I'm Fine in the Fire, Don't Try and Fix Me

I opened my eyes to the sight of chaos. It wasn't a dream then. Interesting, I thought, even my mind was trying to calm me down. Things weren't in the right place anymore. Who am I kidding? Nothing was where it was supposed to be. Everything was smashed or broken or across the room from where it was supposed to be. Have you ever seen the after effects of a tornado? Yeah, that had nothing on me. Even the walls had holes. There was even one on the ceiling.

It was then that I realized that I wasn't on the hard floor, or my destroyed bed. No, I was leaning against someone who was propped up against the wall. Their arms were still wrapped around me. The calming effect stopped me from going into a slump of depression at my own lack of self-control.

"You're awake," the person said.

I recognized the voice instantly. It was hard not to when it was your mate. "Yes," I muttered, leaning my head back. It hit his shoulder, but right now, I could care less that I was touching him, or him holding me.

"Are you okay?" He asked then. His mouth must have been close to my ear because I could feel his breath fan over the side of my face and neck.

"At the moment," I replied honestly. I didn't want to move right now. This was comfortable, and the farthest I have ever gotten romantically. That was kind of pathetic, I know. But, this was nice right now.

I could tell there was a hesitancy in his next question. I could feel the breath stop like he was going to speak again, but then he didn't say anything for a moment. "Will you tell me what happened?" He asked quieter.

"Look around, Vlad," I laughed. "I think you can tell."

"That's not what I meant." He sighed. I could feel his arms tense in slight annoyance, but he still felt calm. That was something interesting about him. He could feel something he didn't show. That would be useful in his future, especially with me. "What happened to make you do this?" He specified.

"I . . ." Did I want to tell him? Would you? Well, maybe you wouldn't, but for some reason, I felt like he should know. He was the one who calmed me down. He should know why, right? But, it was still strange to talk to someone about something so . . . personal, maybe? No, it was more like it was strange to talk to anyone. I had never really done it before. I didn't know where to start. "Have you ever wondered why you are here?" I asked.

He didn't say anything.

"I have, a lot really," I continued anyways. "I never really found anything to do with my life, never inspired to anything, never had goals. Hell, I didn't even think I was going to get mated. Though that isn't much of a surprise I think. It's just . . . It's just I never really thought about it until now. I guess I didn't want to accept my fate of being just wasted space. I didn't want to accept that I was nothing."

"You aren't nothing," he stated with a confidence that is hard to ignore.

I pulled myself from his arms, much to my own displeasure. "Yes," I argued. "I am, Vlad, and I know you're going to try to tell me otherwise. But, I accept it now, you know? It doesn't bother me as much as you think. It's just a shame that you got mated with me. You could have been so happy."

"I am happy," Vlad exclaimed. "I'm glad that I am mated with you. It isn't a shame. You are the only reason I haven’t bailed on this god forsaken town yet."

"But, I shouldn’t be," I argued standing up and away from him. The feeling of calm went away quite quickly, and it was replaced with the dread and sadness that I was feeling yesterday. I could feel tears start to sting in the back of my eyes, and no matter how much I tried, they wouldn't go away. "I know that you deserve better, and just because some stupid council tells us that we are supposed to be together, doesn't mean we are. You deserve someone who isn't afraid to be with you."

He stood up and wiped the tears that were running down my cheeks. "Hey, who said I wanted that? You are amazing, even if you don't see it. I wouldn't want to be with anyone besides you, no matter how slow you want to take this. And, you aren't afraid to be with me. This should be enough proof for you." His hands stayed where they were on my face, holding me there, so I couldn't leave.

"What is the only time I can be like this is after a melt down?" I choked out. My hands started to shake again, but I knew nothing would happen because he was here. And, no matter how corny it sounds, I wouldn't want to hurt him.

"Then I'll get used to patching holes in the walls." He smiled, and I couldn't help but smile back.

We hugged after that, and we hugged in a way that you see in those crappy romance films with one of us practically sobbing on the other one. And, we're all wrapped around each other, my face in his neck. It was the whole shabang. "I want to be like this more often." I nearly whispered.

"We'll do whatever you want, darling." He replied.