After Solitude

Chapter 35

"You said you weren't close." Wyatt tilts his head, not in an accusing way, more in a curious way.

The air around us is so silent, I could hear a fly buzzing in the next room.

"We weren't." I state.

"Love, were you two ever close." Nik asks, no smile or happiness present in his voice. Knowing he's upset with me...knowing they are all upset with me, hurts my soul. I can feel something crumbling inside me.

"When we lived in the group home, yeah. But after she left we drifted apart and never talked again," I look at my lap, "so no, we weren't friends. But once upon a time, we were the best of friends."

Loosing my appetite, I place the sandwich back onto the plate. Maybe I should've told them we were friends at one point. I didn't think that would matter though.

"Thank you for telling us, doll. We aren't mad at you." Wyatt slides the plate closer to me, encouraging me to eat.

Sure does feel like they are all upset with me, Nik and Jett still have that fire in their eyes.

Jett clears his throat, "we just know that what happened with Brexley and Poppy now probably has something to do with you. Whatever is going on is targeting you. So yes, we're mad, livid to be exact. But not at you, baby."

Jett and Nik leave the room, leaving me alone with Wyatt and a curling tummy.

Wyatt takes a big bite out of my sandwich then places it at my lips. My eyes quizzically meet his as he chews.

"I'm helping you, take a bite." He nudges the sandwich on my lips, making a small smile spread across my face.

I take a small bite, realizing that he's eating just so my hungry belly can eat too. He somehow senses that eating under stress is very hard for me.

Despite the sandwich being delicious and Wyatt helping me by taking big bites, I couldn't finish it. It took me four small bites until my body just said no.

After Wyatt finishes it for me, I return to the sunroom to work on my upcycling project a little more before the annual gathering.

As I glue a hollowed out box to the book, I can't help but think about Nik's parents.

I haven't seen them since we first met. I guess they've been being reclusive in their room or they wait until I'm asleep to come out and be social with everyone.

His mother finds me weak, a mere human. Sometimes, I believe that too but other times, I know I'm so much more than that. I survived the foster care system, I survived losing my parents, I survived being homeless, and I've always gone above and beyond whenever I can. I may only be a human, but I'm not weak.

Sometimes I feel weak, but I hope that's just my brain playing tricks on me. Fake confidence is still confidence.

I'll have to see them later on tomorrow afternoon. I know for a fact they aren't too keen on seeing me on Nik's arm, and I'm not too keen on only being on Nik's arm. I want to be with all of them but royalty isn't supposed to share I guess.

What will all the people be like? Will they all automatically hate me for being a human for thinking the same way his mom does? At least I'll have Poppy and the guys. Wait, can I talk to Jett and Wyatt? Of course I can, I'm still my own person.

"A secret box?" A voice appears from behind me, causing me to jump and let out a quiet squeal in surprise.

"Henry! You scared me." I force a laugh, trying to not show fear on my face by relaxing my worry lines.

"Sorry," he smiles gently, "I forget that human ears aren't sensitive like mine are sometimes." He admits, sitting on one of the couches across from me.

I feel as if he sits further away from me and right where I can see him on purpose. He knows I have a slight fear of him, so he sits out of arm's reach but still where I can keep my eyes on him to watch his every move.

"It's not a secret if you know about it." I smile, referring to his first question.

He nods, "you know, I won't tell anybody. The secret box is safe between you and I."

I giggle and begin to paint the sides of the hollowed out wood an off white color to later resemble pages.

"I just wanted to talk about tomorrow," Henry starts scooting back onto the couch while I sit up a little straighter to show I'm listening, "as you know, my wife will take a while to warm up to you."

I nod, "she hates me, yes." I borderline joke.

He deeply laughs, sounding like Nik, "perhaps. But tomorrow, while Nik is giving his speech, I want you to keep a straight spine, elegance and power comes from having an elongated back. Don't smile until the end of the speech, on a pretty soft face like yours, a smile can be seen as a weakness of shyness or fear, don't show that. Lastly, for the love of all things holy, be careful. If you cut yourself, fall or do anything that may cause you to bleed, Nik and I along with Jett and Wyatt will have to probably kill a ton of our own because they can't control themselves. Your blood is different, it's...more pure so..."

"Why the fuck do you smell like that? I hear Jett seethe from outside the room.

Thank you all for reading! Please remember to vote, comment, and follow!

To whoever was impacted by hurricane Ian, I hope you're okay and safe! 

I've also gone a whole month without smoking a cigarette! I don't know how I did it, but I'm happy I pushed through. :)