~Xander~
As soon as we came out of the spell, Achilles shot up and mumbled something about going to the bathroom even though I don't even think he knew where it was.
Aya gave him a dry look as he stumbled out of the room.
"You don't like him." I said, crossing one leg over the other and leaning back in my seat.
"Let's talk about the vision, Alexandre."
I shifted in my seat. "I go by Xander now, Aya. This isn't Belgium." We'd met about thirty years ago in Brussels, at the European conclave. The same place where Elle and I had met. Things had been very different then.
Aya brought me out of my reverie when she continued talking. "In both of those versions of the future, the bracelet was still there." She hesitated, taking a quick breath. "It can't be removed, Xander. Not until whatever the big choice is, happens. Based on what I was feeling during the vision, it had already happened and Achilles made the choice to keep wearing it."
I sighed, scrubbing my hand over my face. "That'll upset him. He'll think we came here for no reason. He's a bit emotionally claustrophobic, I think."
"Don't pretend like it doesn't upset you, too." Aya countered.
I clasped my hands together on my lap, speaking quietly. "The marriage future was nice. I've always wanted that. I could feel how much I loved him. And I can't yet, obviously. But the way he was looking at me, I knew he felt the same way. The other oneâ" I breathed. "I don't want that."
"Nothing is definitive, Xander." Aya said softly. "You both have to want it."
I touched my throat. "He says he knows what he wants, but I'm not really sure. Things would be so much easier if he were out." I let out a dry laugh. "How can a twenty-seven year old man not be out?"
Aya frowned, and I was surprised when she came to his defense. "You shouldn't compare his journey against your own."
Achilles burst into the room, looking stricken and pale. "Xander. We need to go. Now."
I stood up quickly. "But, we just got here."
Achilles' eyes shifted between Aya and I. "Please, Xander. I'll explain on the way."
Aya stood up as well, giving me a brief hug. "Don't be a stranger, Alexandre. And thanks for coming out all this way even if it was short." She stepped away from me, giving Achilles a hard look. "Treat him well, shifter."
Achilles grumbled deep in his throat, but, gave a begrudging nod, taking my hand and walking out of the room.
I couldn't focus between Achilles holding my hand and Achilles holding my hand. "Did something happen?" I got out around the feeling of my heart lodged in my throat.
"Yeah. Sunny needs me." Achilles held my hand all the way throughout the house and until we got to the car. His hands were rough, and a bit calloused and for a moment I imagined him dragging his palms across my body and his nice that would feel. But, Achilles was still talking. "She called me before I made it to the bathroom, saying her parents kicked her out. She's sixteen! What the fuck?! I knew they had problems but this is ridiculous. I told her to hang out at the library until I can let her in to my place."
But, it was already evening, where would she go when the library closed? "What about your landlord?"
"The superintendent is on vacation." Achilles clutched his head, like he was in pain. "God, why does everything have to be a shit show the moment I go away?"
I hopped into the driver's side, strapping my seat belt, putting the car in drive and careening out of Aya's neighborhood. As we made our way to the highway, Achilles spent the ride calling multiple numbers on his phone. I realized he was calling different members of his pack and not really getting the answers he wanted. Every phone call ended up with Achilles hanging up.
The car vibrated with the sound of Achilles growling. It wasn't the almost human sound from earlier on when he got frustrated but a completely animal sound. I braved a look towards Achilles and he looked furious. "I swear, if they did anything to Sunny..."
"Achilles. You need to calm down." I said in a gentle voice, eyeing the fuel gauge, and knowing we'd have to stop sometime soon for gas.
"Don't tell me to calm down." His voice was as sharp as a whip. "She couldn't even talk when she called, she was crying so much. The pack says not to get involved in how parents raise their kids. But something isn't right. Something hasn't been right for a long time. And when you asked if she's being abused...I don't know, Xander. And I should know. She comes to me for everything. Birds and the bees, the first time she got her period, and I don't even know if she's okay at home. I feel so fucking powerless." Achilles voice quieted until he was almost mumbling to himself and I strained to hear him. He was leaning against the window, staring out at the passing cars, glaring at the world.
"It's okay." I said. "If something is happening I'm sure she would have told you."
"I'm supposed to look out for her." Achilles sounded wounded. "She's a child. I shouldn't have gone on this road trip. I should have stayed home in case she needed me."
I watched his face, seeing how sad he looked. "She can stay at my apartment until we get there."
"What?" Achilles finally turned to look at me.
I put my eyes back on the road. "Elle has keys to my place, she can pick her up."
Achilles looked conflicted, one hand squeezing his thigh and the other tapping the dash in an agitated rhythm. "Are you sure?"
I took my phone out of my pocket, tossing it into Achilles' lap. "The password is ANANSE. All caps. Just call her and put it on speaker."
I talked while Achilles held the phone, he filling in details about where to pick her up and what Sunny looked like. Then Achilles went through the process of communicating to Sunny Elle's information. It was about another half hour until Elle and Sunny texted that they'd met up together. Achilles breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he got some pics of Sunny at my place. After that, though, he deflated, covering his face with his hands.
"Are you okay?" I said.
"No." Achilles said. "I just want to go home."
"What did you think about the vision?" I wasn't sure if it was the right time but I needed to know what he thought, how he felt, if anything between us had changed.
Achilles was quiet for so long for so long I didn't think he would reply. He sounded a bit breathless when he finally did. "You looked nice in your tux." I gave him a brief look and his eyes were closed as he leaned back in his seat. "Obviously, the vision showed the difference between me coming out while pursuing a relationship with you and not coming out. I still don't know if-"
"Every time something happens I feel like we can't discuss it." I cut in. "You just barrel past it."
"Okay. I'll bite." Achilles bit out. "What exactly did you want to talk about, Xander?"
"Don't take that tone with me, Achilles. Not when we have nine more hours of driving." I snapped.
"We met like five days ago and she's telling us both futures say we'll be together for at least two years...What the hell? How am I supposed to take that? It makes me feel overwhelmed and trapped. I thought we were taking things one day at a time, what happened to that? I'm not ready to come out at this very second. It just feels like a lot to take in."
"I won't force you to come out." I said quietly. "I'm not going to hold that over you. You can do whatever it is you want to do, and I won't comment on it. But, I'm sure you'll be able to tell how I feel. You're a grown man, we've had this conversation too many times and it's tiring me out."
Achilles sighed. "Okay."
I sighed louder. "Okay."
Nine hours later.
"God, Sunny. I was so worried." Achilles rushed into my apartment and encased a smaller girl into a hug, lifting her off the ground briefly. All I saw was a long shock of black hair peeking out from Achilles' shoulder and a muffled soft voice.
I'd driven straight through the night driving non stop from 7pm to 4am and we'd reach my apartment by about four thirty in the morning.
When Achilles stopped hugging the life out of her, I finally got to attach a person to the name.
She was small, and had the awkward stature of a teen that was growing faster than anyone could really expect. I'm not sure why I was surprised to find out she was Asian, or by the looks of it at least half, but her skin was dark, like she'd been in the sun a lot and suddenly I understood what had to be a nickname.. The one startling feature was that she had a green eye patch covering her left eye. Achilles didn't seem surprised by it so I guessed it was a fashion statement. The girl was frowning, looking between me and Achilles. She wore a grey onesie that was a bit too oversized, holding her hands together and squeezing them.
Sunny sighed. "I'm sorry. I just had nowhere else to go and they took my trumpet. They had no right to do that! It's fucked up."
Achilles had his arms clenched across his chest, jaw ticking as he stood there, glaring at her. "Language, Sunny."
"You don't understand, Lee."
"I understand this has happened more than once and I thought you could behave yourself for four days while I was away."
"This isn't my fault!"
"Then tell me whose it is!" Achilles yelled back. "Every time this happens I give you patience and I wait for you to tell me and you don't. And I want you to come to me, Sunny, I do, but I also don't know how to help you!"
She screwed her face up in anger, and then it devolved into the face someone makes before they start crying. "Why are you yelling at me?"
Achilles lost his nerve, face softening. "Okay, Sunny, no more questions today." He looked around my living room. "Do you want some hot chocolate?"
She sighed, looking down at her feet and following Achilles into the kitchen. I felt like I was intruding upon something, but this was also my house. They stood awkwardly around my kitchen and I caught Sunny staring hard at the marble counter tops.
I moved around them taking out some marshmallows, cinnamon, sugar, some hot chocolate powder mixture and getting a carton of milk from the fridge and taking out a small pot from under the counter top. It was silent as I waited for the milk to heat up and looked for mugs for the two of them.
I looked to Achilles. "You know how to make hot chocolate, right?"
He rolled his eyes at me, touching my arm for a long beat. "Yes. I know how to make hot chocolate."
Sunny cut in. "Thanks for letting me chill here for the night. Your place is really nice." She had her one eye fixed on me and I really wanted to ask about the eye patch. I must have been staring because suddenly she grinned, turning up the little piece of cloth.
If I were holding anything I would have dropped it. I wasn't sure what I expected but an empty eye socket was not it. She lifted up her eyelid and a hollow of pink flesh looked back at me.
Achilles let out an exasperated huff, not at all perturbed by her missing eye. "I told you it's distasteful to do that, Sunny. Put your prosthetic back in or stop being a bully."
Sunny was still snickering as she put her patch back on as Achilles shook his head, but even I saw the small smile on his face.
I left the kitchen, mentioning that I was off to take a shower, but they seemed too wrapped up in their own little world to notice.
#
How do y'all think Sunny lost her eye?
Why would she get kicked out of home?