Project Alaric: Book One ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Emery Gray

Alaric didn't say anything to his friends when he grabbed my Lego volcano from them, then gestured for me to follow. I did. I did as I wiped my face to try and stop the tears. I truly didn't know how it was going to play out when I arrived here. Yet, it played out in the best way I could have ever imagined.

Yeah, we still had things to learn about each other. But what couple didn't? Did that stop their hearts from falling in love with someone? No. It was a learning process. And I was more than happy to go on that adventure with Alaric. Despite showing up with a Lego volcano, and all these confusing words that made sense to me–Alaric listened to and hung off my every word. He waited for me to get where I was going.

The entire time, I just needed him to know that I wanted him by my side. That I wanted to fight for him. For us. And that, yeah, maybe this Lego volcano was a clue to what my future was going to look like. When I stepped into Alaric's room for the first time, I saw all the figures Alaric had built in the past–all perfectly arranged on display shelves that wrapped around the top of his room–leaving just enough room from the ceiling to put figurines up there.

Silently, I followed behind Alaric as he walked over to an open space. He didn't ask, and he didn't need to. He stood on his tip-toes and slid my eighth-grade science project into the open space before he turned to face me. I was gobsmacked. Flabbergasted. Whatever funny words I could think of to explain what I was feeling to see this boy–this boy who started as intimidating to me at one point, put my Lego volcano in his room to display. To signify us. Because in my eyes, now, it did.

Then, he crouched on the ground in front of me, and I was confused. "I am sorry I didn't figure out what to say to you sooner. I..."

"We both have insecurities," I said quietly. "We don't live in a book where every person is perfect with flaws only book readers could love. We're going to mess up. We're not always going to have the perfect words to say. The entire point is that we work through them and grow stronger in our relationship." I crouched in front of him to get at eye level with him, then I took his hands with a shaky smile. "You are the only person I want to fight with. Fight for. And fight beside. My heart knew that before I was ready to admit it. I was terrified. And apparently, rightfully so."

He cupped my cheek. "I'd never play you. That's not who I am. That's not who any of us are. But Jason did make points that weren't entirely wrong. We could treat Aurora better. I mean, we don't treat her poorly, but more like she's just there. She is Declan's girlfriend. She is important to him. And maybe I didn't understand what that meant when they got together, but..." His thumb trailed just under my eyes. "Now I have someone who means the fucking world to me. And if anyone was mean to you, I wouldn't be okay with it. And that means, I need to talk to Declan and Aurora. I need to apologize to them. I will be talking to Axton and Apollo, too."

I blinked. "Aurora said you three didn't treat her badly. Not really. When they first met her, yeah. But she'd never said anything bad about any of you–most of all you. I remember when we were getting ready to meet you for the first time, she told me you were the easiest to get along with. Then came the warnings about Axton and Apollo."

"Doesn't matter. We aren't welcoming and we should be. If you weren't already friends with Aurora, Declan, Celine, and Dylan–I'd want them to be welcoming to you. We haven't been that for Aurora. Those are our sins to make up for. And yeah, I saw Jason had some points. I truly believe he was afraid you'd get hurt after hearing about the times you have been. And maybe even throwing in the times he seemed to be hurt, too."