Nightfall (KotLC)

Chapter 25

Hi guys! A lot of you have been super excited for the next chapter, and here it is! Again, thank you so much for 3K reads! Anyway, here it is and enjoy!

"Remember when we played Truth or Dare? And I told you... how I feel about Fitz?"

"Yes," replied Sophie, starting to realize where this was going.

"Well, then you kissed him, and I feel like you..." She buried her head in her hands.

"Linh, look," Sophie said, trying to comfort her friend. "Before we played Truth or Dare, I told Fitz that I liked him. And he said he liked me. And we kissed." She paused, unsure of how much she should tell her already crying friend. "And when you saw us, he had just told me"– she hesitated– "he loved me."

Linh's body shook with sobs. "I'm so sorry Linh. I didn't do it to hurt you. I never would do anything to hurt you."

Linh looked up, the tears slipping off her face and forming a small ball in her hand. She stared at the ball before squishing it bitterly.

Sophie looked helplessly at her grief-stricken friend. She didn't know what to say. She loved Fitz, but she also didn't want to hurt her friend. She was saved from having to think of the right thing to do by Fitz opening the door.

"It's Oralie."

Sophie's head spun. She had hit Oralie with part of the forcefield, and now she was fatally injured. She numbly followed Fitz to the bedroom. She saw Oralie lying sedated on the bed, Physic frantically applying elixirs and balms. Elwin had joined her. Terik and Bronte stood stunned in the background. Sophie's vision blacked over.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

When she woke up, she didn't open her eyes right away. Instead, she enjoyed the two seconds before it all came crashing back at her. Oralie. Linh. She rolled over in her bed, covering her face in the pillow.

"I know you're awake," an accented voice said.

She didn't respond, instead pretending that she was still asleep. The numbness from before slowly crept back.

She felt the bed shift as Fitz sat down. "I talked to Linh. She's"– he paused, so briefly Sophie almost didn't notice– "going to be okay. Oralie's going to be okay, too," he added.

She still remained silent. After a few moments, the bed shifted again. She felt his body next to hers. "Don't allow yourself to feel too much guilt. You can't control what Linh is feeling."

"I shouldn't have hit Oralie," she mumbled, the sound barely audible.

"You needed to protect Amy. Not just because she is your sister, but also because she has value to the Lodestar Initiative or whatever else the Neverseen is doing. You couldn't control where that went. She's going to be fine," he repeated.

"I should have been able to control it."

I'm the moonlark, she added.

That doesn't mean you're perfect, and it doesn't mean you're indestructible. It does mean that you can handle this, even if it gets hard. But you can't bring yourself down.

She curled up against his chest, her shoulder shaking gently as she cried. He kissed the top of her head softly. They lay there until they heard a light knocking on the door.