An Octoling's Tale

Chapter 16

Desti woke up to a sharp pain in her arm. She tried to sit up and felt someone's hands help her.

“Easy Des, your arm hasn't fully healed yet.”

“H-Huh?” She looked up and saw Sam sitting in front of her with bags under his eyes. “S-Sam? W-What happened?”

“You had a run in with Claire yesterday,” Sam answered. “My sister and I found you unconscious in the training yard.”

“The training yard? Why was I- oh.”

“What's wrong?”

“I-I ran into my sister yesterday. I tried to run away from her and I guess I took a wrong turn. I wound up in the training yard where Claire and her team were. They… they held me to the ground and… she carved something into my arm. Th-Then she poured salt onto it,” Desti said shakily.

“Oh Des.” Sam hugged Desti as she started to cry.

“It fucking hurt. Even worse than when I was cutting myself.”

“It's okay Des, I promise that I won't let anything happen to you again.”

Desti sniffed as she gave Sam a weak smile. The two sat there for a little while when the silence was broken by a long veeeeeeeeeeeeemo. Desti looked around confused until her eyes laid on an octoling sleeping in a chair. It was then that she realized that she wasn't in her own bed. “W-Where are we?”

“We're currently behind the training yard.” The octoling continued saying veemo in her sleep as he spoke. “She's been saying that pretty much all night.”

“She must be pretty happy then.” Desti looked back at Sam and sighed. “Listen, I'm sorry I worried you and Meggy yesterday. I just-”

“Desti,” Sam interrupted, “it's okay. There's no way you would've known that you would run into your sister yesterday or that Claire was in the training yard.”

“I guess.”

“Des, you're a sweet, kind, and wonderful girl, and… I like you.”

“Sam, I like you as well.”

“No, I like you as in, I like-like you. More than just as a friend.”

“Sam I… I like-like you as well.”

“Y-You do?

“I do. I just didn't want to tell anyone for fear of ruining my relations with you and your sister. I just didn't want either of you to hate me. It was because of these feelings that I got into trouble with my sister. All because I was dating someone who was lower down in society than me.”

“We're not your sister, I don't hate you, Meggy doesn't hate you. We gave you a home here on the surface, we treated you like family, we care about you.”

“I know, but-” Desti was quickly cut off by Sam kissing her. She closed her eyes, falling into the kiss, but backed off almost immediately. “No.”

“What’s wrong?” Sam asked. “We both know that we have these feelings for each other.”

“Yeah, but I just… I don’t know,” Desti replied. “These feelings feel so right but so wrong at the same time.”

“It’s because of him isn’t it?”

Desti nodded. “I know it’s stupid to still have feelings for someone who is dead but, him and I knew each other for a long time. He was there for me when I needed him.”

“Your heart technically still belongs to him. I don’t think it’s stupid to continue having feelings for someone you lost. It’s not easy to get over someone you lost. It wasn’t easy for Meggy and I when Starla went missing. It was even harder for us when we found out that she has been dead for so long. We still miss her. She was our family, like how Ben was your family. He meant a lot to you. But it’s uh… it’s time to move on. We can’t let the past hold us back.”