Creed of the Leviathan II

12 | E

Emmanuelle

"You're quiet." Dimitri said as he turned down the volume of the radio.

"Hhmm?" I looked at him with furrowed eyebrows, pretending not to know what he was talking about.

"And you've had that look on your face all afternoon."

"What look?"

"That look. As if all the world's problems have been dropped on your shoulders. Is it because I told you that I love you?"

"No." I shook my head.

"No? What is it then?"

I gulped. It felt exactly how he explained it; as if I was carrying the weight of the world's problems on my shoulders due to my overthinking.

"I didn't say it back." I pointed out the obvious, curious to know what he thought of it.

He smiled as his eyes found the road again, "I told you I love you and you're worried because you didn't say it back?"

"You're not?"

"I want you to know how I feel about you. That's why I said it. Knowing that things might have been different if I had been this vocal from the beginning—" he paused for a millisecond. "It's what made me want to tell it to you now regardless of your response. Besides," Our eyes met again. "I know you care about me too."

"Very cocky ending to such an emotional statement."

"I can't go too soft on you now, can I?" He smirked.

"You have to let that go." I shook my head, feeling relieved of the weight of the world's burdens. "I do care about you." I admitted without any struggle. The words rolled of my tongue with ease. I did not ponder upon these words as I did before Dimitri's explanation.

He took my hand in his and placed them in his lap. "And if Anthony asks?"

For a moment I had forgotten that we were heading to his apartment for dinner. I drew in a deep breath as the clearness in my head was soon once again filled with thoughts, this time about that what Dimitri asked.

"There's no point in hiding it from them. They already saw us together. Might as well just say it."

He nodded in agreement. "From his reaction this morning I could tell that he wasn't very happy about it. Are you okay with that? I know how close you two are and that his opinion matters to you."

'Is this Dimitri talking?' I asked myself as I looked at the man sitting next to me, not able to believe my ears.

"What?"

"You're a clone, aren't you?" I answered in my most serious voice.

"What?" He asked again, this time with a facial expression full of confusion.

I smiled to myself, watching the wheels behind his eyes turn as he cracked his brains trying to understand what I meant. "I'm just not used to this— you. Talking the way you do. Acting the way you do. It doesn't feel real."

He did not reply to what I said as his focus shifted to making a turn into Anthony's narrow street. The car was parked right in front of the place that we were supposed be at. We got out at the same time and were walking next to each other when he held my hand, leading me there. As our fingers intertwined, I could not help but stare him in the face in astonishment.

"You're staring."

"Just checking to see if I'll catch something that proves that you're a clone."

He sighed, stopping me by my shoulders. "This is real. I'm not pretending, but I am trying." He gulped. His hands fell down to my waist. "So, be patient with me and promise me that if you feel like something is wrong— you'll bring it to my attention."