If I Know You

Chapter 10

I was no fan of afternoon strolls to begin with but sneaking our way back to that meadow was the worst journey I'd ever taken. The fresh, clean air. The sunlight peeking through the clouds and bouncing off the raindrops.

Gross.

Not only was Pippa nervous about being outside after what happened this morning, but my feet were wobbly and limp as they tried to keep me from going through with this. The only thing keeping me from fainting was the fact that she was still holding my hand.

When we got close, the tall prince G'juni was across the clearing, engrossed in his book, just as he had been when I showed up here.

This time, he had a large umbrella over his chair to protect him from the rain. He was so stuck in the pages that he didn't notice our arrival. We hid behind a bush. I didn't want to let my time with her go just yet. I wanted to remember every last second with her before Jo arrived and I threw my heart down the sadness well.

"Wow. I haven't been here since I was first taken," she whispered. "But are you sure you don't want to go catch frogs? I think I'm feeling well enough to do it now. We could meet Jo later."

She squeezed my hand and looked at me hopefully. Going and catching frogs in a rainy swamp sounded like the best thing in the world. I wanted to do it so bad that my heart was a tornado in my chest.

I wanted a lot of things right now, I was noticing.

But if I took her to a swamp to catch frogs with me, I might never bring her back. This was the plan, and I had to go with it.

I had to. So she could have that son she talked about. So she could have everything she wanted. Everything I couldn't give her.

The image of her holding a fat baby and poking it was growing clearer and burning me alive, but I reminded myself that she had been kidnapped at the age of six and stuck alone in an angry witch cabin for years. She deserved giant buckets of happiness and love.

All the kisses and intimate touches she wanted.

She deserved to have someone like Jo who could give her fat babies or snap their fingers and summon an entire army of babies.

Baby battalion.

Babrigade.

With that inspiring thought, I swallowed back the stomach that was trying to escape out of my face and forced a wobbly smile-grimace. "No, I don't want to keep you from them. You've been waiting so long for this. Every princess wants her true love. It's in all the books."

Her lips wobbled. "Rory, I don't-"

Jo blinked into existence on the grass, flat on their stomach with their limbs spread out like a squished spider.

Somewhere deep inside me, that strange voice that desperately wanted to know about spider eyebrows perked up, but I stomped on it. This was already hard enough. I didn't need Pippa's last memory of our time together to be me wheezing to death. I started chewing on my puffball lip piercing again.

Jo was dressed in a different outfit now. Soft black sleeping pants, and a long-sleeved green shirt that said something about a zelda.

I automatically turned to Pippa, trying to ignore little-bearded-manly-Rory that was now screaming at me to rip off my shirt, pick her up, and run. She was looking at Jo with a crumpled brow and a small frown, tilting her head, and it squashed my heart.

That wasn't the way she looked at me.

She liked them already, I could feel it, and it felt like... pain. Like all my internal organs were getting tattoos at the same time. As they stubbed their toes. It was even more painful than getting my nipples pierced.