OVERLOOKED ㅤkotlc

035. Jasmine Vanilla

I re-twist the wires, prying the extra gears out and double-checking the code.

Water almost drips onto the weapon, and I lean back, running my fingers through my damp hair.

The shower from earlier took longer than I expected, and it's already almost midnight; but I don't feel like sleeping just yet.

And Vespera wants to look at some weapons on Tuesday, so what's a better way to procrastinate sleep than this?

I'm about to continue working when someone knocks at my door.

I hesitate. It's probably not Ruy or Melia, or even Alvar. Maybe it's Glimmer with news about Rosaleen? I don't know.

"Coming," I call, standing.

I walk across the room, pulling the door open, and—

Rosaleen.

My heart skips a beat, but then it twists, sad and angry.

We both stand there—me in my sweats and her in her pajamas. It doesn't feel real.

Her eyes are the same cornflower blue, gold stars sprinkled in them like constellations. She attempts a smile at me, but it's different.

It's hesitant, scared, guilty, sad.

"Hi, Dex," she says, and I'm surprised by how much I've missed her voice.

I inhale. "Hi."

Butterflies flutter in my stomach, and I'm annoyed. Even after two weeks, she has the same effect on me. What did I expect?

"I've missed you," she offers, with a sweet, sad smile.

"But you left me." I stop for a moment. I don't know why I said that; it just slipped.

She winces. "I did," she says. "I'm sorry."

I hold her gaze, and wordlessly, she steps in, and I close the door behind her.

"So..." I say. I turn, looking at her.

She stands awkwardly, watching me, as if she's waiting for me to yell at her. But I don't. Of course I don't; I couldn't if I wanted to.

"So," I say, "what..." I want to ask what happened. I want to tell her how much she hurt me. I really, really do.

But.... I can't help but remember when we went stargazing in her room, and when she told me about the Milky Way's dead queen.

I exhale. At least she came back.

"Are you okay?" I ask.

She doesn't quite look at me. "I'm better now," Rosaleen says. "I'm... I'm sorry—"

"No, it's okay." I think back to when I saw her, talking with Seraph. She seemed so desperate and gone then, but... maybe she was just lost. "You don't have to—"

"Dex."

I stop.

She holds my gaze. "We both know I screwed up. I shouldn't have left like that. It was... I just left you, without a trace, and I should've said something."

"You should've," comes out of my mouth. I didn't mean for it to, but it does, and it's true.

"I know." Rosaleen bites her lip. "I'm sorry."

"Did..." I hesitate. "Did something happen?"

Rosaleen blinks, hard and fast. "Yeah, um..." She looks away. "I found out... My sister, she's still alive." Her voice shakes.