Strings of Fate

59 - Sleeping and shrieking “So Bellamy was tellingabout sof the things Shifter men do to court women. Food and clothes and stuff.

You had to have known this whole time!” | complain. Megan smirks.

“| figured if it was meant to be you would already know and if it wasn’t... Then why force him to go through the rejection? Besides, | only knew about him buying you a dress, Darrien has been fillingin about your meals together though. Did you really throw money at him?” She asks. | frown.

“Darrien wasn’t even there for that part. He left when we went to dinner.” | point out. Megan shrugs.

“Just assall the guards gossip. Except maybe Aaron. He barely even talks. | think I’ve mentioned before that Shaun is a gossip. He told Darrien and Darrien told me.” | groan. So much for privacy. | think Aaron might be my new favourite purely for his apparently unique. skill of keeping his mouth shut.

“I get the feeling I'm going to end up being embarrassed by all you guys a lot in the future. Well since I'm already bright red | might as well just blurt out whatever. How am | meant to respond to Bellamy?” | ask. Megan tilts her head to the side.

“Respond?” She questions.

“Yeah like if the guys have their three main courting things what do female Shifters do? The whole thing seems important to him so I'd like to know. At very least | don’t want to be unaware of my actions, regardless of what | choose to do.” Megan nods at me.

“That's a smart attitude and yeah it would be important to him, particularly with how much attention his relationships receive. | never bothered with... my ex. Bellamy always did grumble about that. So the women have three traditions also, aside from accepting the man’s courting stuff. First one is to give the man a gift.

Something that he can keep to remind him of your affection. Second one is to show that you care for his family, it’s a lot like the one men have expect more about caring than protecting and providing. Last tradition is a public act of skind to demonstrate your commitment and acceptance of their courting.” We both eat another brownie before continuing.

1/4 59 - Sleeping and shrieking “So... the whole public demonstration thing, I'm not so sure | can do that just yet.” | start. Megan shrugs.

“There's no rush or tframe, Bels has only managed two of the three for you right now anyway. You've already well and truly taken care of the whole caring for his family one, literally just making brownies with today would have counted, not to mention everything else we've done together. So hey you're already a third of the way there.” She concludes.

“Huh, that hadn't occurred to me. That's... good | guess, although it would have been nice to know before | somehow unwittingly reciprocated.” Megan shrugs and settles down lower into her pillows, yawning.

“So that just leaves, a gift right? What kinds of gifts do people usually give?” I ask.

“There's no specific thing really, it's pretty personal to each couple. Something that the woman feels represents them maybe, a reminder of a date they've been on, a personal item of their own, something they know the man has been wanting for a while. Handmade gifts are fairly common.” She suggests. | consider.

“What about something the guy can wear? Wouldn't it be best if it was something he could keep with him all the time?” Megan scrunches up her face.

“Doesn't work, gifts like that tend to get ruined when we shift. There's a reason most Shifters don’t bother with jewellery except for special occasions. Even wedding rings and stuff are usually only worn on special days.” Megan is sounding increasingly tired and yawns again. We discuss a few ideas for gifts but nothing sticks out at me. We fall silent for a bit as | continue thinking about it. I'm about to ask her about spelled gifts when | realise she has fallen asleep. | grab the plate of brownies off her lap and carefully place it on her bedside table. | don’t want to wake her. She definitely needs the rest. | settle back and check my phone. | have a message from Darrien than I didn’t notice.

Darrien- I'm going to bed now but my phone is turned up. Please tellif she needs anything. | can be there in less than ten minutes. Is she okay? Ryann- She is doing alright. She’s just fallen asleep now. | don’t want to risk waking her. Please get srest. | promise I'll call if we need you.

2/4 59 Sleeping and shrieking Darrien responds immediately.

Darrien- Thankyou Ryann- Sorry, did | wake you? Darrien- nah, couldn't sleep. Too worried.

Ryann- Well she’s fine. There's nothing you can do right now. Rest and take care of yourself.

I'll see you later.

c Darren doesn’t answer. Hopefully he’s getting srest. | begin aimlessly scrolling on my phone, | slept plenty earlier and | haven't been awake nearly long enough to get back to sleep now. | begin googling gift ideas for Bellamy when | hear a muffled yelling coming from downstairs. | glance at Megan but she doesn’t stir. | try and tune it out but my curiosity takes over and | find myself carefully climbing out of Megan's bed. As | open her door | can hear the muffled yelling is actually more of a piercing shriek. | step into the hall and quickly close the door behindbefore Megan wakes. | feel a little guilty as | creep down the stairs, but 1. on. If you shriek people are going to hear it. | justify my nosiness by telling myself that I'm just worried that whoever this is will wake Megan. The voice has to be a woman. | know Bellamy had a meeting with Tristain’s mother. It’s been a while though, surely she’s not still here? I'm frozen in the hallway trying to decide if | should listen at the door or just head into the kitchen. Bellamy’s office door swings open with a bang and an older woman backs into the hallway. She has bleach blonde hair pinned up in a French twist but the hair is frazzled and there are flyaways all over falling out of the hairstyle. She is wearing a black dress and heels and looks almost too skinny to be healthy. She is fairly tall but that might just be her heels. She continues screeching at Bellamy.

“I don’t CARE who killed him, this is YOUR fault. NONE of this would have happened if YOU didn’t ORDER your sister to break up with MY son. She NEVER would have left him. He was PERFECT!” Bellamy looks flustered. | can’t imagine this has been an easy discussion for him. Telling a woman that her son has been killed because he attempted to murder his fiancé probably won't cacross well. Although I find it strange that this woman wasn't at the wedding. Was she planning to miss her own son’s wedding? Or maybe | just didn’t see her in all the chaos. Either way | can’t watch this anymore. | interrupt.

“Excuse me, but you're wrong. Bellamy never ordered Megan to break up with Tristan, he 3/4 59 - Sleeping and shrieking never said a single negative thing to her. | was the one who told Megan that Tristan was already in a relationship with another woman, Megan chose to call off the wedding as she was not able to accept being cheated on. | am so sorry for your loss, but it was your son who made the decision to attack innocent people and it was the result of his own actions that he ended up being killed. Bellamy wasn’t even there. Now, I'm sure that if you need to discuss the matter further Bellamy would be happy to make another appointment with you, but right now you are clearly emotional and | think it is tthat you leave.” | work to keep my. expression and tone calm.

The woman turns on me, her face red, her eyes teary.

“Who are YOU to tellto leave?” She demands. | hesitate a moment before answering.

“I'm someone who was actually there when your son died. And | am someone who is here to take care of my friends. You are clearly in pain, | suggest you go find someone to talk to and that you cback another t when you are in control of yourself. Right now you need to leave.” She meets my gaze and | hold it. She manages only a few seconds before her eyes drop in submission.

“Fine. But I'll be back.” She shoveswith her shoulder as she passes and lets herself out. the front door, slamming it behind her. | race behind her and lock it.