The Wrath Of The Ice King

38

Back inside the palace, a faint blanket of misery, guilt, and tension surrounded the room. Both boys were sitting in front of the fireplace, a blanket covered Chris as he stared at the dying fire, his pupils capturing the crimson flames and letting it warm his insides. He was terribly tired, and he knew that it was too early to even begin talking about what had happend. He himself had a lot to say, but he also needed to hear a lot as well.

Romeo, on the other hand, could not bring himself to look at Chris out of his own shame and guilt. He bounced his knee anxiously, biting his nails as his eyes fixated on the fire. He would feel Chris' stare at times, but he delicately ignore it. 

The two outside got minutes ago, hugging each other tightly to the point of leaving no room between them at all, trying to crawl inside one another's body to be kept safe and away from the broken remains of their trust. They had many issues they needed to face, and the beast seemed too big to deal with at the moment. Neither of them wanted to face anything, but they needed to fight to keep the relationship alive. Or else, the remains would be uglier than what was left of the fire a few hours minutes later: just ashes and dust.

Romeo swallowed harshly, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down as he spat out the words he kept chanting over and over again outside. "I'm so sorry." 

Chris' eyes flickered to his, and he kept staring silently until Romeo gathered the courage to face his gaze. Chris offered a small, tight smile. He wanted to forget everything and move on happily, to pretend as if nothing happened. But he needed his wounds to heal, both physically and mentally.

He had forgiven Romeo, that was true but forgiving and forgetting is two different concepts that require equal amounts of patience and agony. And it would take him a while to forget and to trust once again.

"I know you are. I don't want to start talking about it yet. But just know, I do not blame you, Romeo. That does not make what you did or said right nor will I ever accept such treatment from anybody ever again, even if it's from you. But you told me about your past, and given the circumstances, I can see why you reacted like that. I could tell you were trying to believe me, but with the entire world against me, you couldn't. I understand. I don't condone or accept it, but I don't blame you." 

Romeo sniffled, his head hanging low in shame. Chris was still brave enough to face him and to forgive him, but here he was, so cowardly as to still cower in fear. He was still trying to hide his expression and tears as if it was physically agonizing to display any sort of emotion or vulnerability right now. In his eyes, he did not deserve to ask for forgiveness because it should not be granted. Yet Chris had taken the first and most important step towards communication openly, granting him some way out of the guilt that was eating his insides away. 

"I'm so thankful that life gave somebody like you to me, but it makes me so sad all the while. I've been nothing but horrible to you for the past two days and here you are, still being able to look at me after the disgusting things I've done. I'm worried that you haven't registered just how horribly I've treated you. I can't even bring myself to thank you for your forgiveness because it is not something I deserve at the very least. Please let me make it up to you in any way that is necessary. Otherwise, I might not be able to live with myself."

Chris let the words sink in, letting them rest in his mind and echo si his ears before nodding.

"I accept that proposal. However, we also do need to talk about what Sage said. About the..." he stopped talking, remembering that they were inside and probably being listened to at that moment. He made a motion with his head, his eyes widening to signal what they had been talking about. "About the contract." He made up something quickly, not wanting to act suspicious by trailing off.