The drive back to Hope's house was silent, Landon remained quiet, thinking Hope needed time to take everything in. Hope, on the other hand, stayed silent because she knew that if she said anything, she'd probably end up crying again.
When they reach Hope's bedroom, Landon decides it's time he finally breaks the silence between them. "Hope," he tries.
"Don't," she speaks sternly, before turning to face him. "I asked you to stay here, because I knew something like this would happen."
"You're mad at me?" Landon asks, slightly confused.
"No, I'm mad at myself!" Hope yells, with tears in her eyes, "I should have protected you!"
"It's not your job to protect me," Landon protests, calmly.
"Yes, it is. I dragged you into this world, so it's my job to protect you from it," Hope says, still yelling.
"It's not your fault," Landon tries to assure his girlfriend. "None of us thought MG would do something like that."
"But I should have known. I should have kept my guard up," the tribrid almost cries.
"Hope," Landon sighs, not knowing what to say anymore.
"I watched you die, Landon," tears begin to roll down her face and her shoulders shake slightly as she tries not to sob. "I tried to stop him, but I watched you die and there was nothing I could do to stop it. And it felt exactly like the moment I woke up and my Aunt Freya told me my mom had died. I felt so useless." Landon steps forwards quickly and pulls Hope into his arms, letting her cry into his chest, "I thought, I had lost another person I love," Hope mumbles quietly, but freezes when she realises what she has said.
"What did you just say?" Landon asks, leaning back slightly to look at Hope.
"I, uh, I love you," she admits with a smile.
"I love you too," Landon smiles and pulls Hope into a kiss, "and you haven't lost me, I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere.
"We should get some sleep," the tribrid points out, "and you should get yourself cleaned up; you're covered in ash."
"You're right, I'll be right back," Landon grabs his bag and walks into Hope's bathroom.
Hope sighs, watching the door to the bathroom for a minute before going into the closet and changing into some pyjamas, afterwards she climbs into bed to wait for Landon to join her, when he does he's dressed in clean sweatpants and a T-shirt and has cleaned off most of the ash. He climbs into the bed next to Hope and pulls her close so that her head is resting on his chest and they both fall asleep.
Author's Note:
So here's the first chapter of the sequel, I know it's only small but the next few will be longer. What do you guys think of the title? I'm not 100% sure on it, so if you have any other ideas let me hear them.