed, looking at the sky. “Archer loves you, Doe. The last few months, he’s been the happiest I’ve ever seen him, and I still remember that little twelve-year-old boy who couldn’t use his lips for anything other than talking. He rarely smiled–almost never.”

“I can’t imagine him without his smile anymore,” I muttered, trying to imagine him as the boy I’ve met who, I thought, was the biggest arsehole wandering the earth’s surface.

“Because of you, he has a reason to smile. And while I know that my friend loves us and we him, all of us knew we’d never be enough to convince him life might be worth it. I understood that. Before I found Maisie, I wanted to end it all. There was nothing here that would cause me to stay. Maisie closed my bleeding wounds and cared for me in a way I’ve not known before her. You did the same thing with Archer, and I believe he did that with you too.”

“You really think so?” I knew the last part was true, but I couldn’t speak for Archer.

Nathaniel nodded confidently. “I know so.”

“Did you know he was promised to someone else all this time?”

“I didn’t. Archer doesn’t talk about his home, and I’ve never visited him. The only thing I know is that his mother is an alcoholic, drinking her husband’s actions fine and his father—his father is the monster that poisoned his mind in the first place. He never said it, but it’s obvious, isn’t it? You’ve seen it. Archer is the strongest man I know, but next to his father, he’s nothing more than an afraid little boy.” My heart ached at Nathaniel’s words. How could I have been so ignorant to not see the fear in his eyes? “I won’t excuse that he didn’t tell you, thatwasn’t alright in the slightest, but I ask you to talk to him before you’ll hate him for it. I’m almost certain he didn’t even think he’d have a future after tonight.”

“It doesn’t make it okay that he didn’t tell me.”

“No, it doesn’t,” Nathaniel agreed with me.

I brushed away the last of my tears. “I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

“Thank you.”

I just hoped he’d be honest with me, but more importantly, I hoped that he would still feel the same for me when the ribbon was cut by fate’s hand.

“It’s your turn,” I told him. Now that I’ve told him what’s bothering my heart, he has to tell me too.

Nathaniel didn’t hesitate a moment or bother to tell me he didn’t want to talk about it. “My mother’s pregnant.”

“That’s a bad thing?” I asked carefully, not knowing if he was angry or just overwhelmed by the news.

“For me? Yes. And the worst thing is that I’ve seen that she’ll be happy with her as soon as she told me the news. The little girl my mother will bring into this world will be her little miracle,” Nathaniel’s voice broke at the end and his chin trembled for a moment before he suffocated this feeling at the root.

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