Fairy Tale: Winter's Bite

Chapter 24: Insight (Part 1)

Joe wasn't naïve.

"I've been looking all over for you two," he said, giving his brother a knowing smile. "Am I interrupting something?"

Chris deflected his eyes.

"It's such a perfect night for a swim," Joe added, gesturing to the rain.

Cassie glanced at Chris and then stepped in front him, all poised, chin up, ready to defend him as if she were his lawyer. "I slipped and fell into the water and I went under—"

"Yeah," Chris interrupted. "She should learn how to swim if she's going to stay with us." The words sounded harsh and ungrateful, and right after he spat them out, he bolted into the jungle.

What a jerk . . . a coward . . . a liar . . .

Chris had just disrespected her in so many ways. Joe hoped she'd realize that, immediately, but she was staring after him with tear-filled eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" Joe asked in a voice somewhere between sincerity and scorn. He stepped into the water and offered his hand to her.

After a slight shrug, she took his hand, and for a fraction of a second, she gave Joe her eyes. "I think he needs to be alone right now."

She seemed to be hinting at the dual meaning of alone—the here-and-now version as well as the long-term. Maybe she was starting to understand that he wasn't a good choice for her and never would be.

Joe put his arm around her shoulders and walked her back toward the hut.

More than anything, he wanted to believe Chris's explanation for why they were in the water, clutching each other. He knew in his gut, though, there was more to the story.

At that painful, persistent moment, his stomach in knots, he felt something strange on Cassie's shoulder. When he lifted the lantern, he noticed that the seams of her dress were showing.

Joe forced himself to breathe as anger welled up in him, anger directed only at Chris. Joe considered the princess young and impressionable and his brother the villain for taking advantage of her.

After a long, silent walk, Joe and Cassie approached the light of the hut. When she was about to open the door, Joe grabbed her hand. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"I'm not sure this is a good time." Cassie tried to hide her tears by wiping them away with the same motion she used to tuck her wet hair behind her ears.

There were many things he wanted to say, but he knew it would be best to bow out gracefully . . . for now. "I just wanted to say, if you ever change your mind, you know where to find me."

She squeezed his hand, then let herself inside.

Joe was slow to follow. The thin hope that he still had a chance with her vanished as soon as she walked away.

By the time he stepped inside, Cassie was already behind her curtain. But she wasn't out of mind. In fact, she was impossible to ignore. Her muffled sobs were at the peak of his consciousness even after the lanterns were out.

He had a feeling it was going to be a long sleepless night . . . for everyone.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Staind. Right Here.

~

"And you're so independent

You just refuse to bend

So I keep bending till I break

But you always find a way

To keep me right here waiting. . ."