Trifecta: Ice [Complete]

Ch 47: My Friend

Karen stayed around for the rest of the morning.  She did not speak of my agitated state further, but I could tell she was watching me more closely than normal.  I wondered what she was imagining, but I did not ask because I was afraid her eyes had already seen too much.

Karen made lunch before she excused herself, but not before making me promise to call her if I needed her in any way.

When Karen left, I breathed a sigh of relief.

My mind could now wander like a lost sheep through the wilderness.

The curse could punish me without me having to endure Karen's gentle concern.  I normally appreciated her thoughtfulness, but today it had been somehow intrusive and abrasive.  If the curse wanted to throw me to the floor and send me into fits of tremors I would prefer not to have a witness.

Still, it was not so bad as it might have been.  The curse was ever present, but I was experiencing enough turbulence in my own right that it seemed happy to sit back and relax while I tortured myself.

I spent some time in my room, but I began to feel closed in.  When I left my room I felt exposed.

I finally settled on sitting out in one of the deck chairs on the back porch, wrapped in a blanket and gaining what warmth I could from the sunlight.

Approaching footsteps surprised me.  My first thought was it might be Serge and I wanted to run, but I was not sure in what direction.  My eyes flew towards the intruder on my solitude as I realized it was not Serge, because the cursed bite did not react.

Matthias' deep brown eyes met my own as I peeked out of my blanket cocoon like some weird moth.

After all my worrying the previous week over what I would say to Matthias, Serge's proposal last night had pushed it completely out of my mind, but it all came flooding back in a rush.  How would I breach such a topic with my best friend?  Should I even try, after what Serge had asked?

I smiled a bit to demonstrate my pleasure at seeing him.  I ignored the ripples of unease that were probably entirely my own.

"Elise," he said.

I looked at his tall frame.  He had always been my friend and having him at my back always made me feel safe.  Even now, with awkwardness crowding me, Matthias was familiar security.

His hair was loose and the wind pushed it slightly, catching my eye.

"Matt.  Did you run here today?" I asked him.

"Yes," he agreed.  He seemed oddly hesitant.

I waited to see if he would say more.

"I heard your new theory," he commented.

"Yeah?"

"Are you considering it?" he asked.

I shrugged.  "Honestly, I would do nearly anything to get myself out of this i-icy h-hell.  If I thought love could happen..."

"Have you got anyone in mind?"

I paused, torn between telling Matthias what Serge had asked, or confronting him with my suspicions.

"Yeah," I said instead.

"Really?"

I felt really hesitant, but he would be hurt if I let him find out another way.

Whatever else could be, he was still my best friend.  I tried to form my words the way I would have before my suspicions, the way I would have told him before without a second thought.  "Ser-Ser...  He proposed to me."