Chapter 19
Iwoke a while later with a face full of hair that wasn’t mine. I slept on the couch, my head on Eliza’s shoulder while she snored softly. We lay between the same blanket and the end of a fantasy movie played on the TV screen. Blinking slowly, I turned my head toward the balcony doors; the sun was setting behind dormant rain clouds—the rain had stopped.
I looked back at Eliza, who continued to sleep deeply and curled into me. The sound of her heartbeat was entrancing, and I found my eyes drooping shut once again.
If only it could always be like this.
The thought was like a splash of cold water, shaking me back into reality. It wouldn’t always be like this because the moment Eliza woke up and realized it had stopped raining, she would be gone.
Before I could contemplate that for too long, a key turned in the front door”s lock. I tensed, and Eliza jolted awake the instant Willa and Addie stepped through the doorway. My friends froze in shock, looking between me and the girl in my arms.
Eliza scrambled away, pushing herself onto the other side of the couch and clearing her throat repeatedly. I offered my friends a weak smile. Willa waggled her eyebrows at me knowingly and Addie pursed her lips.
I cleared my throat. “Uh, these are my friends—Willa and Addie. This is Eliza.” I left out a title because I didn’t know what Eliza was. I wasn’t even sure she was my friend.
Eliza stood and brushed her hands down the front of her shirt. She glanced at me nervously. “I should go.”
I didn’t know what else to say. “Okay.”
“You should stay,” Willa said, blocking the doorway. She held up the brown bag in her arms. Addie makes an incredible chicken fettuccine alfredo.”
Eliza looked at me in a panic, hoping I would give her an out and tell my friends she needed to leave. I inclined my chin. If she was going to leave, she needed to be brave enough to do it on her own terms. I would not let her get out of this easily.
She looked like a caged animal when she said, “I would love to. Can I help?”
My friends lit up like a fireworks show, but my stomach flipped. Willa bolted into the kitchen to unpack their groceries, and Addie offered to pour everyone a glass of wine. Eliza looked at me for help again, but I only shrugged and stood to join my friends in the kitchen.
“Can you cook, Eliza?” Addie asked.
Eliza pursed her lips. “I can whip up a mean boxed macaroni and cheese.”
Willa and Addie laughed, and Addie offered Eliza a glass of wine. She took it, and I watched the moment she realized Addie was human. Eliza drew in a breath, paused, and leaned back. Her eyes narrowed as Addie skipped away. She looked at me for confirmation, and my reply was a warning look, black veins rippling beneath my eyes. Addie was human and the most fragile of my friend group, which meant one wrong move from Eliza and the rest of us would tear her apart. Thankfully, Eliza shook off her shock and followed my friends into the kitchen.
“Can you cut bread in half?” Addie held out a loaf of French bread to Eliza. “And smother it in garlic butter?”
Eliza forced a smile. “Seems easy enough.”
“Do we have anything stronger than wine?” Willa asked as she started the stove for the chicken. “Something red, perhaps?”
I skipped into the kitchen and opened the fridge. “Of course. How do you want it?”
“In the wine is fine,” Willa said distractedly.
I looked at Eliza. “Hungry?”
She blinked in shock, then looked at Addie—who remained entirely unphased—as if she expected her to be disgusted. “Uh, yeah, sure.” She glanced at her untouched glass of wine. “I hate to ask, but do you have anything besides wine? I can’t stand the stuff.”
“I think there’s three-quarters of a bottle of whiskey from Christmas in the top cabinet?” Willa offered, pointing.
Eliza looked visibly relieved. “I would love that.”
Relief pooled in my stomach at how easily she interacted with my friends despite her desperate desire to leave. Eliza pulled the barely touched whiskey from the cabinet above the fridge, pouring herself a glass. I topped Willa’s and my wine off with blood, offering the bottle to Eliza. She nodded eagerly, and I filled the rest of her drink, turning it thick and red. Addie took Eliza’s untouched wine and spread it throughout the rest of our glasses.
For a while, everything seemed so painfully easy. Eliza laughed and helped my friends in the kitchen, and when we made eye contact, I felt…alive.
At one point, I stood beside her, dicing tomatoes while she whipped the garlic butter. Our hips brushed once on accident and I tried not to let the whole world see how bright my blush was. Eliza glanced over, then shifted her hips to purposefully touch me again. I watched as she reached for the whiskey in front of her, and heat pooled in my stomach at the sight of her closing her lips over the glass.
Despite my best friends being a few steps away, as soon as Eliza lowered her glass, I leaned over to capture her lips in a delicate kiss. A whimper of surprise escaped her, and I wound my fingers around her forearm to keep her from moving away. She kissed me twice, gently, before stepping back and returning to her work. A quick glance over my shoulder confirmed that Addie and Willa had seen everything.
My heart ached at the idea that this was what we could have. If Eliza stopped running… if I stopped wishing… this could be our life.
After everyone I’d lost throughout the centuries, I wanted this more than anything else.
Dinner was ready around ten in the evening, long after the rain had stopped and after the sun went down entirely. A hushed silence fell over the city around us, and Willa opened the balcony doors to let the chilly, fresh air inside.
We bundled up in blankets on the couch; Addie and Willa on one side and Eliza and me on the other, under the same blanket. Our knees pressed against each other, and I cleared my throat to hide my sigh of relief. I wanted to touch her. I wanted to hold her.
With each passing hour, it grew closer and closer to the moment she left.
And yet, she stayed for dinner.
She stayed when Willa suggested we watch a sad, horse-girl movie.
She stayed long after Addie fell asleep on the couch, and Willa closed the balcony doors.
When the clock ticked past three in the morning, I stood off the couch and held out my hand—unsure whether she would take it. I saw the contemplation fill her eyes, followed by resignation. Her hand slid into mine, and I felt my heart beat faster as I walked toward my room.
“I don’t sleep with women on the first date,” she murmured when I closed the door behind us.
I kissed her once—only once—enough for her to know I expected nothing from her. Not tonight, not ever. I was over the moon that she was here and grateful for every moment she stayed. But the moment she decided to leave, I would let her go.
We climbed into my bed, and I resisted the urge to laugh when Eliza placed a pillow between us. “That’s not for you,” she said, sliding her pants over her hips. “It’s for me.”
I didn’t hide my gaze over her bare legs, licking my lips and clearing my throat. “It might be for me too.”
“You should know something,” Eliza said as she sat on the edge of the bed. I hummed in response, but didn’t look at her, instead turning away to change into the pajama shirt waiting on my pillow. “I don’t want to run away from you.”
I sucked in a breath, looking back once I was dressed. “But you will,” I said with full confidence.
Eliza’s breath shook. “I’m sorry.”
I lay back on my pillows. Eliza crossed the room to turn the light off, then lay beside me. Our hands brushed, then intertwined on top of the pillows.
“Goodbye, Eliza,” I whispered.
“Goodbye, Sophie.”
We lay in the dark next to each other for a long while, and I counted my breaths until I fell asleep.
In the morning, she was gone.