The Fairy's Curse #WATTYS2015

Chapter 12

After the talk with Lane, I went up to my room. He said I really needed to think about the situation because, I need to know if I really love Ryder or not. If he's who I really want to spent the rest of my life with. UGH! I thought. I should not be thinking about this at eighteen. I fell on my back on the bed and sighed. This wasn't fair. I think I want my old curse back, it was less frustrating and I didn't have false hope. That's all this was, was false hope. There is no way I will find a man to love me enough to marry me. Not in a month.

"Winter?" I heard a knock on the door. I opened my eyes to see Will standing at the door. I sat up and motioned for her to come in.

"What's up?" I asked. She smiled and handed me the house phone.

"It's Ethan." She said. I smiled and grabbed the phone from her.

"Ethan? Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you? Talk to me." I said, excitedly.

"I'm okay. Mama is still a little mean but Tim is gone. He left a couple nights ago. Mama hasn't really hurt me, she just doesn't talk much." He explained. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding in.

"But you're okay?" I asked again. I just wanted to make sure that he was, I didn't want him in a home where he wasn't. He told me he was fine and we talked for about an hour before Georgette called everyone down for lunch. I walked down and saw Winter in the dinning room, but I could hear Lane and Georgette in the kitchen.

"Lane, you don't just ask her a question like that. For one thing, it's rude and for another, it's none of your business. She will talk to him in her own time alright, give her some time." Georgette said, placing sandwiches on a plate.

"That's just it, Mother. She doesn't have time. She has a month before father comes looking for her husband and when he doesn't find one, she's going to be cursed and there is no way around it this time." He explained. I didn't want to eavesdrop on their  conversation but they were talking about me.

"Lane, you need to butt out. It's none of your concern." Georgette answered back. I could tell he was frustrated.

"Mother, I care about her, I don't want to see her hurt. Please understand that."

"Look Lane, I care about her too. Out of all people that your father trapped into this, she deserves this least. She's a good girl who had a whole life ahead of her. But we cant take back what has been done. All we can do is hope that she can fix this." I heard them moving around and I ran to the dinning room. They followed a few minutes later. I looked at Will and smiled.

"Ryder, you said we would be going out tonight. What happened?" I whined over the phone. I was really hoping to talk to him tonight. Hopefully, get everything straightened out, but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

"I know, Winter but you know I have a job. I didn't know I had to work until this morning. I'm sorry. It will have to wait until tomorrow." He answered. UGH! This was so frustrating. I just closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. "Winter?" I took a deep breath and let it out before answering.

"Alright. It'll have to wait. Bye." He began to protest as I hit the end button and threw my cell on the bed. It was easy for him to say, his entire future didn't depend on this relationship.

"Hey, there's someone here who wants to see you." I heard from the doorway of my room. I sat up and saw Ethan standing in the doorway. It couldn't be Ethan. Ethan was back with mom and she never would let him see me. There is no possible way.

"How? How did you get him here?" I asked Will. She just smiled and pushed him forward.

"Fairy magic. You have thirty minutes." She answered before walking away. I should have known it was fairy magic. I just hugged my brother and gave him a once over to make sure there were no new burses or burn marks. I didn't see any but I still didn't trust my mother.

"Ethan, I am so happy to see you." I said, hugging him again. He just smiled and I could tell something was bugging him. "Ethan what is it?" I asked.

"Mama doesn't like me anymore. She's mad that I ran away and she doesn't talk to me anymore." He said.
"Ethan, mom loves you, okay. She's just really sick. Once I'm set here, I'm going to sure she gets better. Alright?" He just nodded. I could see the pain still in his green eyes. I felt so bad from him. I just sat and talked with him.

"A man came to the door yesterday. He said that he wanted to know who I was and if I was related to someone." I looked down at him and felt confused. Related to someone? Who could they be talking about?

"Related to someone? Did the man give a name?"

"I think he said Alan. Maybe Alex..."

"Aaron?" I asked, suddenly concerned.

"Yeah, yeah Aaron, his name was Aaron." Ethan answered, suddenly excited. I jumped off the bed and ran through the house looking for Lane. This wasn't happening, not now. No.

"Lane!" I yelled, still looking. He came running out of his room as I came running up the stairs. He looked worried until he saw I was okay.

"What is it? What is he doing here?" He asked, finally seeing Ethan.

"It's a long story and I don't have time to tell it. Listen..."

"Hey, I was just coming to get him. We got to go soon. What's going on?" Will said, seeing us all in the hallway. I turned to her.

"Okay, um, Ethan you go with Will. I'll see you soon okay, I love you." I said, hugging my brother. He just smiled and took Will's hand before leaving. Once he was gone, I turned back to Lane.

"Lane, We have to hurry with this because I have to get custody of my brother as soon as possible." I said quickly. He blinked a couple of times before comprehending what I said.

"Okay, figure what out and why?" He asked. I took a deep breath and tried to calm down so I could explain.

"The whole curse thing because....because I think my father is trying to get custody of my brother."

"Winter, we can't worry about that right now. We have to worry about you. I hate to say it but Ethan comes second right now. And besides, what's so wrong about him going with your dad? If it gets you away from your mom I don't see the problem here." Will explained.

"My dad doesn't even know him. He left when my mom was pregnant with him. And now all the sudden, he wants a relationship just because he was on the news. No, I don't think he deserves Ethan." I answered. Will backed off and grabbed a water from the fridge.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let this happen. I'm going to talk to Ryder right now okay. I already called to let him know and I just need to know if he is on board so I know weather or not I have to keep looking. I only have a month." I said, going upstairs to change. Lane offered to give me a ride so I can go talk to Ryder.

Once I reached my room, I stood in the middle just letting everything sink in. My brother might get sent off to leave with my dad, God only knows where that is, I have a month to meet the man that I have to spend the rest of my life with if things don't work out with Ryder, and I'm only eighteen. This isn't fair. I shouldn't have to worry about this.

I quickly got dress in a black and white stripped sundress, a gift from Georgette, and fixed my hair.

"Winter, are you almost ready?" Lane asked, poking his head in the door. I nodded as I stepped into a pair of black sandals and walking out the door. "This will all work out, I promise." He said, gently grabbing my elbow. I just stopped and didn't even look at him. I just lost it. I started crying as Lane wrapped his arms around me. I cried for a while before I remembered I had to see Ryder.

"Come on. It'll be okay. Let's go." He said, handing me a tissue. I wiped my face and made sure I didn't look awful before heading out.