"He's so obsessed with me and, boy, I understand"
"Find me!"
I tossed around in bed as pain shot through my entire body.
"Get out" I said.
"Find me!"
"I said get out!" I yelled.
I sat up as everything in my room flew to the wall. Riven jumped out of bed as I began hyperventilating. He put his hands on my cheeks, forcing me to look in his eyes.
"Hey, you're okay" he said.
My breathing slowed as he rubbed circles with his thumbs.
"What the fuck happened?" He asked.
"I.. I don't know" I said. "She's in my head again."
"You need to tell your mum" he said.
"I can't" I said.
"Briar, you need to" he said.
"No" I said. "Riv, she's hiding something from me."
"Most parents do" he said.
I looked down as my heart ached. Riven never talked about his parents, I never pushed him to either. If it wasn't something he wanted to talk about then that was that.
"She's not like most parents" I said. "She's the mother of one of the most powerful fairies alive, she'd hidden a lot of stuff from me about my magic. I know my mum, so I know when she's hiding something."
"I don't think it's good to bottle this up" he said.
"I'll be fine" I said.
"What happens when one day you explode?" He asked.
"Just hold me" I whispered.
He got back into bed, pulling my body towards his. I put my head on his chest, hearing his increased heartbeat. He began running his hands through my hair as I went back to sleep.
The next day he continued to pester me about telling my mother which I stood my ground each time. He kept telling me I should tell at least Sky who I knew would worry and probably tell my mother or worse, Silva.
"Hello?" Gwen said.
She knocked on my head as if she was knocking on a door.
"I'd appreciate if you did not do that again" I said.
"Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" She asked.
"I've been he-" I stopped talking once I saw Oliver walking towards us.
"Babe" he said.
He swooped in, kissing Gwen on her cheek.
"Glad I ran into you, Bri" he said.
"Don't call me that" I snapped.
I didn't hate Oliver, but I didn't particularly like him either. He was a straight up dick but he treated Gwen the way she deserved so I let it slide.
"Briar, Sky is actually looking for you" he said. "He said he's been trying to text you."
"I left my phone in my room" I said.
"Ahh" he said. "Bastion."
I saluted to him as I walked away. I found Sky sitting alone, staring out into space. I sat beside him, pulling my legs closer to my body as I rested my chin on one of my knees.
"It sucks" he said.
"I know" I said. "I'm sorry."
"I don't get it, Bri" he said. "I've been waiting and waiting. I loved her and she's acting like I meant nothing to her."
I looked at him as he continued to look forward.
"Could you take the pain away?" He asked.
"No" I said.
"No? I know you can" he said.
"I'm fully aware of what my capabilities are but I will not take away your pain simply because you can't handle it" I said. "It's a part of life, Sky, you can't run away from it."
"When did you get so wise?" He asked.
"I think spending too much time with Silva is catching up to me" I said.
I nudged him as a smile formed on his face.
"Remember when we were younger and we'd sneak out to look at the stars?" He asked.
"How could I forget?" I smiled. "I remember the time Silva caught us and we begged him not to tell my mum."
"You were crying" he laughed.
"Hey! She was really scary when we were younger, you have to admit that" I said.
"You are right about that" he said.
We sat there in a comfortable silence, watching the sunset. Sky was a lot more hurt than I had thought, he truly was heartbroken, not that I blame him. If I were in his position I don't know what I'd do.
"I overheard Silva and your mum talking" he said.
"About?" I asked.
"Your training" he said. "She really doesn't like you training with the Specialists and I don't blame her."
"Wait, what?" I said. "Since when?"
"I know you're powerful, Bri, I get that.. but it's dangerous" he said.
"I can't always rely on my magic" I said. "I don't want to be vulnerable in the sense I can't use it."
"It's still dangerous" he said. "You're like my sister. You are my sister, I don't want to lose you."
"You won't lose me. I'm always going to be by your side" I said.
"You can't promise that" he said.
I snapped my head to him as sadness overtook his body, almost like he was mourning but not for Stella.
"I'm more than capable to take care of myself" I said. "Can I be honest?"
"Go ahead" he said.
"I don't know if I can do it, be the leader they want me to be. You're the only other person who truly understands what I mean" I said. "I know I'm special and I should use my magic for the greater good but what if I can't? What if when it comes down to it, I can't do it."
"It's what we've been trained to do, Bri. You can't be second guessing yourself" he said.
"Is this really what we want to do? Spend the rest of our lives fighting, training and protecting?" I said.
"We don't really have a choice" he said.
"What if we do?" I said.
"We don't! And you know that" he said.
I remained silent as I turned to look the other way.
"I've been hearing voices" I said.
"What?" He said.
"I don't know who it is but they keep getting inside my head at the most random times" I said. "I'm pretty sure it's a woman. I saw a glimpse of her and she doesn't look familiar."
"Have you told your mum?" He asked.
"No" I said.
"Why?" He asked.
"I don't want her to worry" I said. "And I swear to god, Sky, if you tell her I will harm you. Riven has been wanting me-"
"Riven knew before me!" He said.
"Well, yeah" I said.
"Seriously, Bri?" He said.
"I thought you'd tell my mum or Silva!" I said.
"I wouldn't do that" he said.
"Sorry" I said.
"Rivne's waiting for you back there" he said. "You should go to him."
"I'm not leaving you" I said.
I looked over my shoulder to Riven who was playing with his knife.
"I'll be fine, I promise" he said.
I stood up, running towards Riven. He took a second to put his knife away before throwing me over his shoulders.
"Riven!" I yelled.
I could hear laughter as he ran down the hall. He finally set me down after a couple minutes. I sprawled out onto his bed as his eyes scanned over the entirety of my body.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer" I said.
"Oh I will" he said.
He took his phone out as I posed for several photos. He laid next to me as he scrolled through the photos.
"My beautiful bumble bee" he said.
He kissed the side of my head continuously as I roamed my hand through his hair.