Page 99 of Heir of Fire
She made her way out of the room, going straight to Allister’s. There was a warm hue coming from under his door, meaning he was still in there. She knocked, waiting for him to welcome her in. It was muffled, but once she heard it, she opened the door slowly, peeking in to see him sitting at his desk with his glasses perched on his nose.
“Hey. Are you almost ready?” she asked, walking in and taking a seat on the bed.
He looked up, nodding slowly. “What? Yeah, I’m basically ready. I might change my shirt.”
Gianna frowned. “What are you working on? Classes are over.”
“Just some stuff for Valerio.”
“I thought he was giving you some time off.”
“I don’t want any time off,” he said, huffing and turning back to the papers on his desk.
“Allister, please talk to me,” she begged. “I know what you’re going through, literally. I know it hurts, but I’m here for you. We will get through this together.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before finally looking at her again. “I just don’t fucking get it. How could she just walk out like that? Just leave us? It doesn’t make any sense. Usually I can figure things out, I can put together why someone would do what they did or understand their motivations, but I just can’t understand this. I don’t get it and it’s driving me fucking insane.”
Gianna gave him a weak smile. She knew exactly how he felt. They were the same things she had been asking herself her entire life. “I don’t think there is logic to everything. Sometimes we don’t get the apology, or we don’t get the closure we deserve, and we just have to make peace with it. I don’t know how exactly to do that, but if I figure it out, I’ll let you know.”
Allister let out a small, breathless chuckle. “Please do. I would appreciate it.”
“Of course,” she said. “We’ll get through this and I’m sure your logical mind can find a way to figure out how true that is.”
“I know we will. You don’t have to be worried about me. I just needed some space.”
“I know you did, but I didn’t want you to isolate yourself.”
It was a bad habit of his that he did more so as a child, but it looked like it still followed him into his adulthood. He would close himself off to everyone and everything, basically disappearing without a trace whenever he was seriously upset. It used to scare the hell out of them when it happened and then he would show up a day later perfectly fine. Luckily, as he grew older, he stopped doing it. She really just did not want him dropping back into that habit again. He needed to be surrounded by the people that loved him, not isolating himself.
“I’m not going to,” he said, giving her a reassuring smile. “What about you? Are you feeling better since that breakdown in your room? I’ve never seen anything like that, Gianna.”
She sighed. “I’m sorry that happened around you.”
“I’m not. Could you imagine if you were alone?”
“It was a buildup of a lot, as you could imagine, and it was overwhelming. I couldn’t control it, which I know isn’t good. It doesn’t happen that often, either.”
“Finn knew exactly what to do,” he said.
“He’s seen me have one before. Might have been the thing that actually got me to start crushing on him,” she said, grinning.
“Either way, I’m glad he was there to help you and I’m glad you’re okay. I don’t want anything like that happening to you again.”
Gianna nodded. “I know. Now, get ready so we can try to have some fun tonight.”
“I told you, I am ready,” Allister said, furrowing his brows as he motioned to his body.
“Not in that outfit,” she snorted, standing.
She left the room, giving him a chance to actually get ready this time. She was just about to reach the steps to head downstairs when Finn’s frantic eyes met hers, but they immediately relaxed when he saw her.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, panic swirling through her.
He shook his head, wrapping his arms around her. “Nothing. I couldn’t find you and it freaked me out.”
“I was talking to Allister in his room.”
“I was going there now, but I saw you standing here. You weren’t in either of the rooms or bathrooms.”
