Yeah, Naya had fucked up Ava’s drink on purpose, and it’d messed with her meds. Naya wasn’t working the counter today, though, and there was nothing magical about the drink I’d ordered.
“It’s plain coffee. Just drink it,” I said.
Ava huffed. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“You’d rather starve to death?” I challenged. “As the other half of your soul, I think I get a say in whether you kill yourself or not.”
“Just because we’re working together again doesn’t mean you know a damn thing about me,” Ava spat.
I huffed. It was like I cared more about her than she cared herself, and that drove me nuts. All I wanted was for her to eat something, and she took it as some sort of attack. I was getting irritated with her pretty quickly. “I know you’re not eating. You’re wasting away.”
“You just happen to know that because we share a plate every meal?” Ava said sarcastically.
Something twinged through our bond, and I wasn’t sure if it’d come from me or from her. She’d hit a nerve without realizing it, because that’sexactlywhat we used to do— back when we were together.
“Maybe weneedto share, so you don’t starve to death,” I shot at her. “I felt it when I touched you. You’ve lost weight.”
“Now you’re analyzing my body?” She sounded offended.
“Ancestors, no. I’m just watching out for you.”
“You don’t have to,” Ava huffed. “You want me to drink your coffee? Here’s what I think of it.”
She grabbed the coffee from my hands, then stomped over to a nearby garbage can. Athudsounded as she tossed the remainder of the coffee into the trash.
I gaped at her. “Are you serious right now?”
“No one tells me what to do,” she said proudly. “Especially not you, Charlie Wahkin.”
I didn’t know what that was supposed to mean. Oberi quickly translated for me.She’s just mad because she knows you’re right. She’ll eat when she’s ready.
She’ll eat when we start sharing a plate again,I told Oberi sarcastically, but the suggestion sent a pang through my heart. Did I really think we could ever do that again? Sharing food had been our special thing before, and we hadn’t done it in months.
“I’ll get you to eat one way or another,” I threatened.
“I’d like to see you try,” she challenged.
I raked my hands through my hair. It was obvious Ava wasn’t going to do a damn thing she didn’t want to do. Fighting was the last way to get through to her. I had to try another way.
My tone softened as I suggested, “Can we compromise?”
She hesitated a moment. My sudden shift in tone must’ve caught her off guard. “What did you have in mind?”
I wasn’t entirely sure. All I knew was that I couldn’t keep having these fights. They were killing both of us.
I caved. “Just… tell me how I can support you. I’m worried about you. I care. Please, let me help.”
Ava tapped her foot, like she was thinking hard. “I guess we could sit together at lunch again,” she offered. “I’m sick of sitting alone.”
My heart surged. “And we can share food?” I questioned.
“I want to eat off my own plate,” she said hastily. It was obvious why— so that I couldn’t tell as easily how much she actually ate. But at least it wassomething.
“I can agree to that,” I said. “But you have to have something in front of you. You can’t just sit there with an empty plate.”
“That’s agreeable, I guess,” she said. “So... I’ll see you at lunch tomorrow?”
“I’ll be there,” I promised.
