I Dreamed He’d BEG for My Love in 2 Years—So I Kept My Distance While He Scorned Me Chapter 05

I Dreamed He’d BEG for My Love in 2 Years—So I Kept My Distance While He Scorned Me Chapter 05

My eyes lit up when I saw the pale boy in white leaning out the window, smiling.

“Silas!”

He laughed, a small canine tooth peeking out.

“You’ve grown so beautiful all these years, Elara.”

My face burned. I grinned shyly.

He chuckled softly.

“Get in. It’s cold out here.”

I nodded gratefully and opened the car door.

We’d only met once, when we were seven.

Kael had been at math league practice, so I had no one to play with.

I snuck into Silas’s hospital room.

I begged him to read me storybooks.

Silas was brilliant.

Lying in bed, he could tell a hundred stories without even looking at the pages.

Stories I’d never heard before.

Then he moved to the US for treatment.

We never saw each other again.

I couldn’t believe he still remembered me.

It felt good to be remembered.

The tiredness from exams melted away.

At first, I was nervous.

We hadn’t seen each other in so long.

I’d even talked about him behind his back when I was little.

I felt embarrassed.

When Silas heard, he burst out laughing.

He pretended to frown, acting hurt.

“You called me old? How rude.”

I waved my hands quickly. “You’re not old! You’re perfect!”

Silas laughed even harder.

He wiped tears from his eyes.

Seeing me flustered gave him another idea.

“Tell me who’s better looking? Me or Kael?”

My gaze drifted to his face.

The Thorne family had amazing genes.

I almost answered without thinking.

Then I realized he was teasing me.

I looked away and refused to answer.

Silas pouted when I stayed quiet.

“You won’t even flatter me?”

He reached over and pinched my cheek.

“Ungrateful little thing.”

He looked out the window, casual.

“No wonder you’re my future sister-in-law.”

When I was little, he said that every time I sided with Kael.

It always made me blush.

But this time, I just lowered my head

I forced a small smile and said nothing.

The air went awkward

Silas blinked, realizing he’d upset me

He quickly changed the subject

He talked about his strict doctor who made him drink bitter herbal supplements every day

I touched the faint scar on my side from when Kael pushed me the other night.

The sharp, tingling pain kept me clear-headed.

I lifted my head, voice soft.

“Silas, don’t call me that anymore. Kael will get mad.”

Silas stopped short.

I smiled calmly, looking him in the eye.

“It makes me mad too, you know.”

I hated being called a parasite.

I hated being a burden.

I was scared, of course.

I was still living under someone else’s roof.

Who cared about a parasite’s feelings?

Behind my downcast eyes, Silas’s gaze softened with pity.

He cleared his throat to get my attention.

He placed a hand over his heart and leaned forward, just like when we played pretend in the hospital.

The boy worn down by illness smiled softly, bowing his head like he was speaking to a guardian angel.

“Yes, Queen Elara.”

–

Memories flooded back summers and winters when we were kids,

chattering about fairy tales in that small room.

I looked at him, and a huge weight lifted off my chest.

For the first time since grandpa died, I smiled genuinely.