Chapter 82: Eternity-2

Bending, she sweeps her bag up and onto her shoulder. She stops at the door, her hand on the doorknob. Enid stairs at the dark wood, wonders how many girls have left with the same crawling sensation under their skin. "Dean Thomas?" She says and he makes a noise of acknowledgement. Turning her head imperceptibly, she meets his guarded gaze. "Do better." And with that, she swings the door open. The pain in her ankle unnoticeable as she breezes out of the building. Cool January air dances along her skin. The campus is relatively empty, most students taking advantage of their last day of freedom by being elsewhere. Gliding along the familiar path, she stares up at the Psychology building. The formidable building that she had stood nervously before on her first day of classes. It was where the final seconds of her life before them had trickled by. She wonders if that will be how she will forever view her life. The time before them. And after. As soon as she had entered that lecture hall, her entire world had changed. One look into ocean eyes and she was lost. She was found. The sound of footsteps come from behind her, but she cannot peal her eyes from the intricate architecture. "This was where it all started." She says as they stop behind her. Wind rushes around them, her curls floating up and across her face. Enid spins around to face them. The immortals. Her heart presses against her ribs. Begging, demanding to be released. To go to them. "How did it go?" Dante asks softly, a yearning in his emerald gaze. Her eyes trace the stubble on his jaw, the dark skin beneath his eyes. The absence of his usual smirk. "I am no longer a student at Pennington University." She says and the words seem to hang in the space between them. Alexander shifts, running a hand through his messy curls. A sickly pallor to his golden skin. There is a resigned curve to his shoulders. A tremble in his musical hands. "Angel-" He stops, pressing a fist to his mouth. Turning for a moment to gather himself. Theodore steps forward, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. His suit is slightly wrinkled, a stark contrast to his usually immaculate façade. Dark eyes study her from behind the panes of his glasses. The sea in them is stormy, the waves crashing violently. He is drowning. "If you want to go, if you want to leave… we will honor your wish." His voice is empty, like he has hidden himself behind a wall. She knows that it is the truth. It is similar what they said to her when she woke in the hospital two weeks and a half ago. When she had flinched as Alexander had reached for her hand. They had apologized. Over and over. When she was discharged, she found Emilia waiting for her in the lobby. Her friend had nearly broken her spine with a hug, apologies of her own falling from her lips. Confusion had filled her already hazy mind as Theodore had handed Emilia a bag. "You're staying with me! I'm finally going to get to live out my dreams of a never-ending slumber party." Emilia had grinned. Enid stares at them now just as she had then. Her mind so full of questions she can feel them pressing against her skull. She hadn't asked them as she had left with Emilia. Glancing back to find them watching her walk away. The pain in their eyes so vivid that she had stumbled. Shadows of the men who had given her the world. It was the last time she had seen them until now. Theodore pats Alexander's shoulder again, his lips pressed into a thin line. He takes her silence as an answer and gives a short, forced nod. If she didn't know him so well, she would have missed the unshed tears that glimmer in his eyes. She can barely meet Dante's gaze as he steps forward. He looks at her as though he is watching her die. And then his chin is dropping, hands coming up to cover his face. It tightens the vice around her heart. She looks at them. Really looks at them. The men she loved. The men she loves. It is in this moment that she holds the rest of her life in her hands. Two paths stretching infinitely before her. One without them and one with. Eternity. Something had irrevocably shifted inside her. No longer is she afraid. She thinks of a field. Of a deer and a wolf. "And if I don't want that?" They are the most important, impossible words she has ever said. The world stops around them. There is no wind, no breath. No time, no space, no universe. Only them. Alexander's head snaps toward her, eyes blown wide. She has left them speechless; their sculpted faces works of art as they snap between emotions. Awe. Incredulity. Doubt. Adoration. Hope. So much hope. They come alive before her, breathing air back into their lungs. Light filtering back into their eyes. Theodore steps closer, his hand brushing under her chin. She looks up at him, melting under his gaze. He is staring at her like she is the most incredible thing he has ever seen. Like she is the answer to every question he has ever asked. "Are you sure? Because if you choose to stay with us now, we won't ever be able to let you go." His voice is low, thick with emotion. She has never been surer of anything. There is no life without them. No version of her world where she could continue without them by her side. They are hers. And she is theirs. Forever. His thumb sweeps across her cheek and she realizes that she is crying. The hollow feeling in her chest beginning to dissipate. "I'm sure. But I don't want to go back to the estate." She responds honestly. Dante reaches her side in a few short steps, tugging on one of her short curls. The smell of books, cologne, and home washing over her. "Of course. Where do you want to go, little bird?" He asks, his accent lilts as tears of his own begin to fall. There is a smile on his face, the widest she has ever seen. His fingers run down the stretch of her arm, lacing his fingers through hers. Enid glances to the other side, finding Alexander standing a few feet away. Looking like he is afraid that if he takes a step forward, she'll change her mind. That he'll wake up and it'll all have been a dream. She feels a soft smile bloom on her face. Her arm raises toward him, her fingers seeking his. "Anywhere." She breathes as he reaches her side. His fingers interwoven with her own. "Everywhere." She is whole. ☀ ☀ ☀ Cried from the first word to the last. I cannot fathom how we've already made it here