Amidst Crimson Kisses

Chapter Twenty Nine: The Apple Of My Eye

Margo's POV

I don't know who to expect flashing in my eyes or if my silent cries belong only to the madness in my soul. One minute I'm Jekyll with a simple flutter of
Asher's eyelashes as he falls asleep then, against my will, I become Hyde with one potent kiss traveling across the stars in Andre's deep brown eyes. I wonder who I have become and why I can't embrace an image of Asher in my mind without the guilt of Andre's lips crashing against mine over and over again. I'd be wrong if I thought his touch didn't affect me because, in actuality, it possessed a part of my consciousness I thought was lost. I could even sense a profound love so deep, it drove me insane  because every molecule of its creation was constructed from a bitter demise.

I barely remember the slightest thing about the other twelve hours, where half of my mind slumbered. Still, in my spirit, I recall the faintest memory of being in sync with corruption, and the thought of uniting under one conscious felt glorious. A throne where twilight no longer twinkles with every word spoken underneath the moonlight, but vanishes before my sight, leaving a thirst for a life I already lived. I know Ana freed me from Hallie's elusive spell, but I don't know why I retaliated by forcing the girls to take Ana's place. It felt like I was running out of time to remember who I am.

My heart beats faster inside my chest as I gaze at a contradiction to my mind. Asher exhales through his nostrils, his torso rising until it collapses in gentle snores, clueless to his whereabouts. I touch Asher's hairline feeling a small bruise as he rustles in his sleep, fighting my hand while he dreams of something far more troubling than human contact. I can't stop thinking about how Asher ended up in my bed at Rosewood Academy, but maybe Andre's absence can explain everything. He's the last person I want to imagine in my frazzled mind, but the taste of his lips still reign on mine.

"Margo, why did you pull away from me?" Andre agonizes, his arms still wrapped around my waist, begging me to free-fall into them. "Did I do something wrong? You've been acting differently for a while now. Do you even remember who we were to each other? Did I do something wrong to make you forget the way I used to kiss you?"

"I recall a lot of things like the weather the night of Mrs. Mack's party, how we kissed during a slow dance, and then how I saw you walk into the bathroom, sticking your tongue down Marley's throat only a few minutes apart. Our kiss was always meant for her, wasn't it?" My counterpart implied, squirming out of Andre's grasp as she once again glares at his bewildered irises and contemplates whether she'll forgive him.

"Everything changed the second I fell for you," Andre says, approaching me as he pulls me closer, remorse dripping in his tone. "but I used you as a pawn to see if I could get you to have sex with me. It was Marley's idea, and after you rejected me the first time, I stopped pursuing you as a trophy. Margo, you have to listen to me when I kissed you I meant it. Can't you see how crazy I am about you? I always want you around me no matter what happens or what those gorgeous eyes think of me."

Asher exhales softly, his platinum strands scouring my pillowcase as he twists and turns in his sleep. He's oblivious to my presence while I pull a quilted sheet over his torso, marveling at his chiseled abdomen while his abs peek underneath his shirt. I use my fingers to comb his hair out of his face as his eyes break open a centimeter each time my hand sweeps through his blonde hair. Asher lies on the mattress, muttering incoherent phrases in his mind until he breathes a name underneath his tongue, and then once again, I'm caught in his web of utterance. I lean in closer as he whispers of a siren invading his dreamscape while he drifts through his past.

"Juliet, I —," Asher began, closing his mouth as if he's waiting for someone else's response.

"I used to dream of us, and then I saw you kiss her. I still believed you when you said she ambushed you and that the kiss meant nothing to you until Marley told me the truth. Imagine how stupid I felt when I saw tapes of us kissing on her cellphone with your hands roaming my body with the word slut plastered on my forehead. We never even had sex, and you let her use our supposed love against me. That's what I remember from all of our kisses, so don't lie to yourself like you care about anyone but yourself." I scream at Andre, resentment settling in my voice as he closes the gap between us while he blurs the fine line between anguish and pure rage.