Chapter 11

Taylor

I woke up with Brexl’s arms around me and a smile on my face. He’d been having another nightmare last night and instead of waking him up I chose to lay on his chest like I’d done the night before.

His body relaxed beneath me, and the grimace that had been on his face faded to a more relaxed expression.

I liked that I’d been able to ease Brexl out of his nightmare. I liked it a little too much.

I will not develop a crush on him. I will NOT develop a crush on him. I silently repeated to myself. I didn’t want to lose myself to a relationship again.

I slipped out from under his arms and sat up. The sun had started to peek through the cave entrance, and I wondered if I could still catch the sunrise.

The sky had just begun to brighten when I walked out of the cave. The salty air whipped my hair around my face, but I pressed on.

Who knew when I’d be able to see the beach again? I walked to the shore and sat on the sand drinking in the view of the dark purple water under the white waves.

These past two weeks had been full of wild chaos, and I was ready to go home.

“Good morning,” Brexl sat down next to me and draped our blanket over my shoulders.

“Thanks,” I smiled up at him. It had been cold, but I wasn’t going to take our one blanket from Brexl as he slept. However, I was certainly happy to use it now that he was awake.

We sat there in silence as the sun rose. Its bright hues filling the sky. I laid my head on his shoulder and after a moment’s hesitation he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me in closer.

“I can bring you back here if you’d like.”

“I’d like that. I bet it’s really nice here in the summer.”

It’d be fun to come here as a group to relax and swim in the water. There were enough caves scattered around the beach for everyone to sleep in. I’d like to come here under happier circumstances, for sure.

We ate our breakfast on the beach, and then packed up to go. I looked over my shoulder one last time at the sparkling water before we entered the forest.

The rest of the morning was blessedly uneventful. No jagwas, no hunters from the other dekes, just the cool breeze of the fall air and the sound of the leaves crunching under our feet.

As we walked, I spotted some beautiful yellow flowers with small pink petals dotting the center. They resembled earth lilies, which just so happened to be my favorite flower.

“Are these safe to touch?” I asked Brexl as I pointed to one of the yellow flowers.

He looked down and nodded his head. “Those are safe.”

I plucked one from the ground and smelled it before gently tucking the stem in my bag, while leaving the petals sticking out from the top so they wouldn’t get crushed.

“They look like one of my favorite Earth flowers,” I added.

A pensive expression crossed Brexl’s face, but he said nothing and we continued on. It wasn’t long before we came across another patch of yellow flowers, but this time Brexl bent down and yanked five flowers up from the ground at once, bringing with them their roots and a few disgruntled bugs.

“Here are more flowers.” He awkwardly held them out for me to take.

“Thank you.” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.

Our fingers brushed as I took the flowers and his cheeks turned three shades of blue. His tail would have been thumping the ground, but he had grabbed it before it could.

He was so fucking cute, I just wanted to eat him up. No, Taylor, you cannot like this man. Not like that. I chastised myself. But I want to like him. I argued back. It was no use. I knew Brexl and I were not meant to be.

We continued on only stopping for lunch. Then we didn’t stop again until we reached Orsu’s den.

“It’s weird being back here,” I said as I sat down on the dirt floor. “The last time I was here I was so scared. Everything about this place was so unknown to me.”

I’d been relieved when we crashed, giving us the chance to escape from our captors, but I’d also been relieved because I knew I’d never have to face my ex-fiance again.

Kent had been nice enough, and he was understandably heartbroken and confused when I broke things off with him. I just couldn’t do it. I couldn’t commit myself to someone who had no idea who I really was.

I couldn’t hurt Brexl like I’d hurt Kent. Somehow that seemed so much worse to me. No matter what, we couldn’t ever become anything more than friends. I refused to put myself in a position to break things off with Brexl like that. Brexl and I would remain friends. He would know me for me. Life would be perfect as long as we never crossed that line.

I looked over and found Brexl sitting at the bottom of the steps, and I did my best not to roll my eyes. He was only sitting there so he could be closer to the entrance to the den than I was. I’d let it go this time. He was doing much better today. His gash was healing nicely and I didn’t think the stitches would break open if he had to defend us from a predator.

“Thirsty?” He held up a water skin.

“I’m good.” I was tired though. Very tired. After traveling to the spaceship, being held hostage by the other dekes, being kidnapped by Scaron, and then spending the day traveling back home. I was feeling very spent. One more day. I told myself. We’d be home tomorrow, where I could curl up in my own bed, catch up with my besties Fatima and Beatrice, feel safe, eat some good food, and sleep for as long as I wanted.

Just thinking about being home again made me yawn. I was full from all of the nuts and tubers I ate on our walk here. Brexl was eating some dried mushrooms and berries.

“I’m going to go ahead and go to sleep.”

I pulled out the blanket from Brexl’s pack and snuggled up against the wall.

“Don’t fall asleep by the entrance. You can sleep back here with me, sharing the blanket like we’ve been doing.”

“But I’m better now.” Brexl argued looking offended that I’d even suggest he do anything other than guard the entrance the whole night.

“I said what I said.”

I stared him down, just daring him to argue further. When he didn’t, I closed my eyes and fell asleep.