just stared at him, unsure how best to respond.

“I know you may not want to say it back right now,” he resumed, saving me from having to go through the torture of disappointing him. “I know your heart still longs for Wesley, but I can’t hide how I feel about you.” He glanced toward the trees. Was he expecting a repeat of what had happened on our first date? He turned back. “I mean it. There is no rush. I just hope that you will, one day, say it back.”

I felt a lump in my throat again. He was such a sweet guy. Why couldn’t I have met him first, before Wesley came into my life? Why couldn’t he have been the one I ran face first into on my first day of school? Maybe then I would know what it felt like to have a love that signified something other than the end of the world.

“Thank you, Aaron.” It was all I could say as I got up from my spot at the table, walked around to his side, and wrapped my arms around his neck.

“You’re welcome,” he said, his voice failing him for a second.

I think in a way he wanted me to prove him wrong. He wanted me to say it back, to tell him that I felt the exact same for him. But I couldn’t lie to him. It wouldn’t be right. To many people throw those three words around as if they didn’t mean anything. I knew better though. I knew what it felt like to be so in love that it hurt. Why would I give Aaron a false indication of anything along those lines?

We talked for a while until Aaron received a message from his father telling him he needed to get home. He drove me back to my house and dropped me off in the driveway.

“I’ll call you later,” he promised as I started walking to the house.

“I’ll be here.”

I waved as he pulled out of the drive. I hated that my father had been right. I hated that everything he had said to me that night was true. I should have listened to him before I ever took claim of Aaron’s soul.

“How was it?” my mother asked as soon as I had shut the back door.

“Well, my worst fears have been confirmed,” I said softly, taking a seat at the table.

“I knew it!” She laughed at me.

I felt my face turn red, and fury surged through me for just a moment. I hated how her mother’s intuition was always correct. In fact, I was starting to wonder if she had some neutralizing firepower. That way I couldn’t shoot an inferno of flames at her when I got angry.

“You knew what?” I asked her coolly.

“Honey, how do you think your father met Mona?” She turned to make me some tea, her go-to beverage when she knew someone needed to be comforted.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Mona was in my life before I even had real memories.”

I saw my mother’s shoulders fall. It probably wasn’t a story she particularly wanted to tell.

“Your father met Mona at a conference. She was this young, beautiful girl, fantastic personality, great sense of style. Everything that your father was. We had just split. As I told you, I just couldn’t take it, him always having to be the center of attention.” She put the tea kettle on the stove and turned it on. “He was lonely, and Mona was obviously impressed by his presence. I mean, he is a rich man; he worked hard for his law degree.” She laughed. “He had actually earned it on one of his stints on Earth fifty years before, but with a little magic, he updated his qualification. You will have to ask him how he did it because I’m sure that same deceptive magic is in your blood too.”

“The fact that you feel I have deception in my blood is hurtful, mother,” I responded, narrowing my eyes at her.

She laughed again. “I only say deceptively because of your father’s blood. I mean nothing bad by it.” She patted my hand. “So, as I was saying. Your father was alone, and he was lonely. Mona was available and willing, and after two nights together she had willed her soul to him. Since then she has been tied to him. I’m not saying that he doesn’t love her. In his own way, he does. So, they married, just as I did. Mona is nothing more than a human girl caught in an extraordinary situation. She doesn’t know what your father is, and she never will know. She’s been blinded.”

I looked at her in horror, but she shook her head.

“No, not physically blind. Mentally.”

“Okay… that makes more sense.”

The tea kettle started to sing, and my mother took it off the burner to pour hot water over the tea bags in the two cups that she had gotten out during our conversation.

“What does this have to do with me?” I asked.

“Aaron has fallen for you. Now, my suggestion would be to go with it. I know you hurt from Wesley, but I don’t think he’s coming home any time soon, and we are quite far from being able to get him back on our own.” She put the tea down in front of me. “Once you heal from the heartbreak, you will see what a nice kid Aaron is. I think that he’s great for you, even though I know you think you’re just using him. You haven’t taken the time to tell yourself that you need him just as much as he needs you.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Why do I need him as much as he needs me?” I asked sarcastically. I wasn’t expecting her reply to make sense.

“You need him to heal,” she said simply. “You need him to help you get past your delusion that Wesley is coming back for you. If Wesley comes back, it won’t be to save you. He

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