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“It’s official,” he said wryly. “All of this stress has finally broken you.” He patted my head. “You seriously need to have some fun.”
“Ignore me. I’m all over the place. I need time to deal.”
“Hang out with me after rehearsal then?” he asked.
“Maybe,” I said, but I already knew I didn’t want to. If I distanced myself from him, he would be less of a target to the harbingers. I wanted to curl up in a ball in bed with some chocolate and forget about the rest of the world for a while, but my brain seemed to be my current worst enemy.
CHAPTER8
Dorian
Margo textedme to say she didn’t want to meet up after rehearsal and that the girls were walking her home. I had been feeling uneasy since we last spoke. She kept bringing up potential problems as though already preparing for our breakup. I couldn’t exactly blame her. We’d barely kissed before everything went to hell. After that, we were sort of thrown together. Had I ever given her a choice? Were we together because we both had secrets the other could deal with?
My house was quiet and lonely, so I blared the television and moped.
Nathan found me that way, brooding on the sofa, glaring at a subtitled film about, well, I wasn’t exactly sure. There was a lot of frowning onscreen though, and that suited my mood just fine.
He took one look at me then flopped onto the sofa next to me. “Well,” he said breezily. “What are we depressing ourselves with tonight?”
I made a face at him. “Shut up though.”
“Ah, don’t you start.” He stretched out, magically taking over way more than half of the sofa. “I get enough of that from Perdita.”
I managed a smirk. “You should stop asking her the same dumb questions every five minutes and actually read the baby books she gave you.”
“I take in information better when somebody explains it to me. Besides, I’ll have you there to help me, you little know-it-all.” He nudged me. “So what’s up with you?”
My shoulders lifted into a shrug. “Margo was supposed to hang out with me, but she changed her mind.”
“That is allowed.”
“I know.” I ran my hands across my face. “We never get to have fun and be normal together. There’s always some big dramatic disaster going on to worry about. It feels like she’s being dragged along for the ride sometimes.”
“I mean, a lot of these disasters are Margo-related.” He cleared his throat when he noticed the dirty look I shot his way. “Look, it’ll pass, Dorian. Life swings up and down. That’s why people appreciate the good times. Things are messy, but when everything gets back to normal, you’ll make the most of your time together.”
“What if nothing is ever normal again?” I stared at my hands, rough hands that transformed into paws on occasion. What did Margo even see in me? “Nathan, I turn into an animal. How does she have a future with that?”
“You’ve seen it happen. Look at Perdita and me.”
“That’s part of the problem though. You’re happy for a reason.”
“Get a grip,” he scoffed. “The curse ended long ago. We haven’t stayed together because we used to be cursed. We work hard for our relationship. You know that.”
“Still, though. That curse started everything and kept you linked.” I turned to face him. “Margo asked me what would happen if I met my soulmate. What should I have said?”
“Is that what this is about?” He released a heavy sigh. “It’s tough, but all you can do is be straight with her. There are no guarantees either way. It would be insanely unfair if that happened, but it’s so unlikely that you can’t postpone your life. Jesus, Dorian, you’re teenagers. You might not even know each other exists in five years.”
My look of disgust made him laugh. “How can you say that?”
“Experience. Perdita and I went to school with one or two other couples who are still together. It’s a small town. Most of us move on, meet new people, spread our wings. It’s normal to grow up and change and find new interests. You know how I am with Perdita. There’s a lot we disagree on, but there’s more we agree on, and we both work hard to fix any problems we have. Not everybody is willing to do that, and not every relationship is worth the effort. But in the end, you don’t have to be a carbon copy of your partner to make a relationship work.”
I screwed up my face. “I have no idea if you’re encouraging or discouraging me at this point.”
“I’m saying that if you’re right for one another then you being a werewolf or Margo being a harbinger won’t be enough to keep you apart. And what’s right for you now might not be right for you in a decade, but that’s okay, too. Let life take its course. There’s no point worrying about what might happen next when we’re still stuck on what’s happening right now.”
“That’s all Margo’s been doing though. It feels like she’s looking for a reason to end it.” I gazed at the television and let out a heavy sigh. Endless worrying might have been pointless, but Margo’s anxiety was catching.
“That’s it. We’re going for a run.” He switched off the television. “It’ll help you think.” He looked at me expectantly when I didn't move.
