Eternal: Chapter Two, Part 4

Drei left and, a short while later, Valetta and Mitchell followed suit. Not long after I watched them disappear around the corner, I left Drei a note requesting he meet me on the roof. The night was unusually chilly for the end of spring, but it was still beautiful—almost perfect in some ways.

It didn’t feel like I had been waiting long before Drei showed up. I heard him before I saw him, and I could tell he was uneasy about this. Valetta and Mitchell may not see us leaving together, but he was more concerned about if they saw us return together.

“Don’t worry,” I said as he pulled me into his arms.

“I do not want to cross her,” he said, the caution and the longing competing to be dominant in his voice. “The last time I did, it was rather terrifying.”

“Do you trust me?” My eyes searched his, hoping the answer I thought I knew matched the one his features revealed.

“Of course;” his brow furrowed, his eyes were shocked and incredulous I even had to ask.

“Then don’t worry about it.” When he nodded, I asked in a lighter tone, smiling, “Are you ready?”

“I do not even know for what to be ready.”

Laughing, I began pulling my usual breeze of strings. “Don’t be scared, Drei. I’ll be with you the entire time,” I assured him, stepping onto my breeze.

“You have been busy experimenting again, I see.” His eyes followed me as I moved in slow circles before him. “Now how do you suggest I join you?”

“Step up here with me.” I increased the number of strings and their thickness for added strength. “I’ll help you find your balance.”

Cautiously, he took my offered hand, jumping up to join me and nearly falling off again before taking my other hand and catching himself. I couldn’t help but laugh; I had never seen his eyes so wide before.

“You enjoy tormenting me,” he said, the corners of his lips curled upward and his eyes glowing.

“Only when you let me,” I returned, adjusting my balance so I wouldn’t fall with him. “Tell me when you’re used to it.”

“Not when I am comfortable?” he asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow.

“Well, if I wait for you to be comfortable, we won’t have time to go stargazing.”

“And where do you suggest we do that?”

“Are you used to it?”

“I would assume so.”

Turning my back to him, I announced, “Then we can go,” taking off over the rooftops beyond the city limits, but not too quickly—I didn’t want either of us to fall. Drei held onto my hands as he readjusted his balance to match mine. He was coping better than I had expected, but that might have been because he could use me to help him balance and I would adjust my own footing to accommodate both of us.

Neither of us spoke, but that was probably because neither of us knew what to say to the other. II didn’t mind much; I was just happy to be with him.

“We’re here;” I stopped us in the middle of an old, disused highway. The stars were brilliant here, practically lighting everything on their own. I stepped off of the breeze and Drei followed clumsily; I tried to hide my giggling behind my hand but he still glared playfully at me.

“If you were just going to mock me all night, I should not have indulged you;” he slowly approached, wrapping me in his arms.

“How can I make it up to you?” I asked, sinking into his embrace. I can’t begin to explain how wonderful it felt. It was almost like I was whole again. Almost, because I knew he was holding back, uncertain if this was appropriate or not considering the current situation.

The playfulness racing across his features disappeared to be replaced with a seriousness I was hoping wouldn’t rear its head tonight. “Do you think I deserve you?”

Sighing, I couldn’t help feeling I knew this had been coming. I knew it had been on his mind the past week, ever since Valetta first said it. “Drei, what happened was both of our faults. I don’t want you feeling discontent because someone else thinks you should;” I stared at him, taking in the sorrow just under the surface of the seriousness. “We’ve talked about this; we’ve both come to terms with it. We’re past it.”

“But do I deserve you?” he repeated slowly, painfully.

He really needed this answer, and I couldn’t help but feel obligated to say something. I had been there, after all, needing an answer I didn’t have, hoping it would make things better—feeling unable to move on or make a proper decision without it.

“I think so. Do I deserve you? How do you even measure that?” The question was confusing. How does anyone determine who has a right to be with whom? People make mistakes; just because they know better doesn’t mean they can’t be forgiven.

“You deserve the world, Abriel,” he whispered into my ear, holding me closer to him.

“So do you;” and I meant it. He hadn’t made nearly as many mistakes as I had. The only difference was I always had other people to help me fix them—or just fix them for me in some cases; he didn’t have that leisure or luck. Valetta might have held that against him, but I wouldn’t. If I did, there were a lot of things they should be holding against me and weren’t.

I turned in his arms so we could stargaze, deciding that was enough of that conversation. To be honest, I’m not sure how much stargazing we actually did. It seemed more like we stood together and stargazing was our excuse. When Drei suggested we head back, I created our breeze and waited for him to adjust before flying us back to the apartment rooftop.

Even if the whole rendezvous had been shaky from the start, at least we had spent some time together. I wanted him to be the way he had been—loving and confident, if not still somewhat penitent—but I wanted to be with him more. I didn’t care if that made me selfish or naïve. It’s what I wanted.