My face couldn’t have burned brighter.
“Why’s your face so red?” Meredith asked.
I pushed my tray away and thumped my head on the table. “No reason.” My voice was muffled but I knew she’d hear it.
“You’re doing that thing, aren’t you?” Chris said.
“What thing?” Adrian asked.
“The talk in each other’s head thing.”
I sat up to see him shaking his head.
“You’re going to be even more impossible to watch now, aren’t you?” Shannon said.
I shot her a look and she had the grace to say a quick apology.
“I told you you’d be able to do it,” Meredith said. “Hey, why can’t we do that?”
Donovan muttered something in a language I’d never heard before. Probably Irish. He looked up at the ceiling and laughed.
Meredith elbowed him and he laughed harder. When she went to elbow him again, he caught it. “No. You’re misunderstanding me. I’m not laughing at you. I’m happy.” He pulled her in for a quick kiss, and Meredith’s milky skin turned bright red. “We’ll get there when we get there.”
This was good. This was the way friends were supposed to be. The way love was supposed to be. Happy.
I sighed. I hoped it stayed this way.
Dastien grasped my free hand. What’s wrong?
“The Tribunal. Do you think it’s going to be okay?”
“I know it will be. I won’t stand for it to be any other way, okay?”
“You can’t promise that.”
“No. And it might be hard. But we’ll get through it, like we’ve gotten through the rest of it.”
I nodded.
“Eat. Enjoy being with our friends. We’ve got a big couple of days coming up. Filled with fun things. I can’t wait.” He ran his finger down my cheek.
“Me too.”
“I love you,” he said through our bond.
“I love you, too.”
Dastien’s eyes widened for a second before his dimples showed up. He pressed a kiss to my forehead.
The future was never certain. I knew how quickly life could change, but with Dastien by my side, I somehow believed that everything would be okay. I couldn’t predict what was going to happen at the Tribunal, but for the first time, I felt secure in who I was. Not only in who I was, but in who I was with Dastien.
Maybe it was just as easy as Rosa said. If you believed it to be true, it would be.
I grasped Dastien’s hand in mine, and felt the love through our bond. All in all, it was a pretty great day.
o;No. And it might be hard. But we’ll get through it, like we’ve gotten through the rest of it.”
I nodded.