Sanguine: a love story

Chapter Two: He Loves You

By this time Azazel and Lillith had been dating for about a month. My emotional wound was still fresh but grinning at them and teasing them about their being together made the whole ordeal seem... almost bearable.

The three of us were having lunch atop a picnic blanket this hot afternoon. Lillith and I had just finished classes for the day because the lecturer for the last unit we shared had cancelled. So early lunch it was.

...Lillith was happy with the early finish. We could catch Azazel on his break from work after all. Forty-five minutes had never felt as long as it did right then. The lovey-dovey pair were sitting adjacent to one another, knees touching as they animatedly discussed something that Aza was showing her on his phone screen.

I took a bite out of my ham sandwich, trying hard to keep the bitterness from showing on my face.

'Ohmigosh that's fucking hilarious,' Lillith suddenly exclaimed, bursting into a fit of laughter. She lightly slapped her beau's arm, gesturing for him to show me what he'd shown her. 'Aeron you need to come see this it's instant karma at its finest!'

Ah yes. Lillith always got a kick out of watching people on the internet getting hurt. I tentatively bit down on my tongue, mentally warning myself to control these emotions. Nothing good would come out of me kicking a fuss.

'You okay Aeron?' Azazel suddenly asked, lowering the phone he was holding out to me. 'You seem tense. Is something bothering you?'

I mentally cussed at Azazel for being so observant.

'Mmm I'm fine,' I answered brightly, taking another bite from my sandwich. 'To be honest I was just thinking about the project Lilli and I are working on.'

Lillith immediately leaned across Aza, clasping my thigh with both hands.

'Are you stressing out about it too? Aghhh we would've been done with it too if Mister hadn't cancelled the class.'

My eyes flitted down to her slender fingers idly resting on the thin fabric of my jeggings.

'...'

Her hands were warm.

'Isn't it something you guys can just finish back at the dorms?' Aza pitched in curiously.

'Nooooo,' was Lillith's huffy response. 'We need to use the program in the class's computer labs to get it done.'

'Ahhh okay.' Azazel grinned and nuzzled his face against her cheek, causing her to giggle.

I watched her lift her hands from my leg to his face, cupping it as she pressed a chaste kiss to his waiting lips.

'You're annoying,' she told him breathlessly.

For the millionth time my heart shattered into a million itty-bitty pieces, but all I did was clear my throat and give them a mischievous grin when they looked my way.

'Jeez don't start getting all worked up while I'm around guys,' I said as Aza blushed and Lillith laughed out loud, 'Things could get pretty weird pretty quick.'

'Oh well I wouldn't mind it if it was you, Aeron~' Lilli teased, giggling as Azazel pulled her into an embrace flush against his chest.

Teasing, teasing. Lillith was always teasing.

'Ah well it doesn't look like Aza would be on-board with that, ahaha!' I teased back, watching as Aza sent me wary smile.

'If Aza isn't into a threesome then I guess we'd have to keep us our own little secret huh?' Lillith laughed, unintentionally making my heart skip a beat.

Our own little secret huh...

'That's enough Lilli, it's not funny anymore,' Azazel said, a tinge of desperation to his voice. 'It's probably not a good idea to...' He sent me a quick, sidelong glance before sighing and finishing with: 'Lead Aeron on like that.'

Lillith burst out laughing, wrapping her arms around Aza's back as she did so.

'What in the world are you talking about Aza? We've been over this already. Aeron's a lesbian yes but I'm not her type duh.'

'Yeah but-...'

It was clear as day that Azazel was still a little worried. I couldn't blame him. He'd grown up watching me fawn and fall in love with Lillith.

...That's exactly why I can never forgive him for doing this.

'Lillith's not my type Aza,' I reassured him light-heartedly, my eyes flat and devoid of emotion as I lied through my teeth. 'There's nothing to worry about.'

I averted my gaze before Azazel caught the emptiness, and I noticed his posture relax as he snuggled up against Lillith.

'Ahaha, yeah, you're right. I guess I'm just being a little over-protective.' He blew out an exasperated sigh. 'It'll fade away with time don't worry girls.'

'Yeah it better! You know how I feel about being controlled babe.' Lillith grinned and pinched his cheek, leading him to start making biting motions towards her. She giggled and the pair joyously fell back into the picnic blanket, tickling one another.

I set the remainder of the ham sandwich down in front of me before cling-wrapping it back up. It was nobody's fault but my own but I'd... lost my appetite.

As I beared witness to the pair's playful shenanigans and high-spirited laughter I was once again faced with the reality that Aza... No, Azazel. For him, this wasn't some casual courting or hookup. Just the way their interactions made his emerald-green eyes glitter with delight made it oh so obvious. He loves her. He really does.