A/N: There will be some physically violent, graphic descriptions in this chapter. I want to give a TRIGGER WARNING to those who need it. First astrix mark to the second if you wish to skip it.
Love you all,
Ellie ;)
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I wake up before Luca today, sprawled all over him, so early that it's dark outside. But the stress is consuming me, it always has, it always will. With a position like mine, tens of thousands of people's lives are in my hands, ride on every single decision I make. Yes, I'm a perfectionist, but I have to be.
I attempt to get up, only to have heavy arms keep me in place. Even in his sleep, he's unbelievably strong and I have to use all of my power to peel his arms off. Once I finally can, I quickly snap up before he can pull me back.
Quietly, I grab heatable oatmeal and stick it in the microwave, despite the fact that it will most likely be mildly disgusting and the knots in my stomach have diminished most previous appetite.
In a haze, I watch it spin around in the machine, the only light coming from it's slight red luminosity. The dishwasher runs loudly, all of our plates and utensils in there, part of our cleaned up post-food fight mess. I open it the second before it dings, so it doesn't wake him up, and when I take my first bite, I realize that mildly disgusting is definitely an understatement.
Still, I take it with me as I walk up the stairs to the balcony, needing the warmth in the freezing weather, even though it's stopped snowing for now. I eat it hastily, shoving it into my mouth before my appetite becomes completely spoiled.
Being met with a harsh chill the second I step out, I set my breakfast down on the table next to the large, and grab a blanket before shutting the door behind me.
My socks become cold and wet, chilling me even wrapped in the blanket. Yet my focus is only on my rapidly beating heart, my pulse bumping against my skin and breathing becoming shallow.
I take large breaths, sucking in the cool crisp air and letting it flow through me, successfully calming me, at least a little.
Looking down, I watch the flowing pond under the bridge, icicles forming and preparing it to completely freeze over.
I think I register the sound of the door opening, maybe I don't, but either way I'm in a trance, hyperfixated on every little thing that could go wrong.
I do however register and feel two hands sliding under my shirt, causing my already shallow breath to hitch before I recognize the musky smell, my body instantly relaxing. Luca slithers his hands around my waist, one resting on either side of my belly button. "Hey, hey." He coos into my ear softly, sending shivers through me, not because of the cold. "I promise I will do everything in my power to prevent a single hair on your head from being touched. I promise, yeah?"
Subconsciously, I grab onto the closest thing, which happens to be his forearms, now seeming to be clothed with a hoodie. I wrap my fists around the fabric, kneading it, letting go of it, a stressed pattern. I take a gulp, feeling my throat dry and scratchy. "But-"
Then I feel something cold hit the back of my neck, a stark difference to the heat that was previously coursing through it. "Think of it as a good luck charm, not a present." He murmurs against my ear, as I feel the metal hit my collarbone.
When I look down, I gasp. There on my neck, is a dazzling silver chain, a thinner version of his I notice, with a matching silver pendant hanging from it, shaped as a leaf with jewels scattered around, and a large one in the middle.
An Ivy leaf. With Poudretteite.
He remembered.
I whip around, eyes wide as I look up at him. Immediately, I throw my arms around him, for the second time in only two days, for the second time I can remember hugging one really, wrapping them firmly around his neck. "It's nothing." He mumbles, but pulls me closer until I'm flush against him, on my tip-toes.
