It's a Long Way Down

Chapter Twenty One: Making Up for Lost Time

Sodo and Ember never did make it back to the common room to finish the game. After Swiss had walked in on them, Sodo had decided to take her back to his room, somewhere with a lockable door. Of course, Sodo carried the crippled Ember to his room, holding her crutches in his hands.

Once he entered his room, he placed her on the bed, leaning her crutches up against the wall next to her, before shutting the door and locking it. Ember told him, "I don't think it's a good idea for sex right now."

"Who said we were doing that?" Sodo asked, walking over, "Maybe I wanted to get some cuddles in since I missed 2 weeks of cuddles."

Ember just sighed, looking around the room, her eyes catching an empty rum bottle, "I thought you said you weren't drinking?"

Sodo quickly rushed over to the bottle, tossing it in the trash, "That's old, don't worry."

Old being 'I just drank that last night.'

"I'm not drinking. I promise," He told her as he walked over to the bed, laying down on it, pulling the ghoulette down with him. Ember sighed in content as she laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist. Sodo just held her, trailing his fingertips up and down her arm, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He was the one to break the silence, speaking just above a whisper, "I missed you."

"I never left," She told him, not moving to look at him. Sodo just let out a breath, shaking his head, "You left me for a while. You couldn't stand to even look at me. I missed this. Being able to hold you. Being able to be close to you. Kiss you."

"I'm sorry," She apologized. Sodo told her, "No, don't apologize. None of it was your fault."

"It wasn't yours either then," Ember shot back. Sodo stayed silent, and Ember knew he was still beating himself up about what had happened. She maneuvered herself to rest her chin on his chest, looking at him, being careful of her injuries as she repeated, "It's not your fault, Sodo."

"I could've prevented all of this from happening though. If I just pushed away the damn Sister of Sin. If I just moved away, none of this would've happened. You wouldn't be injured, everything would be fine," Sodo argued, not looking at Ember. She could see his eyes were glazed over as if he was holding back tears. She sighed, using her good arm to drag herself up the bed, snaking it under Sodo's head before pulling him onto her chest. His arms automatically went around her torso, holding her close as she ran her hand through his hair, her other hand trailing her fingertips over his arm as he had done for her.

"What happened to me is no one's fault but my own. I didn't wait to talk to you. I let Sister get into my head, making me think you were different. That you were messing around with other girls. I believed her and I ran. The accident happened because I wasn't paying attention," Ember told him. Sodo felt a tear fall down his nose, quickly reaching up to wipe it away as he sniffled. Ember went on, "I put you through hell these past few weeks, and I am so sorry for that. And the way I treated the others... Satan, I turned into a monster these past few weeks. All because I let one person get into my head."

Sodo didn't respond, letting Ember tell him, "Rain got mad at me today. He was trying to protect you. I don't think I've ever seen him so upset. It was a bit of an eye-opener for me."

Sodo looked up at her, the rims of his eyes red from the few tears that had fallen. He had cried so much in the past few days, he was surprised he even had tears left. He lifted his hand to stroke his mate's face saying, "I really do love you, Ember. I don't think there's anything you could do to make me not want you."

Ember pressed a small kiss to the tip of his nose saying, "You're changing the subject."

"I'd rather just move on from what happened. I don't think I can talk about any of it yet without breaking down," Sodo told her honestly. Ember let out a breath, realizing just how much the past few weeks had affected her mate. She simply held him tighter telling him, "I'm so sorry for what I put you through. You didn't deserve any of it."