Maggie Norris and Luke Vaudest come with attitudes of stone-cold, rude, sarcastic snakes. Every single time the pair have clashed, it has never ended up being a good thing. The two are more than fine with never crossing paths, again.
Until Maggie d...
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"You are beautiful and magical and perfect, especially because of your flaws. Those cracks are what let the light in, baby." — Dawn Gluskin ————————————————————
Chapter 74 <—————————————>
Maggie
"Oh my god..." Stunned, I forced my way past it in order to speak, "What happened?"
His skin had lost any resemblance of color. "Someone went into her room when she was sleeping, and they..." I watched his throat constrict under the words before he shook his head. "Her heart stopped. The doctors managed to save her, but barely and..." His voice cracked before he could finish it.
My chest cracked right in half at the sight of him. I was glad that Wendy was okay and still alive, but coming so close to her not being okay probably terrified him. I watched him shake his head, trembly lips locking in under the other.
My soul ached just at the sight of his. His face had gone blank, but the pain in his eyes was undeniable. His body was beginning to shake, now, too.
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Come here, love." His hands locked around my waist in a death grip, but I didn't plan on removing it.
I led us back with the soles of my feet. Once the mattress hit the back of my knees, I turned us to have Luke under me. When I was situated on top of him, I wrapped my arms around his trembling figure.
"I'm sorry," he whispered in the corner of my neck, squeezing down tighter on my waist. "I'm sorry. I'm just...she's the only parent I've ever had, and she..."
"You don't have a thing to apologize for, Luke." I lifted my head just enough to kiss his. "Not at all."
I could feel him wanting to hide himself and his breaking, as he had had to do all of his life, but still trying to make the realization that he didn't have to do so around me. I was here, and I wasn't going anywhere.
My fingers stroked the back of his head, and I held him against me in order to stop him from running. I felt him accept it, burying his face even deeper into my neck.
"S-she died for a couple of minutes," he mumbled, voice tremulous. "They revived her, but still, she could have...my dad almost made me lose her...he tried to take her away from me." He shook his head against me. "He did it on purpose, he waited for this day, this time, on purpose. He wanted me to think that I actually had a good birthday, that I could actually have a good life, good things, and good people, and he..." His voice cracked before he stopped speaking altogether.
"I know, my love. I know." I nodded in understanding, stroking a hand through his curls. "It's okay. She's okay."
I had no idea how his father reached his mother, honestly. Luke had extra security, and precautions placed for her after the event to stop him from hurting her. I guessed when Luke and I left, though, his dad took the opportunity to send a message to Luke through his mother.
