Lizzie’s quiet voice interrupted his gloomy thoughts as he stared into their campfire. She sat across from him, tossing an uneaten apple from hand to hand.
She always used to fidget with her hands when she’s nervous.
The thought caught his attention, and he straightened. “What’s wrong?”
“I was going to ask you the same thing.” A small frown line appeared between her eyes. “You seem…different.”
Guilt twisted in his stomach. He had never intended for her to get caught in the crossfire of his emotions.
This is why I smile all the time, Shea. So that the people around me aren’t weighed down and affected by my problems.
Even if Lizzieisthe problem in this case.
“I’m sorry.” He tried to smile at her.
She tilted her head. “Why are you doing that?”
“Doing what?”
“Trying to smile when you don’t feel happy.”
“So that you can feel happy.”
“Why does that matter?”
Freddy scratched at his head through his hat. Despite the warmer weather, he kept the knit cap on his head to hide the blonde roots that were growing in. His beard was dark enough naturally that the new growth wasn’t as noticeable, but his hairwould have been a dead giveaway. “Because I don’t want my emotions to make you feel bad.”
Lizzie was quiet for a moment. Now that he knew about her curse, her cold, analytical way of speaking and thinking about the world made so much more sense. He found it interesting how much of her personality remained, even without her emotions. Her curiosity, for one, and her desire to problem-solve. Even now, she seemed to be turning his words over in her mind, looking at them from every angle.
And this is why I will never stop loving her. Because even without that part of herself, she’s still just so…Lizzie.
“I’m cursed.”
He closed his eyes and sighed. “I know, Eliza.”
“So you know that I’m not bothered by emotions.”
There was a slight hitch in her voice as she spoke, a tell that he recognized from childhood that meant she was concealing part of the truth. Combined with her fidgeting from earlier, a rogue spark of hope flared to life in his chest.
Maybe the curse isn’t as all-encompassing as she made it seem.
He cleared his throat. “That’s what you say.”
She tossed the apple back and forth a few times. “If that is the case, then why are you trying to shield me from your negative feelings?”
Freddy paused. “I don’t know. I suppose because I just do it for everyone.”
“Why?”
“I want people to be happy, and I don’t want my negative emotions to be the reason they aren’t.”
“That’s not a very fair exchange.” Lizzie raised her eyebrows.
His face wrinkled in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“If you give only smiles, you only share a part of yourself with your friends. They, on the other hand, share both their smiles and their pain. They receive a part in exchange for a whole.”
“But I don’t want them to be sad.”
