The Four Protectors

Thirty Eight

1 month later.

1st Person POV

I was setting the dinner table just as everyone walked in. Theo was there, a fake smile on his face as he came over to me with Alex in tow. Behind him was Maia, and a friend of hers named Thomas. They'd met at the café that Maia now worked at.

He didn't know about the lives we'd once had and sometimes when he was around, I almost forgot that that life had existed.

Then I remembered them.

"Everything smells so good Cat. Thank you so much for having me," Thomas said formally.

He held out a bottle of wine, a pleasant smile lighting up his face, and I didn't really think before smiling back. He was young, around five years younger than me and I enjoyed how charming he was. He made this normalcy feel easy.

"Just set the wine down in the kitchen Tom and make yourself comfortable on the couch," I said.

My smile still felt uncomfortable; like my face wasn't used to making the expression, but it was enough to fool him. I was filling the water glasses when Theo sidled up to my side. It was weird to think about the circumstances I'd met this boy in and realize how far we'd come since then.

He took up the other bedroom in out tiny apartment, courtesy of the little money we'd been given to make our transition into our human lives as smooth as possible. Alex was his roommate while Maia was mine. It wasn't the most ideal considering Alex still didn't talk, Theo talked even when there was no one listening and Maia cried herself to sleep almost every night.

And me, I just tried to hold everyone together to ignore how I barely got three hours of sleep every night.

It was however better than none and I considered that progress.

"Doesn't his cheerfulness make you want to chuck yourself off a building sometimes," Theo commented.

"Play nice," I hissed.

He rolled his eyes but obeyed as be wandered into the kitchen to make small talk with Thomas. With Thomas and other humans, he laughed like it was easy, smiling like joy was all he knew. He wore a mask that was so believable that I would have fallen for it if I didn't live with him.

"Hey."

I turned to find Maia with a small smile on her face.

"Hey you doing okay," I asked gently.

She ducked her head, staring at her feet like they were the most interesting things in the world. I took her by the arm to the privacy of our bedroom and waited for her to stop fidgeting. She eventually did, and when she finally looked up at me, her eyes were filled with unshed tears.

"It's going to be okay Maia," I said softly.

I'd probably said that to her ten times in the last hour alone, like I could promise her that the pain we felt would eventually fade.

"I feel like I'm using him like a crutch Cat," she admitted.

"What do you mean," I asked.

I knew what she meant but I also knew she needed to say it aloud if she wanted to move past it.

"I feel like I'm feeding off of Thomas' joy like a parasite. He's just so nice to me, like I don't burst out into tears at random, or like I don't flinch sometimes for no discernible reason. He just, he's so nice about it," Maia said, voice cracking at the end.