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Joan shivered slightly, mentally chastising herself for putting off the laundry for another day. Now she faced the punishments, her duvet was somewhere in the large pile of towels and clothes that still needed to be washed and she only had sheets on her bed. The fan was on too, adding to the chill in the room but Joan was too lazy to get up and turn it off.
She didn’t realize how utterly exhausted she had been the past two years, running from the monster court and trying to fix the timeline. It was like her body knew she was finally safe, for the most part, and desperately needed to make up for the years of restless sleep and days of running. But she couldn’t stop, no. There was countless meetings to attend, peace rallies to speak at, and monsters to convince. It was a difficult fight, but a worthwhile one and already they had made so much change. The Liu’s, most of the Hathaways, and even some of the Mtawali family (and the Hunts of course) had given up traveling, had stopped taking from humans. Everyday more and more monsters joined the cause and everyday Joan was filled with more and more hope. She could finally stop tearing herself in half, trying to choose between her monster and human side. Now, they lived in harmony. Well, mostly.
The bedroom door creaked opened slowly, as if whoever was coming in was trying the be as quiet as possible. Joan lifted her head to look and saw Aaron, his blonde hair bright even in the darkness of the room.
“You’re home late.”
“Joan. I didn’t think you’d still be awake.” Aaron sighed as he walked over and placed a gentle kiss of Joan’s forehead. “I’m sorry. I saw my family again today and it went as well as I expected.”
His tone was light and even, and Joan could tell he was trying to be positive, but behind his words was anger and pain. She knew how much it hurt him for his family to still be so against their cause, to be so against him.
“They still believe it’s their birthright, that it’s the natural order of things. That it’s weak to view humans on the same level of us. That I’m weak too.”
Joan couldn’t see his face in the dark, but she knew he was frowning. “Well they’re wrong. At of all the words that could describe you, weak isn’t one of them.”
He gave a noncommittal ‘mmm’ and made his way to the closet, his voice becoming muffled as he searched through it.
“I just don’t think they’ll ever change their minds. My father especially, he’s so set in his ways. Sometimes I think someone else should take over in the meetings, that maybe he’d actually listen as long as I’m not the one speaking.
A hopeless anger ran through Joan, and overwhelming hate for Edmund Oliver. She thought back to Aaron’s room at the Oliver house, tiny and tucked away in the servants wing. It was there that Aaron’s belief that he was lesser, was weak, that he’d always be a second-choice was born. And Edmund had made that belief grow Aaron’s whole life. He was the reason Aaron couldn’t see how truly special he was. Sometimes, late at night, the fear that Aaron would never truly let go of that belief crept up on Joan, burrowing away into her thoughts and lying heavy in her stomach.
Finally, Aaron slipped into bed beside her in his signature silk pajamas and laid on his side facing her.
“Do you ever miss it?” she said.
“Traveling? No.” There was a moment of silence. “Yes.”
“Sometimes…I feel so homesick for another time I almost fade out. And the worst part is knowing that if I really wanted to, I could go back. I could watch the Pyramids be built, I could see Pompeii in all its glory once again. I feel like I’m being tortured sometimes, I’ll walk past a museum or I’ll overhear hear humans talking. And the fact that I could…it would be so easy. It’s like an ache inside me, and I don’t know if it’ll ever go away.
“I won’t though, no matter what.” And he said it with such conviction in his voice that Joan believed him fully.
“It’s ok, I know what you mean. It would almost be better if we didn’t have the power to travel anymore, if the temptation could be taken away. I’m scared that one day my willpower will give up, and I’ll take from a human.”
Aaron pulled her close to him, close enough so she could see his face even in the darkness. Every time she looked at him she was reminded again of how breath-takingly beautiful he was. Like something from another world. She reached a hand up and gently ran her fingers through his hair. It was almost a marvel how soft and sleek it always was, no matter the circumstance.
Aaron breathed out, and Joan felt his body relax beside her. “I love you.” he said quietly.
He always said the words quietly, almost a whisper, as if he was scared Joan wouldn’t respond. She always did though, repeating it with such force as if she said it hard enough he would never forget it.
“I love you too.” And finally, she slept.