The Island Curse

Honesty

I slurped up the last bit of my iced coffee, making the sound as obnoxious as possible. Kieran just sipped on his drink- a plain black cup of drip coffee- and waited for me to finish. The behavior didn't even earn a twitch of his signature smirk. We'd been sitting in the Steaming Sailor for almost thirty minutes. A cheerful irish melody blasted from the speakers, and most of the tables were occupied.

"Look, I could've just gone home if you were going to brood."

"Brood?" His tongue teased the r into a delicious trill and he bit down hard on the d. It was as if the word was foreign to him.

"Yes. Sometimes I feel like I can see the actual thoughts in your head as you turn them over and over. If they were stones, you'd worry them smooth."

"I'm not sure what yer havering on about, but I don't brood. I-" he paused, hazel eyes turning inward. I stopped myself from pointing out that he was brooding over whether or not he brooded. "I deliberate. But it would seem yer a fan of brash pretty boys."

"Maybe I am," I replied, shaking the ice in my cup. "It's certainly a lot more fun than this."

"And yet yer here with me..."

"Not for much longer unless you start talking," I countered.

"How about we go back to our deal? Answers for answers. I'd like to ask the first question."

"Sure." I agreed quickly. I had nothing to hide.

"Why'd you start acting so strange around me?"

Okay, I had that to hide. "I told you already."

He smirked. Now, he smirked. Folding his arms over the table, he leaned forward. "That's how yer going to play this? Demand truth from me and offer none of yer own?"

"Before the party, in the rain, I told you why I was acting so strange."

"I believed you then, but I don't think I do anymore. You were fine right after the beach, but it was during our physical education class that you started to act weird. Did someone say something to you?"

My voice went impossibly high. "Is there something someone could've said to me?"

His hands moved closer to mine, but he didn't grab them. Ever the gentleman, but the almost touching was going to drive me out of my mind. "Yer not playing the game. If you want me to answer, then you've got to answer."

"Fine!"

The word crashed around the room, drawing looks to our table. Oh, I itched to wipe that smug look from his stupid, handsome face. I should've stayed in bed today, or at least headed back home after discovering Mrs. Rose was out. The minutes I'd spent in Leslie's strange shop already felt like a million years ago, but I'd trade this moment for another hour in her presence.

Lowering my voice, I repeated, "Fine. If you must know... Niko said something that put me on edge."

Kieran grunted and he ran a hand through his hair, making some of the curls go awry. "Niko has a really big mouth. What did she say?"

"Really? You're going to make me give you the details? Can't you just be satisfied with that?"

"Will you be satisfied with me just saying you were right that day on the beach?"

"I was?"

"Isla."

Sticking out my tongue, I pushed back from the table and went to the counter to order a second drink. When they handed me my order, I found myself wishing I could ask for a nip of something stronger than espresso, and from the look on Kieran's face when I took my seat, he knew exactly what I was thinking.

I couldn't believe I was about to do this. 

"You want the truth? Well, the truth is that I don't know. Not really-" I shocked us both by putting a finger over his mouth when he opened it to protest my answer. I pulled it away, but it did nothing to douse the fire shimmering in the golden flecks of his eyes. Or the one burning in my stomach.

"I've liked boys before, but I'd known them since kindergarten. They were safe. You make me...feel things I'm not comfortable with. And then Niko said you wanted to sleep with me-"

A string of words in a language I didn't recognize poured from his lips. "I'm going to wring her neck, and I'll apologize to Tara about it later."

"But is that true? D-do you want me that way?"

Now it was Kieran's turn to look like he was wishing for something stronger than coffee. And I didn't know which answer I wanted to hear. My pride wanted one, but my heart and hormones were terrified of the other.

"Yer beautiful, and I'm just a lad. I want you sometimes more than I want to draw in my next breath. And that was just after seeing you sitting next to the window in class on that first day. Now that I know you better- know yer sass, yer wit, yer kindness- I feel half mad when I'm not around you."

"And that doesn't terrify you?"

"Ach, yes. But it's exciting too. Things were a lot like they were for you. I could see myself settling down with a girl I've known since we were in nappies. But I don't think I can do that now. Not after knowing how it's supposed to feel."

He uncurled his fists and let his fingers hover over mine. He held his breath as he waited for my next move, and when my fingers linked with his, we both sighed and relaxed in our seats.

"I get that, but Kieran- these kind of feelings can hurt too. They can destroy people."

"We don't have to let it be like that, and I'm not asking you to rush into anything. I'm not even saying we have to date, though I won't lie and say it's not something I want."

"My father loved my mother with so much intensity that when she left us," I stopped and choked back a sob. There, I'd finally said it out loud. The truth. She hadn't died. She hadn't gone missing. She abandoned us. I withdrew my hand. "Something broke inside of him. In both of us really. And I think that's why I pushed you away. I'm not comfortable with anyone having that kind of power over me."

"That's yer problem then. Seeing this as a power exchange. I'm not going to take anything you won't give, and it goes both ways."

"And that's okay... until it isn't." I remembered the somber eyes of Niamh. The sadness in nearly every portrait afterwards, and in that moment, the seed of what had been planted the day my father told me the story took root and sprouted. "I think I'm cursed."

Kieran jerked back as if slapped. His voice was shaking when he spoke. "What would make you think that? Cursed how?"

"My father told me about our ancestors."

"Told you what exactly?"

"About what Jamie did to Lorelei. How he took her baby from her and married another. And in nearly every generation since, the Hallorans have lost the person they loved. It's the price we have to pay for his sins."

Kieran pressed his face into his palms and exhaled. But when his hazel eyes reappeared, they were twinkling with mirth. "That's a pretty big leap for you to take."

Shrugging, I stood. "The evidence is damning."

"Isla, don't be like this."

"Kieran, friendship is all I have to offer you right now."

He jumped up. "But what if we're meant to break the curse? Have you ever thought of that?"

"No," I answered, pulling on my new coat. Outside the skies were once again cloudy, and the roads were speckled with raindrops. "But to be fair, I just came up with the entire notion of being cursed, so you'll have to let me work that bit out."

"As long as you promise to work it out," he said, opening the door for me.

"Friends?"

"Friends," he answered. "For now."

We hugged, but it was awkward. Arms akimbo and bodies not touching. Finally, I patted his back and waved goodbye. Today had been odd- a roller coaster of sorts, but I was more content on the drive home than I'd been in a week. 

It was only as I pulled into our drive that I realized I'd never asked him any of my questions.