Til Death

44. Frances

FRANCES

Glumly, Frances sat fussier than the toddler at his table. His cheeks sat firmly between his two hands and he scowled at the people happily dancing. His mood only worsened with Delphine giggling at him and sipping her cocktail.

"Are you going to be like this all night?" James, Frances's friend from back home asked. He wore a vibrant blue plaid suit with swept up light brown hair and matching tie. He worked with Delphine as a matchmaker and managed to nab one of her extra invitations for him and his husband, plus their two kids.

Frances regretted insisting they come. Now he had an audience for his misery.

"Yes," Frances grumbled and started stabbing his drink with his fork, scrapping the metal against the glass. The sound matched his feelings.

James swatted him with his napkin and the baby in his lap wriggled and laughed like they were suddenly playing a game. Delphine laughed to herself again, which only caused James to pout harder. "Care to share with the class, Mrs. Kelly?"

"No," Delphine prodded Frances underneath the table. "It's way more fun for me if I'm the only one who knows."

"Well, I can't fathom what that means and you, stop being a downer. This is my first royal wedding and I missed the actual ceremony because someone sent everyone the wrong way. Do you want a baby?" James offered, at a loss for any other suggestions. He was the fix it type. "Will that make you feel better?"

"Maybe," Frances grumbled and took Jack. He was still small, but also pudgy and soft like freshly kneaded dough. He already had a ton of hair and giant green eyes like James. "At least this one doesn't talk. Where did Eric and Audrey go?"

"They're dancing." James smiled and waved to his husband on the dance floor. The Alpha of his wolfpack, Eric held their first child, Audrey in his arms and held her hand out like they were really doing some serious ballroom. He had the dumbest look of happiness on his face.

Going to a wedding after kind of getting dumped was the equivalent to shoving salt into a deep cut.

"Don't fall in love," Frances warned Jack. "It's a trap."

"What are you doing? Give him back," James snapped, gathering his son up in his arms. "Honestly, I've never seen you act like this..."

"Just you wait," Delphine said, touching James's arm to hold him back. Her eyes sparkled at something behind Frances. "This is about to get good."

Frances furrowed his brow before spinning around in his seat. His jaw, his good sense dropped to the floor and he quickly scrambled to his feet.

Ignacio stood in front of him.

No longer red or with horns and without a presence. His skin was a warm brown again that matched his gooey brown eyes and didn't match his white hair. This was the Ignacio Frances fell in love with, only now he had a heartbeat.

"Who's that—" James started to say, when Delphine shushed him.

"Where did you go?" Frances's voice came out soft, all the anger driven away by the look of fear in Ignacio's face. Ignacio let out a breath and took a careful step forward, opening up his hand. Frances nodded, giving him his palm. The one Edward twisted. Ignacio rubbed his thumb across his wrist. He was still warm. So warm.

"I'm not a vampire," Ignacio said, meeting Frances's eyes. "I'm not a witch, like I led you to believe and for that, I'm sorry. And..." Ignacio shrugged. "I'm definitely not a demon anymore. There's not an ounce of magic inside my body."

Coming back from the dance floor, Eric leaned down to James with a quirked brow. "What's happening?"

James shushed him.

Ignacio tried to be brave, tried to smile without trembling but he failed. Frances stepped closer, letting himself be the only person Ignacio could see. All the focus needed to be here. Between them. Frances pulled out of Ignacio's grip, only to hold his hand.

Ignacio laughed a little, past the sparkle of tears in his eyes. In a lot of ways, he was a mess. It proved that Ignacio had only ever been himself this whole time. Ignacio shrugged. "In truth, like this, I'm probably more trouble than I'm worth but if you let me love you..." Ignacio took a deep breath. "I promise to love you for the rest of my life. I will love you with all my heart like no one's loved anyone."

And now the world held its breath for Frances's answer.

Frances, the serial dater and self-proclaimed Batchelor for his entire immortal life had just been given a true declaration of love. Ignacio had made a liar out of this vampire. Frances shook his head. "I'm not the most handsome person here. I'm not the richest, the most power and it's easy to say I'm not the smartest. Fuck, I don't any think I'm the funniest but... but I will be perfect for you, Ignacio."

Finally, Ignacio smiled with joy. No twitch. Just total joy and they moved even closer to each other. Frances couldn't help himself anymore. He gathered Ignacio's face in his hands and told him, "I used to think all of my friends went stupid, after falling in love. That they all lost their senses, but I understand it now. I've never seen clearer. Ignacio, I love you too and I promise to hold your hand, by accident, or on purpose, I will hold your hand and settle every craving in your heart. If you want to be with me?"

"I want you," Ignacio insisted, almost jumping when he spoke. "I want you. You made me feel real. You made me feel alive."

With a smile, Frances went the rest of the way to kiss Ignacio. Ignacio melted underneath his touch, his heart thrumming like a little bird's wings. Ignacio wrapped his arms around Frances's neck, succumbing to the hands around his waist, moving to dip him.

Delphine sighed blissfully. "I love weddings."

#

AUTHOR'S NOTE

This is the start of the LAST UPDATE ever 😭 This book tops out at forty-six chapters *whew* It's been a journey friends~ I really hope you enjoyed this chapter!! It might be my favorite love confession I've written yet (but it's hard to say!). 

Don't forget to leave a comment with what you thought about the chapter! Did you enjoy the James and Eric cameo? And with their kids???? Oh man, they're a mini-van family now. Lol. AND Frances and Iggy are together now!!! They're so in love. It makes me emotional.