Riding with the Beast (an MC Fairy Tale)

19 - Sonja

IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME AND I AM SORRY!!!!! I had a lot happen these past few months and wasn't able to write :( (though on the plus side some of the books I was readong on Wattpad have been finished! I'm going to sit down and read them from beginning to end :) !!! ) I'll be honest with you guys, I'm not totally sure how I feel about this installment, but I wanted to get it up so I could move onto the next one. The next one definitely needs some build-up so it doesn't feel totally random. Hopefully this is enough lead-up to make it not feel totally random. If you're confused though, let me know, becuase this is something I'll probably have to go over a few times. Now I'm just going to hit publish before I lose my nerve.

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Sonja

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He stared at the floor, squeezing his arms to his sides as if to make himself smaller. But the Beast was large—too large for the doorframe, too large for the room, too large for anyone to pass by easily even when he tried to be accommodating. On her way out, her shoulder knocked his chest. He parted his lips, but said nothing.

Five rapid footsteps pounded down the hallway before he allowed himself to look up. His grip on the door frame tightened as he watched her retreat. I doubt she looked back even once, and I don’t think he wanted or expected her to.

After she was gone, he lowered his hand and wiped it on his jeans. “Sorry ‘bout that, Sonja.”

Why was he sorry?

“She and I, we’re old friends.”

No. They’re more than that.

My breathing grew ragged. My heartbeat throbbed. Why did this half truth bother me so much? I was a stranger. He owed me nothing—especially not details on his love life. I should’ve let it go, but I couldn’t. “You’re more than just old friends, aren’t you?” My question sounded like an accusation.

“We were a lot closer when we were kids.”

I couldn’t bring myself to ask him just how close they were.

“Spent a few years not talkin’ much to each other, but I see a lot of her now.”

I don’t want to hear this. Nothing good will come from it. I knew it, yet I still asked, “Why is that?”

“She’s with my best friend.”

I stepped back. With. Did that mean…?

“The two of them have been together a long time.”

I swallowed. “Oh.”

“It wasn’t always one-sided, if that’s what you’re thinkin’. But we were young. Things changed.”

What he means is, his face changed.

No. Please, don’t let that be it.

But it was. It had to be. The Beast hadn’t always looked like this. Sure, he’d probably always been disconcertingly tall and not much to look at, but he hadn’t been like this—a being so ugly that some cruel part of you preferred to think of him as being born like that just so you wouldn’t have to acknowledge a person could change so much.

Charlie had known him before he was like this, hadn’t she? Her burn scars mirrored his, albeit on a comparatively insignificant scale. Even if it was just a coincidence, there was a story there. Every time she looked at him, she probably saw what she might’ve become. And every time he looked at her, he probably remembered what life had been like before.

How do you compete with that?

You don’t.

You can’t.