Fear

f i f t e e n ☾ unhinged

Margot

I took Lachlan back to my apartment. When he told me he ran here I wanted to smack him over the back of his head, forgetting he was literally half beast. I don't think I'd ever get used to that part. For the past hour he's been on and off the phone, pacing across my living room. He smiled at the boxes I had started to pack, picking up stacked picture frames I took down.

First he talked to Ben. I stood in the kitchen, beginning a pot of soup and trying to discreetly eavesdrop. Their conversation seemed to get pretty heated, Lachlan's voice hardening at some points in the conversation. Right after he got off the phone with him, he was back on the phone with someone else, this conversation much more calm than the last. He even sounded sad when he talked to the stranger.

Finally an hour later, the soup sat on the stove warming with low heat and Lachlan walked into my small kitchen. He smiled tiredly at me, "I'm sorry, tiny dancer. Just had to get some things sorted out."

I smile back at him, "All good, I whipped up some soup for us. What's the plan?" I ask him, ladling some of the Italian wedding soup into a bowl. I hand it to him, liking the spark that shot through my finger when our hands grazed.

I dish up some of my own, and we make our way to the living room to eat.

"I'll stay in Oregon for a week in case you need me. If it turns out that you need to stay here longer for your dad, I'll start commuting back to Canada for a week then here for the weekend. One of my guys are gonna bring me some clothes and my work shit and a car by tomorrow, so I should be set to do anything or go anywhere that I or you need to."

I nod my head slowly, losing my appetite.

"What is it, Margot?" He asks softly.

"I feel like I'm uprooting your entire life. You have other more important things to do than stay with me for moral support."

"I told you. I can't not be with you Margot or more things will go very wrong, past me not being in Canada for a few days. I've been waiting my whole life to be in this position, to be the king of the North. I can wait a couple more weeks." He kisses my temple before devouring his soup.

"Do you want me to make you something else? That probably won't be enough."

He smiles, "That would be fantastic, thank you. Are you going to your parents house tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'm meeting with my dad's doctor and neurologist to find out exactly what happened to him. I'll probably be out all day. Why?" I tell him as I walk to the kitchen.

"I have to go to the Council of Originals to post pone my inauguration. Do you want me to come with you, I can go the next day?" He asks, getting up and leaning around me to put the now empty bowl in the sink.

"No, no, I'm okay. It would be nice if you could come with me sometime this week to meet him, though." I say hopefully, pulling out a frozen quiche from my freezer and beginning to unwrap it.

"I'd love to. Just tell me what day you think is best and I'll clear my schedule."

He put both of his hands on the island counter in front of me and stared intently at my face.

"What?" I laugh.

"This just all feels so-, surreal. You cooking me dinner, us discussing our schedules like we're married." He cracks a smile at me.

I laugh, "Is that good?"

"Fucking amazing, Margot." He whispers.

"If you were human- would you do that? Get married, I mean?" I ask softly.