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Chapter Sixteen

Juno

We were both silent as we passed through the portal. Whatever the rulers would find couldn’t be good. Remi’s emotions were all over the place and I couldn’t quite grasp what he was feeling. I just hoped my presence was soothing enough for him as he worked through everything.

Remi’s father was a man from my world, making him a part of two worlds. Would he ever feel at home in one of them? I hoped so. It sounded like Derek was the only one that had suffered from being in their world, and I really hoped he would be okay.

“Do you mind staying with me in my dorm?” Remi asked as we made our way through the forest. Remi had no idea where we were so I was guiding us.

“If you think for one second that I’m sleeping somewhere without you, I’m going to slap your butt,” I muttered. Like I would even be able to sleep without him in my arms now. He smiled fondly at me but didn’t reply. He didn’t need to. I could feel his happiness engulf me from the inside.

“We need to figure out how to spend our week,” he said after a few minutes of silence. “I don’t want to live here, so maybe we can pull me out of school and just… have fun together.” I liked that idea.

“You sure you want us to live in my world?” I had to ask even though I was happy he was willing to move.

He nodded. “I feel I belong there, you know? Besides, it has opportunities for us that my world doesn’t.”

“But if we can’t heal my world with magic, it might not be a place we can stay forever,” I reminded him, even though it already looked brighter after the arrival of our new mates, though I doubted a few people could make enough of a difference.

“We’ll deal with that when the time comes.” He sounded so… at ease with everything. I knew he wasn’t, but it was comforting knowing we had a plan for this week and for our future together.

Deciding to change the subject to something lighter I asked, “what are we doing today then?” My question helped and Remi brightened instantly.

“I was thinking about pizza for lunch.”

“Pizza?” I was confused, his emotions showed happiness and excitement. Pizza was amazing, but this seemed like something else, maybe he had a surprise for me. I hoped so. I loved surprises.

“Yes, pizza. I know just the place.”

My mate was torturing me.

“Come on. Just a little taste!” Remi was laughing as he guided the pizza with ham and pineapple towards my face. He loved every minute and I couldn’t even be mad about it. I took a huge bite just to surprise him. The sweetness of the pineapple hit and as I chewed it mixed with the saltiness of the ham.

“I like it!” I exclaimed and took the piece from his hand. “We need to introduce this to our world when we return.” He was staring wide eyed at me, but then a smile formed.

“You are truly perfect, huh?” he grinned and I felt his love for me as it brightened his insides, filling us both with the feeling of true happiness and belonging.

“Remi!” A girl that had just entered rushed over and hugged him. I didn’t like anyone touching him, but I could power through it, knowing we wouldn’t live here. “Is this the guy?” I raised an eyebrow, looking at Remi for him to clarify. Did he tell this girl we were mates? I could feel he was worried, but I couldn’t tell why.

“This is Juno, my boyfriend,” he explained with a smile. I guess getting introduced as his mate would be too weird here. I would prefer it, being his friend sounded so insignificant. But I trusted him to know what to do here.

“Oh.” She grinned. “The one that finally got you to realize you’re gay.”

“What?” Remi exclaimed before I could. I would need to ask what being gay meant later.

She rolled her eyes. “Come on, Remi. You told me you were ace but it’s clear you were just gay. And that’s okay,” she quickly added. “But you don’t have to lie anymore, it’s fine.”

“Lie?” I was the one asking now. Was this Hayley?

“He dated me for a year and was certain he was asexual. But he never once looked at me like he’s looking at you.” So, this was Hayley. She seemed sad, but hid it under a kind smile as she looked at us together. “I’m really happy you can experience real love, Remi.” Okay, I couldn’t be mad at her now. She seemed like a good person and Remi only spoke highly of her.

I could sense Remi’s feelings of guilt, relief and surprisingly, love. He truly loved her; it was just the same kind of love I felt for Nix and Charlotta.

“Thank you,” Remi said, standing up and hugging her. He whispered something to her and she nodded, hugging him even tighter before they stepped back and she waved us goodbye and got her order to go.

When we were alone again, I waited for Remi to say something, fearing I would ruin the moment unintentionally.

“So,” he began. “That was Hayley.” I couldn’t help but laugh. He was so adorable. “Don’t laugh at me!” He tried to sound firm but laughed himself. “I’m actually glad I got to see her before I leave for good.”

“You know we can return and visit, right?”

“I know, but I don’t want to risk not being able to return. I also doubt the portal people will be able to open and close the portal at our whim.”

“You’re right about that. They keep it open because we’re all here visiting, but as soon as we’re done, they’ll close it again and only open it if necessary.”

“See?” He gestured like that was his whole point. “I guess that means I’ll need to see my parents one last time, too.” His mood soured and I knew now might be a good time to understand his strained relationship with his parents.

“Why do you hate seeing them? Besides the awful phone call, of course.”

He sighed. “I guess they just never accepted me for who I am. I tried to become the son they wanted, but that just ended with me despising myself and them, so I stopped, and that’s when our relationship took a turn for the worse. They’d gotten used to me being perfect and then suddenly I was “acting out” as they called it. I actually doubt they even love me; it seems more like a control thing than love.” I didn’t know what to say to that, feeling his emotions run wild with sorrow and some guilt too.

“Maybe you need to ask them,” I said gently. “Otherwise, you’ll spend the rest of our life wishing you had.”

“You’re right.” He exhaled as if just admitting that was a relief in itself. “We just need to grab something first.”

“If it’s your laptop and journal, they’re already at our house back home,” I replied, standing up with him.

He looked surprised. “Really? How?”

“I packed a bag with your stuff before we left,” I explained, grabbing his hand and walking out of the restaurant. “I hope it was okay. I had no idea when we would return and Derek said your journal meant a lot to you.” I had given the bag to one of the employees that met us at the portal. They had sent a robot to our house with it while I focused on Remi and getting him to wake up.

“He said that?” he sounded oddly touched by that.

“Yes. And your laptop was more of a familiar item, so I grabbed that too.”

“I love you.” He grinned and laced our fingers together as we walked towards campus. Remi wanted to make it easier on the school and drop out rather than never returning. I found it endearing that he cared so much for others and didn’t just say fuck it. We did only have a week of fun planned, but Remi figured we could stay at a hotel instead of his dorm room, allowing us more privacy away from his friends. Sid and a few of the others from my team would collect Derek’s stuff, so we weren’t worried about someone new messing with his things.

“I love you too,” I replied. “Are you sure you don’t want more time with your friends? We have the rest of our lives together, but you only have this one week left here.”

“I do want to say goodbye to Jason. He’s been a true friend and I don’t want him to worry about me when I leave. And my old boss Earl, he deserves to see me off too.” I nodded, happy that he had one friend other than Hayley he cared about.

“Let’s find Jason before we meet up with your parents,” I suggested.

“Can we wait until tomorrow to visit my parents? I just want to say goodbye to Jason and Earl, then find a nice hotel.” I would never say no to him.

“Of course, baby. Let’s find them and then the rest of the day is spent in bed with room service.” We shared a knowing grin and went inside.