Nothing Less than Extraordinary

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As soon as I got inside, I instantly felt guilty. Cheshire being in Zaine's head at all would be a lie no matter how many truths he was really just trying to drill into his mind. Unfortunately, though, I felt as though maybe one pushed belief of Cheshire's should heal at least something between me and Zaine because he should believe Cheshire about how I only had the intentions to be with him and only him. And as much apprehension I felt, I also knew to trust Cheshire. His feelings didn't mean anything to him any more than they meant to me. He made it clear that he didn't want to be with me so Zaine needed to trust that too.

Unless, I was completely wrong and Cheshire was pushing illusions into Zaine's mind that we were doing a lot more than hugging and that I wanted to do nothing more than spend my time with him. Boys were visual creatures; Zaine only needed to see one more stolen kiss and he'd lose it. I had been focused on him and his expected feud with Tyler, but didn't think about his interactions with Cheshire.

He had a rough enough time wrapping his head around the fact that the only boy I had ever cared for was indeed alive and that I went across the country on a journey with him. But even then, I had learned the infatuation with Tyler and realized that our present wasn't exactly congruent with our past feelings. But Cheshire? He was someone Zaine already knew. He was someone Zaine already had his minor feuds with. He was someone that Zaine trusted when he found out I'd be out there with Tyler—only to learn that he had feelings for me. And then he watched as my punches turned to hugs and illusioned kisses. I couldn't blame Zaine for his reactions and assumptions because we had weeks at a time away from him doing who-knows-what.

Now I really wished Cheshire could calm him down and reassure him. Maybe he'd give him the illusions of memories he had about him saying Zaine was better for me and me saying I only wanted Zaine. He couldn't argue with a memory that happened literally seconds before he got there. But he was still Zaine and could be stubborn and doubt anything Cheshire told him. I had to believe in his determined mind because it's what drew me towards him as a shared quality between us. There'd be no other reason why I walked through the mansion and straight upstairs to the master bedroom without engaging with the few of us that had recently made it back here.

"Well it's good to know you didn't completely try to forget me," I suddenly heard a voice say, which caused my heart to leap out of my chest. My eyes met Tyler's and before I could make a commotion about him appearing in my room, he zoomed over and covered my mouth with his hand while pressing me to the door. I noticed that as soon as he did it, he clutched his side and nearly dropped to the floor. I instantly moved away from him, but that put me further than the door.

My eyes lowered to the familiar shirt that he previously held but dropped to the floor. It was the shirt from Milan that he brought me when we were nine. For a second, I thought about the fact that the moment he gifted me the shirt was pure and would always be memorable. But then I remembered Zaine asking me about the shirt and telling me Tyler was a smart man for getting me a souvenir that I could wear for a long time and think of him. The former memory snapped me out of my frozen state.

"What are you doing here?" I asked him. He was standing now and was in a lot better shape than I'd assume. His skin was still stitched and discolored, but then again, he had a faster metabolism and healing factor than most. That was the only reason he wasn't subjected to the cure. "I'm not going to heal you if that's what you're here for."

"Penny, please," he scoffed while difficultly bending down to pick up the shirt. He looked down at it and played with it in his hands. "I'm not selfish enough to hurt you to heal myself," he mumbled. Before I could register the fact that maybe he wasn't completely a monster named Chevy, his hazel eyes looked up to me. "You really went home to get this?"