Roots and Oxygen

Chapter 56 - Cognition

At first, Sage's reaction was all that mattered. Sage's thoughts were all that mattered, and Sage's emotions were all that mattered, until it dawned on Taro that he was also in the photograph with millions of people looking at him and judging him and labelling him as the one to corrupt it all.

While Sage sat in the floor underneath the window, with knees tucked to his chest and eyes wide and horrified, Taro started to pace back and forth. The floor creaked beneath him, the flames in the fireplace whooshed angrily each time he spun to march towards the door.

My entire life has just changed in a single moment. Quiet pained sobs drifted from underneath the window. Sage was crying into his hands. His life has changed too. Taro knelt in front of him. He had seen Sage cry over his family far too often. "Hey," he whispered, trying to peel back one of his hands. "We need to figure out our next move. It's not safe here."

Sage looked at him with wet eyes, bloodshot from the tears. "Just let me cry, Taro." His voice crafted with such defeat; Taro felt as though he had no other choice but to sit beside him. He stared into the fireplace while Sage let his emotions weep out of him.

The longer he sat and allowed his thoughts to soak up their situation, the more he realised just how dangerous it had been to sneak around with Sage Green, the man next in line to be King. Now that the truth was out, so was his entire life. Reporters would do anything to know who he was, and why he was meddling with the prince.

Taro didn't regret any of it. He was falling for Sage in a way he had never expected, and he was falling hard with no chance of stopping himself. Sage was kind and loving and born into a family who didn't appreciate his golden personality. Taro was honoured to be around him, and not because of his status, but because of his big heart.

"We're really in this together now," he said after Sage had settled. He also watched the fireplace with glossed over eyes, deep in thought. "And I don't know about you, but I plan on getting on with my life, and if that means running off to live in the woods, I'm more than happy to do so." He lightly nudged Sage when he barely responded to his words. "I know this is frightening. I'm actually really scared too."

Sage tilted his head to glance from the corner of his eyes. The flames gave them a soft amber glow. "You are?"

"Of course. Yesterday nobody knew who I was, today I'll probably be on everyone's lips. Well done, you've successfully made the biggest headline of the century." Taro smiled through the stress. He couldn't let it overwhelm him. He wouldn't let the tabloids have that power.

"I'm so sorry," Sage mumbled, and his lip quivered. "I can't believe it's happening like this."

"The person who snuck up to the cottage and took a picture of us owes us an apology, not you." Taro wrapped an arm around him. He liked the light tickle on the side of his face from Sage's curls.

"I've ruined your life."

"How?"

"They'll hound you forever. Everything changes now, the entire country will know who you are."

"And?" Taro cupped his chin so he could look him properly in the eyes. "I knew this would happen eventually. Well . . . not like this, but I knew one day I'd be in the public eye. I like you an unhealthy amount. This doesn't change a thing. I'm just frustrated we can't sneak around anymore because that was kind of exciting." Despite his words and his smirk, Taro's heart thumped hard.

Sage's lips curled at the sides until his eyes widened. "What if they figure out that you're a plant person?"

"How would they?"

"I don't know." Sage rubbed his face. "Why can't this just be some nightmare where I wake up at the end? What are we going to do? If Patrick was a traitor for being gay then I'm-" that thought sent Sage into more floods of tears.