Sell My Soul, Steal My Heart (Sir Pentious x Reader)

Chapter 19: Gathering the Courage

"I was not done talking, you bitch-ass piece of shit!" Vaggie screamed at the closed elevator door, her statement followed by an expertly articulated string of curses.

I stood numbly beside her, trying to focus on leveling my breathing, trying to focus on making my heart cease its frantic fluttering against my chest. To be honest, I was failing.

"Y/N," Vaggie grabbed both of my shoulders, face pinched in its familiar angry expression.

I really couldn't handle her right now. I was scared and queasy and did not feel like being yelled at by a demon who wanted me dead (and probably still did) only two weeks ago. Balling my hands into fists, I braced myself for the onslaught.

"What did that bastard do to you? Are you alright?" Vaggie asked in a rush, running her eye up and down my body for any damage, "Why are you crying?"

"Aren't, aren't you mad at me?" The pitch of my voice was higher than I intended, splashed with a bit of indignation. I wiped away at my remaining tears, huffing when I realized that I had only smeared the purple makeup around my eyes even further.

For once, Vaggie faltered.

"Well, I wasn't happy when I didn't find you where you were supposed to be, but I can get a good idea of why that was. Alastor has a way of getting people caught up in the moment... I'm just glad I found you," she paused again, "Did he hurt you?"

I twisted my way out of her grip, drawing my arms around myself, "No, that's not what I meant. Why do you care? You hate me, don't you?" I stopped, forcibly trying to not lose my ever loving shit, "I know you hate me."

Vaggie backed up, as if stung. Her eye went wide, and for a moment I caught a glimpse of her unguarded face. It almost looked remorseful.

"I don't-" Vaggie tilted her head, running a hand through her long hair, "I don't hate you. I just... I just can't bear the sight of you."

She spoke the next statement in a rush, waving her hands as if she wished to clarify something, "I mean, I just can't take seeing another person down here, another person who doesn't belong. Charlie... she didn't have a choice to get stuck in this dump. She's working so hard to free others who really do deserve eternal damnation, but it, it just isn't fair!"

She was pulling at her hair again, and I could see the absolute fury in her eyes. Vaggie wasn't just mad at people or at demons; she was mad at the entire world.

"Then, then you come along, when I thought it couldn't get any worse. I saw injustice every day when I was alive; I had my fair share of it," she practically spit, "Why on earth did I think it would be any different in death? Divine retribution is a joke. It's the sickest, oldest joke in the damn book and I still fell for it."

Vaggie leaned against the wall nearest to her, slowly sinking down until she sat on the hallway floor, face in her hands, "And I know that I only make it worse when I get angry at people, at you. I just don't want to care; it's so, so much easier when you distance yourself from a problem, from a person." She laughed into open palms, "I blame Charlie for making me so soft. It's honestly ironic how it wasn't until I died that I found someone worth living for."

She paused, looked up at me, and said honestly, simply, "I don't hate you."

Not quite sure as to what I should do, I opted to sit down next to her in the empty, chilly hallway. Our shoulders brushed. I really was caught off-guard at her confession, my brain going a mile a minute as I re-evaluated every interaction I had with her until this point. She sighed again.