Descending Darkness(29)

“When I found out that you were a mage, I was ecstatic. I’d get to spend time with you more often. I was even more excited when we found out that you’d be staying with us for a little while so we could help train you. Apparently, I wasn’t very good at hiding my feelings for you because Tom and David kept giving me a hard time about you. Every time one of the guys looked at you, I got insanely protective. I wanted to push you behind me, so I could be the only one you’d see. With the protectiveness, came jealousy. I’d never been the jealous type before, Ry, but you made me jealous. Every time you talked or looked at Logan or David, I wanted to punch them. Punch them! You don’t even want to know what I wanted to do when I saw that they made you blush.”

She is still messing with the comforter. I want to see those hazel eyes again. I want her to look up at me. “And then you got kidnapped. I lost it. You can ask anyone. I panicked thinking that I would never see you again. I yelled, I hit stuff, broke things. You name it. I did it. Claire told me after we searched for days that you were going to be okay. I started to realize how strong my feelings were for you then.

“I’d already tried to kiss you once before, and we were interrupted. Then there was the time in the kitchen when David and Emma came in…and then Natasha showed up. You were ignoring me at that time and it hurt. I was mad at everyone, and Natasha kept following me around everywhere. I missed talking to you and just being around you, so I kissed her. I wanted to see if I could get over you—if I was capable of getting you off of my mind, but I didn’t feel anything with her. It felt wrong. I felt more just sitting beside you than I did with her. It frustrated me to no end that you weren’t talking to me.

“Before the fight, I touched you and had a vision. I think you were able to transfer a vision to me because of our connection. Though at the time we didn’t know it, you were always the one for me. There was always something between us. In that vision, I saw you a couple seconds after you were healed. We ran out of the house, and I covered you in the yard as the house blew up. So, I knew you would live, but I didn’t know how. During that fight, when Adam was about to kill me, and you hit him with your magic, I realized that I couldn’t deny my feelings for you anymore. You saved my life, and it cost you yours.

“When I carried your limp body to the house and set you down on the floor to let Logan heal you, it felt like something in me was missing. It felt like my heart was literally breaking. You started coughing up blood and then went limp. Your eyes rolled into the back of your head and just like that, you were gone. I kept yelling at Logan, but there was nothing he could do. I hit you on the stomach, willing you to come back to me. When my hands touched your skin, they started vibrating. I knew immediately what was happening. I was healing you.”

Finally. She tears her eyes from the bed and looks at me, waiting for me to continue. “When the wound started to close up, I looked over at Logan and he was smiling at me. He knew what was happening too. We had heard all of these rumors about how soulmates could bring each other back from the dead, but none of us knew if there was any truth behind the words. I've never met anyone that magically brought someone back, but I'm so glad that it was true. I'm so glad that I was able to heal you. I wanted to tell you right then and there what was going on, but we needed to get out of there. Something just didn’t feel right about the timing, so I kept it a secret, but it didn’t change anything. Every moment I spent with you after that just strengthened the feelings I had for you.

I reach forward and brush my thumb across her bottom lip. “You don’t know how hard it was for me to watch you go to Jane’s wedding with Liam looking like you did. I wanted to be the one to experience that with you. I wanted to be the one that you danced with. I wanted it to be me. I was jealous of Liam. In a way, I’ve always been jealous of Liam. Even before you met him, you already had something special with him. I thought you liked him for a little while there, but he explained the pendant to me. He’s just as protective of you as I am. We have that in common.”

“You thought I was interested in Liam? Even Emma knew that I liked you.”

“Well, it appears that we were both pretty oblivious then.” I grab a strand of her hair and curl it around my finger. “Ryanne, since I first saw you in the hallway sophomore year helping a freshman find her way to class, I knew that I wanted to get to know you. When I finally had a class with you, I was elated. When I finally got the courage to go up and talk to you, it was a little after your accident. You came to school with your wrist in a cast and a forlorn look in your eyes. I wanted to make your pain go away so bad, but I knew that you needed time, so I waited again. Every moment I’ve spent with you has made me realize how much I need you beside me. Even when you are mad at me, I like knowing that you are still here; that you’re near. The Fates chose us. We’re meant to be together. We’re meant for each other. So no, it doesn't bother me that I’m stuck with you. I want to be stuck with you because I’m in love with you.”