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I considered myself to be a good person

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I considered myself to be a good person. I did. Sure, there may have been some moments in my life that I wasn't proud of, but who hadn't done something they regretted? We all had at least once.

That being said, I didn't think I had done anything bad enough to warrant being put in the situation I was currently dealing with. I was sure that there was someone above sitting with a bag of popcorn, watching everything play out as if it were a drama show.

"Cronan? You there?" Eli called out and my eyes drifted down to the phone where I saw concerned, brown eyes staring at me.

Truthfully, I had forgotten he was there for a moment. We had planned to do a video call weeks ago and while I was happy to talk to Eli, I couldn't stop thinking about Fen. I couldn't stop thinking about last night to be more specific. I let him into my house and touch me. Even if it was a brief moment, it was enough to shake me.

"I'm still here," I told Eli. "Sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

I hesitated. Talking to Callie was one thing but it was different with Eli. There was a part of me that wanted to turn to him for advice because he knew Fen. They had grown up together after all, but there was also the fact that Fen had hurt him in the past. I didn't want my issues to be the thing that dragged Fen back into his life when he was just starting to get better.

"It's fine. I'll figure it out," I assured him.

He frowned. "It's Fen related isn't it?"

"Eli, don't worry about it—"

"Cronan, I'm not going to fall apart just because you mention him," Eli rolled his eyes. "Come on. Talk to me."

I could tell by the way he was staring that arguing wasn't going to get me anywhere so I let out a sigh. "I just...he's so...confusing! I don't get how you put up with him for so many years."

Eli laughed at that, but I was serious. Fen was one of the most confusing people I'd met and I doubted I'd ever fully understand him.

"Go on," Eli pushed so I did.

"It's like nothing matters to him. Everything just rolls off his back and he tries to continue like nothing's wrong. I don't get it."

That was another thing that bothered me. Between the mate bond and just knowing what he did, I struggled daily with staying away from him while he seemed perfectly fine. It royally pissed me off that I seemed to be more affected by his actions and presence than he was by mine when I hadn't done anything wrong. I couldn't help but grow angry when he stared at me with his seemingly signature blank expression because it seemed like he could see right through me while I couldn't tell what he was thinking. For all I knew, he didn't regret anything he had done wrong.

"Has he always been like this?" I questioned.

Eli hummed in affirmation. "Pretty much. Fen's always been the type to keep his thoughts and feelings to himself. I think that just has to do with the way he grew up."

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