Page 428 of Once Upon a Fable

It made me regret waiting this long.

It made me second-guess that I could’ve found Gemma years ago, if only I’d grown some balls and left my valley. If only I hadn’t waited until I was too afraid to leave. If only I’d chosen to chase happiness instead of allowing myself to rot in that tree-surrounded tomb.

“What are you thinking about?” Gem’s voice interrupted my thoughts. “You’re glowering at the passing cars as if you’re going to murder them.”

I swallowed everything I was thinking and slipped back into the present. I turned my head to focus on the most stunning girl alive. How the hell was she with me? After everything I’d done?

I doubted that repetitive question would ever stop.

I drank her in, inspecting the new clothes she’d purchased during a short stop at a massive department store before leaving the city behind. The huge building with a sea of parked cars and bright signage had reminded me of a time before I’d been a Fable kid.

Cold sweat had formed on my back. The whiteness crept over my vision, hinting that I wouldn’t like what I’d find if I let that particularmemory return.

Shutting it down, I’d shaken my head when she’d asked if I wanted to join her shopping. She’d hopped out of the black SUV rental that she’d arranged to be dropped off at the hospital when we’d been discharged, rummaged in her backpack for her wallet, then waved goodbye.

The rush of fear filled me as she disappeared into the store.

Familiar hints on my psyche whispered that something had happened to me in a department store. Had I been kidnapped in one of them? Had I lost my family while they purchased soaps and sweaters?

I couldn’t remember, and I refused to go digging. Eventually, I’d have to face those memories, but not today. Not while I was lucid and almost starting to enjoy being in a car, on a journey where I didn’t even know the destination.

Gem hadn’t kept me waiting long. She’d returned wearing new jeans, a yellow T-shirt with a sunburst on the front, along with a gray windbreaker. She’d tossed me a bag as she’d climbed back behind the wheel and buckled up.

I’d opened it with caution, finding a pair of dark jeans, an off-white T-shirt, some socks, a pair of black boots, and a hoodie with a tiny scorpion stitched into the hem. I’d changed my smoke-riddled clothing for new while she drove, my awe at how she handled the pedals, the steering wheel, and changing gear never ceasing.

When she’d first started driving, slipping into traffic and adding speed, my heart had chugged in fear. It’d been so fucking long since I’d been any faster than a run.

White had flickered on my vision, reminding me that all this newness was too much for my concussed mind, and fear switched to anger. As my hands balled, I did my best to remember what the doctor had said. The tricks he’d recommended I use whenever my mind took control.

I’d close my eyes and breathe deep, reminding myself I was safe and sane. It was a silly trick...but it worked.

Gemma reached over and patted my knee, bringing me back to the present moment again, squeezing me as if she was determined to keep me with her this time. “Is this all too much, Kas?” Her eyes flicked to the road, keeping us straight and following the cars ahead. “I can’t imagine how overwhelming all of this is for you. Leaving the hospital, traveling in a car for the first time in forever, new clothes that didn’t come from an awful guests’ wardrobe, an entire world open to you after living in the wild.”

She looked at me again, worry tightening her pretty hazel eyes. “I’m taking you home, and you’ll be safe there, but I’m aware a lot of things are changing for you. I’ll do my best to be as understanding as I can, but you can rely on one thing that will never change.”

My heart flipped with love for this wonderful girl, gratefulness softening my stress and pain. “Oh? What’s that?” I licked my lips, doing my best to tame my raging headache.

“Me. I’ll always be there.” She squeezed my knee again. “No matter what.”

I covered her hand with mine, staring at our linked fingers in silence. She glanced at me and smiled, but I didn’t know what to say.

How did I reply to that?

How did I tell her that I needed that promise so fucking badly to be true? That I needed her and not in some superficial new puppy love kinda way but in anI might not actually survive this transition without youterrifying kinda way.

Who wanted that burden placed on their shoulders? All I’d ever done was bring her pain and imprisonment, and now that we were heading back to her home, I only brought more issues instead of peace.

Removing her hand from mine, she placed it on the gearshift.

The silence continued to thicken between us. The hair on the back of my neck prickled as I struggled for something to say. Something that didn’t admit:‘I’m not sure how long I’ll cope, and I’m doing my best to hide it.’

“How...how much longer to your home?” I asked quietly.

She smiled in my direction. “Another few hours or so.”

“And you live alone, right? I’m not...going to be a pain in the ass?”

She chuckled. “You’re not a pain in the ass, regardless if I had roommates or not.”