Chapter 27

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Cupid's body is inches from mine. I am engulfed by his heat, his smell. I can see his chest, below his moist white T-Shirt, rise and fall heavily with ragged breaths. His eyes burn into mine – the skin around one of them pink and bruised.

And I feel strange inside. My heart is thudding too fast against my ribs, and my stomach clenches. I want him. I want him to kiss me. But I'm angry too. The two conflicting emotions battle inside me until anger wins.

Suddenly I stand up off the stool – inadvertently bringing my body even closer to his.

He doesn't move back. Just looks at me.

I narrow my eyes.

"You've been a real ass to me tonight," I say.

His expression hardens. He takes a small step forward and I back away slightly, my back pressing into the counter behind. The air crackles between us. I prod his chest.

"You couldn't even look at me when the others were here! You made some weird comment about me talking to Valentine, even though I got attacked! And you've been holding this grudge just because I made a mistake."

He stares at me – saying nothing. It makes me even more mad. I can feel anger bubbling in my gut.

"People make mistakes, you know?" I continue.

Still he is silent – his body heat washing over me. It's intoxicating and infuriating at the same time.

"You're...you're acting like a...like a big baby," I say – prodding his chest again. "Did you know when Cal first told me about you, back in the Matchmaking Service before we met, I thought Cupid was some... some big baby with wings, and a bow and arrow, and a diaper? Well...right now you may as well be!"

God...what the hell am I even talking about?!

I catch the corner of his mouth twitch slightly.

"If you have a problem with me, we need to talk about it. And you need to stop being such a jerk," I say.

Suddenly he sighs heavily; I feel his warm breath on my face. His eyes soften – vulnerability pooling in his blue green irises.

And he nods.

"I know."

He places the palms of his hands on the breakfast bar on either side of me. Then he rests his forehead against mine – his skin hot and a little clammy. I breathe in sharply, and then my body relaxes slightly.

He mumbles something - but so quietly I can't hear.

"What is it, Cupid?" I say.

He sighs again, then brings his gaze back up – his eyes as wild and lost as the ocean.

"I don't want to lose you, Lila." I look up at him and he shakes his head. "I could have lost you."

I fall silent. The pain in his voice curls around my heart and squeezes it tightly. The anger inside of me dissolves. He looks so lost.

"Cupid," I say. Tentatively I lift one of my hands and – as though reaching for aa wild animal – I touch his cheek. He flinches but doesn't pull away, "you're not going to lose me."

A thought suddenly hits me, though, hard as a bullet.

That's not true, is it?

When he had his outburst earlier, what had he said?

You're a human. You're not immortal, you're not...you're not like me. You can...you can die, Lila. One day you'll die.

His words echo in my ears.

One day you'll die.

I recall the pain in his eyes when he pulled away from me by the fountain, I think about how he looked sad as he kissed me last night.

One day you'll die.

Cupid won't die. But I will. And when I do he will lose me.

I've felt like he's been holding back with me ever since we defeated Venus. Is this the reason why?

He exhales hard, and I feel his warm breath on my skin. I don't know what to say. Sadness seems to weigh heavy in the air. The whole immortality thing was something I'd obviously always known about – but, at this early stage between us, I'd not really thought about our future, about what it actually meant for us.

But maybe Cupid has been thinking about it.

I will grow old. I will die. Cupid won't.

"You're immortal," I say quietly.

Something sad flickers across his eyes – like he sees that I understand. He looks down at the tiled floor between us.

"You know, I've always guarded my heart," he says, his voice raw, "because you don't get used to the pain of losing people. It's not something that gets easier." He shakes his head again, "When I think that Valentine could have hurt you, could have killed you. I just...I can't bear it, Lila."

He brings his gaze back to mine, and his eyes are watery.

I don't know what to do. My throat feels tight. And I want to make him feel OK but I don't know how.

Then, hurriedly, he blinks and looks away – and I see the blinkers come down over his eyes again, holding back the emotions and the words that moments before flowed freely.

He looks at me again – his face brighter.

"But I am sorry," he says. "For how I acted."

I nod.

"I'm sorry too," I say, "for calling you a giant diaper wearing baby."

He laughs – the tension in the kitchen suddenly lifted. I smile back.

"And next time I get a message from an unknown number – I'll make sure it's not from Valentine before I go arranging any meetings..."

Cupid shakes his head – a gentle smile on his face. I still detect a glimmer of sadness behind it, though.

"Yes, I think that's probably wise, lovebug," he says. He kisses me gently on the forehead, then looks down at me again. "Glad that's all sorted...now, you're still staying over-" it's a statement, not a question. "And I think I promised you some dinner."

***

Cupid and I sit on his rooftop terrace at an old patio table he brought out from his attic. The winter air is cool, but I'm wrapped up in one of Cupid's blankets - which smells deliciously like him mixed with fabric softener - and I don't feel the chill. The moon, and a flickering candle in the center of the table, lights up his face as he looks at me. 

After our fight we'd taken turns to use the shower – washing away Valentine, zombies, and the negativity from earlier. By the time we were done Cupid professed that it was too late to cook his risotto which took a lot of time and love to prepare – and he'd just put a frozen pizza in the oven.

"It does lead me to question whether you can, in fact, cook..." I say, taking a slice. "Or whether or not it was some big ruse to get me here!"

He grins back at me. His hair is still wet from the shower, and I wonder at how he's not cold. He puts a hand to his chest in mock hurt.

"What? You don't like my pizza?! I worked hard to bring this meal to you – unboxing the pizza, putting the oven on, putting the pizza in the oven..."

He takes a bite and I laugh.

"A true master chef," I say. I take a bite and the melted cheese warms me. I realize I'm ravenous! "It's good!"

We chat about silly stuff for a while, and it feels good – both of us sat here in comfy clothes (I'd borrowed sweatpants, not wanting to wear the zombie tainted jeans from earlier) just talking like everything is normal: Like Cupid isn't immortal, or that Valentine is out there, planning who knows what, or that Morta hadn't said something weird about the match...

What did she mean by that?!

And what did Valentine mean when he said he'd found me in the Matchmaking Service system?

I push the thought away - instead focusing on Cupid's story about the first time he'd met Klaus, Charlie's cupid boyfriend based in Iceland. And I'm soon laughing again at his animated jokes about the past.

I think the fact that us eating pizza in sweatpants doesn't feel like a formal date feels good too – because it's comfortable. I don't feel nervous, like I did when we went to the school dance together. It just feels easy.

But, as the last slices of pizza are eaten, Cupid's phone buzzes. He checks the screen and his face darkens - the laughter from earlier disappearing without a trace.

"What is it?" I say.

He looks at me and grimaces.

"The Parcae."

The words bring back Morta's assertion that she has something to tell us about the match. My stomach clenches with nerves. From Cupid's face I can tell he's thinking the same thing.

"What about them?" I say quietly.

"Crystal managed to get us in...tomorrow, we meet with the Fates."

Author note: Hi guys! Lauren here! So sorry for the delay in getting this chapter up! Those of you following me on Wattpad might have seen already - but I promised you something to make up for it... this week I'm attempting daily updates! And I'm going to sort the Friday Feature now!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! 

Lots of love,

Lauren 

xxx

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