Beyond

Chapter 36

Pierre heard a knock on his door, waking him from his beauty sleep.

"Come to our room. My chef prepared us breakfast today," Payne said the moment the door opened.

"All right..." Pierre muttered, following his friend, half-awake. "How did you—oh! Right, I almost forgot..."

Pierre's drowsy eyes instantly lit up when he saw the food on the table. He was about to take some for himself when Payne grabbed his wrist, preventing him from taking anything. "We can't eat yet. Jesse is still asleep."

He glared at Payne. "Then why would you even bother inviting me early?! You ruined my beauty sleep!"

"Don't shout. You're going to wake him up."

Pierre scoffed. His green eyes turned to Jesse, who was sleeping peacefully with a blanket covering his whole body. He looked like an angel sleeping on a flowerbed.

Pierre covered both of them with his power so that no one would be able to hear their conversation. "So have you told him?" Pierre asked.

"Not yet... I couldn't bring myself to do it," Payne answered, taking a seat.

"You know, the earlier the better, right? Why do you keep stalling?" Pierre said, taking a sip from the tea.

"It's not that easy, Callista."

"How about you do this—Jesse, you have a Light's Mark, which is why the emperor is searching for you. You might need to go back to the Sanctuary since you're safer there and no one will find you!" Pierre said, mimicking Payne's voice. "It's that easy," Pierre added, shrugging his shoulders.

"Easy for you..."

"Just tell him the truth. Jesse will understand. You both love each other, right? From the books I've read, they always have a theme about love conquering all. My sister always writes that kind of thing. So fear not—as long as the both of you have each other, you'll get through this."

Pierre couldn't help but recall the stories he had read from his sister's manuscripts. He couldn't believe that she was hunting him even in the Underground Lair.

The green-eyed Dusk sighed. "To be fair, if Jesse were me and I found out that you could take me home in an instant, I would definitely feel disappointed and hate you for it. And what would be your excuse? Oh, it's because you are the person who helped me and the one I fell in love with in a dream when I was a child. Which is why I delayed your stay here, and I'll make you fall in love with me so you'll never think about going home again—basically manipula—" Pierre stopped and bit his lower lip when he saw his friend frowning due to his blabbering. "Forgive me..." Pierre whispered.

"You're right," Payne said. "However, I never once thought of manipulating him into loving me. I didn't make him stay to fall in love with me. I just wanted to spend my time with him, even if he was not going to reciprocate my feelings.

"When I promised him that I'm going to take him back once the portal is made, I definitely meant that." Payne sighed. "It's just that... I waited for him for years, and my feelings grew bigger with the time we spent together. I got greedy and hoped for more. I couldn't keep my mouth shut when I saw him in the garden and brought out the bet that I decided to keep for myself," Payne said. His voice was breaking as he tried to hold back his tears. "And now... I feel guilty because maybe he got chosen by the mark because of me, because I made him stay here."

Pierre sighed. "Kind of ironic, isn't it? The person who's going to cease the Dusks' existence fell in love with one." Pierre groaned. "It gives me chills! I'll tell my sister about this. It's an amazing idea for her next story!"