Saving Sparrow (Slow Burns & Tragic Beginnings, #2)

by C.P. Harris

“What do you hear when I spe...

“Tell...

“You want me...

“No. I want you ...

“Aren’t they the sam...

“No, because if it were up to me, I’d have all of you. I love all of you, Sparrow, because you are all worthy of goodness and love. But I’ll always want what’s best for you first.” Even though I’d lost sight of that i...

“You’re the sweetest, most gentle person I know, Ellie. I promise to always be loyal, reliable, and present for both of you through good times and bad. I don’t need a legal document to know we belong to each other.” I shook my head. “The vows we’re making now will bind our hearts and will be long-lasting. We’re in charge of making them real—of keeping them real, because we’ve already been living by them. I promise to love you both forever, to fight for our love every day, and to never give up on it. Never.”

“You two scared me when we first met. You were so close… I didn’t understand it, couldn’t recognize what it was because I’d never known love.” His voice broke. “Your love was gentle,” he said to me, then glanced at the ocean. “Soft waves of reassurance and understanding. You were easy to gravitate toward.” He gave Quentin a wry grin. “You were a storm. A heavy wind blasting against me until I let you in. You love just as aggressively as you protect. I feel safe with you, Q. Nothing can hurt me as long as I have you.”

Elliott flushed but pushed on. “I promise to choose you both, every day, in the quiet and in the chaos. To be your home, your partner, your safe place. I promise to continue loving you, not just when it’s easy,” he finished. We looked at Quentin.

Quentin cleared his throat, starting with Elliott. “I felt threatened by you when we first met because I knew Guelly was more your type. I mean, not in that way, but just as a person, you know? You were so… delicate. You spoke in almost a whisper—when you spoke at all. I’d always been rough around the edges. A battering ram. I could tell it scared you. But more than feeling jealous, I wanted to protect you. I’m nothing if I can’t protect both of you.” His voice went hoarse. “Nothing. I’m literally no one if I can’t keep you two safe.” “You’re everything,” I told him.

“That first day when you fell asleep in our room, and we ended up sleeping beside you… I felt something new in my heart. I felt you.”

“And then you played football with me.” “You made me fall in love with the game.” Elliott was still his number one fan. “And you…” Quentin addressed me now. “I loved you hard. I still love you hard. You were my sun, moon, and stars from the beginning.” He’d made a habit of calling me all three over the years. “You accepted me for who I was, never tried to change or tame me—much. You saved me from myself all the time, talked me down from my childish tantrums, and helped me grow into a man.” He kissed the backs of our hands. “I promise to protect you both, to lay down my life for yours, to keep loving you more than I fucking love myself. If my dick isn’t in one—or both—of you, it’ll be in my pants. Unless I’m showering or changing or, well, you get what I mean. I’ll never cheat. I’ll never let anyone or anything come between us. Not even football.” We turned to the small table I’d set up for our ceremonial rituals. We each lit a single candle, using them to light the unity candle together. “This symbolizes our continued union,” I said.

“Thank you for seeing me.” I wanted to say “always” but said, “You’re welcome,” instead. “Your turn.”

“If things were different… if we were different people, and the world wasn’t so cruel, would you want to stay with me? Would you want me?”

“If we were different people, if we were both our own people who’d somehow found their way into each other’s orbit… There would be nothing stopping me from wanting you, Sparrow.”

“The good news is, you’re a piece of the man I’m in love with, and because I love him completely, that means I love you the same. I wasn’t lying when I said Quentin and I loved you. I love you, Sparrow, because I love Elliott.” I caught his rogue tear right as it fell.

“It means everything that you wanted to do this for me, but even now, I don’t see Elliott. I still. See. You.”

“You are who I want to spend my life with. You are the one I can’t live without. You are part of my forever and ever, Elliott.” This kiss was less frantic but just as urgent. It said we could survive anything together. It said time and circumstances hadn’t diminished our love. It said we’d come out of this stronger.

“P-pretty… G-girl?”

He sounded pained, as if the ache came from his soul. He glanced over at me, the moisture filling his eyes no match for the guilt and shame already swimming in them.

“You… f-foun...

“I told you I would, Q. I promised I’d fin...

“Leave…”

“Never,”

“Look at me. I’m begg...

“Look at me.” Elliott

“What happened wasn’t your fault,” Elliott swore. “You tried to stop him from hurting me. You tried to save me. That’s what matters.”

“I failed. I didn’t protect you. Either of you.” “We’re here because of you,” Elliott said. “Had that gun not gone off, the neighbors wouldn’t have called the cops, and...

“I’m so sorry,” he wept. “I’m so sorry.” We thought he was apologizing for all Elliott had gone through, and maybe he was, but he was also apologizing for not being willing to leave with us. “I can’t help you.” His bottom lip quivered as it brushed over Elliott’s knuckles. “I’m too broken.”

“We’re all broken,” I breathed, my heart tearing in two. “Can’t you see that?”

“None of us is in fighting shape, but we made vows to love each other through good and bad. Please don’t break them. We’re no good when we’re not together.” How had I survived so long without him? I let myself experience the true effect of his absence. I opened the compartment I’d been keeping that particular heartbreak in, sagging as I gazed up at him.

“You look tired and sad. I don’t like when you’re sad.”

“Then make me happy. Say you’ll come home.”

“How can you stand looking at me? How can you not hate me for...

“I could never hate you,” I swore. “You thought you lost the one ability that made you useful to us, but it was never your physical strength we fell in love with, Q. It was always your heart, and that still beats stronger than ever.” I placed a hand over his heart, bringing one...

“H-how do we fix us when we’ve lost so ...

“We’ve lost nothing of importance, not when everything we need is right here.” The truth of that hit me hard in the chest. We could rebuild, we could become whole again, so long as we had what mattered. “It’s just us here,” I reminded him. “Nothing else matters, and we can get through anything together.” Elliott a...

“Listen to your husbands,” I pleaded. “Come. Home.” “You… still want me?” I smiled through the pain his whimpered words caused, leaning in to kiss his tear-stained lips. “I’ll never stop wanting you, Q.” Elliott and I wrapped ourselves around Quentin, forming a force field of love and devotion. We were all tired, scared, and heartsick, but we held on, promising to never let each other go.

“Are you… Are you in love with Sparrow?” “I’m in love with all of you, Ellie. But you, the man standing in front of me now, are who I want to spend the rest of my life with. You’re mine, and I’m yours.” The guilt and insecurity ended once he fully merged with Sparrow. “I’m sorry he hurt you, but he thought he was doing the right thing. And by the end, he loved you. I hold his love for you now, and I hold him. Thank you for not hating him. Thank you for loving all of me.”

“I love you, pretty girl. So fucking much it hurts.” Quentin grabbed Elliott by his damp hair, kissing him while he slid his palm to the back of my neck, squeezing. He left Elliott trembling and breathless, then turned his feral gaze on me. “I can’t live without you, Guelly. My heart breaks with all the love I have for you.”