To The Ends of The Universe (ONC 2024 ✔)

Chapter 3: The Truth

"Come on, Eileen." Reluctantly, Eileen followed him to the car. Climbing into the driver seat, she closed the door. She leaned her head against the window. Her mind was racing, confusion and betrayal flickering across her mind. So, he does have a brother. He's been lying to me all this time.

"I never wanted you to find out this way," he muttered. Eileen didn't look at him. "Trust me, the last thing I wanted was for you to find out about my family or my predicament." A sigh left his lips. "Eileen, that night you found me, I was attacked."

Attacked?

Her eyebrows furrowed. "I mean I figured that out from our conversations. I just thought it was an abusive relationship though." Her gaze flickered to Ursus.

"Not abuse." Ursus sighed. "A mercenary. I was able to escape through a portal orb and arrive on earth."

A portal orb? Eileen blinked again. The words were going through one ear and out the other. "Wait, wait. Are you saying you're not from earth?" Reaching a red light, his gaze snapped to hers.

"Yes." Ursus glanced back ahead. "I'm from a city called Lyria." Lyria? He pulled the car into drive.

"I don't understand," she whispered.

"During the 1900s, a government building was trying to work on teleportation. They were about to show their invention to the world when there was a freak accident. The teleportation station blew up and the surviving humans awakened on my home planet."

The 1900s.

"That explains so much," she whispered. "Like your weird accent at first!"

"Wait," Ursus frowned. "You thought my accent was weird?"

"Um..." Eileen blinked. "No?"

Ursus was not amused.

"Wait, wait, wait." Eileen turned to him. "So if you're from the 1900s, does that mean you guys dress up in big fancy hats and petticoats."

"You do know that was centuries ago right?" His lips twitched. "We have evolved by then."

"Oh," she nodded. "True."

Pulling in front of their apartment, he pulled the car into park. Silence fell between them again. "I never wanted to hurt you."

Eileen stared down at her hands. She was feeling confused, conflicted, but not hurt. "I don't feel hurt per say." She met his gaze. "I just feel so confused." Might as well rip the bandage off. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I couldn't." He shook his head. "I was on edge. You have to understand our culture is so much different from yours." His jaw clenched. "I had nowhere to go, no way to get home."

"And lying about your family?"

"Easiest way to prevent a search from happening."

"But it's been a year now," she countered. "You could have told me any time afterwards." Her eyes narrowed. "Why didn't you?"

"Honestly?" Ursus chuckled bitterly. "I hate where I'm from. Hybrids like me are treated like dirt. Like we're pests that need to be exterminated."

What?

His grip tightened around the wheel. "It doesn't matter." Releasing a sigh, he turned to her. His eyes glowed softly. "When I'm with you, Eileen, I forgot all that. I finally feel like I have someone who accepts me for me. Someone who doesn't see me as a hybrid but a person. You didn't have to help me that night but you did." Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead against hers. "And I can never thank you enough."