Felix Fractured

25 : a promise

"Love you to the moon and to Saturn"
-"seven" by Taylor Swift

Image credit: https://imgur.com/DUNsP04

————
FELIX

"Hey, can I talk to you?"

I don't turn to face her. I don't even respond. I have no motivation to talk about Claudia or why she felt the need to show up.

"Hey," Alexia's voice is closer, but I still don't turn to see her. I'm startled when she hugs me from behind. I'm tempted to push her off but I know that she's trying to show that she cares.

I hate this side of me. The one that feels like I'm always going to be an outcast in some way. It's not so much the fact that people don't understand me that hurts, it's the realization that I don't really understand myself. Because of that, I'm not sure I know where I belong or why anyone would want me around.

"You're loved. We all love you." She whispers and I finally disentangle myself.

"I can't-I won't do this right now." I start to go but she grabs my arm.

"No. You need to listen." Her voice is stern and I roll my eyes before meeting her ocean ones.

"I said no." I grumble.

"And I said yes." She catches my chin with her hand. Clearly, my alpha tone has no affect on her anymore. "Listen. I love you, Alpha King. Anytime you need to run, I won't hold you back. But I will always be waiting for you to return." Her soft smile is genuine and her words actually seem to reach me. From the beginning, she's stayed. "I know I can't understand everything but I want to."

Her eyes glisten and I realize she's about to cry. She means what she's saying so much that her emotions are taking over. I kiss her forehead and she hugs me. "I love you too. If I ever do leave, I'll always be back for you, you know that, right?"

I feel her warm tears on my neck as she nods. I am such a jerk. I don't want her to ever think I'm anything like her father. I hold her tight while pressing my lips to her head. I want her to know that she means the world to me.

She sniffles while I stroke her hair. 'Are you okay?'

'Yeah' She responds immediately. She just wants to be okay.

"I'm sorry, Lex," I whisper. "I should handle things better."

She steps back a little, shaking her head. Her eyes are slightly red and puffy from crying. "No. I mean..." She trails off, toying with her hair. "There's always room for personal improvement but you can't change how you feel-"

"But you can always change how you respond. If I followed your advice, you'd be crying like this every day."

She smiles lightly but her eyebrows are still scrunched together. I nearly laugh at the weird expression. "What's troubling you, my queen?"

Her smile is much more genuine now. She seems to discard the thought, "Nothing."

I arch an eyebrow, but she just gets on her tiptoes and kisses me on the lips. "Can we do something tonight?" I'm about to sigh when she adds, "Just us?"

"Sure, love."
*****

"There's so many options!" Alexia exclaims as she peers down at the ice cream selection.

After much deliberation, she finally decides on two flavors but won't tell me. She tells me to wait at the register while she orders for me. If I really wanted to, I could listen in to hear what they're saying. I decide, though, that her wrath would be worse than the pleasure of teasing her.