If I had, I bet Papa would have taken me out himself.
I’m still covered in soap, but Asch pulls me half out of the shower stall and crushes me against his chest anyway. “Shh, shh, it’s okay,” he murmurs. “Everyone’s safe. Everyone’s alive. Except Allers, and George Bouchard, and… and Ezio Romano, and no one gives a fuck about them anyway.”
We’re making a mess, water spilling out onto the floor, but no one seems to care about that, either.
“I don’t want a heart,” I tell Asch. “It sucks. It hurts. I don’t like this at all.”
“I know,” Asch says. His body is slick with soap against mine, and he nudges me back into the shower stall even as he takes a step closer. “But you’ll get used to it. They hurt sometimes, but they can be full in a good way, too. Like when I see you smile.”
River touches my shoulder. “We’ll help you, Pandora,” he says quietly. “Just… don’t scare us like that again.”
I lift my head and give him a broken smile. “River, that’s astupidly big ask. I can barely go a single day without scaring somebody.”
Asch lets River pull me away from him, and he somehow manages to squeeze into the two-person stall with us.
“Yeah, well,” River says. “Let’s try to do it a little less, okay? Now lean back. I’m going to wash your hair.”
I let River get my hair fully soaked, and he and Asch take turns shampooing and conditioning my hair.
My eyes are wet the entire time, but that’s probably from the shower water.
Lies.
I know it’s tears.
I manage to stem the flow by the time we finish. Asch towels me off with one of Blaze’s big, fluffy towels, and they give me one of their oversized shirts to wear.
“You like me in your clothes, huh,” I joke.
“I do,” Asch confirms, kissing me again. “Very much.”
“He did get you underwear though,” River says, handing me a pair of panties. “Here.”
I slip into them, noting that they’re basic boy-shorts and nothing sexy. I wonder where these even came from, but I’m not going to complain.
When we’re all in a semblance of clothes, I grab their hands and squeeze. “Okay. Um. I guess I’m a bit tired. But I need to check on my siblings. And Anastasia. And Blaze.”
Before either of them can answer, somebody knocks on the door.
We all freeze.
“Pandora?” Daddy’s voice calls out. “Please come downstairs.”
He walks away, his footsteps loud. Blaze’s bedroom door shuts.
“Oh, fuck,” River whispers. “We’re all dead.” He turns to face me, pushing a few wet strands of hair behind my ear before he kisses my forehead. “Well. It was a good run, I guess. I love you, Pandora.”
What?
My mouth drops open, and I stare at him.
He didn’t say those words.
I must have misheard.
Yeah, I misheard.
There’s no reason why my heart is going overtime, like it’s trying to make up for all those years it wasn’t sitting in my chest.
