Her First Mistake

Chapter Eighty-One: You're Insufferable

This chapter is dedicated to @ultrasimpmode for her amazing support. And, she happens to be the music director for this book :) She chose this song to represent it. The playlist for the whole book will be in the author's note.

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    The apartment was a good upgrade from the one I'd been in last year. I'd apparently saved up enough money from the restaurant before I left, allowing me to move off campus and rent an apartment nearby. I actually liked it. It had a good view of the road below and there wasn't a dead cockroach in any of the corners.

   Moving in still felt bizarre. I carried the boxes by hand, straight past the humans that had no idea what I was. That alone was weird. I hadn't been around a lot of normal people in months.

   A few hours later and mostly everything was set back up. I'd missed the majority of the first semester of my junior year, but after some convincing, the school allowed me to return in the next few weeks without much of a bump. 

   I finished setting up the curtains and pushed them apart. My eyes scoured the busy highway below. The noise might bother me after a while, but for now, I preferred it. I'd apparently damaged my ears in the battle at Anchorage. Silence made them ring painfully. Though if I went to a witch, they'd probably be able to heal it. I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

   Exhaling, I walked back into the small kitchen and started unloading the cutlery boxes. It was . . .  weird, being normal. I was going back to class in a few weeks. To my old friends, they would have no idea that I'd just been through the ordeal of a lifetime. 

   One of the boxes opened to reveal something I hadn't put in there. Knowing my father was responsible, I shook my head as I pulled out the crimson leather jacket. He'd cleaned it from the dust and dried blood. With a slightly exasperated expression, I hung it in the bedroom closet. As I shut the door, I paused, thinking of my staff. It was still broken, sitting in the gap where I'd stashed it after the fight. I still hadn't figured out how Alexie had fixed his staff using magic. He hadn't taught me that before he had the audacity to disappear.

   Someone knocked on the door. "Coming!" I called, setting down the package of forks. Moving to the door, I didn't bother with the keyhole and cracked it open. A familiar face looked back. Instead of elation at seeing his face, I glowered.

   "What are you doing here?"

   Tate sheepishly held up his hand. "I figured you wouldn't be happy to see me--"

   "Two months of silence? And you expect me to not be irritated?"

   "--But I brought food."

   My eyes narrowed on the paper bag in his hand. Damn it. Fuddruckers. That little asshole had asked Simone for tips. She was the only one that knew Fuddruckers was my weak spot. 

   "Fine," I grunted. I stepped aside to let him into my apartment. Tate carefully entered, setting the bag on the counter as he surveyed the room. His eyebrows lifted. "This is nice."

   I shut the door and snagged the bag. He watched as I scrutinized the packed burgers. Finally, I looked up, asking the question that had been sitting in the back of my head for weeks.

   "Where have you been?"

   Tate rubbed his neck. "Well, most of my time was spent in Anchorage. The rest of it, I was helping the Captains recruit more Enforcers. We're severely down in our numbers. But the blame isn't all mine, Roxie. You left Anchorage and I never saw you again. You never reached out."

   My teeth clenched. "You can imagine that I was confused. You haven't looked at me the same."

   I wasn't lying. Ever since the fight . . . There always seemed to be apprehension in his eyes whenever he looked at me. And that hurt worse than Dani had drawn on my magic. 

   "I underestimated you," he admitted. "And I felt bad for it. I felt like an asshole."

   I leaned against the fridge, my arms folding tightly. It was like I was trying to keep myself warm. "I needed your support, Tate. I was hurting, too." I looked down, my lips pursed. "I'm still trying to figure things out again. Nothing's the same." It would have been nice to have someone I could trust with me. And when he had gone quiet, it had made me wonder if I could actually trust him with something as guarded as my feelings.

   "You enrolled back into college," he noted, sounding like he was smiling. I lifted my head. "I'm done traveling around. I've got an application." Tate pulled a copy of an email from his pocket. "I want to apply to your college." His eyes met mine. "If you would have me."

   For a moment, I stared at him. I found it hard to believe he was serious. When he saw my look, he started rambling, "I want to major in biology. See if I can figure out some of the specifics of how shifters function. I've already got classes lined out and I've been talking with an admissions counselor--"

   My chuckle cut him off. "You sure are cute when you're flustered." He looked at me, surprised, but I just shook my head. "You really want to go to college?"

   He nodded. "I always wanted to, but when Tulip . . ." He shook his head. "It's hard to explain, but I think I'm ready to move on. I'm an Enforcer, of course, so I still have Enforcer duties, but I want to get a degree. I want to enjoy myself for a while."

   It's hard to explain, he'd said, but I knew the exact feeling. The sense that things needed to move along. I looked at him skeptically. "And you think hanging out with me is a way to have fun? Have you met me?"

   He laughed, reaching forward to snag my hand. I let him. "I have, actually. Believe it or not. You may not be all sugar and spice and everything nice, but I don't really care."

   "You might regret this decision," I warned him. "I might have too much spice for you to handle."

   He grinned. "I think I can handle it. Besides, it sounds like you think I should apply."

   Finally, I grumbled, "Yeah, I do. You'd be a good student for the university." I didn't add that, well, I would enjoy having him around. I had missed him, even if I didn't show it. He seemed to understand.

   "Well, good, because I already applied for the honors program and got accepted." Tate unfolded the paper with his other hand. "This is actually an email to enroll, not apply."

   I gaped before smacking his arm. "You little -- are you serious? So you came in here, all ready to move to town, and just hoped I'd say yes?"

   He nodded. "Yeah."

   "God, you are so--" I made a frustrated noise, but Tate merely grinned and bent his head down, taunting me. 

   "Adorable? Smart? Or cute, as you said earlier?"

   "Insufferable," I finished flatly.

   Tate laughed. And, in that moment as I smiled, I got the sense that everything would turn out okay. I still had the scars from the fights, the nightmares from the trouble, and the attitude of a sour grape. Yet, as I stood there, I realized that everything was good. It would take years, but I'd eventually find another sense of normal.

   Even if nothing could be quite the "normal" I had seven months ago while waiting tables.