I'll Protect You (Original Version)

Quoting song lyrics? I really need a therapist....again.

Not.

Jasper and Alec guffawed at that, clutching at their stomachs or chests as outbursts of laughter erupted from them, filling the already noisy kitchen with even more disruption. Jasper gripped the edges of the wooden table with his fingers, his knuckles a pure white as he gasped for air, and Alec had fallen off his chair, doubled over giggling like a fool.

Like a fool? Please, they took "foolish" to new, unexplored, uncharted, and dangerous territories.

"Boys," I muttered under my breath, standing up to leave the two idiots that supposedly belonged to my family.

I walked quickly out of the kitchen, but I was already near the viaduct courtyard when I realized that I was still holding Archer's letter. Feeling a bit sad, I slumped to the ground, the coldness of the hardwood floors frosting my thighs.

My fingers unfolded the parchment, and for the sixty-hundredth and one time, I read again.

Dearest Father and Mother,

With all the love that I have, I congratulate you for sealing your love for one another, and I am sure that the wedding was spectular. Tell Park that she did a splendid job for a seventeen-almost-eighteen year old.

I apologize for not showing up in person. Yes, I did receive the invitation. No, Park, it wasn't eaten by a fire-breathing demon. I wish I was by your side, Father, and that I could have seen the look on Mother's face when she arrived at the altar.

However, Father, it isn't time yet. I am still busy, and I swear to you that I am working my hardest with that job you assigned me. I don't want to face Park until I am done, and the wedding couldn't be an exception.

I hope that soon, I can come home, and see everyone again. I love you all, and tell Park to try to stop herself from getting into life-and-death situations.

Yours truly,

Archer Sparrow

So it wasn't a solid "I don't want to see my family" statement, but hey. He still didn't come.

So my father had sent him away to do something my father wanted done. A quest--the king had cursed the dark knight with shadow-filled journey, away from his home and family, unable to return to the kingdom until the quest had been fulfilled.

Listen to me, using adventure-story words. Slowly, I ran my fingers through my dark hair, and then traced my brother's handwriting.

Archer had the prettiest calligraphy I had ever seen. Once upon a time, before the incident, he would complete his homework in  my room until I went to sleep, because once upon a time, I had the worst nightmares ever.

Logan had really nice handwriting. His letters were penned in a flowing manner, the figures weren't short and stubby, disconnected or scrawly. They were smooth, leaning towards the right, with elegant twists and swirls.

No! I had sworn the moment he had left my room that I would never think of him in that way again. It hurt too much, something I had never experienced. The mere pronounciation gave me an urge to clutch at my chest, because it felt like someone had shot an arrow through my ribs and into very thing that kept me alive.

"I love you."

Yeah, right, you stupid, handsome, arrogant, rude, cynical, genius! Why did you make me fall for you?

"A Sparrow should only be on the ground when they've been shot or stabbed. Where's the blood then?"

My head went up, my gaze skyward, and an awkward smile lit my face. It was my grandmother, the queen of Cimeria, dressed in a white dress suit, impeccably sharp heels on her feet, her graying dark hair piled into a French bun. On her lips was a knowing smile, as if she understood everything I was feeling.