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I hand Lukas a plate but continue cooking until three more plates are full. With terse instructions to talk to Darion, I send Lukas with a plate up there and head into the bedroom on my own mission. I find her curled up under a blanket, but when I sit on the bed, her eyes open, and she peers at me as if she can see into my soul, divine all my secrets.
I shift my weight and motion for her to sit up before setting the plate in her lap.
“Yarek used to be a friend. I knew something was wrong, but I didn’t know how to get away.”
I don’t say anything.
“I was wrong to take the car, but I did everything I could to disarm that situation with him.”
I cock my head to the side. “I haven’t said anything about it, have I?”
She presses her lips firmly together. “Darion did, and then Lukas grumbled and growled at me.”
I watch in astonishment as she pouts. It’s so unlike her, but I find it completely adorable. I reach out and snag her fork and feed her. She takes it with a sharp glare in my direction.
After several mouthfuls, I feel in control enough to be able to talk again. “I’m not angry, but I think you’re underestimating the alpha and what could have happened to you.”
She rolls her eyes but opens her mouth for another bite.
“I also know that it was…terrifying not knowing where you were, if you were hurt, if you needed us. You didn’t take your phone, Missy. You scared Lukas, and you scared me. And Darion…well, nothing brings out the hidden feelings to the surface like fear.”
She blinks at me and looks away. “I just…everything has changed so quickly, and all the plans I had have faded like smoke in the wind. My family doesn’t want to see me anymore. Darion…I keep thinking we can be friends, but then he does stuff like with Trin and then yesterday with Yarek, and I don’t know why, because he seems so nice, so kind with you guys. I think he hates me,” she whispers, looking down at her fingers running around the edge of the plate.
“He doesn’t hate you.”
“Evidence suggests you’re wrong.”
“Last night supports my theory.”
“An anomaly.”
I laugh and sit back so we are sitting side by side. “Darion is the best of people. I know you can’t see it right now, but give him some time. He’ll surprise you.”
She doesn’t look convinced, but I don’t push it.
“My mother loved me.” I say evenly, fuck, this is hard. “She loved me until I turned ten, and then she just didn’t. I never really understood why, but I think she was depressed, and her illness without treatment just consumed her. She never told me she hated me, and she wasn’t cruel. She just stopped.”
“Seb,” her voice is low, filled with sympathy.
“She walked into traffic when I was twelve. She just let go of my hand, not a word of warning. There were no signs. One minute she was with me, then she was gone.”
Missy takes the plates and puts them on the side table, then straddles my lap and hugs me tight. I freeze for a long minute, and then my arms come up, and I hug her back.
“My dad was an alcoholic before, but after, he just drank more, and he went from being able to hold down a job for a month or so to being unemployable.”
She sits back so she can see my face, and as I stare into her eyes, I wonder if she is my salvation, what I’ve been pleading to the universe for.
I reach out and snag that white streak in her hair and twist it around my finger.
“You’re so beautiful.” I whisper. “I don’t let people in, Missy. Only Lukas and Darion, but you’re in here.” I slide my hand over my chest, resting it above my heart. “And you make me afraid to wake up one day with a hole inside me, shaped like you.”
Her cheeks turn pink, and she looks down, but I tug on that hair until she looks up at me again.
“Don’t look away, don’t let go, don’t disappear.” I sound vulnerable, I’m pleading, I’m begging.
She leans forward and presses her lips to mine. “I won’t, Sebastian. I’ll keep looking at you. I won’t let go, and there will be no disappearing.”
I grip her tightly, dragging her close to me, holding her, and then I do what I’ve been dreaming about. I press my hand against her cheek and tilt her face to mine, and I kiss her.
