Capturing Them

Chapter Forty Six

Capturing Them
Chapter Forty Six
Sang

Going inside the house, I find Axel, Brandon, and the others in the kitchen. They all greet me with a 'hello' and bright smiles, except for Marc. I frown at him, confused, and when he notices my concern for him, he shakes his head and promptly leaves out the back door. "Is he okay?" I ask.

"He's fine, Little Bird. Just give him time," Raven says and I press my lips together to stop myself from correcting him.

"Alright," I murmur.

"How did it go today?" North asks, going to the fridge and removing a bottle of water and uncapping it.

I sit down on one of the stools as Axel explains what they got done—something about bringing up some boards, replacing a beam, and making sure the rest are secure. However, my thoughts stray to Marc. He didn't look happy; not his smiling normal self.

"Sang wants to go and get some paint so we can do her room," Kota says. "Gabriel is joining us so far. Anyone else want to come?"

I jump from my seat. "I'm going to go and ask Marc," I say, as I quickly leave the room. I go out the back door and make my way down the porch steps. Looking around, I frown when I can't see him, but a path leading into the woods catches my attention and I find myself walking towards it instinctively, like somewhere inside me I know that's where he's gone.

Branches crunch under my feet, the leaves rustle in the trees, and I look up, admiring their green color, knowing that over the next month or so, they'll start changing color and getting ready to fall.

I come to a stop when I hear a grunt followed by curses flowing rapidly from a voice I'm becoming familiar with. I tread lightly, passing a large tree trunk before coming to another stop. Marc has his forehead resting against a tree a few feet away, the palms of his hands pressing hard into the tree's bark.

"Stupid, fucking idiot," he mutters. "So stupid."

"You know, calling yourself stupid isn't a very nice thing to do," I say quietly. Marc's shoulders tense and he turns his head, looking over his shoulder at me with those amazing blue and green eyes of his. "Honestly, I don't think you're stupid." I pause and take a few more steps toward him, his eyes watching me carefully. "But then, I might agree if you tell me why you're calling yourself stupid," I say teasingly, my lips curling up into a smile.

His eyes drop to my mouth and my steps pause. My heart beats like a drum in my chest as I watch him slowly turn until his back is up against the tree. His eyes come back up to mine. "You have a beautiful smile," he says.

My cheeks heat and my lips tilt back up. "Thank you," I tell him. "You have beautiful eyes," I admit, causing him to smile too. "Different and unique—yours."

He grins and looks down at his sneakers. "You're something else, Sang. You know that, right?"

I shrug my shoulders, the movement causing a twinge of pain in my injured shoulder as I look away and into the trees. "I'm not anyone else but me," I reply. I pause and look back at him, my eyes connecting straight with his. "What's wrong? You don't seem like the same Marc I met only a few days ago."

"How was I a few days ago?"

"Smiley, cheery...happy," I tell him, thinking of his smiling and happy self on Saturday.

He stares at me for a long heart beat before answering, "Truthfully, I haven't been happy in a long time. Sometimes, you have to paste a smile onto your face and just get on with it."

"That's not fair," I whisper. "If you're unhappy, express it, talk it out—let it out somehow—and then fix it."

"Fix it how, hmm?" He asks, his incredible eyes not straying away from mine.