Board Thread:Short Stories and Fanfictions/@comment-109.161.131.188-20191108183757

Everglen’s huge backyard was a lot bigger than Tam expected. Like, a lot bigger. The field was as grand as anything related to the famous family was, with plant life stretching across the expanse.

The evening sun felt hot on Tam’s neck, sweat wetting his forehead and cooling him down only by a very tiny notch—but it was enough to spark an arctic rush that made the sun disappear. His eyes scanned the green trees around him, waiting for her. For some reason, even though he’d regulated his temperature, drops slid down his face.

It had been a whole month since he came back from the Neverseen; he was trust-worthy! He was on their side. He wanted to pull the pretty silver flowers that matched his jagged bangs and their pretty little leaves out of the dirt as hard as he could.

Linh. Biana.

Sophie trusted him! If it isn’t girls’ problems, why was it so hard to get them to open up to him?

Someone cleared their throat behind him, and he whirled around to see a cute, teal eyed Vacker.

“Hi Tam,” Biana greeted with a pink-lipped smile. Her brown hair was braided and woven with diamonds that flashed when she slowly approached him.

“Um…hi.”

The awkwardness swelled between them. He could’ve looked her in the eye, but that would require a courage that even his surly, cynical side didn’t have. He settled for twisting the button on his jerkin.

Biana studied him. “You really don’t have to be nervous. We’re just talking. Besides, you can’t have forgotten your snarky-ness that would never let you be this…whatever you’re being right now. I’ve developed some myself while you were gone!”

When he didn’t smile back, she rolled her eyes. “Maybe if we walk around it’ll loosen you up,” she suggested. “You clearly need it.”

She grabbed his hand before he could yank it away and pulled him into a run. The trees whizzed past them. She called to him, “Just so you know, we shouldn’t do anything dangerous. I know you’re not great at that, but please try to manage.” She held up her other hand before he could protest and continued, “Woltzer will murder me if you don’t listen, and then I’ll take it out on you.” They stopped running at a wide lake that shone in the sunlight.

A sarcastic “Oh no” snuck out of his mouth before he could stop himself, and Tam pulled his bangs over his eyes when Biana giggled.

“I’ll forgive and have mercy on you for your disrespectful comment on my tremendous power, only because I’ve missed y—because I’ve missed your jokes.”

He didn’t miss the hesitation. He could’ve called her out on it, but for some reason he felt the urge to say, “Of course, Lady Biana.”

She smiled and sat down silently on the edge of the lake, which he quickly copied. The toes of her boots trailed through the lake water, rippling the surface.

Her face was happy. Her body said otherwise. Her shoulders drooped, and her eyes jumped away from him and watched everything much too closely. Her fingers looped around a loose strand of hair, winding it tighter and tighter and tighter.

“You’re not okay.”

“What?” Biana jerked her head down from where she was intensely observing a bird fly overhead.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a hushed tone that made her whole body stiffen.

“What does it matter to you?” she snapped as her face darkened.

He pried his fingers open and closed. “I care about you—and the rest of our friends,” he added after he recognized how that had sounded.

“Do you? You left us—but when Linh offered you wouldn’t come back.”

“I didn’t have a choice!” Tam argued. “I couldn’t leave yet if she could still hurt Linh.”

“Linh’s not helpless, you know,” Biana countered.

“I never said she was. But I’d never be able to let them hurt her.”

Biana looked away and yanked on her braid so hard the elastic popped off and her hair unraveled into a wavy mane. “Do you know how it affected Linh at all? How could you put her through that? Put her through the hurt and aching on the inside while being forced to hold a steady face that was inevitably going to crumble?”

“You’re not talking about Linh,” he told her softly while she stared at her feet.

They splashed into the water. “No. I’m not.”

Tam dragged his hand through his black hair. “I’m sorry, and I know that’s not enough. So instead of going on and on about how I can make it up to you, I’ll ask you again, given that you technically didn’t answer.” He waited until Biana looked him in the eyes before he asked once more, “Are you okay?”

“Do you really expect me to be? If you want me to spell it out for you, then fine. I am not okay. None of us are, which might partially be why. Sophie, who’s been so strong for us despite how much she has on her plate, is in shambles after Councillor Oralie’s cache was unlocked. Keefe isn’t talking to anyone except for Sophie since he woke up a couple days ago, and he’s scaring me, Tam. He won’t tell anyone what the ability is—somehow, he knows—and Elwin won’t tell us either. Glimmer is being just as shady as you always are, and I can’t trust her when she hides so much. Fitz is…adjusting, but he won’t admit why he and Sophie broke up. And now that you’re back, I thought things would go back to normal. But they haven’t. Things are changing, and I’m so tired of pretending I’m fine, because I’m not!”

Biana’s fists curled around a delicate silver petal and crushed it and scattered the dry pieces left.

“You know, I realized something while I was gone,” Tam slowly began.

“Let me guess,” she said, her voice coated in a thin layer of dripping malice. “You realized that you’d made a huge mistake and that you were being a jerk-wad to all of your friends.”

“I did realize that,” he admitted. Before she could expand on other things he’d supposedly realized, he kept going. “I also realized that sometimes that I kinda want things to change. This is all really complicated, and weird, but…” His throat probably shouldn’t have been as dry as it was.

“I think if you stay with us,” Biana offered quietly, “then things could change.”

“You really think so?”

Tam tensed when she placed a gentle hand over his and tried to will his head, that was going crazy over this, to keep his cool.

Biana shrugged. “I guess I do.”

“And you don’t have any doubts? Especially given what happened with your brother—”

“Fitz is caught up in a messy situation. He wasn’t as patient as he could’ve been, and he wanted something to happen. Though, it was a special case.”

Tam sighed, “With the moonlark, it always is.”

“I don’t need anything to happen quickly,” Biana informed him. “In fact, it’s better if it’s not. I don’t want this to get in the way of anything.” She leaned in a tiny bit closer as she said, “And just in case you were wondering, if you were unmatchable, I wouldn’t care.”

His face was in an oven, and Biana’s smirk as she leaned back made it burn a million degrees hotter. “This won’t change anything, don’t worry,” she assured him. Her smirk widened when she added, “For now.” 