I am so fucking stupid. She was trying to do better, to not give in to her spryte side. And I went and messed it all up.
“Hey,” said Tapestry. She sat down next to him on the couch. “It’s okay. You’re still you, Malcolm. Nothing’s changed.”
She reached over and squeezed his hand. Malcolm looked over and saw the concern on her face. He was glad she was there.
“Thanks,” he said. “Have Multi or Morph gotten in touch with you?”
“I told them that we were calling off the search for tonight,” said Tapestry. “We’ll pick up where we left off tomorrow.”
She’d found a broom in his closet, and was sweeping the floor in front of the window. Malcolm watched her work, contemplating what to do next.
I can’t find Rose if she doesn’t want to be found. And if she meant what she said… about using me… maybe I shouldn’t bother worrying about her.
“Malcolm.” Tapestry emptied the dustpan in the garbage can and walked back over to him. “I know you’re still recovering from all you’ve been through today, but I have to ask. Why was there a spryte in your apartment?”
Malcolm gave a slow shrug. He didn’t have to lie to her this time.
“I don’t know,” he said.
He didn’t know, honestly, how things had ended up the way they had with Rose. Had he just been naïve and foolishly hopeful to think that she could coexist with him? Or had it been hormones, the fact that she was beautiful and open to his advances?
He looked up and saw that Tapestry was still watching him, waiting for something more. Malcolm gave her an apologetic smile and leaned back on the couch, wanting nothing more than to sleep, while knowing that he probably wouldn’t be able to.
“I already texted Melanie to let her know that I’m here,” said Tapestry. “I’ll stay with you tonight, Malcolm. In case anything else happens.”
“Thanks.” He smiled at her. “I appreciate it, Aubrey.”
Malcolm choosing to use her real name had an interesting effect on her. Tapestry blinked a couple times and then smiled, a very slight blush rising to the surface in her cheeks.
“I can cook dinner, if you want,” she said. “And if you don’t mind, dessert, too. I need to do some baking.”
“Be my guest,” said Malcolm. “Though I can’t promise I have all that much for you to work with.”
He sat with her in the kitchen while she worked. It felt strange watching someone new pulling out pans and rifling through his fridge.
“I feel like a child,” said Malcolm. “Sorry for making you baby me like this.”
Tapestry smiled at him.
“Don’t be,” she said. “You’ve been a champion for what? Three days? It took me a year to really come into myself after I got my powers.”
Malcom let his eyes linger on hers for a moment.
“Tell me about it,” he said. “Really. I want to hear.”
Tapestry seemed to consider it for a moment before giving a slow nod. She looked so young, and yet her expression held so much depth and maturity.
“It was like waking up from a dream,” she said. “I’m not sure how else to explain it. I wasn’t fully lucid for the last, well, decade or so, before I discovered my gift.”
“Wow…” said Malcolm. “That must have been really hard.”
Tapestry shrugged.
“Not for me,” she said. “For the people around me, I’m sure it was. For Melanie, and her brother Miles, and her mother, who was my granddaughter…”
Her expression grew forlorn, and she turned back to cooking dinner.
“Melanie told me that… they were killed,” said Malcolm. “That you lost most of your family in a demon attack.”
Tapestry nodded.
“Some kind of earthquake demon,” she said. “Destroyed a bridge. Killed hundreds of people stuck in bumper to bumper traffic.”
I’m just drudging up her bad memories. Maybe I shouldn’t ask anymore…
“I wanted revenge too, Malcolm,” said Tapestry. “Eventually… I realized that it’s not something that will change anything. It won’t bring anyone back.”
He didn’t say anything to that. While he didn’t disagree with her, Malcolm wasn’t prepared to give up on his vengeance, especially not with how close he was to it.
“There’s more to life than fighting,” continued Tapestry. “That’s the most important lesson I’ve learned since getting my powers.”
Malcolm walked over to the counter, standing next to Tapestry as she split her attention between the chicken sizzling in the pan and a bowl of cookie dough.
“Is there, though?” he asked. “I feel like I was given my powers to change the world. To make it better for people. Assuming I was given them for a reason.”
She smiled knowingly at him.
“I think there is,” she said. “I don’t embrace my religion as much as I used to, but I still believe. Everything happens for a reason, Malcolm.”
She turned a spoon over in the cookie dough. Her eyes had a faraway look to them, and it captivated Malcolm’s attention.
“Those first few months after I got my powers were deeply spiritual for me,” said Tapestry. “Did… Melanie tell you much about them?”
“She said something about you aging backward,” he said.
Tapestry nodded.
“I probably lost about a year each day. Nobody had any idea what was going on. I didn’t think it was going to stop until I… well, passed the 98th day and went back to the time before I was born.”
“Jesus…”
“Melanie was there with me,” said Tapestry. “Encouraging me. Supporting me. Caring about me, even when she couldn’t understand what I was going through, or how it was going to end.”
The food was almost done. Tapestry turned the burners off, shifting her full attention back to Malcolm. He stared at her, sensing how much she cared about him and feeling a little exposed.
“You were alone before this started,” said Tapestry. “Weren’t you?”
The question caught him a little off guard. Malcolm chewed his lower lip, glancing down at the floor.
“I guess,” he said. “I don’t know. I never really felt like I needed anyone else.”
“You can trust me, Malcolm. To be here, with you.”
She stepped in closer to him, pulling him into a hug. Her body felt so soft against his. Her figure was petite, and there was something ironically girlish about it.
“I do trust you,” he said.
Malcolm kept her against him, even as they pulled back slightly. He let his hand slide up her cheek. The air between them pulsed with the tension of the moment. He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips.
CHAPTER 35
Tapestry looked completely and utterly caught off guard.
“You just kissed me,” she said, almost making it sound like a question.
“I did.” Malcolm smiled, and went in for another.
She held up a hand, pressing it to his lips. She kept it there for a second, and then slowly let it drop, allowing his lips through. He kissed her again, and felt her kiss back. It went on for longer this time, but again, she pulled back.
“I’m old enough to be your-”
Malcolm kissed her again before she could finish. Tapestry let out a soft, slow moan as he ran his hand down her back, pulling her more tightly against him.
“You’re young again, Aubrey,” he said. “And when you’re young, certain things just… happen.”
Malcolm groped at her butt and pushed his crotch forward. He was incredibly turned on, and suddenly felt as though he needed to have her. He tried not to think about whether it was out of a true attraction to Tapestry, or a need to fill the hole of losing Rose. He could think about that later.