22. Teams

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The room was an eerie quiet

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The room was an eerie quiet. There was a calm stillness about the air that made me cold. He didn't speak, but I couldn't be the one to break the silence. My eyes remained on the painting, and my heart pounded in my chest. My stomach felt like it was going to flip out of my body.

"You're not wrong." He confirmed my theory, and I turned to face him, stealing one last glance at the painting. "I'm a monster, Beth."

Anger boiled inside me, the chill leaving my skin and replaced with my own heat. I took two steps toward him, placing both of my hands on either side of his face. "Don't talk like that," I growled. I wasn't sure what was overcoming me. "You've done nothing but help me. It won't redeem whatever dark past you have, but it's a start."

I didn't want to hear him put himself down. If it wasn't for him, I'd be completely and utterly alone in this new world.

He watched me, his face and eyes going stoic. "I've killed people."

"I know," I replied.

"I've killed those like you, because I wanted to," he added. He didn't push me away.

"I know," I repeated. I had already pieced that much together myself. I dropped my hands from his face and folded my arms. "I said we're a team, and I meant it. Now, don't start to try to push me away once I've finally started to put this puzzle together. Don't push me away after everything that's happened. I can't do this without you." I hated admitting how much I needed him around, no matter how scared I was.

The quiet was beginning to become irritating, it gnawed at my entire being. I watched him, waiting for him to say something else.

Finally, he broke the silence. "Okay." He ran a shaky hand through his hair, averting his gaze. His jaw clenched once, and he breathed in deep. I had never seen him so unnerved before. "Sorry. I should have assumed you'd put it together."

"Did you not want me to?" I asked, raising a brow. "And don't apologize."

"I did, I just didn't think it would go like this," he replied. He nodded toward the painting. "My twin painted that of me years ago. It might be a bit egotistical to have a painting of myself hanging, but it's one of the last things I have from her."

I was glad for the subject change. "Were you two close?" I imagined the large wings behind him, and I wondered if they still existed somewhere.

"Josephine was my other half, in every sense," he replied. He smiled for a moment, and I was glad for it. "I'm going to get dinner finished." Turning away, he ambled toward the kitchen. I stole one last glance at the painting before I followed behind him.

The smell of lasagna immediately entered my nose and watered my mouth. "I wasn't sure what you liked, but I figured lasagna would be alright, since that's what you ordered at the restaurant."

"It's perfect," I replied. "How did you get it cooked so soon?"

"I asked Andrea to stop by after her last class and put it in," he admitted.

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