Electra immediately looked at the table where Layla and Fenric were sitting. "I told you, hatchling! Don't ever make fun of me for being delusional or anything related to it!" She yelled and smacked his head, dragging him to the table.
"Ellie!" Layla chirped, a wide smile on her face as Electra sat down.
Electra scowled, but the corners of her lips rose slightly. "What are you doing here, blackhead?" She looked at Fenric, who was smiling awkwardly. "And who's tha-" Her eyes widened as she recognized him.
"Long time no see, Electra~!" He smirked, patting her shoulder.
"What are you doing here?! How did you even... WHAT?!" Electra grabbed the sides of her head in disbelief.
Orion looked at Layla and smiled softly, hiding his left arm behind his back. "Hi, Layla. Missed you." He noticed her new hairpin and pointed at it. "Never seen something like that! It fits you!"
Layla scowled, not knowing whether she should be kind or mean to him.
"W-We need to talk... But not here... I don't want to make a scene..." She crossed her arms and looked away.
Electra looked furious. She nodded. "Yeah, take her to the inn, I have a couple of words to exchange with this..." She coughed. "Person."
"An inn is a lot better than some tavern," Layla said, looking away from Orion. "Take me."
Orion didn't know what was happening. Layla suddenly wanted to talk to him, and on the other hand, Electra wanted to be left alone with someone while looking furious.
"Fine. Let's-" He tried to take Layla's hand, but she slapped his hand away.
"No touching," She said coldly.
The two left the tavern and walked to the inn in complete silence. Orion was constantly glancing at her, making sure she was alright, but deep inside, he knew she wasn't.
They entered the room. Orion sat down on the bed and waited for her to sit down.
"So, what did you want to talk about?" He paused. "Aren't you supposed to be in the castle, anyway?"
Layla didn't say a word. She walked up to him and slapped him across the face, her eyes full of tears. "WHY?!"
"Ouch!" Orion rubbed his cheek softly. "What was that for!?" He asked in confusion and frustration.
He looked her in the eyes, seeing all the tears, a worried look appeared on his face. "What happened? Is it my fault?" He asked softly, trying to take her hand.
Layla burst into tears, hugging him tightly. "Why?! Why did you lie to me?! Why did you lie to me my whole life?! Have you ever thought that I deserve to know the truth?! Have you ever thought that I need to know what happened to them?! What happened to our orphanage?!"
Orion felt a lump stop in his throat. "W-Who told-"
"IT DOESN'T MATTER WHO TOLD ME! THE THING THAT MATTERS IS WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THAT A MONSTER DESTROYED OUR ORPHANAGE AND KILLED EVERYONE!?" She screamed, slapping him again.
Orion sighed in relief and shame. He softly caressed her hair. "You're right, Layla... I lied... I lied that our orphanage was burned down..."
Layla stared straight into his eyes, and her embrace tightened.
Orion hugged her back, still caressing her hair to calm her down. "I'm sorry... I really am... But you were just a kid... I couldn't plant the seed of hate in your heart, especially since you were so aggressive when we were little..." He kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry, Layla... I wanted to raise you like Almyra... I wanted to raise you to be a happy girl, not a vengeful revenge-craving shell..."
He teared up. "I'm sorry... I was too selfish to take everything into my hands... without... asking you... without... trusting you..."
Layla froze. Her heart was pounding in her chest faster than ever before. She pressed her fists against his chest, occasionally hitting it softly.
"Yes... You are selfish, Orion..."
"You always tried to protect me like some big brother," She said quietly, her voice colder. "But you have never let me feel anything more than that..."
Orion blinked, his mouth hung slightly open, but no words left it.
"You knew all along, didn't you?" She paused, wiping her tears against his shoulder. "You always knew how I looked at you... How I acted around you... What I felt towards you... All the time I waited for you to say something, anything, but you never made a move... You just smiled and patted my head like I was some silly kid, and not the girl who spent almost her whole life with you..."
"Deep inside... I am not mad... I am not at you for keeping the truth away... That was a lie... That was an excuse to finally squeeze the truth out of you..."
"Layla, I-" She stopped him, covering his mouth with her hand.
"No. Shut." She said coldly, her eyes glistening fiercely as she leaned in closer towards his face. "I called you selfish... Well, aren't I a hypocrite...? I am the selfish one for expecting you to make the first move. I was a coward... But that changes now."
Orion tried to speak, but she still kept her hand against his mouth.
"Shhh~" She caressed his cheek softly, her empty eyes staring into his. "I want you for myself... I love you... Not in a platonic way... Not as a sibling... I love you... I have always loved you sooo much that I don't even know how to explain it."
"And you knew. You knew all along. But what did you do with it? You chose to brush it off and not do anything about it, not accept, not reject, just leave me hanging with all that burden."
She finally pulled her hand off his mouth, allowing him to speak.
He was unsure of what to say. He knew that she was right, but he didn't know if doing what he always wanted to do was safe, not for him, but for her.
"I didn't know how to..." He muttered under his nose. "You were everything I had left after the orphanage... I couldn't risk losing you as well!"
Layla laughed softly as she caressed his hair, like he used to caress hers. "So you lied to me? You thought that it would keep me close, Orion?"
He looked away. "I tried to protect you... from myself... I couldn't just suddenly be with a person who's on their lowest... That wouldn't be ethical!"
"NO!" She finally snapped, hitting his chest. "You did it to protect yourself! You couldn't handle the thought of me being angry at you. Or me finally seeing the truth and leaving you alone!"
Orion couldn't bring himself to look into her eyes.
"I spent years wondering, 'What's wrong with me?! Why am I like this?!'" She said softly, grabbing him by the chin. "Wondering why I couldn't remember the blood, the screams. All I had were some broken dreams, literal unsolvable puzzles. I thought that I was the issue. That something was wrong with me."
"I just wanted you to live in peace... just like Almyra wanted us to..." He said softly, finally bringing himself to look her in the eyes. "To live without any guilt, pain, or fear."
Layla stared at him for a longer moment, then she sighed deeply, shaking her head. "Peace wasn't the thing I needed." She pressed her hand against his chest. "It was you, idiot."
"I have always watched how you worked your ass off to feed me. To keep me alive."
"My entire life, I was jealous. I wanted to do the same thing you were doing for me, but you never accepted it."
"But that changes now."
"I was afraid, okay?!" He yelled, closing his eyes.
Layla looked at him, curious. "Afraid? What could you possibly have been afraid of, huh? You had me. That's everything you should ever need, yet you still were afraid?!" She scowled. "Do you think that what I am feeling and have always felt towards you is a joke?! That it's so weak that you can just blow it off and no one would notice?!"
"Your feelings were never a joke!" He said immediately, tears streaming down his cheeks, just like her tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Then why?" She leaned away, looking into his eyes with pain. "Why didn't you say anything?! Why didn't you look at me the way I looked at you?! Just tell me why, you idiot!" She yelled in despair, which was planted in her heart a long time ago, growing larger and stronger over time.
Orion wrapped his right arm around her neck, softly pressing her forehead against his. "Because I knew that when I let myself see you like that... I wouldn't be able to ever stop... I wouldn't be able to let go..."
"I would've fallen for you instantly, Layla," He smiled softly. "You're smart, kind, responsible, determined, loyal, beautiful, strong, just to make it simple... You are amazing... You are the best..." He stroked her hair. "I told myself to wait... To make sure that you were certain of what you wanted... No... Until I was sure I could protect you, not from bad people, but me."
"Everyone around me dies, or gets badly wounded! You don't know how I felt when you were asleep for a couple of days after the cave! I was worried! I blamed myself for everything, after all, I was the one who took you to the guild! I should have left you at home that day! I should have gone to the guild alone and died in that cave!"
Layla blinked in surprise, stunned by his straightforwardness. "You are... really... an idiot..."
"You are seeing your life as a thing that you can just give away, in order to make someone's life less painful! That's not selflessness, Orion! That's self-destructive and disgusting! I don't want you to just give up, I don't even want you to say things like that!"
She slapped him again, again, and again, hoping that it would finally get to his head. "I love you and care about you more than anything else! You are my light! You lit up my heart back when it was the darkest place in myself!"
"I love you, Orion! That's why you should love and allow yourself to be happy..." She paused, pointing her thumb at herself. "With no one else but me!" She said proudly, an honest smile on her face.
"I love you, you idiot!"
"That smile... I have seen Layla smile a lot, but her smile was never that bright... She's right... How can I love her when I see myself as nothing but a thing to exchange? Doesn't that make my love for her worthless? Not pure at all?" Orion paused, looking into her soft eyes, which resembled endless darkness. "Yes, it's selfish... But I want to... No... I want my love towards her... to brighten up those beautiful eyes... If that's the only thing that can make her truly happy... then I'll do it... After all, I promised, didn't I?"
"I love you, too, Layla." He said with the most love he could bring out from his heart.
She stared into his eyes. "You idiot," She whispered. "I waited years for you to say that... haha..."
"I know..." Orion said. "I'm very sorry... for everything..."
Their hearts pounded like crazy. Layla's cold breath hit his face as she leaned in even closer. "Then compensate~!" She smiled softly and kissed him on the lips.
At first, the kiss was soft, uncertain, and trembling, but it quickly deepened as he kissed her back, as if it had been delayed by many years.
Orion wrapped his arms around her waist. On the other hand, her arms clung to his shoulders with desperation.
After a long minute, Layla broke the kiss, smirking playfully. "You do realize what's about to come, no~?"
"Don't get me wrong, I'm still furious at you for lying to me, but that means one thing," She kissed his cheek. "No more lies and no more running away from me~! You are mine, and I am yours!"
"From this day onward, we only belong to each other." She huffed.
"I won't lie to you ever again, I swear on my life." He smiled softly.
Then, his smile turned into a smirk. "Wanna see something you haven't seen before?"
Layla blushed. "Y-Yes, of course!" She anticipated, not having a single clue about what he's gonna show her.
He pulled his left arm in front of her face, showing her that he had lost his hand.
She screamed in surprise and horror. "ORION!?"