Amidst Crimson Kisses

Chapter Thirty Four: A Look Of Opia

Asher's POV

I can't say I unearthed everything in Margo's piercing glance when I woke up in her bedroom. I didn't even understand the continuation of the sunrise when the day teeters on despite our vanishing souls. But her body stands next to mine, shaking uncontrollably until each breath expels somber, drifting her further into my chest. I watch her drown in my musky cologne, unraveling closer to my heart as tears spill down her cheek. How I got here started when I stormed out of Juliet's old dorm room, but it ended when Margo crashed into my arms. Then my last hour vanished from my mind.

I hold her, embracing her golden blonde hair as it collapses over her shoulder, concealing parts of her face. Margo glares outside the double doors, her heartbeat pounding with each breath she inhales as her fingernails burrow into my skin. She suddenly pulls away with anger in her countenance. Then her wild eyes follow me until they disentangle with each step I take, like she's afraid of falling deeper into herself. I grab Margo by her waist, diving into her irises until I witness terror reflect in her eyes.

"Hey...hey, are you alright," I ask Margo, contemplating the fury colliding in her irises. "take a deep breathe and remember, nothing else matters except breathing in and breathing out. It's okay to be afraid just don't let it consume you, but stop hiding your emotions. Why can't you just be honest with me? I can see straight through you; and you're not fooling anyone else. Now calm the hell down and tell me what your afraid of, so I can tell you how insane you are for thinking I'll ever let anything hurt you."

"I just want to remember what happened to Juliet. But what am I supposed to do when everything I've known was taken away from me? I wanted my life back for so long, but what if I'm the last witness? What if I'm the one that drove Juliet over the bridge?" Margo says, looking at me for confirmation.

"Juliet was already dead before she drove off the bridge," I say as I push a strand of hair out of her face, staring deep into her eyes. "there's nothing you could've done, and I'm sorry for blaming you. It wasn't your fault. I thought I would never see Juliet again, but somewhere along the line, I forgot you saved my life. Thank you for choosing to save me when no one else would've done the same. If the roads were reversed Juliet would have done the same. I know it wasn't easy to choose because you loved her too, but she was already gone."

I want to believe Margo remembered something valuable about Juliet, but whose to say she isn't reminiscing with a tattered memory. She recalls Juliet, but she doesn't realize the vast expanse of their friendship nor the lengths Juliet would go through to protect Margo from her world. If Juliet cared about someone, then she loved them powerfully and with every ounce of her soul until her devotion drove her to madness. Juliet had this way about her where if she wanted to protect someone from chaos, no one would be aware of her deeds.

Then our time together was upended by lies and deception that was forged into a silver bullet. I surveyed Juliet's anger and watched when it drove her heart asunder. I tried to speak to the anguish lurking in her spirit, but it wasn't loud enough to pierce her eardrum. Maybe in hindsight, I damned Juliet the second I kissed Margo with everything I had left even when I was already promised to her. The only punishment fitting is an eternity without Juliet, and a lifetime without the girl I used to see flashing in Margo's smile. Now all I see is torment.

"It was never a single doubt in my mind," Margo says, fighting her words as she looks away. "I was always going to save you, Asher. I may have stopped when I saw Juliet floating in an ocean of blood, but then I swam straight to you. I dived into the sea because I knew you were in the passenger seat when she drove over the bridge, and I had every intention of finding you. Then for some reason, I forgot what I was doing at the bottom of the water, and I just started paddling like I was waiting for the perfect moment. I was already there, but for some reason, I was holding back as if I was under someone's spell."