We started a fake relationship. We ended it. We dated. We loved. And then we separated. Pain, hapiness, joy and hurt ricochet from each path taken and from each memory uncovered.
One decision can change my life forever.
" A little bird told me you were upset."
Rose lets out a choked cry. "Are you crazy ?" She places her hands on his arms that hold her face but doesn't force him away anymore. "You're talking to birds now?"
His lips twitch into a weak smile. "I'd talk to any woodling creature if it gave me answers about you."
"Would you walk through fire for me?" she deadpans.
"Yes," he accepts the challenge.
"Brand my name on your ass?"
"Possibly."
"Drink cow's blood in my honor?"
"You're so fucking weird," he says with the biggest grin.
He was super fucking young, and I remember rubbing my face until all the tears dried. I didn't want Xander to be afraid of bullies. i realized then that if I showed my cousins and siblings that I couldn't handle the world - young kids who saw me as a role model, their leader - then they'd never believe they could.
Admittedly, I may not be that partial to the Cobalts, but I can tell when they sense something's "afoot" in their family. Standing upright, their unity carries a profound strenght that clenches the air. They may as well have buckled their armor and sheathed their weapons.
My last tears falls. I can't move to wipe it. I am transfixed by Loren Hale, my everything.
"I love you," he says again, "and no other man will ever say those words and mean them the way I do."
Connor places his jacket on a wooden table. "I apologize for hurting you."
"I accept," I say, "but Janie's gonna need more than that."
Connor nods. "I'm aware. She already asked her mom and me to write a three-thousand word essay on why we love her." His lips pull upward, admiration for his daughter clear in his eyes.
My dad flashes a dry smile. "That's what happens when you raise a bunch of geniuses and make your family motto: loyalty to the death."
Connor grins a billion-dollar grin.
"[...] We're fucking different but we're still two superheroes who'd die for each other. In any era, any alternate universe. Like Captain America and the Winter Soldier."
He's fallible. Imperfect. He's been telling me that since I was little, but my dad had always been a superhero in my eyes.
He's so human. It hurts.
- Maximoff Hale
Farrow rolls his eyes into a short laugh. "You love you fanfiction."
I shake my head and seriousness slams hard into my chest. "I like my reality."
There's a long pause before he murmurs, "You don't make me miserable. You make me want to live. And I want to live with you."
Lil & Lo