Piece by Piece

49. A New Type of Romance

Curtesy of Doctor Reynolds, who wanted to make sure both she and the baby were fine, Millie spent another night in the hospital. After Max had left, it took Freider around half an hour to return with something for her to eat. He remained by her side as they both watched the news.

It was getting complicated as a reward was put out for anyone who could physically describe Snitch Gravel or Baron and aid their arrest. The thought of doing something like that scared her, but she was sure there were enough street rats Davyn had worked with who would be more than happy to sell their former boss. As it appeared, he would be caught, sooner or later. The thought both eased her mind and terrified her at the same time.

"He'll have to face the consequences of what he's done," Freider mumbled.

She looked up at him, cuddling in his arms. "How's your brother doing?"

"Not well. But we've been through this once before. I trust he will pull through. It feels like I've practically moved into the hospital."

"I'm sorry."

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Don't feel sorry. This is not your fault. You've been through something terrible. Has the hospital offered counseling?"

"Yes, I've spoken with Doctor Reynolds about it."

Freider hummed. "He seems like a nice fellow. He's very attentive to you."

She nodded. "It helps. I would've hated it if he'd been cold and always in a hurry."

"True. Fine fellow."

They spent another few moments just watching the news, and it was a bit scary how safe she felt. These moments of silence were precious, and just being there with him helped her relax around him more. She was glad it hadn't gotten awkward between them after they'd kissed. Freider was treating it like a normal occurrence and still gave her much needed space.

"I should go," he said, pulling away.

The air felt colder without him, so she held on a little longer. He took it as an invitation and leaned over to kiss her again. She let him, even kissed him back, because practice made perfect, and she wanted it to start feeling natural. Even if it felt nice, she still pictured Davyn every time she closed her eyes. It was the only way she could stomach it, and the strangling pain inside her made her want to cry, and she'd decided she'd stop doing that.

"I'll see you later." He gave her another peck and let himself out.

She let out a deep breath and allowed herself a few tears. This was going well. There was no reason to be sad. Freider's kisses were fine. After a while, she wouldn't even remember what Davyn tasted like.

She didn't want to forget. She wanted him to be there. Actually, she wanted none of this to have happened and the two of them to be in his apartment, fooling around and having fun.

She wanted a world with no Snitch Gravel, no Freider, and no complications. A world in which they'd enjoy the time they had until they would leave for college together. A boring house with a picket fence and a couple of kids.

The tears pooled into her eyes, and she sniffed. That would never happen, so there was no point thinking about it. There was only one path going forward now, and she still had a lot of it to go. The hard part wasn't even close to over.

Like a given, the door opened, and Sophie rushed in.

"Oh, cherie, I'm so sorry," she breathed and rushed over to hug her.

Millie wished she could push her away, tell her she was fine, that there was nothing to worry about, and she should stop fretting, but she couldn't. She embraced her mother and lay her head on her shoulders, doing her best to hold the tears in.