Fates | Book 2 ✔️

[28]

I keep my arms tight around Lance afraid that if I loosen them even just a little he might disappear from them. He had me thinking the worst. I get this is how he felt when I did it to him multiple times. If this was him trying to prove a point then he took it too far. I exhale near his ear and back away from him.

"I am sorry... Seth."

"Don't do anything like this again. My brother— He could have— He could've hurt you, Lance!"

"Like he has been doing to you all these years?"

My eyes widen as he scoffs.

"You should've known I would know and understand. I would have trusted you more if you just would have told me these things, Seth. It's like pulling teeth when it shouldn't be."

I sit down on one of the armchairs and rub my forehead. How can I argue with him when he's right? I should've told him. Still, how he went about everything was wrong.

"I just... I just wanted to help, Seth."

"I know. I know," I sigh, exasperated. I wrap my arms around him and pull him close to me. "I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself." 

His eyes stare in mine making me feel worse than before. I end up tucking my head into his stomach wanting to find some way to ignore his gaze. He tenses up the moment I press him closer, causing me to look up at him with narrowed eyes.

"Did I hug too tight?"

"No, I-... Umm... "

"Lance."

"I'm just a little sore. It's nothing."  He tries to push me away. However, I keep him close and eye him. 

"Did he do something to you?"

"He wouldn't—"

"He would."

"Well, he didn't. I can handle myself."  

He escapes my grasps but I grab his wrist. "Let me look."

"I'm fine."

"Then let me see."

"Seth, you're overreacting over something that's not even there."

I lift his shirt up and see his stomach clear of any bruising or marks making me more confused than before. If nothing was wrong then why did he have that kind of reaction?

"See?"

"Sorry."

"We seem to both be saying that lately," Lance mumbles. He rubs the side of his neck and looks away from me.

I know he does not want to look at me and is trying to find every little thing to distract him. He should know just how well I know him. What use is it to tell him that when he'll just deny whatever it is he is trying to hide? 

Silence continues to wash over us before I break it with a question that has been floating in the air for some time now. "Are we going to be okay?"

"We will be." He looks at me this time and smiles. "We've been through much worse... and I'd never abandon you. Never."

I bring him into a small kiss, loving the taste of his lips and the sound of his voice. "I know," I murmur onto his lips. "I feel the same."

"So don't say things like that then." He presses his forehead on mine before moving away from me. 

Times like these make me realize just how much he has grown. He's much more mature than I am. I see that now. I need to do much better than I have been doing. That is for certain but until then... I hope he continues teaching me.