“Of course it would be easier, but do you really think Emmet will be any better? Although, fuck this morning, I was not expecting that. Caitlyn couldn’t stop smiling. She’s glad her friend is finally being treated better.” He grimaces, but I’m not sure why.
“Sam, will you help me? Keep an eye on everything and just, make sure that Cole doesn’t overstep in any way. I don’t trust him, and I find it hard to believe that he didn’t know what Bradley was doing. They used to tell each other everything.”
“Sure, I guess. I don’t know what you expect me to see though. I said before I’m staying out of all the drama this year. The end is in sight, and it will be my one and only time here. Although, I have a feeling, that isn’t why you asked to meet me.” He smirks, and I return it.
“Fine, you spend a lot of time in Caitlyn’s room. If you ever see anyone hovering around outside the South wing, you know the one that Luna is in, who shouldn’t be there, let me know, okay? I know Darius is back, but he's outside her door, not the wing itself. I have a feeling she has more eyes on her then anyone realized.” I stand up as he nods, and I clasp his shoulder.
“I’ll help you if I can, Sam. If you want to go to Texas, then I’ll find a way to help you make it happen.”
I walk away, that may not be why I came here, but I can't put more pressure on him. He has too much going on, what with his sister. If I need someone to keep an eye on Emmet and Thallon, then I’ll have to do it myself.
42
Love Is Painful
Luna
It’s Monday, which means I have to tell Emmet about Darius. I don’t know how Aeron can think everything will work out fine. This is Emmet we are talking about. He is going to murder Darius, and probably make me watch as he does it with a smile on his face, and a laugh in his voice.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” Darius says, as he stands rigid against my door. His hand twitching against the handle, waiting for permission from his brain to say that he can leave before someone catches him in here.
“Call in sick, fake an emergency. Get the other guy to come in and watch me. Please, Darius, don’t be here when I tell him. I don’t want anything to happen to you.” I throw myself into his arms, and he grunts before wrapping his around me.
“That isn’t me, Snowflake. I’m not going to hide away, and let you take the full brunt of his anger. I’d rather he directs it at me. I’ll take the full blame, if I can. You once said I was your knight. Let me live up to it. It’s been an honor protecting you, even if I haven’t done the best job.” His mouth descends on mine, shutting me up before I even have a chance to try and argue with him.
“You have been the best bodyguard mountain man. I just made it hard to keep track of me. I’m trying to work on that though.” I rest my head on his chest, just the sound of his heart soothes a part inside of me.
“I’m not running, darlin’. I’ll face the consequences, and I’ll take it all with a smile on my face. No matter what any of these idiots say, this thing between us, it could never be wrong.” His hands work the muscles in my back, until I feel like a puddle of goo against him.
“I feel the same way, I know we haven’t had a lot of time together, but this feels real to me.”
“That’s because it is, and time is relative. Regardless, we’ll have plenty of it once May hurries up and gets here. We’ll figure out how we work then, and we will figure it out.” He steals one last kiss before he steps back out of the room.
I feel like crying, which is stupid, but it’s the fear of the unknown. Well, it’s not really unknown. I think I know Emmet pretty well now, and no one would ever guess that he will be cool and collected when I lie this at his feet. I just have to find the right way to do it, and maybe the only way I can is by being the girl he classed me as. Not an Academy one, but as a Harkwright. Now all I have to do is figure out how I do that. The only person who knew these guys before we came here is D, which means that she may know Emmet’s sister as well. Crap, this is going to be a fun conversation.
I step out of my room and Darius follows me to the next door, taking his job very seriously. D opens it with a wide smile on her face, and I can see Jake lounging on her sofa. Ohh, I didn’t mean to interrupt her fun times.
“Hey, Homegirl, you okay?” She tries to tamper down her smile, but it just won’t budge.
We need to make more time to talk about random girl stuff. She’s been so much happier since Thanksgiving, even though that ended with heartbreak for Maddie.
“I was going to ask you a couple of questions, but it can wait.” I rub the back of my neck, because it can’t wait. I’m not ruining her morning though.
“Got any breakfast muffins?” she asks with a cocked brow, and I nod a couple of times.
“Bring ‘em over and we’ll have breakfast here, while we talk. It saves going to the mess hall, and having any more unexpected declarations from taking place.” She winks, as I laugh nervously.
I rush to my room and grab the basket of muffins I made, as her words swim through my mind. I haven’t given myself time to process what was said on Saturday. It all happened so quickly. The way he shoved that tray into Simon’s face. He deserved it, sure, but there was so much violence. Then with everything he said, not just for me, but Maddie as well. That has to mean something, it couldn’t have just been empty words said to get his point across.
I go back to D’s and close the door behind me. Jake has his arm draped across her shoulders and I swallow hard, before dropping the basket on the coffee table in front of them.
“Help yourselves,” I say with a smile, although I’m sure it’s more of a grimace. I can’t help it though, things still feel awkward.
“Is this okay? Jake said he’s happy to leave us to it, if that’s what you need.”
I open my mouth, close it, open it again. I feel like a fish.
“Look, I’ll go. I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable. I’m sure you just want to talk and you can’t trust me. I get it.” He stands up, as Daria stares between us both.
“Jake, wait. You don’t have to leave. I’m the one who's ruining your morning, and I know it isn’t easy hiding the way you feel about someone when you’re out in public. Maybe, you could help.” I throw my hands out, and a grateful smile spreads across D’s face as she pulls him back down beside her.
“Sure, whatever I can do.” He grabs a muffin, and groans around the mouthful. D and I share a laugh, before I grab a stool she has in the corner, and sit down.
“So, Emmet called me a Harkwright girl. I guess I just wondered what that entails, in your opinion.” I look between them both, as they share a look.
“A proper one is wild, takes no hit from anyone, and does whatever she damn well pleases. No matter the consequences. I don’t think that’s how you want to be though, Homegirl. Maybe we need a little more context.”
“I need to tell Emmet something, and I want to ask him to let me make a few decisions. If I’m no longer an Academy girl in his eyes, then isn’t that what he means?”