“Stop asking questions, Land. This film is amazing,” Maxx says, surprising me once again as he reaches a hand into my popcorn and takes a handful before chucking one in his mouth. After his mood about the date earlier today, and everything that happened this morning, and the thing in my room, I didn’t expect him to be so relaxed now. I don’t even know why I am so comfortable being over here. I should be sitting in a corner, rocking myself to sleep instead of eating popcorn and watching movies. I still can’t believe what they said about my mum, and about me. I also know that Maxx and Landon are hiding more things from me. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need to figure out a way to get Maxx to talk to me about the crash. I remember a male voice calling me Freckles, and there is only one alien that does that. My light up, apparent soulmate.
“One thing first,” Landon interrupts me before I can press play. “When are the guests coming over?” I don’t miss how Landon says ‘guests’ like a dirty word. I don’t know what to say about Landon being promised to their sister, but I need to wait for him to talk to me. I can’t push him into talking to me. I do want to learn more about what it means to be promised. I want to learn more about everything.
“Sometime tonight. They had their sister in hiding about twenty miles away, so they have to get her first,” Maxx explains.
“I’m sorry, Ura, I haven’t made the guest rooms up yet. You carry on watching the movie, and I will come back down soon,” Landon tells us and quickly gets up, practically running from the room as Maxx reaches for him to no avail. There’s an awkward silence after Landon shuts the lounge door, leaving Maxx and me in the dimly lit room.
“I have a feeling my brother set this up,” Maxx says, and I smirk.
“Oh no, you have to spend time with the person you hate the most,” I retort.
“I don’t hate you, just mildly dislike you,” he jokes. “I think the soul shit is the only reason we can put up with each other.”
“How charming,” I roll my eyes at him, and he chuckles lightly as I press play and put the remote down. I look over as Maxx slides into where Landon was sat, our bodies inches away from each other, and reaches a hand into my bowl of popcorn to steal some. I decide to let him because I have lots. But I keep an eye out in case he steals too much.
“I didn’t have you down as liking a movie like this,” I whisper quietly after a while.
“My mum loves these movies and had them on all the time as I grew up. Landon always hated them, but not me,” he explains.
“My mum loved these movies too. Every week, she would bring a new one home on DVD, and we had a movie night for just us two,” I admit to him.
“You miss her a lot, huh?” he asks, and I turn to face him, our faces inches apart.
“Yes,” I whisper, watching how his eyes run over my face and stop on my lips. I don’t think as I lean closer and press my lips to his for a brief second, tasting the popcorn on his lips and feeling how soft they are. There is a moment of shock from us both, just before the familiar warm feeling starts to pull me to him. It takes everything in me not to close my eyes and just fall into it, until Maxx gently pushes me away and stands up.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that,” I mutter, putting the popcorn down and standing up.
“We can’t be together. Not ever, don’t you get that?” he asks in frustration.
“No, I don’t because you don’t explain anything to me!” I shout back at him. “You act possessive around me, you are hot and cold with me all the time. You confuse me and tell me we are soulmates. What do you want me to do? If you don’t like me, you need to tell me, rather than messing around!”
“You drain me of my light. Of the true light that keeps me alive. Every time you touch me, you drain me because of that darkness that is half of you. That’s what our kinds do to each other. We drain each other until the strongest wins, but in this case, I don’t want to hurt you, and you can’t control it,” he admits, shocking me into stepping back and freezing in silence.
“What happens if I drain all of you?” I whisper.
“Honestly? I would die, and the power would overwhelm your human side, and you would die. We might be soulmates, but the fucked-up universe has made sure we can never be together,” Maxx tells me and turns to walk out the room as I stand in shock. He pauses at the door, looking back at me. “We can’t ever be together, despite what we both want or feel.” With that he walks out, and I feel empty, cold and more lost than I’ve ever been.
Chapter Nineteen
“Ura!” Landon calls behind me, and I rush quicker down the corridor to get to my science class. “Aura Scott!” he shouts again, and this time he catches up to me and jumps in front of me, blocking my way. I have no idea how he managed to get this close so quickly. I did a good job of avoiding him all day. I even ate lunch outside, so he wouldn’t see me in the lunch hall.
“Landon, I’m going to be late for class,” I say, as he crosses his arms and makes it clear he isn’t going to move as he glares down at me. I try to step to the side, but he mimics my action and when I try it again, he does the same. I sigh and finally look up at him, seeing how unimpressed he is.
“Okay, what happened with you and Maxx?” he asks. “I’m not letting you run off until you tell me.”
“Nothing,” I say, looking away from his knowing gaze which seems to have read my lie before I even said it. I tug on my bag strap, looking for a way to escape this and finding none.
“We both know you can’t lie, Ura,” Landon says. “And both you and Maxx have been ignoring my messages and me since yesterday. I’ve literally looked for you all day, and now I’m annoyed.” I rub my forehead, knowing I need to talk to someone about it anyway, and I don’t want to upset Landon. He is truly my only friend. I haven’t been able to focus or shake this empty feeling since yesterday. I don’t think I slept for more than three hours last night because of the nightmares of blood all over the school corridors and a blue light disappearing no matter how much I chased it.
“I kissed him, he rejected me. I’m embarrassed, okay? I also learnt that I steal his light, literally, and it kills me that I hurt him. What else do you want to know?” I ask, and Landon’s face drops.
“Shit,” Landon says, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “If it helps, I met the girl I’m now promised to, and she is super nice. I don’t know how to tell her I will never like her that way.” I flash Landon a sad smile and step closer, wrapping my arms around him and he hugs me back. We are both messed up in the relationship department it seems. I pull away and look around, seeing that the teacher is late because she isn’t here, and all the students have already gone in.
“Can we skip class and go eat ice cream at my house?” I ask, and he smirks, holding an elbow out for me. I know my dad will be mad at me, but I can’t deal with another lesson where I can hardly stay awake. Maxx isn’t in school today anyway, so we can’t work on the case study.
“Sounds like the best plan I’ve heard in a while,” Landon says, and I hook my arm in his as we walk down the corridor. We don’t talk as we quickly make our way to his car, and we get in, both of us not wanting to get caught leaving by anyone. Once we are driving back, I remember seeing another car parked on the guys’ driveway. Austin and his sister must be living there now, and it makes me not want to go over at all. Thank god we are going back to mine, and I bet that Landon feels the same way. I don’t know how to ask him about being promised when he is clearly struggling with the promise he has made.
“How are your new guests fitting in?” I say, not really wanting to bring it up but knowing I need too.
“Austin is a dickhead that likes to wind Maxx up, and Aliana is a nice girl,” he says, “but I think she likes me, and it makes things super awkward.”
“I think you might just have to sit down with her and explain how you feel,” I say gently.
“I don’t want to upset her when she has only just gotten here,” he admits. “It’s not her fault I don’t fancy girls.”
“I get that,” I reply. “You can’t help what you want.” My statement seems to bring about a long silence in the car that neither of us knows how to deal with. I’m sure Landon knows I am talking about his brother, as much as I know what he wants out of his life.
“Now explain what happened with Maxx in more detail,” Landon says, just as we get onto our road. I’m thankful for the break in the awkward silence, but not so much about the subject. I guess I can’t avoid it forever.
“I kissed him because I’m an idiot, what else is there to say?” I mutter, looking away out the window. “I don’t even remember why I kissed him, only that it happened before I could think it through.”
“You’re not an idiot, Ura. Even the strongest person I know would have trouble resisting their soulmate,” he says firmly, and he sounds so confident that it relaxes me. “Our mum used to tell us it is like fighting a part of yourself if you resist the pull. That the true light always links those who are meant to be together.”
“How are we meant to be together when I literally kill him, and if he lets me, I will die too. How can the true light—whatever that is—want that for us?”
“I don’t have all the answers, and I don’t know enough about the true light to give them to you. I wish mum was here, she would know what to say, how to explain this better than I do,” Landon admits.
