Page 47 of The Dragon's Perfect Omega
"Hey." Lowen's hand combed through my hair. A soft touch that nearly startled me with its compassion. "It's okay," he said. "I don't blame you for what your family is doing. You don't have to be like them."
I shook my head. "I never thought I had another option. I always... I always wanted to be perfect."
"You don't have to try so hard. You're already perfect to me." Lowen kissed the tip of my nose, and then my lips. I opened up to him without hesitation, warmth flowing into my veins. I didn't know about being perfect, but Ifeltpretty perfect just then.
If I could just hide away on this island with him forever, I'd never have to worry about a thing.
Sadly, life wasn't that simple. And as much as I disliked the way my family thought about dragons and homosexuality and all that... I still loved them. I still owed them an explanation for what I'd been doing too.
I had to tell them.
Breaking from Lowen, I sighed. "When I get back home, I'm going to tell my parents where I was."
Lowen's eyebrows went up. "You will?"
"I can't keep hiding this from them. Sooner or later, they're going to find out anyway, and I think this is something they need to hear from me rather than someone else." Then maybe I could make them see my point of view. I could only hope that they were willing to listen if I tried to explain.
Lowen rested a hand on my back. "Are you going to be okay?" The concern was clear in his voice.
I gave him a small smile. "You don't have to worry that much. They're going to be disappointed and they're probably going to disown me, but they're not going to hurt me."
"I don't know. That sounds pretty hurtful to me."
A big lump lodged itself in my throat. He was right; itwasgoing to hurt, even if that pain wasn't going to be physical. I tried to put on a brave face, even while I knew that Lowen could probably see right through me. "I'll be okay."
Lowen wet his lips. "Could you wait just three weeks?"
"Three weeks?"
"That's how long I have to wait until I can get another visa to cross into human territory. I used up a lot of my allotted time for the tour."
"You want to visit me in San Francisco again?"
"I'd feel better if I was around when you told your parents."
That was sweet of him, but... "I don't think you should meet." It would only enrage my parents further while I was still hoping there might be some way to have a calm conversation with them.
"I don't need to meet them. But I could stay in a hotel close to your house so you can come over when you're done talking to them."So I can be there to pick up the pieces if you need me to.He didn't say that last part out loud, but I heard it anyway. It was all there in the way he looked at me, his eyes so full of concern and compassion.
I didn't deserve him.
"Okay," I said on an exhale. "I can wait three weeks to tell them."
"Thank you." Lowen kissed me again. I relaxed a little, pressing him close to me.
Really, the hard part wasn't going to be waiting for the conversation, it was going to be waiting for him. Three weeks... it wasn't even a month, but it sounded like a small eternity.
24
Lowen
As soon asZim was gone, I hit the libraries. First my mother's personal library, and then the island's public one, which was only a little larger. I poured over every book that could tell me anything about visions at all. I needed to figure out if what I'd seen in my dream wasboundto happen. If there was some way to change it, and how.
Therehadto be a way, because what I'd seen...
I couldn't let that happen.
No way.
