“So I’ve been thinking.” Nicholas started from where he sat across from the other, his fingers tapping at the ceramic of the mug holding his tea that was currently cradled in his hands. “And I wanted to ask you how you would feel about me being more involved at the non-profit. I know it’s my chosen charity and I show my face there every now and then, but I want to do more.” Nicholas commented. “I was actually thinking about funding a shelter that could open up in London, somewhere for queer youth to go to if they need help or if their families kick them out. Somewhere for them to feel safe and I want your help in making it happen, if you’d like?”
“Merlin... I can’t look away, it’s like my eyes are drawn to it.” Jasper commented to no one in particular, watching a rather loud fight happening in the coffee shop. The woman had just thrown a handful of sweeteners at his head and didn’t seem to be slowing down any. “What do you think the story is there?”
“So how do you feel having stepped into my shoes?” Nicholas couldn’t help but ask upon seeing the others costume, “Though something tells me that being a Disney prince is a lot different than being an actual prince. Actually... It is a lot different, I rarely sing after all.”
Ember eyes had been corrupted by shades of crimson rage, spilling recklessly onto the canvas of pale flesh. The name she mumbled in a moment of weakness, now covered in their sin. Each step he made closer to her threatened to crush her windpipe, air rushing from her lungs in an attempt to swallow the hardest words she’d ever have to say.
The damage had been done. Lexus could not unsee Morgan’s corpse, nor could she unsee the knuckles that had inflicted such damage. Tears pricked in her eyes, heart breaking as each syllable clawed its way up the rocky mountain of her throat, leaving a burning path of destruction in its wake. “It’s more than just us, Cameron, we’re hurting people.”
“You think I give a shit?” His voice boomed, reckless hands grabbing hold of her shoulders, desperate to keep her from unraveling. “You knew the minute you got into this that I would always choose you — I will always choose you! I’m not going to apologize for that!” Frantic blue eyes searched hers, solemn and deep with regret. Cameron scanned desperately for a spark, a hint of electricity that he could use to keep them alive. Each word seemed to solidify their fate, each corner darker than the last as she dug his heart a shallow grave. A hand cupping his cheek willed him to silence, red lips moving incoherently as he searched for the magic words to make this stop. Every fiber of his being rebelled against her words, nerves tugging him this way and that, threatening to tear him apart limb from limb.
“I’m not doing this,” Voice dropping to a whisper, pleading. “I’m not doing this.” Sad eyes silenced him, hands slipping to her wrists as he held onto her for dear life.
“I’m not asking you to,” Delicate hands traced over the plains of his skin, fingertips smoothing over the mountains of his cheekbones as stray tears began to fall. “This is my choice. It’s not—” The words sounded harsh as they came to mind, but the necessity of them outweighed her feelings. He was stubborn and unyielding. If Lexus left room for an argument, he’d fight her until she lost. “It’s not up to you, Cameron.”
It was like she could hear the door slamming closed. Over without another word. That was it. Done. Tears cascaded down pale cheeks, eyes red from agony but she wiped helplessly at them, trying to remain strong. Any sign of weakness screamed a chance for redemption, and she refused to string him along like that, “I think you should go.” Lexus almost winced as she braced herself for the worst, an onslaught of screams, profanities and fights but what followed couldn’t have been predicted by any means, unescapable silence fell between the two.
Lexus’s words punctured Cameron’s chest, his tall stature suddenly sinking in as an all-encompassing ache tore open his chest. Bleeding heart exposed, blue eyes bathed in betrayal met darkening brown hues. The shadows crept towards him without reproach, threatening to swallow him whole as the light that was Lexus Hale faded rapidly from view. Stranded, desperate eyes searched blindly in the dark for his beacon. How could he ever return to shore? Shaken and unsteady, he was left in the middle of the sea, drowning.
Lost in a land uncharted, words failed him. Walls closing in around him forced his windpipe shut, mouth grappling for words out of reach. Head shaking violently, the familiarity of anger warming his limbs as he stood out in the cold, rejected from her as her hand fell from his skin. “No fucking way,” He seethed, “No fucking way. I told you, I told you straight up that I would always choose you. You knew exactly what the fuck you were getting in to, Lex! And now you think you’re just gonna—what? Throw it all away? After everything?” He refused to believe there was no way to reach her, no way to right his wrongs. A familiar anger crept in, the feeling that Cameron often took solace in now seemed to fill his entire being, his heart had made room for Lexus but the sledgehammer that had knocked down walls was the same one destroying his soul. Afraid to utter another word, weary eyes sought comfort in her features, only to find none.
However much Cameron wished he could, his gaze never once tore away from her, the determination that moved her upon the utterance of each word. Rage left him high and dry, isolation so pronounced that he nearly took another step toward her. A hand reached out in vain, falling limply to his side as horrified realizations passed through his features. Her silence waited him out until each painful detail was firmly ingrained. This was it. She was serious. Fear opened his mouth, spoke for him as he cautioned, “If you do this…You’re doing this for yourself. Not me. I fucking chose you and I stand by my choice.” With one last look into her beautiful brown orbs, brimming with a pool of tears, Cameron waited until this image of her, the trembling of her bottom lip to the way her hair cascaded down her back in waves, burned itself into his memory. Turning on his heel, Cameron left the infirmary, heart screaming in agony as it was pried away from its one true love, yearning to soothe the sobs that ensued.
