Scarlet felt trapped.
If she moved in with Gabriel, he would expect their relationship to pick back up, and Scarlet couldn’t do that. She couldn’t give him an incomplete heart. She needed to end things with him and living with him would certainly make that difficult, if not impossible.
Tristan was eyeing her sharply and suddenly Scarlet’s palms were sweaty and her heart was racing and all she wanted to do was leave the room.
Gabriel looked at her with his kind eyes and calm presence. Why did he always have to be kind and calm? She couldn’t crush him. She didn’t want to hurt him.
Nate furrowed his brow, waiting for her answer.
“I don’t think Scarlet should live with Gabriel,” Tristan said easily, but his body seemed tense as he flicked his eyes back to her.
Scarlet blinked.
He was saving her.
Cold, distant Tristan was coming to her rescue.
Gabriel made a face at him. “Why are you even talking right now?”
“It makes more sense for Scarlet to live with Nate,” he said.
Ooh, Scarlet hadn’t thought of that.
Gabriel said, “How does Nate make more sense?”
He shrugged. “Nate needs to take her blood daily and do tests on her and that will all be easier if she lives with him.”
Scarlet loved Tristan.
She still hated him for all the hurt and pain he’d caused her, but she loved him for this.
Nate rubbed his cheek. “Tristan has a point.”
“I think me living with Nate is a good idea,” Scarlet said.
Confusion crossed Gabriel’s eyes. “Are you sure?”
Scarlet nodded and looked at Nate. “But only if you’re okay with it.”
“Of course.” Nate ran a hand through his disheveled hair.
It was then that Scarlet realized what was wrong.
Nate.
She waited until their meeting had ended and Nate and Tristan disappeared down the hall, then turned to Gabriel.
“What’s wrong with Nate—“
“What was all that about—“
“You go first,” Gabriel said.
“What’s wrong with Nate?”
Gabriel looked at the hallway and sighed. “While you were…gone, Nate fell in love with a girl named Molly and they got married—“
“That’s wonderful.” Scarlet smiled.
Marriage seemed like a fairy tale to Scarlet. Like it was some great reward she would never achieve. Because what place does marriage have in a life that comes and goes?
Gabriel cleared his throat. “But Molly wasn’t immortal, so she….”
Scarlet covered her mouth, instant sorrow filling her chest at the realization that Molly had passed away.
Gabriel nodded solemnly.
“Oh, poor Nate,” Scarlet whispered, her heart heavy for his loss. “When did…how…is he…is he okay?”
Nate had found someone worth loving only to lose her. Was there no justice in the world at all?
Gabriel shook his head. “He hasn’t been the same since. For a week after Molly’s death, he locked himself in his lab and wouldn’t come out. When he finally emerged, he just sort of threw himself into all kinds of medical research and hasn’t quit.”
Scarlet shook her head, unable to speak.
“He’s been a bit of a mess, but Tristan and I don’t know what to do. It’s like he’s…gone. You know?”
“Do you think me living with him is too much? Should I let him be alone?”
“No. I’m sure company will be good for him.” Gabriel scratched his chin. “What was all that about anyway? Why don’t you want to live with me?”
Her shoulders sank. She didn’t want to discuss this now. She didn’t want to discuss this ever. But she also didn’t want feel guilty anymore. Guilty for falling short of what Gabriel needed. Guilty for loving him, but not enough to take away his emptiness.
Scarlet took a deep breath. “We need to talk.”
Later that night, Tristan stood in the doorway of Nate’s home laboratory and hung his head to the side. “Dude. What are you doing to me?”
Nate was typing like mad on the giant computer he’d been talking nonstop about since he’d bought it a month ago. Computers were bulky and loud and Tristan had no idea what Nate hoped to achieved by using one. “I’m not doing anything to you.”
“I agreed to stick around and attend your little team meetings, but that was all. You can’t lock Scarlet in a room with me all day.”
“I can and I will. Stop being a baby.” Nate left the computer and slid a Petri dish under one of his microscopes.
He never stopped working. He never took breaks, never ate, never slept.
Tristan watched him bustle about for a few minutes. “Nate.”
“What?” he sounded annoyed as he pressed his eye to a second microscope.
“You have to stop killing yourself in pursuit of this cure. I know Scarlet’s alive again and that puts a clock on the whole thing, but this,” Tristan gestured at Nate’s haggard appearance, “is not healthy.”
Nate lifted his head. “When Molly was dying; when she was fading away and I was a useless, empty soul jealous of her mortality, do you know what she said to me?”
Tristan had never seen such a hopeless expression on Nate’s face before.
“She said, ‘Nate, you have no way to die, so you need to find a reason to live.’”
Tristan pressed a fist to his mouth, not sure what to say to that.
“So that’s what I did. I found a reason to live.” Nate swallowed and went back to his microscope. “My reason used to be Molly. Now, it’s this cure.”
Tristan watched Nate work for a moment.
“It’s more like a curse sometimes, isn’t it? Our immortality?” Tristan said.
Nate didn’t look up.
“It’s hard to live without Molly,” Tristan continued. “It’s hard to imagine living not just one lifetime, but an eternity of lifetimes, without her.” His chest began to ache with his own memories.
Nate paused. “Part of me wants to die every day.”
Tristan nodded. He understood that all too well.
Knowing Nate would continue working through the night, Tristan turned to let himself out of the house, but changed his mind and headed up the stairs to Scarlet’s new room.
Her door was open and, for a moment, he stood in the dark hallway and watched her run her hands down a large wardrobe against the back wall.
Stepping forward, he cleared his throat. “Hey.”