Hidden Gem - Beasts of Beauty Series - Book 4

Chapter 4

"Is Grandpa at home?" I finally break the silence after about ten minutes of slowly walking in the direction of our home.

"No, actually," Amethyst says with a slight chuckle.

Garnets nudges my shoulder with an amused smile and says, "Ma kicked him out."

I freeze in my tracks and stare at my brother completely dumbfounded.

"Sorry, did I hear you correctly?"

"Yeah, they got into a little bit of a fight after you left," Opal chimes in. "I guess what you said really struck Ma. She started sobbing and apologizing for not protecting us and for not seeing what they were doing to us."

Honestly, this might be the most difficult thing for me to process tonight.

"I don't understand," I say with a shake of my head.

"Yeah, and when grandpa started arguing with her she cussed him out for all the times he gave her the finger," Amethyst recounts, "and then kicked him out and told him not to come back until she asked him to."

"I'm really having a hard time believing this," I tell them as I continue walking.

"How do you think we felt witnessing it?" Opal asks with a laugh.

"I can't even imagine it," I chuckle, just trying to picture the scene in my head. "What did Pa do?"

"Stood there the whole time looking just as bewildered as us," Garnet replies.

"Shortly after that, Newt came over asking if you had come home," Amethyst tells me. "He said you took off while you guys were talking, but he wouldn't say why."

I can tell this is her indirect attempt to ask me what happened. My heart races slightly as I ponder if I should tell my siblings the truth or not.

"You guys won't judge me, right?" I ask in almost a whisper.

"Of course not."

"Never."

"No promises."

My brothers both look at my sister pointedly and she raises her hands in surrender.

"Hey, it depends on what it is!" my sister defends.

"I appreciate your honesty," I mutter sarcastically. I take a deep breath before finally, blurting out, "Um, he asked me to marry him."

Amethyst gasps and grabs onto my arm as she exclaims, "What! And you ran away?"

"Yes! Okay? I don't know why, I just..." I trail off, trying to keep my thoughts together as we walk. "I just realized I'm not actually in love with him."

My siblings are silent for a moment, obviously waiting for me to elaborate.

"Okay, I never kept it a secret from you guys that I never wanted Grandpa, Ma, and Pa to choose me for the position. And I know you're thinking about asking Fiora to marry you," I glance pointedly at Garnet. "Which just means that we are getting really close to them making the decision and I just-"

I cut myself off to keep from getting hysterical or crying or something crazy like that. My siblings watch me as I process my thoughts and my words while we walk slowly.

"When he asked me to marry him it was like something flipped inside of me," I try to explain. "It was like my eyes were opened after being closed and I could see everything clearly. I love Newt dearly, but I'm not in love with him. He's my best friend and he is safe and I think I just held on to that because everything was so crazy. He was the one choice I was truly allowed to make for myself so I made the choice without even thinking it through or thinking of the consequences. And now I don't know what to do."