Page 121 of Beyond The Maples
His head slumps, resting on my chest as he sighs.
"Go away! I'm busy," he growls, unwilling to move back even as I squirm to try and get off of from him.
"Open the door right now!"
Vera. Of course. I glare at Tane as I slink to the ground, pushing away from him, and he looks at me, pleading.
Another pound at the door. This time it sounds like she's kicked it. I straighten my clothes as I walk over to the front door, opening it wide. Vera comes barging through like she lives here, and a surge of jealousy sweeps through me—completely irrational, but undeniable. I am half-hidden behind the door; she takes a second to see me, so I bow and sarcastically sweep my arm.
"He's all yours," I say, not waiting for a response as I shut the door behind me, shame heating my cheeks.
I am barely a floor down when I hear Vera's raucous laughter echoing down the hall.
Just fucking perfect.
I'm lying in bed like a corpse, frozen, replaying this morning's events in my head over and over. What was I thinking? I seem to lose all common sense around Tane, but there's also something oddly liberating about it. Part of me is disappointed to be leaving him behind, but the logical part of my brain is thankful, because I know he's not who I should be with. The fact that I just ignored the blood and gore all over him and hopped onto his lap is frankly alarming. That I was so willing to overlook all the awful things he's done. He'd probably just gotten back from murdering an entire village, and I didn't even care to get answers before shoving my tongue down his throat.
Maybe it was the despair I saw written over his face, maybe it's wishful thinking, but I suspect he doesn't like being the Council's puppet.
Either way, it doesn't matter. I'm leaving. I repeat to myself like my own personal mantra, trying to drown out the memory of the heat of his hands against my skin.
My spiralling thoughts are interrupted when Farra pops in.
"Hey, where have you been? You skipped lunch."
"I wasn't hungry," I say honestly.
She throws a muffin at me, and I grunt.
"Eat something, and stop sulking," she demands. I smile. I haven't told her yet about this morning. She doesn't even know why I'm out of sorts. Doesn't demand to know, either.
I nibble on the muffin's edge, thinking about how grateful I am for her.
I sit up, ready to explain the reason I've been off today, when Leo comes fumbling intothe room.
We both glare at him. We've probably told him a dozen times he needs to knock, and yet here we are. Right away, I notice something's wrong. He looks twitchy.
"How are you two today?" he asks, bobbing his head, like he's listening to us respond even though neither of us has said a word.
My eyes narrow.
"Well, that's great, for sure. But anyway. I, um, I have something to tell you. And I wasn't even sure I should tell you. Because of what happened last time," he looks up at Farra, and guilt rides his features.
Her face softens. "Leo, we've talked about this. That wasn't your fault. Now spill whatever nonsense you're inevitably going to tell us, and save us this song and dance." She throws her hands up in the air at him, like she's already exhausted by him.
He nods again.
"Well, I know you say that now, but I'm wondering if you'll change your mind..." He looks utterly perplexed, like he can't decide what the best course of action is. It's unnerving, coming from him.
"Leo," I reprimand, also tired of his stalling.
He's going to tell us eventually, otherwise he would not have brought it up. He just wants us to demand it so he can be relieved of the guilt.
He unstraps the canteen that was looped around his body. He uncorks the lid, and then he starts dumping the water onto his hand in the middle of the room.
"Leo!" we both yell at once.
"Shhh. You'll scare him," he scolds us.
