“Okay, okay, calm down.” He gave her a reassuring squeeze. Thissituation was no longer only about him. This was also about herfears, her losses. He had been selfishly dwelling on his own fears.He hadn’t considered hers. “Silly but, oh, so wise dormouse.” Aftera moment, he slid her off his knee and placed her on the ground,facing him. “Once again, you win me over with your beguilinglogic.”
“Good, now stop with your silliness.” She took him by the hand.“Come on, Crispin, dinner should be ready soon,” she said with anencouraging smile. “By the way, I love you too.”
Chapter 55
Weeks went byand things around the House of Goths settled once again into apleasant routine. Becky and Kell thrived in each other’s company.The pair became rather inseparable. With him having gotten hisconcerns off his chest, he hadn’t felt the need to visit hisfamily’s gravesite quite so often as before. In fact, he was quiteall right with going once or twice a month instead of twice aweek.
During thosevisits, he would go by himself. Becky had offered to accompany himbut the Goth insisted he needed those moments alone. While in thepast this might have bothered her, she now understood him betterand allowed him his solitude. In those moments, she sought out herother housemates for company which they were more than happy tooffer.
Heather andDorian continued to see each other and many a weekend, she wouldspend at the house. Becky quite liked having her there. It was niceto have another girl around the place. Dorian seemed quite happytoo.
Keegan came andwent, but mostly enjoyed his free time watching movies orpracticing his guitar. That was always a treat because he wouldoften invite Becky to join him. Every now and then he would let herhold his guitar, even show her a few simple chords.
With all fourmembers present and accounted for, the band was back in full swing.With gigs every weekend, The Kingston Quartet were kept quite busy.Becky loved nothing more than to accompany them on those nights.She would always be right there, hugging the stage, watching, andpumping her fist in the air.
When theyweren’t running off to pubs, they would focus on classes andgetting their assignments in order.
“That’s quite the collection you’ve got now,” Crispin said,looking from his latest painting to Becky’s. In fact, she had beenquite busy with her fairytale-inspired creations. He couldn’t helpbut smile at all those allegorical images. She was quite thetalented artist, even if her subject matter was not his particularcup of tea. He hadn’t had the heart to tease her about herinsistence at using their likenesses in the Elven creatures shepainted. The girl was talented and that’s all that mattered. Whowas he to tell her where she should find herinspirations?
“I have to set up a show for my final mark,” she said, standingback from her latest painting. “The class is having a galleryopening and each of us has to present at least three finalworks.”
“Well, seeing as you have double that, and it’s still onlyMarch, you’ve nothing to worry about.”
“But are they good enough?”
“Becky, with your skill and those handsome elves, you’ll be therunaway hit. No doubt about that.”
“Sweet, Crispin, thanks!” she said with a smile.
He was gladsomeone was excited. While he put on a brave face, he still wasn’tquite right. Niggling feelings of over-dependancy on his housematesstill haunted him. Deep down he knew he would have to do something.What that was, became clearer each day. In fact, with Spring Breakapproaching, an idea had formed in his mind. An idea, he hadn’t yetshared with anyone.
For the mostpart, he had kept himself focused on his studies. Being so busywith the band and all their gigs, keeping his mind occupied wasrelatively easy. To counter the loneliness, he had distractedhimself with a few dalliances with fans. When he needed somethingmore real, he would spend his time with Becky.
“I know you’re sad, Crispin. I just wish you weren’t,” Beckysaid, seeing him stare out the front window. “What are you lookingfor?”
“Purpose, a place in this world, a reason forbreathing…”
“You’ve got that here with us.”
Out of thecorner of his eye, he gave her a forlorn smile. She meant well butdidn’t understand. How could she? “You’re right, Becky. Never mindmy dreary words. Sometimes they’re all I’ve got.”
“Hopefully, you’ll cheer up soon. Spring Break starts onMonday. That should help. You’ve been awfully busy. Maybe you justneed some time off.”
Wonderful… he could look forward totwo weeks of nothing but witnessing his housemates frolickingaround the house. It was bad enough with Becky and Kell going at itlike rabbits. Now with Heather and Dorian joining in, he would mostdefinitely lose his mind. He couldn’t bear the thought of having tosit around while they coupled off into their bedrooms. Being aroundall that romantic bliss would be nothing short of pure torture. Ifhe were to salvage what he had left of his soul. He would have toact soon.
Chapter 56
For whateverreason, Becky woke up with a start. Seeing Kelley still fast asleepat her side, she was reluctant to wake him. Yet in her chest, herheart raced with an overwhelming sense of unease. Something wasamiss.
Unable to standit, she quietly got up and tiptoed into the hall, careful to closethe bedroom door behind her. She took a few steps and stood silentfor a moment. She then dared a peek into Dorian’s room. He wasokay, sleeping on his belly and she was glad for that. A few stepsmore, she poked her head into Keegan’s room. She breathed a sigh ofrelief, finding him snoring away.
Last but notleast, she checked Crispin’s room. That’s when her heart all butstopped. The prickly Goth was gone! His bed left untouched from theday before. “Crispin…”
With her heartin her throat, she raced down the stairs. She should have knownsomething was wrong. He’d been so sad lately, so despondent.
Just about toshut his trunk, Crispin nearly screamed with fright at the fullforce of Becky’s impact. She literally launched herself at him,clinging tenaciously to him with her arms and legs.
“Crispin! Don’t go, don’t go…” She continued to climbhim.
Spotting him atthe last minute, despite her tears, she
