Chapter 32
Nora felt the feathery touch of Hayden's hands trace her lip before she even opened her eyes. She moved closer to the warmth and slowly fluttered her eyelids open.
"Hi," Hayden whispered, kneeling beside the bed and gazing down at Nora with his green eyes full of the morning light.
"Hi," Nora said, feeling Hayden's finger on the spot where she had split her lip. "It's not healed?"
"It is," Hayden's face twisted. "But it left a scar. I'm trying to see if I can get it to blend in."
"I'm fine," Nora said, gently pushing his hand back. "Save your energy."
"I'm so sorry."
"Hayden...." Nora began to sit up. "What happened last night?"
Hayden leaned back and watched Nora gather the sheets around her waist. Her hair fell around her shoulders, making him want to run his hands through the dark locks.
"I..." he began, sitting down in front of her. "I don't know what came over me. I was just so angry. But I know that's not an excuse for how I acted."
"Do you really think I would leave you?"
"No," Hayden shook his head. "I know you won't."
"But last night..."
"Nora, I can't explain why I said all those things last night," Hayden couldn't look into those brown eyes waiting for him. "It was as if I forgot everything we've ever talked about and my mind was spinning out of control. I know you won't understand wha-"
"I understand," Nora said, cutting him off.
Hayden looked up, "You do?"
"Yes," Nora nodded. "I...I felt the same way. Like I wanted to accuse you of everything and make an issue out of everything."
Hayden nodded.
"You were most likely feeding off of my emotions through our mark," he said, taking her hand and running his thumb over her wrist.
"But why were you so angry?" Nora wondered.
"I don't know," Hayden sighed. "Everything that happened last night....it doesn't even seem real right now."
Nora lowered her eyes to Hayden's hand.
"I'm so sorry for how I acted," Hayden said. "And I can't even begin to tell you how sorry I am for this."
Nora shivered as Hayden traced the small scar on her bottom lip.
"I love you," he said. "So much."
"I love you too," Nora leaned forward and made a place for herself on his lap.
"I'm sorry," Hayden said once more, burying his nose in her hair.
"I'm sorry too," Nora sighed, feeling his arms around her. "For all the stuff I said about you and Elsa. I know you won't leave us."
"I won't," Hayden shook his head before lowering his face to hide in the crook of her shoulder. "I can't live without you."
Nora leaned back into the boy's embrace as he held her and inhaled her scent. The birds chirped outside their window as the clouds lazily swam past the sun. Nora stretched her leg and roller her head to one side before placing her palm against Hayden's face.
"We need to go get Noor," she said.
"I went to go see him this morning," Hayden said, not picking up his head.
