In a lifetime

Chapter 29: Joseph Flores

Waking up, I stretch my arms out still laying down. I look to my left I see Daniel turned away shirtless and sound asleep. So we really did do it last night, thank god it wasn't just a dream.

I smile and I trail my fingers up his spine, not too close that I wake him up but have little space where I can still feel him.

He squirms and groans as he turns to me, opening his eyes. I can see his smile which seems brighter than before. "Well I can get used to this," he says playfully and I sit up, "maybe you will but first I have to take a shower," I say getting up and picking up our clothes and throwing them in the laundry hamper.

"Aw, you can't stay in bed not even for a little?" He says not taking his eye off me. I get the feeling he's admiring my morning nude self. "No I can't and neither can you, we got things to do so you gotta get up," I say playfully and he nods saying "alright then I'll join you"

His smile tells me that he's not joking and means it. "Mmm alright but gotta keep your hands to yourself," I say walking to the shower with him groaning behind me.

This will be the only time I shower with him, as much as I like the company I value my own personal shower time so today is the only exception.

After showering we get dry and get dressed. I check my phone and everyone is coming over including Natalie, now that she's been involved she wants to know what's going on and she's been hanging out with Daniel a lot more. I don't blame her, they are the only two normal ones here and she deserves to know what's going on now without me shutting her out but I'm still against it for her safety.

"Hey uh, babe, your white streak seems to be growing," Daniel says before I head downstairs. I look at him confused and I head to the bathroom mirror to check on it. He's right it is growing, it's bigger than the last time I checked on it. White doesn't suit me for my skin color so I'll have to buy some hair dye to cover it.

I head downstairs and Nessa has already been waiting outside. I let her in and I know she's still dealing with the truth about the myth and all, and I don't want to set her off by saying something insensitive.

"Nessa do you want to talk about it? You know... with what we found out yesterday" I say trying to pass a comforting tone but I just sound awkward.

She looks at me and opens her mouth, "I guess I'm still trying to cope with the fact that I've been living a lie and I led you all to believe it was a gift" she says and I know I don't have enough information to speak deeply about the topic but I try my best with what I can.

"So what, you were led to believe it was a gift and no one blames you, it isn't your fault it was a curse, and even so we'll find a way to put an end to it because I don't feel like living with a curse especially when we die our soul is trapped to roam the earth for all of eternity," I say with my own form of comfort but she just looks at me confused.

I may have neglected to tell everyone that tiny bit of information I found while I was reading the diary yesterday. I even took it to analyze it better. I tell Nessa that tiny bit of information and now she feels worse. I'm not helping her feel better at all, hopefully, when the others get here they can do better.

I tell her to sit on the couch and take a breather while I make coffee. God, I'm usually good at giving advice that I can't follow but I'm drawing blank.

The timing is almost in sync when Daniel gets downstairs and when people knock on the door. I can tell that's everyone and when I open the door I tell them of the situation with Nessa and they make it their mission to make her feel better.

As everyone tries their best to comfort her I finish pouring out coffee for everyone and hand them out. They also don't have the best of luck and that's when I had enough.

"Nessa I get it that you've been lied to, we've all been there, granted not as big as yours but in the same boat, but you can't give up because of this one thing yes it's frustrating, and yes despise it being a literal curse it's also been a gift because it brought us all here and without it, we wouldn't have gotten to know each other" I try saying that all in one breath but failed. my point still stands.

She nods, continuously in fact, and stands agreeing with me. She isn't going to dwell on the past anymore and spend her time now with us and helping us. Apologizing for acting the way she was, we tell her she doesn't need to apologize and we all do a group hug.

"When did you get so emotional and touchy?" Natalie says laughing at me and I shrug at her with a bit of an attitude to give her something to ponder over.

Now that we got that over with I suggest we spend the rest of the day together, not focusing on the terrible fate yet to come because come on, we can all use the break, and now is a perfect chance for that.

Everyone makes suggestions and for the rest of the day, we fulfill them.