“She’s talking about his bong, keep up, guys.” Yeah, I may have said that louder than I needed to.
“How do you know?”
“Because, Aer, we talk to each other. And believe me, I have no problem with revealing all your secrets. The only guy safe is Darius.” She gives him a saucy smile, and he shakes his head.
“That being said, I did bring you a gift, Luna, you can thank me later.” She blows me a kiss, before grabbing Aer’s hand, and he leads her outside to the back.
“Surprise?”
“She thought you might want to see him, even though I told her not to bother,” Em grumbles, before walking past, but he doesn’t go far.
My mouth drops open as a figure appears in the open doorway. Sandy blonde hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a surfer’s tan. Hang on, blonde hair?
Thallon.
“Hey, Koala girl.” he doesn’t look at anyone else, but I can’t help it. I don’t know how they’re feeling, I don’t know how I’m feeling.
I gave up asking after him when the answers left me with a sense of confusion. The guys were convinced he was back in Australia, but Ava was sure that he had been in the fight ring at least a few times this past year. Which means he just didn’t want to see me. I always thought that he never read my letter, I always wondered if he burnt it the moment he got it. I guess with him being here, that would be a no. But, why is he here?
“Thallon,” I breathe his name out, my hand flying to my chest and the surprising pain that starts up.
Tucker is behind me in no time, wrapping his arms around me, and holding me close. Em takes my right side and Darius takes the left. My wall of support, he stares at us, before his eyes drop to my left hand.
“You got married.” It’s not a question, so I’m not sure why he says it.
“That’s right, she’s my wife,” Tucker says, and I wait for it, knowing he won’t disappoint.
“Our wife,” Aer calls, as he asks back in.
“Look, she knows she’s ours and we know it. But if I’m talking about her, I’ll be saying my wife, not ours. Use your damn head.”
I bite back my smile, used to the argument, and knowing it’s all in fun. Aer just enjoys getting under his skin, and Tuck makes it a little too easy sometimes.
“So, you’re with all of them, but married to him?”
“Yep, it was Emmet’s idea. Shocked the heck out of us too,” I say softly, as he takes my hand and runs his mouth over my knuckles. I still don’t know why Emmet wanted me to marry Tucker, maybe I never will.
“Isabelle needs stability and someone to always be there for her. If anything ever happens to one of us or that fucker, then at least she’ll still have Elsa.” He snickers at that before continuing. “Besides, Tucker was the only one who wasn’t a complete asshole to her, other than Darius. We’ll all marry her, even if Tucker’s is the only one that’s legal,” he growls it out, and I stare right at him.
“Okay, I don’t even know why I’m here. Alexa and Ava said I needed to see you, but I guess they were wrong.” He walks out the door, and closes it behind him.
“The bastard,” Darius says with vehemence, as I extract myself and move over to the door.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” I don’t look back as I follow him outside, and see him leaning against the house.
“Why did you come here, Thallon? I was finally starting to accept that our story began and ended in the third year of the Academy, and then you just show up. You can blame it on the girls, but you wouldn’t have done it, if you didn’t want to.” I lean beside him, keeping at least a foot between us.
“I never read your letter, I stared at it and wondered what you meant about being ready, but I didn’t wait. I went back home, threw it into the ocean, and let it claim your thoughts in it’s inky depths. I regret it, and I think I came here for closure, if you can give me it.” He pulls out a cigarette, and I steal it the moment it’s lit.
“You don’t smoke.” He sounds so affronted, like I’ve offended him somehow.
“I’ve changed a lot since I left, ran away. Figured out who I wanted to be, and unfortunately, I developed a nasty habit,” I stare at the cigarette, watching the ember burn, before bringing it to my lips, and inhaling.
He watches me intently, before he tries again, and I don’t steal this one. It’s almost pathetic how needy I feel beside him. We were never real, yet my heart won’t listen to reason. He settled me in a way that only he could, and now, there’s an emptiness that can never be filled. It doesn’t mean I’ll beg him to take a chance on me, but I’m still glad I get to see him one last time.
“I wrote that two and a half years ago, I can’t tell you everything I wrote down, Thallon. Although, I can tell you the important stuff, take a walk with me?” I move off the porch, and he falls into step beside me.
Our hands brush, but I assume it’s by accident. I would say I’ll take what I can get, but no. I know how our story ends, because it already has.
“You eased the darkness inside, gave me a release, and I’ll always be thankful for that. I’m not the same girl who agreed to only be casual with you, and I know now, that I was a fool for ever believing I could. I actually wrote that by the way,” I stare at him as he clenches his jaw, before I look straight ahead, and take a few deep, calming breaths. “I did something that I can never move on from. Everyday I will try and make up for it, whether I did the world a favor or not, it doesn’t matter. I still did something bad, unforgivable. I shattered my soul, and lost a piece of it that I will never be able to reclaim.” I stop moving, trying to decide on the spot if I really want to do this. If he deserves to know? I don’t think he does.
“You lost a piece of your soul? Luna, did you…” His voice cracks as he stares at me before clearing his throat.
He doesn’t say anything else, as my hands start to shake, picturing the blood, and how empty I felt as I watched his life drain away.
“It doesn’t matter now. Anyway, do you want to hear the last part?” I tuck my hair behind my ears, as he steps closer to me. He opens and closes his hands, but still, he nods.
“You were a guy who I hated, but hatred turned to lust, and lust turned to something more. I’m not saying I fell in love with you, Thallon, but you were the guy I could have loved. I gave you a piece of my heart, but I wasn’t brave enough to tell you.” I drop my head, staring at the cracks in the sidewalk as his feet appear. His hands find my face, before he tilts my face up. Our cigarettes are long gone now, ground into the sidewalk by the toes of our shoes.
“You were the girl I wanted to love, I was close to falling over the edge. But then you just left. You were this kind, sweet girl, who cared too much about everyone. Yet, you didn’t care enough to give me a proper goodbye. I wanted your words, Luna, I just wanted to hear them.” His eyes are open, his soul bared to me. I can see his pain, anger, frustration, a little fear, and strangely enough, hope.
“Why are you here, Thallon? Really?”
“Because I have spent the last two and half years trying to get you out of my head, but you refuse to leave. After Allie, I never wanted to fall for another person, but then you came along. This girl I was certain I was born to hate, and yet, I couldn’t. I tried, you just came at me like a wrecking ball, tearing down my walls, and leaving me bare. I wanted you to let me go, and when you ran away, I was happy. I was tired, heart, mind, and soul. Now though, I realize you breathed life into me, and I want to feel that again.” His fingers twitch against my cheeks, as I search his eyes. Unsure where to go from here.