Bind Me To You

Chapter Twenty Three

After such a heavy conversation Avery and Azrael sat in silence for a few minutes.

Avery was finding it incredibly hard to take in everything. She hadn't thought about her death, and the way that the contract would impact that. She had buried that reality deep down inside of her, expecting that it wouldn't be something she would need to think about. Not anytime soon at least.

Azrael seemed to realise that Avery needed a moment to let everything soak in, so he sat, still and quiet. Every now and then, he would steal a glance at her; at the sparkling pale blue eyes that stared off into the distance as though seeing an entirely different world, and the soft blonde waves that bunched under the blanket.

He could hear the intruding dark thoughts that she was struggling to shake. If he could offer any solace for the hard truths he had told her tonight, he would. The truth was though, that he knew much more than what he was telling her. Those parts though, where much better left untold.

Azrael took a deep breath, the sound disrupting the silence and pulling Avery back down to planet earth.

"Don't think so hard about it" Azrael murmurs, unable to meet the blondes eyes, "You don't need to worry about those things right now".

Avery simply stared at the crimson gaze that seemed so far away as those words left his lips. The dark curls blew ever so subtly in the wind, and Avery couldn't help but begin to feel a little better.

He was right, she didn't need to be thinking so hard about this. She knew what signing the contract meant and now, she had Azrael sitting by her side under the stars. It is worth it.

Avery smiled, deciding not to let these thoughts ruin her amazing day.

She thought back to how Azrael ran his fingers through the row of dresses earlier, piling dresses upon dresses onto her arms. The gentle smile on his face as he looked her up and down in the dress that now sat in the blue box on the end of her bed. She remembered how he looked sitting in the driver's seat of the car, his tinted gold-rimmed sunglasses covering his eyes... and brief moment that she thought of him as a human in her dream.

"Today..." She began quietly, catching Azrael's gaze as he turned to look at her, "Sadie said to me that you have blue eyes, not brown".

Azrael pursed his lips, his eyes darting away uncomfortably. This reaction brought with it a wave of confusion. He looked as though he had been caught in a lie.

"Did you know.... That they would appear blue?" Avery questioned, tilting her head forward to try and catch Azrael's expression.

"Yes" Azrael sighs, his hand lifting to cover the glowing crimson, his fingertips pressing into his temples with vexation.

Avery could tell that Azrael didn't want to explain himself. It was clear that he had lied to her about his eye colour. It was the way that his lips had pressed into a frown, and his palm covered his eyes that made her regret bringing up something that bothered him - even if he had lied to her.

In the few moments of silence that followed Azrael's simple answer Avery had decided she wasn't going to press any further, but to her surprise, Azrael continued.

"My eyes appear blue to humans, because that was their natural colour... when I was human".

The still silence continued as Avery watched Azrael curiously, trying to imagine what he would look like with blue eyes instead of the dark crimson she had become accustomed to. Why had he lied to me? Why did he want to hide the natural colour of his eyes?

"But why-"

Avery's heart skipped a beat as Azrael dropped his hand from his face, turning to look at her with a pair of bright blue eyes. The colour reminded her of the crystal clear shallow waters of the ocean, the waves that glistened from the light of the sun.