The Derivative Ring

Chapter 3

I sat in the window seat in my room watching the sun set, thinking about everything. About Anthony Crowley, about Ben, about everything.

How had I not realized it before? Ben had always stood out to me. Had I really overlooked that feeling all these years?

Another thing I thought about was my dad. I knew Ben wouldn't be able to tell me anything about him. I knew that probably no one would be able to tell me anything about him, because no one knew where he was. I had to accept that.

And just as I was starting to accept it, Anthony shows up. Could the Valiente Coven have any information about where my father has been? It's possible. But there's no way I would be finding out from any of them, because there was no way I would let myself have a conversation with any of them. Or even have eye contact with any of them. They could be dangerous, and I didn't want to chance putting Ben in danger, either, since he had his heart set on protecting me.

Ugh, Ben.

By my reaction to him telling me we were soulmates, he probably thinks I hate him now. I was confused, that's all. I needed some time to wrap my head around everything. But now all I wanted was to hug him. I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him that I couldn't be happier to be his soulmate, and I felt unbelievably lucky. Ben truly is an amazing guy. He made me feel safe. I trusted him when he said he'd protect me. Ben made me happy. I could open up to Ben, and now that I was used to the idea and had thought it through, I just wanted to make him mine already. Why put off fate?

The next morning I got up early and walked to the nearest coffee shop. It was just around the corner from the castle property and only took me about twenty minutes to walk there, get the coffee, and walk back.

I got two cups of coffee; one for me and one for Ben. I sat in the kitchen waiting for him to come down. I was nervous, running over what I wanted to say to him in my head, as if I would forget.

I heard someone coming towards the kitchen. I tried not to freak out, because it could have been anybody, but sure enough Ben walked in.

My heart skipped when I saw him. He was wearing a black t-shirt, fitted jeans and his favorite Puma sneakers. He stopped when he saw me.

"Hey," I said. "I brought you a coffee."

He stepped towards me to take the coffee from my outstretched hand and smiled. "Thanks."

"No problem. I figured I had to repay you for how I reacted last night. It had nothing to do with you, I was just shocked."

"No, you were right to react the way you did. My parents were right, I shouldn't have told you. I should have let you figure it out by yourself."

"No, it's okay. I already felt it. I've always looked forward to seeing you whenever I would come back to Salem Falls, more so than anyone else. And the other night when you stayed up and talked to me when I couldn't sleep, I felt like you understood me. I feel safe with you. And I really couldn't be happier that I get to spend the rest of my life with you, Ben. I meant it when I said you were the strongest person I know, and I feel like I can trust you with my life. I love you. I just didn't see it before."

He set his coffee down on the island. He stepped forward, wrapping his arms around me. I hugged him back.

"I love you too," he said and pulled away from the hug so he could look at me. "So can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Will you be my girlfriend?"

"Yes," I replied with a smile and hugged him again.