(Just a quick heads up, this is a long chapter.)
{A Month And A Half Later}
~Darius POV~
Alador made dinner. He put a plate down for Eber. He scratched Eber's head. Alador picked up the two plates from the counter and came over to the table. He put one in front of me and I pulled him on my lap.
"Hey!" He laughed. "Let me up!"
"Nope!" I replied.
"Please?" He asked.
"No." I answered. "I want you on my lap, Alador."
He sighed and put his plate down on the table and leaned his head back. He silently stared at me.
"What?" I asked.
"What do you mean 'what'?" Alador asked.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked.
"I have a question for you." He answered.
"Then ask it." I said.
"It's about us." He told me.
"Just ask it already." I rolled my eyes.
"Do you think we'll ever get married?" He asked.
I got anxious then just stared at him.
"Now you're looking at me weird." He noted.
"Alador." I said, sympathetically.
"What?" He asked. "I don't like that 'let them down easy' tone. It makes me anxious."
"You remember I'm a wild witch, right? And you're a coven witch?" I asked. "You remember that?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?" He answered.
"Alador, it's illegal for coven witches to marry wild ones." I told him.
"It...is?" He asked.
I nodded.
"There aren't any loopholes either. Not one. It's impossible." I answered.
He looked at his wrist and thumbed at his coven sigil.
"I messed up..." He mumbled. "I mess everything up."
I grabbed his arm and lifted it close to me then kissed the sigil. Alador laughed softly.
"That tickles." He stated.
"I know." I said after kissing it a second time. "Now stop being sad and feeling down about yourself. You're making my boyfriend upset and I don't like it when my boyfriend is upset."
"I am your boyfriend." He rolled his eyes.
I kissed his cheek.
"Yeah and you're making yourself upset." I said. "Stop it. You didn't mess things up. We're just fine."
"But-" He started.
"No. Shh. Stop it. Stop upsetting yourself." I snapped. "So what if coven and wild witches can't get married, we still love each other."
"Yeah." Alador said. "We do."
I kissed his cheek again.
"Je t'aime." I told him.
"Je t'aime aussi." He replied.
"Now we should eat. Our food is getting cold." I suggested.
"Can I get up?" Alador asked.
I shook my head and kissed him.
"No, you're staying there." I stated.
"Please let me up." He replied.
I fake sighed and let go of him. He picked up his plate and sat on the other side of the table.
{A Few Weeks Later}
I opened the front door and went into the living room. I saw Alador knelt by Eber in the mini hall where the bedroom and bathroom are.
"Tell me when he's home." He told Eber.
Eber looked at me and barked. Alador stood up and swung around.
"Hey, my love! You're home early!" Alador exclaimed.
"What did you do?" I asked.
"Nothing!" He answered, slowly stepping in front of the bedroom door.
"Uh-huh." I said. "Move."
He shook his head.
"If there's nothing wrong, then move." I said.
He shook his head again. I put my hands on his shoulders and moved him aside. Then I opened the bedroom. Abomination slime and mechanical parts were everywhere. Dirty clothes were also scattered everywhere since the hamper was knocked over. I stared at the mess.
"What the fuck happened?!" I shouted.
"One of my inventions explored! I was gonna get it cleaned up before you got home but you're early...." Alador admitted.
I stayed silent.
"Silent mad. Bad mad." Alador mumbled.
I went to speak but Alador kissed me before I could. He pulled away then gave me an awkward smile. I took a deep breath to calm down.
"Just clean it up. I have to go out and get something. When I get back, this better be clean." I told him.
"Works every time." He mumbled.
Damnit he did it again. I don't know where he learned it but every time he makes a giant mess, he kisses me and I calm down a bit. It's annoying but it works. I hate it.
"I'll clean it up." Alador told me. "Everything will be spic and span!"
"Alright." I said.
I went into the living room and grabbed my sweatband from the coffee table.
"Are you going to work out? You did that this morning, my love." Alador said.
"Aren't you supposed to be cleaning your mess?" I asked.
He sighed and went into the bedroom.
Eber asked if I was going to the place I told him about.
"Yep." I told him.
He asked if he could come with.
"If you want to." I said.
{An Hour And A Half Later}
I twisted the sweatband on my wrist. Eber whimpered and scratched the band on his wrist.
"I know. I don't like it either." I said. "Now we have another stop to make."
Eber nodded and asked where.
{Half An Hour Later}
I went into the jewelry shop. Immediately I noticed a ginger I know all too well. Eber barked and pointed to her.
"What do you mean it's already sold?! To who?!" Eda snapped at the witch behind the counter.
I walked over and saw what piece she was talking about. A ring. The one I reserved.
"I thought you liked older jewelry, Eda." I noted.
She jumped.
"Darius?! When did you get here?! Wait, why are you here? I thought you weren't a fan of any jewelry?" Eda asked.
"I assume the same reason you are." I answered then turned my attention to the witch behind the counter. "I'm here to pick up the piece I reserved."
The witch nodded, took the ring from the case, and went in the back to pack it up.
"I reserved that ring months ago." I noted
"You're the one who bought that?! But it's an engagement ring. Holy shit are you going to ask Alador to marry you?!" Eda asked.
"Yeah. I've been planning to ask Alador for a while now." I admitted.
"But he joined a coven. It's illegal for coven and wild witches to marry." She reminded me.
I removed the sweatband on my wrist to show the abomination coven sigil.
"The coven system is corrupt but I didn't really have a choice." I told her. "I want to marry him. I was gonna propose to him months ago but he joined a coven so I had to figure out if there was a loophole in the law against coven-wild marriage but there isn't so I joined a coven."
"I can't tell if that's romantic or pathetic." She laughed.
I laughed too. Eber barked.
"Eber joined a coven too. The beast keeping coven." I told Eda. "He said if I'm stuck in a coven, he might as well be too."
Eda smiled.
"So, I assume you're here to get an engagement ring for Raine." I noted.
Eda blushed.
"Yeah. I, um, wanted to see what they have!" She said.
"I can help you look. Aside from Eber, Raine's my best friend." I noted, adding the last part so Eber didn't attack me.
Eda nodded.
{A Couple Hours Later}
Eda laughed and twirled around as we walked from the jewelry store.
"We need to plan this out!" She exclaimed, stopping laughing and twirling.
"I already have a plan." I said.
"No, I mean, we need to pick a day and both do it and after we'll meet somewhere. Hell. Maybe we could convince Raine and Alador to do a double wedding. It'd be so cool!" Eda explained as we walked. "Me and Raine. You and Alador. Eber with the rings."
Eber barked that he liked the idea.
"You're thinking way too far ahead." I laughed. "Maybe we could pick a day and meet up after. Maybe a double wedding could be fun but Alador and Raine have to say 'yes' to the proposals first."
"Fine." Eda sighed. "But they love us, they couldn't possibly say 'no'."
I flipped her giant ponytail over her face. She laughed and flipped it back.
"So what's your plan for asking Alador? I need ideas for asking Raine!" Eda asked.
I explained my plan, the sigil reveal, everything.
"That's disgustingly romantic!" She laughed.
I shrugged.
"That's also a lot. Like a lot." She said
"I'm dramatic, what do you expect?" I asked.
She shrugged.
"That's about right." She admitted. "It gave me a few ideas, wanna hear? I'm not gonna do that much but still, do you wanna hear it?."
"Sure." I said.
"A clear sky, I take Raine to this hill I know, it's surrounded and covered by flowers. Maybe we'll play a few bard spells or something like that then I'll ask them." She explained. "Simple."
"Very simple, sweet, but still very simple." I said.
"I'll do my thing." She shrugged. "Raine will love it. They love that sappy stuff."
"Alador loves when I'm dramatic." I said. "Perfect plans on both our ends. They'll both love it."
"Mhm!" Eda replied. "There's no way either of them can say 'no' to us!"
Eber and I laughed.
"We should probably get home before Alador gets suspicious." I sighed.
Eber nodded.
"Yeah. I've been gone too long. Raine's probably worried sick." Eda noted. "I'll call you to set up a day and meeting place. This is going to be awesome!"
I nodded.
"I'm pumped! This is exciting!" Eda said.
"Go before you pass out." I laughed.
She nodded.
{An Hour Later}
I closed the door and noticed Alador laying on the couch. I walked over and knelt down beside him. He looked tired.
"Hey, babe." I said.
"Hi, Darius." Alador replied. "I cleaned up my mess. It was really hard but everything is clean."
"Good job." I said.
I kissed him.
"How about I make you dinner and then we cuddle until we fall asleep? How does that sound?" I asked.
Alador nodded.
"Sounds amazing." He said. "I always want cuddles."
I kissed him again.
"While I cook, you need to shower." I noted. "You're filthy."
He nodded and laughed.
"Alright, my love." He jokingly sighed.
He got up and went into the bathroom. I hid the ring then went into the kitchen to make dinner.
{An Hour Later}
I smelled Alador's very strong scented shampoo.
"Hi, Cutie." I said, not looking up from my cooking.
"How did you know I was here? I was quiet!" Alador asked.
"If you used less pungent shampoo, I wouldn't have." I noted.
"Oh. Yeah. That'd be obvious, huh?" He replied.
"Did you need something?" I asked.
"I wanted to know if I could help." He replied.
"No. I've got this handled. Plus every time we cook together, we argue." I reminded him.
He kissed me on the cheek.
"Je t'aime Darius!" He told me.
"Je t'aime aussi Alador." I replied.
{A Hour And A Half Later}
"Do you feel better?" I asked, wrapping Alador's giant fluffy blanket around the three of us.
Alador nodded. He snuggled up to me and smiled. I held him. Eber fell asleep on his lap.
"Thank you." Alador said.
"You're welcome, Cutie." I replied.
He kissed me.
"I love you." He murmured.
"I love you too." I told him.
He started slowly dozing off so I maneuvered so we were laying down.
"Noooo...I wanna cuddle more..." He mumbled.
"We're still cuddling, we're just laying down." I laughed nuzzling his cheek.
He dozed off without another word and I just held him, trying to fall asleep myself.
{About A Week Later}
Today's the day.
"Let me know when he's awake, okay?" I told Eber.
He nodded and ran into the bedroom.
{10 Minutes Later}
~Alador POV~
I opened my eyes and sat up. I stretched and saw something blurry, probably Eber, run out of the room. Confused, I looked over. Darius isn't in bed. I put on my glasses and checked the time. 9am? It's his day off, usually he'd be reading in bed at this time.
The bedroom door opened and Darius came in with a tray. Pancakes with fruit on them and apple punch were on the tray.
"Good morning, Babe." Darius said.
"What's going on?" I asked. "Did I forget my birthday again?"
"It's not your birthday, I just want to be nice and have a fun day." He answered, putting the tray on my lap.
"Is this because I was upset and acting negative about myself yesterday?" I asked.
"Not necessarily." He answered.
What is going on?
"You're up to something..." I said.
He kissed me and messed with my hair.
"Hey!" I exclaimed.
"Eat your breakfast!" He told me.
He patted me cheek.
"Also, I love it when you wear your glasses." He noted.
He still says that every morning.
{Half An Hour Later}
I finished showering and getting dressed. Darius was talking to Eber when I went into the living room.
"That's the plan." Darius said.
Eber barked.
"What are you up to?" I asked.
Darius jumped. Eber laughed.
"Shut up, mutt." Darius rolled his eyes.
Eber kept laughing and Darius came over to me.
"Hey, Surdoué!" Darius said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"What are you two up to?" I asked.
"You'll have to wait and see." He answered. "We have a lot of time to kill before the next thing I have planned, what do you want to do?"
Why is he being so nice today? I honestly don't deserve it and I feel terrible about it. What the hell is he up to?
~Darius PPV~
I noticed Alador looked upset. Am I doing something wrong?
"We could hang out with Raine and Edalyn." Alador suggested.
"Anything but that." I told him.
"I can't think of anything." He replied.
"Why do you look sad?" I asked.
"I'm fine." He answered.
"Are you sure?" I asked, obviously concerned.
"Mhm." He said.
"Okay." I said, though I didn't believe him.
I kissed him and nuzzled his nose. He laughed.
"There's nothing you can think of that you want to do?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"You know the museum has a new exhibit, right?" I asked.
"They do?" He asked.
"Yeah, they added it the other day." I answered. "It's an insect exhibit. If you wanna go, we can."
"You hate the museum though." He noted.
"But I love you and want you to enjoy today." I noted.
"Why? What are you up to?" He asked.
"Nothing. Nothing." I lied. "I'm not up to anything."
"I don't believe you." He told me.
"I just want you to be happy and to have a great day." I replied.
"You're never this nice. You made me breakfast in bed." He noted.
Was that too much? Maybe Eda was right, I planned a lot. It's too late to change up the plan.
"So I'm being extra nice today, is that a bad thing?" I asked.
"No, I guess not." He admitted.
"Je t'aime." I said.
"Je t'aime aussi Darius." He smiled.
"Now come on, let's go before the museum gets busy." I suggested. "I know that you hate crowds."
He nodded and I kissed him.
"You'll always remember today." I stated.
{Several Hours Later}
We spent a few hours at the museum. I had told Eber to go keep watch over the spot I plan to propose. Alador seemed upset again after the museum, though I'm not sure why. I suggested we cuddle and that seemed to cheer him up.
I looked at Alador. His eyes were closed and he just leaned on me.
"Did you fall asleep?" I asked.
"No. I'm awake." Alador answered, looking at me.
He looks sad again.
"Alador, why are you so sad today?" I asked.
"I'm just having an off day I guess." He admitted.
He ran his thumb over his coven sigil. I grabbed his wrist and kissed the sigil a few times. Alador laughed. I let go of his wrist and ran my fingers through his hair. He smiled at me.
"There's one last thing I wanna take you to do before the sun sets." I told him. "It'll cheer you right up."
"What is it?" He asked.
"A picnic." I answered. "I know you love picnics."
"I do..." He admitted.
I kissed him. Alador loves nature and picnics are fun ways for us to observe nature together. I get to sit on a blanket to prevent myself from getting dirty and Alador can chase bugs. Eber likes picnics for that reason too but he mostly sleeps in the sun when we picnic.
"A picnic can hopefully cheer you up." I told him.
He nodded.
"Come on. We should get going." I said. "Eber can't guard the picnic for much longer."
"It's already set up?" He asked.
"Mhm." I replied, pulling him to his feet. "It wouldn't be as fun if you had to wait and watch me set it up."
I kissed him.
"Unless you find that kind of stuff attractive." I added. "Maybe I should've waited to set it up. Give you a little show."
He laughed.
"There. Got you smiling." I said.
{Half An Hour Later}
I patted Eber's head.
"Good boy." I said.
He barked happily then ran off to lay under a tree several feet away.
I grabbed Alador's hand and led him over to the picnic area. He gasped. A plum and mauve colored blanket spread over the grass. A bouquet of red tulips, some flower petals, a candle, a basket, and some apple blood lay perfectly placed across the blanket. Our palismen were running around together like always.
"I expected something small." Alador admitted. "Not...this."
"No, you look sad again. This was supposed to be perfect." I said, cupping his hands in mine. "Did I do something wrong?! What can I do to fix it?!"
"No, no. Nothing's wrong with the picnic. It's perfect." He assured me. "Completely perfect."
"Then what's wrong, Alador?" I asked. "Something has obviously been bugging you all day. I love you. Please tell me what's wrong."
He looked at our hands and squeezed mine.
"I don't deserve what you've been doing today. It's all perfect and I'm not." He told me.
"You're perfect to me." I told him. "Everything about you is."
"Darius..." Alador said. "I love you. I love you more than you know but I don't think we should be together."
I felt my heart shattered as those words left his lips.
"You deserve someone who you can be a wild witch with. Someone who won't join a coven without telling you. Someone you're able to marry..." Alador told me. "Someone who's better than me..."
"Alador, no. No. I don't want anyone else. I want you. Only you. Please, Alador..." I begged him. "I love you. We're partners in crime, remember?"
"I remember...but we're not. Not anymore at least. We haven't been since I joined a coven. You can't tell me you haven't felt the tension." He said.
I have but I didn't want to admit it.
"We're a little broken, we can fix things." I assured him, letting go of his hands and placing my hand on his cheek. "Alador, don't do this. We can fix this. We can fix us. Please..."
"I don't think we can." Alador told me, cupping my face in his hands. "I'm sorry."
He kissed me. He tastes like apple punch and spearmint gum. Honestly how he can stand his mouth tasting like that is beyond me. Disgusting. Though, it felt nice. Soft. Gentle. After a minute, Alador pulled away.
"Darius, I love you and I'm sorry but this is for the best." Alador told me. "Goodbye."
He let go of me and walked back the way we'd come. The palismen stopped running. They looked at me and then at Alador walking away. Ben quickly nuzzled Ace before running after Alador. Ace looked up at me co confused.
{A Few Hours Later}
Eber and I found Eda sitting on the beach alone.
"I assume your proposal went as good as mine did." I said, sitting next to her.
She looked over.
"Raine said I've been pushing them away and that they were joining the bard coven." Eda told us. "I didn't even get a chance."
Eber jumped on her lap and tried to comfort her.
"How did it go with your plans?" She asked me.
"I didn't get a chance to ask either. We got to the picnic and Alador told me we were broken, unfixable, and that I deserved better." I answered.
We both took the ring boxes from our pockets and opened them. We sat quietly. Eber whimpered nudging the boxes. He kept saying they were making us sadder and to put them away.
"Wanna throw these into the boiling sea to take out our frustration?" Eda asked.
I nodded. We both got to our feet. Eber jumped on my shoulder. At full strength, Eda and I threw the boxes with the rings into the sea. I cast a spell. An abomination fist flew from the sea and hit the boxes. The boxes opened and flew higher in the sky. The moon light lit up the rings as they fell into the boiling sea. The moment of bliss passed in an instant. Eda fell back into a sitting position, pulled her legs up to her chest, and started crying into her knees. I sat next to her. On the verge of tears myself, I patted her back.
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(The End?)
(Thank you all for your support on this book, I was worried about it but it's one of my best works and i have all of you to thank for making me see that. It's always fun to see your comments events and guesses on twists. It makes me smile every time someone adds to those mini comment threads about who the person labeled '??????' is on chapter 1 or people guessing who sent the letter to Darius's parents in chapter 18 or people excited about Steven on chapter 24. These comments fueled me to keep updating even though I haven't been motivated to write that much about The Owl House recently. Thankfully I finished writing this story before my motivation started dwindling. Book 2 is started in my drafts but I don't personally feel like it's to this book's level and with my motivation like this it may be a while before it's posted. I will add an update onto this book when I do, hopefully eventually, post book 2. Whether it was freaking out over grom or trying not to die while getting attacked by random nonsense or crying about Eda and Darius body swapping, you guys kept reading and supporting this story the entire time. Thank you for your support and patience with this story and me.)