Love & Magic

Chapter Two - Invitation

I woke the next morning as the day dawned bright and instantly wanted to go back to sleep. Flashes of reality crashed into my brain and I fought to push them away, unwilling to deal with a single one of them. The situation seemed far too bleak to even consider finding a light at the end of the tunnel, and I wanted to fall into darkness again, where I could dream of nothingness.

I rolled over on my stomach and buried my face in the pillow, but I felt the tug on my hair that told me the effort was in vain. The sound of fluttering wings, light as a moth, tickled in my left ear and the immediate reaction was to turn the other way. Groaning in defeat, I yawned and rolled over to find Lattie.

Her smile was brilliant, her high pitched voice lyrical. "Good morning! What are we doing today?" Her typical enthusiasm, so warming at times, fell on unsympathetic ears today. I had little drive to entertain a tiny blue fairy when the weight of more than one world rested on my shoulders.

I rubbed my eyes, trying to avoid seeing her disappointment. "I'm sorry, Lattie." I sat up in bed, wrapping myself in the thick duvet to ward off the cold air around me. "I can't..."

Her wings, moving almost as fast as a hummingbird, slowed almost to a stop as she came to rest, her feet touching down gently on the nightstand as she pouted in disappointment. Then she tilted her head in consideration and frowned at me, her giant black eyes blinking slowly. "You're upset." She sat down and crossed her legs, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin on her hands. "Tell me all about it. Maybe I can help."

I couldn't help but crack a small smile. The tiny girl was loyal to a fault and desperate to resolve my issues. I shook my head, fighting the overwhelming desire to bawl my eyes out. "My whole life is a mess, Lattie. I can't see a way out of any of it. And even if I could, I would disappoint too many people by running away, and I would destroy an entire world." There was a dull ache in the pit of my stomach as I launched into a retelling of the previous night's events.

Lattie fluttered up to my shoulder, sitting on it with her legs primly crossed, and her tiny fingers brushed my cheek. "I don't know the answer to any of the things you're talking about, but I do know that when I'm sad or confused or angry, pancakes make me feel better. Maybe pancakes would make you feel better, too."

Amazed at the simplicity of my miniscule friend's happiness, I started to respond but halted with a knock at my door. I sighed. My friends would never give me the peace of staying locked in my room. I pushed to my feet and padded over to answer it, finding Max standing there.

"What's up?" I asked, sounding more pathetic than I intended.

She cocked her hands on her hips. "I was trying to do a little yoga, but I keep getting interrupted with the moans and groans and whining about your resurrected boyfriend. Could you at least keep it down?"

I stared at her, unblinkingly. "Sometimes, Max, you're a heartless witch."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, her face less annoyed. "Look, you cried when he was dead, and now you're crying because he's not. What kind of sense does that make? Sometimes we all have to put our big girl panties on and get our shit together. Today, it's your turn." She stormed into the kitchen, and I realized she had a point.

Determined to be done with my snivelling, I trailed her and took a seat on a stool, noting a stack on pancakes in the middle of the island. I stared at Max with an open mouth, completely in awe. "Y-you made me pancakes?" I grinned broadly, shocked and feeling genuinely loved.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't get used to it." She sauntered off towards her bedroom, and my heart was tender. Max and I bantered back and forth and she may be hard to like, but she'd never been sentimental or willing to cook breakfast for anyone else. Perhaps Sullivan was finally chiselling his way through her icy exterior.