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“I’m sorry them monsters did this to you. They took Eli, but don't worry.” Her palm flattens on my cheek, determination shining in her sparkling blue eyes. “I won’t allow them to take you, too.”
The only person I care about is this beautiful girl who won’t even acknowledge my existence.
“You’re… Y-you’re back.” “I promised you I would never leave you. I’m sorry I’m late, princess.”
I sit here, wondering when exactly it was she became such an integral part of my life and the fucking air I breathe. Was it when I claimed her as mine? When I first touched her? When I reunited with her two years ago? Or maybe it all started in the damn basement.
“This is about Elsa, isn’t it?” he asks. I lift a shoulder. Everything is about Elsa, but neither he nor Jonathan need to know that.
“You don’t deserve her.” “Just like you don’t deserve Astrid?” “At least I changed for her. What did you do for Elsa?” “I found her again.” And no one will take her away from me.
Deep down, I want to cry for the little boy he used to be. The boy with tousled, black hair and metal eyes. That boy was my friend, my light in the darkness.
“They don’t have a teddy,” I say. “No, they don’t,” Daddy says with sadness. I frown, tears filling my eyes. Everyone should have a teddy bear. Mine is my favourite toy. Daddy gave it to me when I was three and I never leave without him. He’s my sleeping buddy and my friend. We have tea parties together. But Daddy says they need help, so they need Ted more than me. “Here,” I offer them Ted. “He’ll help you. Take care of him, okay? He doesn’t like to be cold and he doesn’t like swimming.” The one with lighter eyes takes it from my hand with a sheepish smile. My gaze falls to their knees.
...more
My monster is all tall, powerful, and beautiful. My monster is Aiden King.
Elsa’s small footsteps echo in the empty basement. She brings light with her — and it’s not only because of her torch. It’s her entire presence. Her little bunny shoes and her tiny sleeping dress. She smells of marshmallow, honey, and the beginning of spring. If light has a smell then Elsa is it. Just
“Hey, Grey Eyes.” “Hmm?” I watch her twinkling eyes as she chews. Some of the chocolate sticks to her upper lip. “When I grow up, I’m gonna buy you a bucket of Maltesers.” “Why?” “Because Dad says you have to buy gifts for the one you marry.” “Marry?” I whisper. “Yup!” She grins. “When I grow up, I’m going to marry you.”
I laugh and she laughs with me. Her laughter is like the sunshine after a rainy day. It’s the sun peeking through the cloudy sky. As I watch her, I realise I want to see her laugh all the time. Maybe she’s right. Maybe after we grow up, she needs to stay close so I can see her laugh this way every day. She has the most beautiful laughter I’ve ever seen.
“Promise you’ll marry me.” She holds out her pinkie. I curl mine around hers. “I promise.”
There’s no one before Elsa and no one after her. She’s a constant, and soon everyone will know that.
This thing inside me that beats for her is boundless. I can’t stop looking at her. At her electric blue eyes, her radiant face, and those fucking kissable lips that are mine.
She’s all mine with a capital M. And now, she’s back. This time, only death would do us part.
I watch her closely. The slight twitch in her nose as she laughs. The few stray strands that fly all over her face. The flushed skin due to running. The rosy lips. She’s so fucking beautiful.
“Run and I’ll chase. Hide and I’ll conquer.” He places a chaste kiss on the corner of my mouth. “Time to make your move, sweetheart.”
“Why are you looking at me like that? “If you keep your promise, I won’t get sick.” I grin and lean my head on his shoulder. It’s warm, his shoulder, even though the rest of him isn’t. “I will! Absolutely.”
Come back. Come back. Come fucking back.
Aiden I’ll dream for the both of us.
“I don’t remember my dreams,” I tell the boy with grey eyes. He pinches my cheek. “I’ll dream for the both of us.” “Promise?” “Promise, Elsa.”
Since we were children and even now, Aiden’s features only light up when I’m around.
“Do you remember the time we spent together ten years ago?” I ask before I can stop myself. He nods, eyes darkening. “And you don’t.” My heart skips a beat. He hates it. Oh, my God. He hates that I don’t remember him from back then.
“I’m the one with the memories, remember?” His lips tilt with a smirk. “You wiped my face with a wet cloth then covered me with a blanket just so you could slip underneath it with me. Oh, you also held my hand and kissed my cheek. Child Elsa was a stage five clinger.”
He takes my hand and lifts it to his face. He flattens my palm over his mouth and kisses it so tenderly, a shock ripples through my entire body.
He lowers my hand and keeps it on his thigh, tucked in his like it’s his most prized possession. Our fingers interlace.
He chuckles, and the sound echoes around us like a melody. I want to reach for that sound, box it somewhere, and keep it for safekeeping.
“Anything that involves having you by my side is the perfect plan.”
“Remember Adam?” she asks. “Did he hurt you again?” I blurt and she winces. “Again,” Cole speaks so low it’s terrifying.
No matter how much it’d be logical to stay away from him, I know deep down, in the dark corners of my soul, being with Aiden is the only thing that makes me whole. He completes me.
Before I can pull my hand away, he places my palm on his chest. My eyes widen at his wild heartbeat. I always forget how erratic Aiden’s heartbeat can go. Like thunderstorms. Deadly, but also alive. So, so alive.
“There hasn’t been a day where I haven’t thought about you. Every time I manage to sleep, I dream of you. You were my obsession since we were kids, but now it’s way fucking worse. I don’t know how I managed to spend eight years without you in my life when now I suffocate if I don’t see you for hours.” My eyes fill with tears. “Aiden…” “Choose me, Elsa. Choose us.”
“My intentions towards your daughter
are simple,” I say with the calmest, most determined voice I can manage. “She’s mine.”
I lift a shoulder. I won’t lie to Ethan. Not about this. He needs to know that I’ll fight for her. I’m ready to fight him, Jon...
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“I couldn’t care less about families clashing. I’ve already taken a side and it’s Elsa’s.”
I love creeping under her skin. I love being the only one who gets to break the ice and slip inside her castle. She might close the door, she might build forts, but I’ll always conquer.
Her mind clashing with mine is more euphoric than anything I’ve experienced before.
Sun Tzu. She’s quoting her favourite book, The Art of War, and yes, I re-read it after she mentioned it’s her favourite book, just so I could imagine reading it from her perspective.
“She’s mine, Jonathan. Mine.” I throw the hair towel away and walk to stand toe to toe with him. “Once you accept that fact, I’ll accept to be your heir. Until then, you’re my enemy.”
“He’s not important, Aiden. You are.”
We’re too lost in each other’s gaze to pay attention to the world surrounding us. We’re barely touching, but I feel him all around me, like a constant. Right now, I’m sure that if I somehow fell into the pool, he’d bring me out. He’d protect me and be my hero once again. I should probably stop thinking about him as a hero.
Inching closer, my space fills with all that is him. His scent and his warmth. His cloudy eyes and the chaotic emotions swirling inside of them. Those emotions are mine. I want to snatch them up, hug them, and somehow insert them into my chest so they can find company with my own erratic feelings. The closer I am to him, the more the world disappears. The entire universe is tucked into the small space between us where my knees nearly graze his. “You are important.”
He’s everything I shouldn’t want, and also everything I need.
Being with Aiden is like going through a roller coaster ride in a dark tunnel. There are ups and downs. There’s black and danger. But most of all, there’s excitement and the euphoric feeling of being alive. I’m alive. With Aiden, I never stopped feeling alive.
I miss him. I was counting down the hours until I could see him again, sit by his side, and listen to him talk all night.
“I’m going to save you. I p-promise.” His other hand wraps around my arm and tugs me down. I lie beside him, his injured hand remaining limp between us. “Stay like this,” he whispers.
His thumb wipes under my eyes. “Don’t cry.” “I can’t stop.” “I don’t like it when you cry.” He continues gathering my tears and making them go away. “Why?” “Because it hurts me when you’re hurt.” “M-me, too. That’s why I’m crying. I don’t want you hurt.”
Leaning over, I place a kiss on the side of his bandage. “Daddy says it heals when you kiss it.”
