Cupid did not understand what happened. She and Thalia were getting along perfectly fine one day, and then the next Thalia was avoiding her like the plague. It frustrated her to no end.
Like right now, Cupid had just gotten to the Castleteria and beamed at the girl, walking up to her so they could have breakfast together, but as soon as Thalia saw her, she wrapped her cloak tighter around her and got up to leave, her breakfast half eaten. No "good morning", no smile, not even a second glance. She even left her coffee!
Cupid just wanted to know what had changed in so little time. Everything else seemed fine with Thalia! She still hung out with Raven and Maddie around the hallways, and Cupid swore she had even seen her smile more than once. She went to class and sat on her usual seat, she had even seen her chat with Briar and Ashlynn!
"I don't know what in the kingdom has happened! We were friends at the party, and when I got back to our room, there was this horrid black curtain in the middle!" The angel complained to Blondie. "And I can't move it! It's the worst thing ever after!"
"I honestly don't know what to tell you, Cupid. She's a strange girl." She waved it off, not seeing her friend's frown. "To me, she seems the same."
That was the problem. People just thought it was normal, but she knew better. There was something bothering Thalia, but she wouldn't tell her.
The game of cat and mouse continued for so long and frankly, Cupid was getting tired of it. Finally, she cornered Thalia while she was talking to Maddie. Thalia grimaced as she realized that she couldn't avoid her roommate anymore.
"Why are you avoiding me?" Cupid asked the million-dollar question. "Did I do something?" Thalia crossed her arms and looked away, seemingly embarrassed.
"Come on, Thals! Tell me!" Cupid begged. When Thalia stayed silent, Cupid feared the worst.
"I-" Thalia was about to answer when Cupid interrupted her.
"Look, I'm sorry for throwing you to Raven so that Dexter could forget about her and come to me, but I didn't think it'd be so bad! You two are great for each other! Please just stop avoiding me!"
Thalia's eyes widened. "What..."
Cupid realized that Thalia was not avoiding her for that reason and rushed to explain herself. "L-look, I know that sounds bad..."
"You used me and you call yourself my best friend?" Thalia's eyes flashed dangerously and she bared her teeth, showing her pointed canines. "I haven't had friends for a long time, but even I know friends aren't supposed to do that!"
"Thals, if you could please just listen-" Cupid put her hands out to try and console her, but it didn't work.
"I can't believe I fell for you."
Cupid tensed. "Wait, what? Y-you like me?" She asked incredulously.
"Yes. It's the first time that I've ever had a crush, and it turns out she was using me the whole time." Thalia turned away from Cupid, her gaze now stone cold. "I didn't like how you made me feel. It was new, and I didn't know how to handle it. But I do now. Congratulations Cupid, you got what you wanted. I finally believed that love wasn't so bad, but because of you, I won't be letting anyone near my heart like that ever again. Hope you're happy." Thalia was trying hard not to let the tears well up her eyes, or her voice crack.
Love... Romantic love was such a stupid thing. It was dangerous, too. She had a new feeling in her chest now. Is this what others feel when Father takes their loved ones away?
Grief. Thalia liked it worse than that sickening happy and scary feeling she'd been having for the whole day.
"Wh-what?" Cupid looked almost as heartbroken as Thalia was feeling. She was trying to understand when the situation had gotten out of hand and how in the realms she hadn't noticed her best friend had a crush on her!
Maddie, sensing that her friend needed help, jumped in front of her with a big frown. "That is so not wonderlandiful of you, Cupid! Now, if you'll excuse us, it's tea time, and you're not invited." With a little scoff, she turned the other way and dragged Thalia along with her. Earl Grey came out of her hat, sticking out his tongue at Cupid.
•••
A few days passed. But, to Cupid, she felt like it was years. Thalia was all-out avoiding her once again, but this time out of anger instead of embarrassment. This time, it was different.
Cupid never saw so much of her shadow these days. It was like she never existed outside of class.
However, whenever they were in the same space, Thalia didn't show her anger. In fact, she didn't show any emotion at all. She was stoic, not wanting to let anyone see just how vulnerable she could be when love affected her. Cupid was starting to become desperate.
None of this escaped the sharp eyes of Kitty Cheshire. She saw how the two were being ridiculously annoying about their feelings and wanted to stir the pot a little. One day, when Cupid was sitting outside, Kitty crept over to her.
"Lover's quarrel?" she cooed, getting real close to Cupid.
Cupid sighed in exasperation. "What do you want, Kitty," she said, rubbing her forehead.
"I know a way to get your little Grim Reaper back," Kitty whispered tantalizingly. "You've got to court her."
"How am I supposed to do that when she hates me?" cried Cupid, putting her head in her hands.
"If you give her wisteria, she'd be bound to consider it." Kitty giggled sneakily. "It's her favorite flower." She disappeared with a smile.
Of course! Cupid almost facepalmed herself. How had she not thought about it sooner? Flowers were always a nice peace offering gift. And if wisterias were her favorite, then she'd get her some wisterias.
With a newfound hope, Cupid jumped to her feet and started walking to the small town. She had a few flowers to buy.
Thalia never would've thought she'd be allergic to her room. Sure, Cupid's pink part of it wasn't her favorite thing in the world, but she had never physically reacted to it. Other than fake gagging, anyways. So when she started to cough as soon as she walked through the door she was startled.
"Thals! You're back!" Cupid stood in the middle of the room with a big smile on her lips.
Had she not been feeling like she was dying (how ironic), Thalia would've probably felt her knees go weak at that beautiful sight. Her knees did go weak, and her legs did give up, her figure falling to the ground.
"Thalia!" Cupid rushed to her "What's wrong? Are you okay?" Of course she's not okay, Cupid, she's dying! She scolded herself.
"Wh-what's t-that?" Thalia somehow managed through coughs. "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything, I swear! I-I bought you some flowers, a-as a peace offering!" Stuttering, the angel tried to keep herself from panicking.
"Wisterias?" Thalia's coughs got worse. "I'm allergic to those!" She choked out when Cupid nodded.
"Oh, Aphrodite! Let's get you out of here!" She didn't even bother to fully close the door, just lifted Thalia up to a standing position and took her outside of the castle. She threw the wisteria into a trash bin along the way.
After Thalia's allergy attack passed, Cupid was still apologizing non stop. Honestly, Thalia didn't know if she felt more asphyxiated by the apologies or the flowers.
"That stupid cat! She tricked me!" Cupid grumbled.
"What?"
"Kitty told me wisteria flowers were your favorite. I wanted to make it up to you, or at least start to, but I should've known better than trusting her." Cupid sounded so disappointed in herself, Thalia's heart couldn't quite take in that sight.
But, she was a Reaper, so instead of melting, she scowled. "I'm going to murder that feline," She growled.
"Now now, Thals, I don't think that's quite the way to go about this," said Cupid with a sudden devious smile on her face. Thalia's eyes widened at what Cupid was insinuating. She smirked.
"I like how you think," said Thalia.
"That's a first," teased Cupid. That earned an elbow jab from Thalia. "Sorry, sorry," said Cupid, clutching her side.
•••
Not knowing that Cupid and Thalia had made up, Kitty approached Thalia next when Thalia was sitting in the Castleteria. "Missing your little Lovebird?"
Thalia played along. "What's it to you?"
"I know a way you can get her back," she cooed, almost wrapping around her.
"You know Kitty, I happen to have this book I received from my father." Thalia pulled out a small black leather journal. Kitty furrowed her eyebrows, confused.
"It's quite the interesting artifact," Thalia said as she flipped the pages absentmindedly. "You see, whatever name I write in this book, it appears on a book that my father owns." However, all the pages were empty.
Thalia snapped the book shut so that Kitty could see the title on the cover. "Thalia's Hitlist" was embroidered across the top. "It tells him who I want dead," said Thalia with a sadistic glint in her eyes.
Kitty quickly retracted from Thalia as though she was burned.
"As you saw, the pages are rather empty. Would you like to be the first?" Thalia pulled out a quill and held it in between her hands teasingly.
"No no," whimpered Kitty, scared out of her mind. She slowly moved away.
"Great," said Thalia with a smile sweet as honey. Although it was pleasant, Kitty could tell that it was laced with poison. "Please don't bother me and Cupid again." And with that, Thalia put away her journal and left.
As soon as she left the Castleteria, Cupid was waiting for her outside the entryway. Giggling quietly, they dashed to their dorm room and collapsed on Thalia's bed.
The two girls were breathless from laughing and all the running. They sat up, clutching their torsos. There was a brief moment of comfortable silence as the girls tried to catch their breath.
The two girls stared into each other's eyes for a brief moment, and Thalia felt the world stop. For a moment, it was just her and Cupid in this world. Suddenly Thalia realized how close they were.
"Thalia," whispered Cupid. "Can I kiss you?" Thalia nodded slightly and Cupid closed the space between them.
When their lips met, Thalia thought she would combust. There was an unfamiliar warmth spreading from her fingertips all the way down to her toes. She could only focus on how soft her lips were against her own.
When the two girls broke apart, their lips were slightly swollen. "Disgusting," said Thalia as she wiped her lips. "Do it again."
Cupid giggled. "Does this mean you forgive me?"
"Shut up and do it again," muttered Thalia.
"Of course," said Cupid, closing the gap between them once more.