Drawn to Love

Chapter 21

"I know, but my point is you didn't consciously make a choice that affected any of this. It was all out of your control."

Landon didn't say anything, but he knew there would be parts of him that would always blame himself. That it would echo in his mind every time anyone even got scratched. That this was partially his fault. And it didn't help that he still had no idea who his father was, just that he was conceived in the Malivore pit. And that connection must be what is causing him to activate the artifacts. However, Hope's words did comfort him a little, even if it wasn't as much as she hoped. Just being here with her was a comfort against all of the negative thoughts and experiences he had throughout his life.

He was glad that she had walked into his life and improved it in more ways than she had realized, no matter what came their way. He didn't regret meeting her, and he definitely did not regret for even a second falling in love with her. No matter how many secrets she occasionally kept for a short time or how much burden she felt like the weight of the world was on her shoulders, Landon loved her, and he wanted to do everything he could to help her with the burdens she felt. And he knew she felt the same, especially with how much she had been here for him and trying to reassure him that none of this was his fault, that it was out of his control.

Hope leaned forward, her lips pressing gently against his for a moment before she pulled away, looking at him. "Come on, we should finish this up and get on the road"

Landon smiled a little as he finished packing, and he carried his bag downstairs to the car Freya was letting them borrow. Hope grabbed the other two bags and followed him downstairs before putting one bag in the trunk and the other in the backseat. She also put the urn in the backseat so she could check and reassure herself it was still there.

Once everything was settled, Freya gave her niece a hug that Hope returned before pulling away. The tribrid got in the car and waited for Landon to get in as well. She looked over at him and smiled a little before starting to drive, hoping this ride up would be better than the last one, especially since she wasn't keeping anything from him.

A day later, they had arrived at New Orleans, and Hope parked the car next to Marcel's. She looked over at her sleeping boyfriend, not wanting to wake him but knowing he wouldn't want her to just sit here waiting for him to wake up. So, she turned off the music and placed a hand gently on Landon's arm. He opened his eyes at the contact, a light sleeper if Hope wasn't in his arms. 

"Are we there?" Landon questioned, yawning a little as he looked over at the girl he loved. He had wanted to stop at a hotel so they could both get some sleep, but Hope had been full of energy and didn't want to risk attracting monsters to innocent people. If they could get the urn to New Orleans, it could hopefully be protected from whatever it was that drew the monsters to the urn. At least that was what they hoped. 

Hope nodded in confirmation. "We are. You, Landon Kirby, have finally completed your long time wish. To go to New Orleans"

 She smiled at him, despite how much this place brought back memories she had spent time trying to repress. To bury how she felt. To just focus on the good ones as much as she could, no matter how the memories of her parts of her parents' deaths kept constantly trying and sometimes succeeding to rise up and consume her thoughts. But it had gotten a lot easier to handle since Landon walked into her life. She just hoped that she could handle being back here.  Landon couldn't help the smile that formed on his face, thrilled at the thought of being able to explore New Orleans, a place he had always wanted to visit, with the girl he was in love with. That he got to share this experience with us. Even if it was because of needing to find a way to keep monsters from getting their hands on the urn that didn't put Hope's cousin Nik in danger.