Eryn Foster
The thought of danger wasn't crossing Eryn's mind as she sat cross-legged next to Seth Reed, the boy whom she'd had a crush on since she could remember. His almost auburn hair and matching freckles were the most adorable thing about him. She loved how familiar he was to her even though she'd been gone for so long and how he chewed silently on the peach rings he'd brought over. She loved the way his fingers curled tightly around the book he had in his hand; gift from Nyre he'd been given.
He looked up from its dog-eared pages, "I should've realized it sooner. I noticed the drastic changes despite what Matthew said."
"What did he say?" Eryn couldn't help but ask.
"He said you were grieving after the loss of your mom." Seth seemed to stop and think for a while after he said that. "He told me to leave you alone and accept the fact that the old Eryn wasn't coming back. But that's just the thing, you did come back. Some days, shortly after it happened, I remember you would come back smiling, but you couldn't remember the days before, like you weren't there. You weren't, were you?" He gripped the book and Eryn could see his knuckles whiten. She smiled sadly and flipped his collar down, for it had popped up in the back.
"No, I wasn't. At least, not entirely. I remember some things, but not everyday. She seemed to take control of me until, I was what she once was."
"Explain this to me again. I just can't understand it." The concentration showed itself as deep furrows in his forehead.
"Before the fire, it was me. All me. Then, as my house was burning down, one of the flames seemed to take control of me almost. Then, after that I was told I was a monster and eventually we just switched places. After so long of being convinced I was only a reflection, it's nice to know that I was actually the real thing." She looked at Seth's wonderful eyes and saw one, shin tear streak his pale features.
"I missed you, Eryn." Her name on his tongue was the most beautiful thing she'd heard in a long while. Then, almost suddenly, he wrapped his arms around her and started bawling and she couldn't help but cry, too. "Don't you ever leave again."
"I missed you, too, Seth. And trust me, I won't." She put her face in the crook of his neck, which was warm. She smiled. It seemed a heavenly eternity before he let her go, but she didn't mind.
Her heart stopped for a second what Seth did next. He looked at her with eyes that held more emotion than before and muttered shakily, "I love you. A lot. It's been a long time since you've been around, but I don't mind. As long as you don't leave again." He looked down at her bed and smiled, wiping his eyes. "Ever since we were little, there was just something about you that brought out the best in me. And every day you were gone, I fought to keep that alive. Even when Matthew told me to leave you alone, I knew better. Then, when you came back suddenly with you shorts and shiny shoes, I thought... I thought it was bad. I almost forgot about you, Eryn." He looked up at her again. "Don't let me forget again, please."
She promised him that she would never forget the childhood crush of her life and that they would never be apart. She loved Seth more than she realized, in a sacrificial way. She would give almost anything for him. A small laugh from him interrupted her thoughts.
"This is going to be really childish, but I mean every word of it." He slid off the bed and held a peach ring in his palms as he chuckled. "Eryn, promise me that as soon as this stupid school is out of the way and we're both legally old enough, you will marry me. You and I will get married in the mountains and adopt all the dogs we want and move to Switzerland together because I know how much you love chocolate. Promise me."
