"How have you been? What happened? Where have you been?" Ellie asked as we barged into our room.
"Where the hell is my brother?" I turned to face her. "Where the hell is Oli?" I asked, staring into her eyes.
"He left." She muttered.
"Left where?"
"To find you, Hailey. Oliver left to find you. You’re the one who ran away. I’m not saying that this is your fault but what did you think was going to happen if you ran away? Did you seriously think that no one was going to co looking for you?"
"I was hurt, Ellie!" I snapped, my voice raw with emotion. "I was treated as less than! Kiara wanted to leave and so I did. I had no other choice but to leave."
"This main character energy of yours is seriously becoming old news. Everything is always about you, Hailey! You’re treated like a princess by everyone around you so how were you treated as less than?"
"Wow." That was all I said before grabbing my pack.
"Wow, what?" She asked, confused.
"Go to hell, Ellie! You’re being an for no reason. You’re treating just like everybody else does. Clearly, you were never my friend." I said before brushing past her.
"Why? Because I called you out on your bullshit?"
"My bullshit? Did you try to stop Oliver? Or did you encourage him to go after ? I bet you tried everything in your power to stop Ronan and Cooper from going after but not Oli." I looked her dead in the eyes. She was quiet.
"Because it’s okay if Oliver puts his life in danger. It’s okay if sothing happens to him, right?"
Ellie ran a hand through her hair. She was unusually quiet. She gave herself away, the mont she couldn’t respond to my words.
"He’s my brother, Ellie! He’s my brother and his life ans sothing to . His life should an sothing to all of you. We’re alive because of him. We’re here because of him. None of this was ever about ."
I left the room without another word and made my way outside.
"Hailey-Jade!" I heard Ronan call after as I left the lobby. I ignored him as I stepped outside.
"Let her go, Ronan." I heard Ender’s voice coming from behind .
I felt a tug at my arm, but I frustratedly shrugged the hand off.
He placed his hands on both of my shoulders. I swiftly spun around and Ronan frowned at . A look of concern rested on his face.
"What are you doing, princess?" He asked, his voice gentle. So gentle it made all my walls crumble to the ground.
"I need to go-"
"Why?" He asked, genuinely wanting to know.
"Because-" I sobbed out. I rubbed my teary eyes dry before staring up at him.
"Because what?"
"Because Oli is gone." I cried out and he frowned at .
"Oliver is fine, Hailey-Jade. They just opened the gates for him. He’s back." He explained in a gentle tone.
"He’s back?" I hopefully asked.
"Yes. Safe and sound. He’s taking a shower at the mont. But the first thing he asked was if you were alright." Ronan stated and tears started streaming down my cheeks.
"I was so scared, Ronan," I muttered into his chest and his arms warmly wrapped around .
"I know you were. That’s why I sent our scouts out to go looking for him."
"You did?" I asked.
"I know you, Hailey." He reminded .
I placed a heartfelt kiss on his lips. Passion coursed through my veins as he started kissing back.
Everything about was him.
He’s right. He knows . That’s why he didn’t have to ask. He took it upon himself to find Oliver. Because he knew that if he didn’t find Oliver himself, I would have gone looking for him. No matter what.
"I love you so much." I pulled back from him. My chest rapidly moved up and down as I stared into his eyes.
He smiled at before closing his eyes. I frowned lightly, wondering what he was thinking of.
I gasped when his eyes shot open again.
They glowed a beautiful shade of purple. He held his hand out to and purple lightning danced around his fingers, but only briefly.
Brief enough so that only the two of us could see. His eyes went back to normal and the lightning on his hands vanished. Almost as if it were never there.
I watched Ronan in shock. For a mont I was too stunned to speak. I pulled back from him and he stepped forward. He placed an electric kiss on my lips and my eyes fluttered shut at the butterflies I felt in my chest.
"You have powers," I breathlessly whispered when we pulled back from each other.
"I wield the gift of Aetheris. The energy of the storm. I can command the skies, the wind, and lightning. With practice, I will be able to bend it to my will entirely." He stated.
I smiled in disbelief but Ronan remained serious. The smile dropped from my face. The realization started sinking in. Ronan wasn’t lying, he wasn’t making this up.
He was being truthful.
"How is that even possible?" I asked him. "I an you don’t just gain superpowers overnight- was it the lightning?"
"Kind of. The lightning was only a fraction of what happened to us."
"Us?" I asked in confusion.
"Right- Marco was there too. He wields the power of Umbrafla. The fire of the void. He can create destruction and rebirth and cast shadow and light. And burn anything in his way." Ronan explained and a chill ran down my spine.
"Right, so you both have superpowers?" I asked in a breathless whisper. I stared at my hands for a split second, wondering. "That’s bad, isn’t it?" I asked and Ronan just silently watched .
"I don’t know. Maybe he’ll make good use of his powers or maybe he won’t. I can’t answer that question for him." Ronan said while staring into my eyes.
"You should talk to him. I think you were his only friend." Ronan muttered, almost as if he was saying it all against his will.
"Right, so what happened? You said the lightning was only a fraction of what happened." I said to change the subject.
We sat down on a bench, facing each other. I was all ears. Fascinated by every word that left Ronan’s mouth.
"The lightning was simply ant to transport us to another dinsion. There we t an angel called Orion. He did so weird magic shit to us, and the next thing we knew, we had powers coursing through our veins."
"What?!" I exclaid.
"If you think that’s crazy, wait till you hear about his prophecy."
"He had a prophecy?" I curiously asked and Ronan simply nodded.
"He claims that there is a war coming. That and Marco would be on the frontline of said war. We have to fight no matter what." He said and I just quietly watched him.
I was too speechless to form any words.
"Will you- fight?" I carefully asked.
"It’s either I fight or I die, princess." He explained and my heart skipped a beat. Anxiety slowly started creeping up my skin.
I suppressed my emotions as best as I could and smiled at Ronan.
"You have superpowers," I uttered.
"You do too." He said while watching through narrowed eyes. Like he was trying to figure out.
"Right, I can control the dead and bend them to my will. But yours is different. It’s pure. Your powers were a gift. Mine was not." I smiled at him.
"Seven-year-old Hailey and Ronan would’ve crashed out if they could see us now." I laughed, and Ronan just watched , his ocean-blue eyes burning deep into my skin.
"I love you, Hailey-Jade." He said and I lted. I was putty in his hands.
"My hero," I uttered before kissing his lips. I felt him smiling into our kiss. "My lifesaver," I added and he chuckled.
"Keep buttering my biscuit." He joked and I laughed before pecking his lips.
And as if I could feel soone’s eyes on us, I looked to my left and found Marco standing there. He seed confused, not upset.
Just genuinely confused.
I think I may have given him the wrong impression. But in my defense, I was only trying to be kind and friendly towards him.
I knew he was in love with but I didn’t keep my distance from him. I never should have helped him when I found him in that McDonald’s. Just like he didn’t help when he heard screaming outside.
We were always ant to pass each other by. In this life and in the next.
Instead, I helped him. I broke the rules. I should’ve just passed him by. But I traveled with him, survived a maw attack with him.
I stopped hating him.
I don’t bla him anymore. Not entirely. I wish him the best and I hope that he’ll forget about and put us both out of our misery. Because it is miserable to know that soone cares about you as more than a friend when you just don’t feel the sa way about them.
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