A Wolf of Ice and Iron [OLD]

Chapter 20

Morel

I think taking a break is always a good idea. Since it's the holidays and Winter doesn't seem to know what those are, I'm taking it upon myself to make sure he learns to relax.

But I have to be sneaky about it. Because if I do it, then Winter won't try at all. So, I had to employ desperate measures.

Very, very desperate.

I unlock my door and sigh, rubbing my face free of plant dirt. I've been gardening all day. "Hello, Darren. Please tell me you haven't killed anyone while I've been outside."

The teenager turns around, his hair suddenly turning a shocking shade of navy blue. He gives a little roll of his eyes and snorts. "Of course I haven't. Do you think so lowly of me?"

"Well, ever since you nearly killed that faerie, yes, yes I do." I shrug off my coat and hang it up.

I've been living alone with my brother for a while. Usually I stay at Winter's residence, because I work there, and I have for a long time. But when holidays strike, I'm left with my younger, rude, hormonal, and frankly annoying brother.

But I don't give him enough credit. He's smart, he's sweet. When he wants to be. Most of the time, Darren just has an attitude to match Winter's father, who used to be someone nobody would mess with, when he was alive. While Darren is a lower faerie, he... he sure doesn't act like it.

"How's you and your lover boy?" Darren pops a black fruit into his mouth and chews, pulling a face. I think it's a blackberry. He doesn't really like those.

I glower at him. "Shove off." I go to the cupboards and open one, wanting to find something to eat. Nothing too nice there. I open the fridge instead.

"Ack- Darren!!" I spin around, shaking a bottle from the fridge in my hand. "Since when have I let you keep this stuff in the fridge?!"

Darren rolls his eyes dramatically and walks over, snatching the bottle of red liquid out of my hand. "It gets warm in the cupboards, and then it's just gross. What, do you want me to suffer?"

I roll my eyes and close the fridge, my appetite fairly diminished. I sit up on the counters instead, probably looking just as torn and confused as I feel. What do I do? Winter's holiday hasn't started yet, but mine has. And his won't ever start if we don't get him out of that study.

Adras could help. But I don't want to rope him into this if he doesn't want to. And Winter might get really mad at him, if worst comes to worst. He's his faeling. I don't want to damage their relationship with my shenanigans.

"What?" Darren looks at me, sipping from the bottle. It's enough to make my stomach churn, but not with disgust. With a sort of yearning. It's been so long...

I shake my head vigorously. "Nothing. It's just- ugh. I need to get him out of his study, Darren."

"Hmph. And you told me to shove off." He gulps down more of the red liquid, and I'm fairly sure he's just mocking me now. "Whatever. So, what do you want me to do?"

I startle. "I- I didn't ask you to do anything-"

"Whenever you bring him up, you're either gonna cry, or you're gonna ask me for a favour. Spit it out." Darren smirks triumphantly at me, placing the cold bottle on the coffee table. I can't help but stare at it.

Darren follows my gaze and rolls his eyes. He holds the bottle out, and it makes my stomach do unbearable flips. "Drink some. It's good for you."

"No way," I say, licking my lips dryly. I glance away forcefully. I really, really want it. I almost need it. "Whatever. Ok." I look up once he's put the bottle down. He doesn't look too convinced.

"Darren, I need your help getting Winter out of his study for the holidays." I say quickly.

Darren snorts. "That's literally it? Morel, you can do that yourself." The teenager waves a hand and stands, stretching languidly. He looks youthful, full of life. His skin is flushed and perfect, no longer so pale. He looks healthy, as opposed... well, as opposed to me.

"I can't do it myself!" I nearly hiss the words out. "It's nearly impossible to get Winter out of that study! And he'll just kill me before I knock!"

Darren laughs, a bright sound I've always felt good when hearing. Darren never used to laugh, hardly ever. Especially when it became just the two of us all those years ago. When we both lost someone dear. And now he laughs so often, it's a sweet sound. But he's still an arrogant prick most often than not.

"Seriously, Morel. Just talk to him. Have you tried that?" He looks sceptical.

I blink quickly, my face flushing with heat in embarrassment, and I lean back where I sit on the counter, as if to escape. "Of- of course I have!"

"No you haven't." Darren says, walking over and placing a piece of paper in my hand. I frown. It's blank. "Write him a letter, if you're too twisted in your panties to talk to him about it. Write what's on your mind and slip it under his door, and if you're lucky, he'll read it."

"And if I'm not lucky, he'll throw it away without glancing at it," I sigh. "Is that worth it?"

"It's better than having no chance at all of him seeing it." Darren smiles and leans against the counter beside me, where I'm sitting. My knee touches his shoulder, and I get a shred of the feeling that perhaps he's happier. "You really are torn up about what you did."

"I am." I say softly, wincing. "I was dumb. I was a teenager. I wasn't sensitive."

"No teenager is sensitive," Darren says with a snort. I have to believe him. He's the direct opposite of sensitive. "Not to another person's needs, anyway."

I tilt my head. "Why do you say that now, then? I'm not a teenager anymore."

"You may as well be," he says with a snort. "You still do the same stuff. Make the same mistakes, get torn up over the same things. But it isn't a bad thing." He tilts his head to look at me, his black eyes narrow but somehow soft. "Because he likes you for you, you know. That's all he wants."

I snort, and it hurts my chest to do it. "He doesn't want anything to do with me."

Darren snorts and widens his eyes. "Oh, you've never been more wrong."