“I love you too, Al?—”
But before I could finish and kiss him again, a strong arm was pulling me back into a furious body.
Alek rose, enraged, his fists already clenched and his hand pulling out his gun, pausing when he realized who he was pointing it at.
Jules.
My brother held me tight to his body, and I felt all of the blood leaving my flushed face.
“Jules,” I whispered, trying to fight his grip but stopping when his brown eyes flashed to mine, his dark anger more than evident.
“I fucking told you to stay away from him,” he hissed. Shame filled me from head to toe, but, surprisingly, not shame for disobeying him. No, it was shame for not telling him sooner. Shame for not realizing that I could never hide my love for Alek, not truly.
“Jules, I can’t. You know I?—”
“No, Evangeline, I don’t feel like I know you very well at all.” He turned to Alek, and his anger became murderous.
But Alek didn’t back down from the challenge, instead squaring his shoulders and bringing himself to his full height. His jaw was hard, and his eyes were darker than the universe. All traces of the gentle man I knew were gone.
If Jules was murderous, then Alek was the coldness of Death in the flesh, ready to destroy the world for taking away his light.
I longed to run to him, to tell him that I wanted to pick him, not my brother, but Jules held me tight.
“Andyou,” Jules seethed. “You should be fucking ashamed of yourself. Your fight has always been and will always be withme.Filling a young girl’s head with lies and nonsense as part of your fucked up game is despicable. The knowledge that my little sisterwill be safe from your poison will warm me until I am rotting in my grave.”
“That day will be much sooner than you think if you don’t fucking unhand her,” Alek snarled. His eyes flashed to me, and they softened a bit. “Evangeline. What do you want?”
This was it.
This was my chance to prove to Jules what I really wanted, to voice the conflict that had been in my heart for weeks.
It would have been so easy.Jules. I want to be with Alek.That was all I had to say.
But when I looked up at my big brother, at the man who would do anything to protect me, I froze. My love for Alek was strong, so strong, but was it enough to sway him?
WasIenough?
My self-doubt cost me dearly. Jules smiled smugly as Alek’s face shuttered. My heart broke at the dejection written there, but before I could correct myself, Jules slung me over his shoulder and carried me out of the theater without saying a word.
“I hope you enjoyed your freedom, Evangeline,” my brother said as he took me to his car parked in front of the curb. “Because it’s all gone.”
But I said nothing, because all I could think about was the look on Alek’s face and the horrible knowledge that I was the first girl he’d ever allowed himself to love. The first girl he opened his heart to, ever since it shattered at the death of his sister. The first person he allowed himself to be vulnerable with.
And like everything else, I ruined it.
March 6th
*missed call from Nikolai*
Nikolai
Dude, wanna hang out?
I got a new video game that has lots of blood and death and all the things you like.
*missed call from Nikolai*
…
