A Coalition Story

Cal Comes Knocking

"I'm not talking to Ravyn," Atticus stated when opening his door to find Cal standing there.
"I don't expect you to." He brushed past Ace, walking in taking a seat in his desk chair.
"I'm not talking to you, either." He folded his arms over his chest, staring the blond down.
"Then listen."
"I'm not going to do that either. Just get out. There's no fixing things between Ravyn and me," Atticus growled. The other man shook his head with a dark smile.
"No, you're going to listen, Blackbourne. You're being an idiot, and Ravyn's being a bigger idiot, but there won't be any fixing your friendship with her if neither of you grow up."
Atticus shut the door to his dorm and leaned against the wall.
"Isn't Torin better suited for these emotional scoldings?"
"Yes."
"Then why isn't he here?" Atticus challenged, earning a flat look from his companion.
"Because Ravyn needs him more," Cal explained flatly. Ace scoffed in disbelief.
"I doubt that. She didn't seem emotional when she tried to get me to marry her." He looked into the space over Cal's shoulder, anger and self hatred building up in his prison of a body.
"Then you didn't see her coming to my room, shaking with how much she was crying. You didn't see her absolutely broken because she's convinced she's lost you. She's been hiding in my room for the past two days, Atticus. She's barely moved, she's barely had water, and I don't think she's eaten anything." Ravyn, the queen of hydration, hadn't drank water. Either Cal was lying (which was what Ace preferred to believe) or she really was falling apart. It was definitely easier to believe that Cal was lying.
"Why should I care, Excalibur? She doesn't care about me," Atticus grumbled, still not making eye contact.
Cal couldn't believe his obstinate stupidity. How had his cousin fallen in love with Ace of all people?
"Did you not hear a word I said?" Cal asked, too calm as he stood and approached Atticus. "She's completely broken because of how she treated you. She hates herself more than ever before. She hasn't even commented about Torin and me being back together. Are you really not listening?" he hissed to the other, younger man. This seemed to shake Atticus' resolve at least a little, because he finally made eye contact.
"She doesn't care about me like I care about her." He didn't have to say what else was on his mind; it was all over his face. Atticus wasn't even sure if he should go on caring about her.
"If Ravyn wouldn't kill me, I'd absolutely destroy you," Cal growled. He wasn't exaggerating or joking or making empty threats, either. Ravyn would find a way to kill him and get away with it if Cal laid a single finger on Atticus.
"Just leave, please," he requested flatly. But Cal could hear the struggle in his voice to stay calm.
"No, not until I've knocked some sense into you. You think you're fine, being all distant, drinking and taking pills, but you're not. I've been where you're standing, Atticus. I've been there, and you never find any semblance of peace or happiness that way. Don't say you've given up on those, either, because you're too much of an idiot for me to believe that."
Atticus opened his mouth to speak, but Cal shut him up.
"You don't get to talk yet. You've seen me these past few months, and you've seen Ravyn. The two of us have been absolutely miserable because of our choices and how we push everybody else away. Because I love my cousin, I'm not going to let you follow in our footsteps. Swallow your pride and listen to your heart. You love Ravyn more than you know what to do with, and yet you're pushing her away because she messed up. If Torin had pushed me away again and again, I'd be miserable the rest of my life. Don't make the mistakes I almost made. Don't screw both yourself and Ravyn over because she hurt your feelings." Cal's words fell from his mouth, but his demeanor was still scarily calm. He was scarily calm, despite the vitriol hidden in his words. Atticus didn't need anybody to tell him that this was why Cal was the Coalition's best assassin, maybe even outside of his age group. He was furious, yet his tone was as straight and calm as his face. But there was no hiding the anger in his words, no matter how even Cal's voice was.
"She doesn't care about me as anything more than a friend," Atticus spat back in return. Cal took a step backwards, laughing as he brushed a thumb across his bottom lip.
"You are as big of an idiot as she is. Do you know what she said to me last night, Atticus?" Cal challenged. "She told me that you are the most important person in her life, more important than I am. And I'm not being self-centered when I tell you that that means something. For the past seven years, I was the most important person in her life, more than Torin, more than you. But you weaseled your way into her heart and completely replaced me. I've been her best friend since we were little kids, and now she's choosing you over me. You and I both know full well what that means, even if Ravyn doesn't. She's completely in love with you, Blackbourne. She's too blind to see it, but that doesn't change the fact that she adores you."
Atticus had to admit, Cal had made many valid points, but it still didn't seem possible. Ravyn wasn't in love with him. Not like he loved her. She couldn't be.
"Listen, Atticus. Torin is with Ravyn right now, trying to help her see the truth. He's trying to help her get herself together enough so that she's not afraid to apologize and own up to how she feels. She's going to come here at some point, whenever she ends up being ready, and she's going to apologize. She's going to tell you how she feels. I don't care what you do, but you need to know this. She's being sincere. Ravyn wouldn't tell you anything like that if she wasn't sincere, and she especially doesn't apologize if she doesn't believe it herself. So get your act together and believe her when she comes." Cal took another step backwards and towards the door, still glaring down at his future cousin in law.
"Don't let her down, Atticus, by not believing her. She's been let down enough already by the men in her life."
He didn't say anything more as he left, acting just like Ravyn when he left the door wide open.