THESE HIDDEN WINGS

[151] A QUESTION

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"I'm not a Teddy Bear."

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"Talanda," the voice sounded faint and I mumbled in my sleep.

"Hey," the voice repeated, this time a gentle nudge, "Wake up," it huffed.

I took a  short breath out, my eyes struggling to open, blinking a few times with a narrowed gaze, the first thing coming to view was the light burn of the firewall, which was slowly dimming, and not burning as high as it had been what felt like a few hours ago

I yawned, nestling down with a content sigh, my eyes fluttering closed again.

"Enough of the snuggles. I'm not a teddy bear," the heavily accented voice repeated, "I have an image to maintain," it huffed, causing me to slightly stir.

Whatever he was, it felt comfy.

My chin nestled in his shoulder as I looked up at him through sleepy eyes, and he slightly turned, an amused smirk dancing across the corner of his lips.

I stared blankly at him for a moment, my mind flashing back to the boy I first met in the hallways, that haunting gaze of his, and now- here at this moment, he was equally bewitching. But not like before when my heart was pounding.

This time it felt more like a flutter.

I was confused at this comfortable feeling that settled inside me, suddenly drawing back to reality, pulling away, my cheeks heating up in embarrassment.

He nodded at the action, "Looks like you're back from the land of dreams," he stated, with humor dancing in his eyes, "I hope Asai has been good to you."

My gaze shifted, as I pushed my hair from my face nodding, before looking out into the direction of the Forest, watching as the firewall only burned a quarter inch off the ground than it had previously been.

It was still dark and yet hints of the morning light could be seen rising just over the outline of the ocean to the east.

It was almost morning.

That thought echoed through my mind and I looked back at Harvest, heart a gentle beat within me.

Had he stayed here with me for that long? My breath hitched as I watched him.

His gaze rested on the firewall.

"He will be here soon," he stated, yet didnt look my way, his gaze however still shifting from the firewall settling on the ground for a moment, he seemed lost in thought before his eyes snapped to me.

"May I ask you a question?" he finally asked, his blue eyes rested on me openly, and in that moment I lost breath because it felt like I could see the road to his open soul shown in his eyes.

The moment was pure and gentle.

Because of that, I had a feeling that whatever he was going to ask was going to be something I should answer with care because he was searching for honesty.

I found myself nodding, stuck in the moment as he held my truth prisoner.

"If you wanted—something so bad," he paused breathing out stiffly, " it felt like it hurt," he added, an emotion passing through his eyes, as they shifted to the ground, his eyebrows arching, as strain in his tone.

"But you knew you were horrible at keeping things, and in the end, keeping it would inevitably lead to its...," he stopped for a moment, "destruction. However, Fortunately, or rather unfortunately for you.." he added, his tone breathless, "There's someone out that could take care of our her so much better- " he paused eyes snapping to me as on word echoed through my mind.

HER.

His gaze buried itself in mine when he asked, calmly and quietly.

"Do you think it's selfish to still want it?" he asked. His gaze searched mine, his voice was so quiet, it felt like a whisper.

The wind blew between us, as I watched his beautiful features.
My throat was dry as I thought it through.

In truth? The answer was quite apparent to me, and yet I still felt reluctant to answer.

But the truth was what he was searching for, and whilst I didn't want to say it, I nodded.

His eyebrows arched at this, gaze studying my face for a moment.

My heart skipped a beat when his eyes dropped to my lips, for a second, "How unfortunate indeed.." he breathed.

Before I could respond he looked away and got up dusting his coat, jaw ticking.

And just like that the Old Harvest returned, as he glanced one more time at the firewall.

"Lucas should be coming out any moment," he stated before glancing down at me, "And I have to leave." he blurted out, his five-ringed fingers, fisting and unfisting, before abruptly storming off without any further word.

I stared confused at the space he had once occupied, before looking at the figure as it disappeared moving down the hill toward the maze.

I couldn't help but stare at the spot that this dark coat had disappeared through, now not so sure if I should have nodded instead of shook my head.

My hand traveled over my heart and I could feel the steady beat inside it, though faster than usual.

I let out a shaky breath, suddenly feeling cold, despite the sun on the edge of coming through, pulling my knees up for comfort as I stared at the dimming firewall.

Just couldn't understand what I said wrong to activate the old Harvest. For a moment there, I thought we connected, a little bit like Lucas and I.

Where we could enjoy being around each other without feeling like my soul would be snatched from me.

I mean ofcourse they were its moments, but in a different way from before.

Why did I feel like it was one baby step forward and a marathon backward with him? I frowned at this, scoffing out loud.

And he says I'm the frustrating one. ME?

As if I'm the one with the bipolar self.

I threw a bitter look in the direction he had disappeared to. I would never be able to figure him out, would I? Sometimes it felt like he was someone I should run away from without ever looking back, and sometimes it felt like he was just so annoying I was capable of sacrificing right about anything to never have caught his attention on that fateful day, but on other times, on moments like this, he seemed ---

Nice. Well, Harvest's version of being Civil.

I shook my head, slapping my cheek momentarily, before sighing, staring up at the fleeting night sky above me, the moon lightening to a lighter shade of pink, slowly fading to light as the dawn brimmed.

My eyes trailed downward watching as the firewall disappeared, my eyes furrowing for a second when I saw a figure, staggering forwards from the far edges of the forest, shirtless, as he stood in perfect posture, the wind blowing through his free wild hair that dropped to his shoulders in silky waves, eyes searching till they paused in my direction.

I held a breath at the sight of Lucas, sitting up straighter a small smile curving onto my face watching as he seemed surprised for a second.

I waved over to him excitedly.

The corners of his lips raised, a wide smile dawning just as the sun finally came budding forth.

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Short chapter. I figured we were all tired, lol. This book is very long ngl. Just checked, over 400,000 words 🥹