The Story Never Ends (Book 3. of A Beautiful Distraction

6) Pretend

Staying silent in the car for hours, I couldn't help but look at Luna's eyes every other second. With her sitting in the back with her friends it was sort of difficult, but even if for some reason I didn't want to I couldn't stop. I could also spot Aris doing the same, but neither of us said what we were thinking.

If they bleed nothing will be okay ever again. We weren't Teresa. We didn't know anything about this kind of stuff.

Unless, someone else did. Unless two people in this car had memories that could give us everything we needed.

That would require going through what I did though. Pure, agonizing, torture. It's more than unethical to suggest.

It's also unethical to just let her turn though. As always there was no winning here.

Feeling him move closer, Aris leaned his head on my shoulder. I took his hand, and we sat like that for who knows how long. We certainly don't.

We do know one thing though. After everything that happened, this wasn't what was supposed to repeat. It was all supposed to be okay. We were all supposed to be safe and be able to protect our kids from the world. We were supposed to give them the life we never had. It was hard enough trying to parent when almost nobody remembers anything. And even if they do, it's the bare minimum.

"Nobody blames you. You're the only one,"He whispered, practically reading my mind.

"It's in my blood. I just assumed the cure meant the next generation was safe,"I pointed out.

"Everyone did. Nobody thought it could still be passed down."

"It's my blood though. It's my genetics. If I had just been normal none of this would have happened."

"And you didn't ask for this. Nobody even asks to be born. All we can do is handle the cards we're dealt. Even if they're the worst we're all here this time. We're all going to look after her like we did you,"He promised, pressing a small kiss to my fingertips. Holding back more tears, I moved over as much as possible so he could lean closer. He knew what I was silently asking as he did just that.

"I love you, I love her, and nothing can change that. No matter what is said or done, I'm going to protect you both. No matter the cost I'll look after you both."

"The cost could be so much."

"I don't care. I promise I'll what it takes to save her, and I keep those now,"He reminded me. "You two mean everything. I'm not losing my family,"He murmured, burrying his face in my neck. Gently running my hands through his hair, we both pretended this was the same as always.

If it was less than a week ago we wouldn't have to. We would be at home looking after Luna. We would watch her run out to her friends and wait for her to show up before sundown. We'd be in the Medical Hut side by side, waiting to bandage up the next kid who fell, ended up sick, or the next person working with tools for the first time. We'd all sit around the fire with dinner that Frypan and his Cooks prepared.

It wasn't like that though. Instead, we were going back the the place that held so many painful memories we had done everything to push past.

We could pretend for now though. We could pretend holding hands was just a sign of love and not because it was one of the only things that calmed us down. We could pretend making sure we're as close to each other as possible was because it's what we always did. We could pretend that Luna wasn't turning.

Rachel's P.O.V

Having Luna insist on being in the back almost didn't make sense, but we accepted it with open arms. Despite what we had been told would happen she seemed so normal. She was acting the way she always did. Keeping Blaise in line when he looked like he was going to lash out again, laughing at Mia's sarcasm, making sure I was included but that my social battery didn't get too drained, and being close to Hayden while being oblivious to the feelings they both clearly have. She was like the glue to the group. Without her everything would fall apart. Blaise would get annoyed at Mia, Mia would do everything to do so, I would be unintentionally uninvolved, and Hayden would lose his anchor. We need her.

If we had told someone about the red mark would anything have been different? Would we have learned more? Would we all be more prepared for whatever what was about to happen?

Nothing can answer those questions so thinking about what the outcome may have been wasn't worth the energy. We all just had to look after each other. We had to do everything to stay the way we are. That was the only thing that there was to care about.