It Can't Be Over (Book 2 - Immortalfox)

And we're back with Book 2 of my Immortalfox series. The first book was Let's See Where This Will Go, if you're new to this. I highly recommend you read that first, otherwise you won't understand what has happened so far. 

Thanks for being patient with me. I hope you enjoy this and can't wait to see what you guys think! 

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Aleks POV:

PuppyChef rolled onto her side as I took the ball from her mouth. Her tongue lolled sideways out of her mouth as her eyes averted to me, egging me on to rub her. I sighed at her, saying, “Damn, Chef. Why can’t we just play? Please? For old time’s sake?”

A clearing of the throat sounded above me and I glanced up at Eddie who stood with his arms shoved in his pockets.

“You got everything?” he asked.

I sighed, nodding, and got to my feet, leaving Chef to grovel on the floor for the belly rub she’d never get.

“Alright. Let’s get you home,” he said.

A roaring pain echoed in the hollows of my heart as I heard those words. To think that only about a few months ago I had heard those words. They had held a more hopeful meaning then; in fact, they had meant the complete opposite then from what they did now. But it wasn’t all that bad. I knew where my home lied.

For the millionth time, I asked, “It’s temporary though, right? It doesn’t end here?”

He looked at me helplessly for only a moment before nodding and giving me a smile I couldn’t trust.

“This won’t last, Aleks. I promise. I’ll…I’ll get over this. Believe me.”

His voice was broken and I reached out to him and pulled him into a deep embrace. I cupped the back of his head and brought him into the crook of my neck where he let free a few sobs.

“It only goes up from here, Eddie. That’s my promise to you.”

“Right. Right,” he said and cleared his throat, releasing me. “We have to get you to the Creature House.”

I nodded, my heart only aching.

We took my luggage out to the car, leaving Chef in the house. As I jumped in the front seat, I thought only about how I hoped this would benefit Eddie. If it didn’t, I couldn’t go on. Simple as that.

He rested his hand on my thigh as we pulled out of the driveway. I sighed and put my hand on top of his, giving it a squeeze. Normally, when he rested his hand on my thigh, thrilling shivers went up and down my spine, but this time, I felt nothing. I tried to feel something, but all I thought about was how he didn’t mean it.

It had been a rough past couple of weeks. I had tried desperately to hang on, but instead Eddie released me. No, not forever. He promised not for it to be forever, and I believed him.

I gazed out the window as the familiar sights of my part of Colorado scrolled past. I gave a small smile as I stared out, a small light flickering in this hazy fog. This was my home, as it had been for quite a bit now, and to see it felt slightly good. But you can’t block out what haunts you—and that was this move into the Creature House. Don’t get me wrong—I was happy I was getting to spend more time with James and Seamus, but it plagued me to know that Eddie couldn’t join me.

James and Seamus had been going very strong ever since they got together. James was always happy and cheery, smiling and always talking fondly of Seamus, and so was Seamus of James. But Seamus still had things he was dealing with. Ever since his depression, he had been in the dark. Then, of course, Eddie and I forgave him for what he had done, but he had a hard time battling it away. Our forgiveness brought him closer to normality again, but he got hate comments here and there. You’d think that with hate comments towards Seamus, he’d make a joke out of them and milk them until there was not a single ounce of hate left, but he was still weak and frail. He wasn’t as strong as he once had been. He cut himself here and there, but James was always there to protect him.