Page 79 of A Silence So Divine

“I know you don’t want to but… we have to talk about what happened. I can’t,” my voice has taken on a near desperate plea. Wrinkling my nose, I correct that at once. Beneath the covers, my hands flex and curl into one big fist on my lap.

I clear my throat and restart. “I want to help you, you do know that, don’t you?”

Eyes straight ahead, her chin dips once more.

“You sure? Some days I think you’re as afraid of me as you were that day you held me at hairbrush point,” I tease, attempting to lighten the mood. The attempt proves futile, because not even I am able to conjure a faux smile.

I switch tactics, lowering my voice.

“Do you trust me?”

Her throat bobs, and she sucks the corner of her bottom lip into her mouth. Nibbling. She doesn’t meet my gaze.

“Hey,” my hand slides from beneath the covers, finding her jaw. The skin there is soft, and goosebumps rise all the way up to my shoulder.

When our eyes catch, the goosebumps spread throughout the rest of my limbs.

“Do you?”

Hesitantly, she drops the blanket to her lap.“I don’t know.”

It doesn’t come as a shock. And yet, the admission sinks in my stomach like a stone. I mask any iota of disappointment that might show. My fingers drop from her jaw, careful not to touch any more velvety skin on the way down.

As if she can see straight through my facade, her brows draw together.

“I want to,”she adds.

An amused huff blows through my nostrils, and my lips twitch in the beginnings of a grin. Eden’s expression doesn’t change, solemn as ever. This girl is going to be the death of me.

“I have an idea,” I muse, turning back towards the flames. All the lights are off, so shadows dance along the walls as if the furniture were in a waltz. “If you answer some of my questions, I’ll answer some of yours.”

Luckily, this piques her interest.“Okay.”

I nod in satisfaction, settling back into the cushions. “You can go first.”

Eden takes her time, twisting the ends of her hair around an index finger as she ponders. Wrap, wrap, wrap, unravel, unravel, unravel.

She pauses. Glances at me warily.“Do you trust me?”

I’ll be honest, it isn’t what I was expecting. Still, the answer comes easily to me. And I wasn't expecting that either.

“Yes.”

Her head snaps in my direction, bewilderment clear on her face.

“Really?”

I hum in response, suddenly too embarrassed to elaborate any further.

“Why?”

“Ah ah ah,” I tsk. “It’s my turn.”

The grandfather clock in the corner chimes. It’s four in the morning.

“Why were you in the pond?”

She flinches. Like I said, if you were to look up a synonym for “blunt”, my name would be an option.