Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
He said it in a cheery voice, but that sentence did nothing to calm me. Any question of his was like a minefield. Just one word slightly wrong and I could expose everything. I knew I needed to find a way to tell him. And it had to be sooner rather than later. It would be better if I told him than that he found out by accident. But... I was so sure he would hate me when he found out. Probably he would want me dead. So even though I knew nothing would become better by pushing it to the future, that's what I did.
"Oh yeah. What?" I answered and forced a smile. To my surprise, he looked hesitant.
"You remember Alex?" he asked.
Tall, hot, blonde that has known you your entire life? Yes,I vividly remembered her and immediately started regretting not having put a curse on her.
"Yeah," I said and took a sip of the milkshake.
"She wants to meet you. Get to know you," he said and then hurriedly added, "If you don't want to, you don't have to. She can be quite a lot. I tried to tell her off, but she made me promise to ask you. She's really annoying like that."
Is he embarrassed of me?
It was the only explanation I could come up with for his words. For why he wouldn't want me to meet Alex. And I couldn't blame him. I really was a freak. Even though he didn't know the truth behind how much of a freak I was, he knew enough. I wasn't anything to brag about. Not a girlfriend to show off.
Another thought hit me. What did he really think of me? Yes, he was my mate, so he would be naturally attracted to me. But it wasn't unheard of mates being rejected. I couldn't give him what a partner should. The fact that he was still here, still interested, had to all be due to the mate bond. But for how long would he be fine with how things were? How long until he got bored and went to find someone that actually deserved him?
"I can just tell her no," Felix continued. "I don't want to push you and it doesn't matter much to me. Forget about it."
I bit my lip and nodded. Thankfully, the food arrived at that moment and we could get busy with eating instead of talking.
I had really liked the milkshake and Felix enthusiastically made me try all of the different things he had ordered. I tried my best to get swept up in his enthusiasm. Most of the time, it was easy. He was always so positive, like a ray of sunshine. But I felt heaviness in me.
The food was all good. Very different from anything I had eaten before, but my stomach couldn't really handle eating it. I felt nauseous and simply forced myself to try a bit of everything. I didn't want to be more of a disappointment than I already was. Especially not when Felix had put so much effort into the evening.
I looked over at the bear. When I had come out of the bathroom, I had seen him trying to get it. He had seemed so excited about the prospect and I... It had been dumb and risky, but I had used magic to help him get it. Never had I thought he wanted to win it for me.
He really was so sweet and kind. He made me happy, and I wanted to cling onto it with all my might. But he deserved better.
As we ate, Felix's enthusiasm slowly lessened. No doubt because he could sense my mood and it made him grow more and more quiet.
"Zoe..." he said when we were almost finished, but I didn't let him say whatever he wanted to. Instead, I went ahead.
"Felix. What do you consider me as? A friend?"
I watched him carefully and saw his cheeks get a slight pinkness to them.
"Well, I... I would consider this a date and, even if you don't want to be labeled as it yet, at least sometime in the future, I would hope that you would be my girlfriend."
I nodded at his response. It was what I had expected, but it wasn't the right thing for him. "I want you to think about that carefully. We will never be able to touch. You might be fine with that now, but how about tomorrow, or in a week, a month, or in a year? I will not be able to give you everything that you deserve."
His cheeks were completely red at that point, but his eyes were filled with determination.
"I'll help you find a cure," he said, and I just shook my head.
"There is no cure."
"How do you know? I'm sure we'll find something!"
"There really isn't. If there was one, I would have found it by now. So think about it carefully. You will never be able to touch me."
I desperately needed him to understand, to make sure that he knew what decision he made and all that it entailed. As a human, he had a much more limited lifespan than me. Even if we just spent a year together, so much time would have passed of his whole life. He didn't deserve to waste his time like that simply because he was unlucky enough to be mated to me.
He became quiet for a while, but to my surprise, anger seemed to be the emotion slowly taking over him. I could see how his eyes hardened, as well as all his muscles.
"Are you really trying to push me away again? Going to pretend to leave, or will you actually leave town this time?"
I sighed and mumbled. "I just don't want you to waste your youth on me."
"To hell with that! You can have my youth. You can fucking have my life!"
His next actions were quick and completely unexpected. He moved his hand to my face, and I could already feel the heat emitted from his skin when I reacted.
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