Love the Impossible

Chapter 28 - Octavian's P.O.V.

I don't know. Somewhere it clicks. My thoughts fully form and I turn around and walk back to camp. I go back to the cave pull on pants and sit on her bed and pout. I'm very good at pouting.

"Rachel, you better come home or I'm going to kill you..." I muttered. I was angry. Furious at her for doing something so dumb. I read her letter over and over. Tears sting my eyes when I get to the part of her not coming back. Whatever she did, worked. I'm okay, I'm fine but I don't want to be fine, I want to be with Rachel! I just want to see her again. See her smile... I love her smile... Its my sunshine.

I'm lying in her bed, covered in her clothes, smelling them like a weird obsessed stalker and crying my eyes out when I hear her come in. Its been about a day. I know I put her through so much worse but... For Olympus' sake, I'm so MAD at her.

"RACHEL ELIZABETH DARE, HOW COULD YOU?! I'M SO ANGRY, I WAS SO SCARED, COME HERE AND HUG ME AT ONCE!" She looks hesitant, scared. I wonder if my yelling scared her. She's not smiling, so my heart feels like its breaking.

"You're better" she said, stepping over.

"You're alive. What happened? What did you do?"

"I... I traded my beauty for your wellbeing. Do you still love me? Even though I'm ugly?" she asked, sounding close to tears. I looked at her. I stared at her.

"Ugly? Ugly?! Rachel, you're still stunning. You're still beautiful... You will never be ugly to me" I pulled her close to me and kissed all over her face "There is no one more beautiful than you"

No one else saw it that way though.

People snickered and laughed and pointed. She'd duck her head, blush and frown. Hurt occupied the eyes that only I could see were beautiful. They truly were beautiful to me. I'd try to distract her from the mean things they said. We would listen to music. I would ask her to draw for me. I tried to compliment her consistently. I just wanted to make her smile. When she was smiling I knew that the hurt could get to her. And, I knew when she faked a smile. When she faked a smile, I would fake one right back at her, to make her realize I knew when she was hiding.

These days, I saw the fake smile a lot more. It made me uneasy. I was fine, I thought. That's what she had wanted. And all I wanted was her to be fine as well.

So, what was wrong with my Rachel?