Devil's Love

Love (thirty-nine)

"Hurting you is the last thing I want to do, Arwyn." 

Arwyn turned around at the sound of his voice. Marcellus stood there, looking so sexy in his formal suit, leaning against the wall so casually, waiting for her to find him. 

"Then why do you keep doing it?" She asked, walking over to him with a small frown.

"We can't be together." He said softly, a hand reaching out to cup the side of her face. His thumb ran over her bottom lip. 

"Why?" 

"Have you asked yourself that question? Why do you think?" He tilted his head to the side with a small smile. 

No, she hadn't really asked the question. Because she knew she would do anything to be with him. Even if it meant going to his realm for all eternity.

"Because you don't want to be with me?" She asked, averting her gaze away from him. 

"That's..." A scoff escaped him as he retracted his hand from her face and ran it through his hair. Both of his hands cupped her face, forcing her to look at him. "I want to be with you." He whispered it so softly that she could barely hear it, even being this close to him. 

"I love you." She whispered to him. 

He leaned down and rested his forehead against hers, closing his eyes with a smile gracing his beautiful lips. 

He didn't say it back. That made her heart twist in pain. All she wanted was for him to say it back. Those three simple words hold so much meaning. She longed to hear those words come out of his beautiful mouth. 

"You know this can't work. You deserve happiness, baby. And I can't give you that." 

"If you can't, then who can?" She asked, pulling away from him to look into his gorgeous eyes. Tears were silently escaping her eyes as she waited for an answer.

"Please, don't cry." He told her, wiping the tears from her face with gentle fingers. 

"Then don't leave me."

"I have to." He leaned down and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry." He took a step back, releasing her face from his grasp.

"Marcellus, please." She reached out and gripped onto his hand. "Please, don't do this." 

"Arwyn, you have to let me go." He whispered. 

"Can I convince you to stay?" 

Marcellus shook his head, looking away from her. "I would rather if you didn't. This is hard enough." 

Reluctantly, Arwyn let go of his hand. He hesitated for a second before he reached forward and pulled her into a kiss. A long, sad, passionate, love filled kiss.

"Goodbye, Arwyn." Marcellus whispered against her lips before he turned around and walked off down the hallway. 

As soon as he was out of sight, she collapsed to the floor. A hand clutched at her chest as she cried, sitting on the ground in the middle of the hallway.

"Arwyn? Oh no." King Octavius had come out of the ballroom in search for her. He was by her side within moments, pulling her into his arms. 

"It's okay, it's okay." He stroked her hair softly as she cried into his chest, her hands clutching onto the material of his suit desperately. 

She didn't know how long she cried for, or how long King Octavius cradled her on the floor for, but eventually, the tears stopped. Whether they stopped because she had no more to cry, or because she felt numb, she wasn't sure. Could've been both. But it must have been for a while, the party had fizzled out and she had barely noticed the people leaving. She hadn't noticed the Queen join them on the floor either. 

King Octavius and Amiah had been having a small conversation that Arwyn hadn't picked up on. Probably discussing what happened. She was still clutching onto King Octavius like her life depended on it as she slowly lifted her head up. 

"Arwyn..." Amiah said her name so softly, a hand softly resting on her shoulder. "What happened?" 

Arwyn shook her head and buried her face back into King Octavius' chest. She didn't want to think about it or talk about it. She just wanted to forget. It hurt so much.