WITCHCRAFT

CHAPTER 22

Charlie had become worried for Lucy. He had visited every day while she was sick and with how her mother had ended he was terrified of what might be wrong with her. So when she rang his doorbell the last day of Christmas break, clad in her winter training gear, with a paper bag in one hand and a tray of coffees in the other he felt a sense of relief he hadn't known.

"Bella, you coming for breakfast at Lucy's?", he shouted upstairs.

"No!"

"She got you coffee", he argued loudly.

"Leave it at the door!"

Lucy rolled her eyes, but still left the coffee and a croissant on Charlie's kitchen table before the pair walked down the street to her own house.

"So what's been up with you?", he asked.

"Oh", she shrugged, "Bad cold, I guess. That's what Carlisle said anyway."

"You looked catatonic, Luce", he raised a brow at her.

"Bad case of the flu", she emphasised.

"Right", he smiled and put an arm around her, happy to stay oblivious as long as she was okay.

Angela wasn't home from visiting gran yet so she decided to take a shower first, passing her freshly cleaned bedroom on the way, and get dressed into some comfortable clothes. When she came back down Angela was there, in tears, in Charlie's embrace.

"Oh my, Angela, what happened?", she rushed to sit next to her.

"Grandma didn't wake up."

Lucy pulled her sister out of Charlie's embrace and into her own where Angela allowed herself to start crying properly, full on sobbing into Lucy's shoulder. This didn't come as a surprise but it was still heartbreaking, especially when Angela found out from the local nurses instead of a loved one.

But Lucy didn't take any time to think about that as she comforted her sister. The day therefore continued slowly. They had a little breakfast. Charlie told them some funny story about Lucy and their grandma and then they watched some movies cuddled up on the couch.

The brown eyes haunted her sleepless nights. A bride with no groom laid in Lucille's bed for days. A piece of string - all they had - still adorned her left ring finger, a symbol of love he had given her to promise themselves to one another, to place hope upon a life together.

Until the day before Lucille had managed to remiss that her true mate was no immortal. Now it was too late for her to think about it, too late to figure out how to fix it, how to ensure they'd have their life together. She could have become mortal or he could have become immortal, or-

"Lucille?", Maribelle entered the room her sisters shared, Genevieve quickly leaving it when Maribelle sat down, "I have found out what could have happened to your eternity."

Lucille didn't reply, she didn't even look at Maribelle.

"When a true mate bond is tied, through a shared life, their life forces are tied to one another. One dies so does the other", she looked down sadly and sighed, "Unless fire had burned you, you could have spent eternity with him if you had had a child."

A quiet sob racked through Lucille's body and she curled further into herself. A witch survived any horror but fire, anything else would just incapacitate them. So he could have survived, they could have been together eternally, if only-

"I never knew his name", Maribelle laid her hand on Lucille's head, raking it through her tangled hair.

The next word was underwater, covered by the sound of the alarm and Lucy woke up with a scowl on her face. Angry because neither did she know. The handsome brown-eyed brute her alter ego loved so dearly never had a name.

She hit her alarm clock until it shut up and got up out of bed, getting ready for another day at school. Edward and Bella displayed a picture of a happy couple, just like Angela and Eric, and, apparently, Mike and Jessica. All her students were in happy relationships and she was whining about a made-up gladiator she had dreamed about.

The day, and week, and months went agonisingly slow as she tried to feel something, anything. And one day, she found herself on a drive to the Cullens' home. It was March and every now and then Spring let itself be known. She sat in her car outside their home and seemed to suddenly get where she was.

She furrowed her brows at her own decision to come here. Was she so lonely she went to the ex she had loathed for so long? But it hadn't been his fault she had loathed him. In the end it had come down to the handsome man in her dreams. While she had left him because of laws he had no hand in she had stayed away from him because of a man she loved in a dream, in Ancient Rome.

She jumped when the passenger door opened and Esme sat next to her. Hand over her heart she turned to the woman who had inserted herself into her life as something of a mother figure, "Esme, don't do that."

"Didn't mean to scare you, sorry", she smiled at her, "What are you doing here, Lucy?"

"I-", she shook her head, trying to find some way to phrase her feelings that didn't sound desperately pathetic, "I was lonely."

"Oh", Esme sat back, stunted, "You're here to talk to Carlisle."

Lucy just nodded, "I- Is that stupid?"

"No", Esme shook her head, "I mean, when Alice met you she said she saw your wedding, she saw you guys as mates- we were- we were all a bit shocked when he came home after you broke things off."

"I'm sorry", she looked down at her folded hands, "I should go."

"No", Esme caught her hand, "Please. It'll be good for the both of you."

Lucy smiled sadly. She pulled her key out of the ignition and got out of the car, climbing the steps to the door which Emmett opened for her with a bright smile. She smiled back at him and walked past him up to where she knew to find Carlisle - his study.

"Hi", she greeted when she entered without knocking, seeing him in front of the window, looking out.

"Lucy", he smiled but his brows were furrowed in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

"I- I wanted to apologize", she looked down, "You cared for me when I was sick and I never even acknowledged you, you were always kind and I left you over things that were out of your control."

"You don't need to apologise for that", he walked around his desk to be closer, "I get that it shocked you."

She gulped, nodded and looked up, "Still. I'm sorry. It wasn't fair and in fact, it was stupid. Because we're going to feel these consequences whether we're together or not."

She stepped closer to him now, taking his hands that were folded in front of him. He looked at her now, "Are you sure?"

She smiled and nodded. His hands carefully moved up her arms to land on her back, hers ending on his chest as she looked up at him, "I do love you."

"I love you", he leaned down and captured her lips in a kiss.

It didn't cause sparks within her. But that was okay. She had a little over a year left to live. Why would she need sparks now?