Project Alaric: Book One ✔️

Chapter Twenty-Five

Emery Gray

The longer I stayed in my head, the angrier I became. How dare Jason walk up to me, and act like he knew a damn thing about my relationship. How dare he make assumptions about people he had one fucking interaction with? Alaric was my person. I adored Axton and Apollo. Jason didn't get to talk to me like he was my fucking parent. No. He didn't get to say these things like he knew me. He didn't know a damn thing about me anymore.

"Emery, I want what's best for you."

And now I was fucking done.

I slowly lifted my rage-filled eyes to Jason's now shocked blue ones. "Do you?" I asked. "Do you, really?"

"Hey, of course I do."

I stood on my feet. "How dense do you have to be? You don't know me anymore!" I screamed as Declan jogged down the hill to approach us. "You sit your ass in Colorado nine months out of the year, Jason! We share phone calls every once in a while, and text messages when I decide I actually want to respond. You don't know shit! Your information comes from someone else's mouth, and I'm willing to bet that the information you're getting isn't even awful!"

Jason's eyes widened. "Emery..."

"No!" I screamed. "You had one interaction with them! One! And you let it rule you! You will pick apart anything Aurora tells you as kindling for your fire toward them! And then you see me kiss and hug my boyfriend. My choice! You won't hear anything else unless it's negative toward the boys! All because you have it in your convoluted head that Apollo is homophobic! He's gay, you..." I screamed again through the anger that was overpowering me. "You didn't care to listen to him, and that...that is on you! That is your problem! You hear one thing, you analyze something one way, and you stick with it. Then you sit there and hold grudges against those people because you're trying to protect yourself. You've been hurt! I get that! But that doesn't mean that my choices are for you to have an opinion about!"

Now he just seemed sad. "Emery, I..."

My hands curled into fists as I took a step closer to him. "Do you want to know a little bit about my boyfriend? Alaric? You know the one you haven't even met but seem to know all about?" I angled my head, giving him a once-over with a curled lip. "That boy you think is going to screw me over, yeah, he respected my boundaries. Wild, right? I twisted my ankle, and he carried me two miles and let me talk about my interests the entire way. That boy you think you know so much about bought me a book about volcano facts because he thought of me. Alaric defended me against someone who was about to attack me for my sexuality. He gave me the choice to be with him! He gave me all of my choices when at times I didn't fucking deserve them, Jason! He didn't chase me down and make me do anything! He took care of me! He cherishes me! He took me to meet his family, who treated me like one of their own!" I was crying now–thinking about if Alaric ever heard what Jason said, it would trigger his insecurities. "He's...insecure. He's scared. He went through something unimaginable when he was ten. And he fought to get better in spite of it. And he likes me. I don't know what part of that is hard for you to believe, but he does. He gives me everything I've ever needed.

"So, you can stew in your hate for them all you want, but you don't know them! Axton is actually an amazing person! He's scared, too! He's scared of people like you! He doesn't want people like you running in and making assumptions, so he curated himself as everyone already sees him because it's easier! But I laughed with all of them! Apollo is so patient, and kind, and perceptive. He sat with me in the dark of Alaric's family's kitchen and calmed me down because I was dealing with too many emotions. He let me lean on him when I needed a friend to lean on. Axton, Alaric, and Apollo are amazing. And if you want to burn in your one interaction with two of them, do that. But," I pointed a finger directly in his face. "You don't know shit about Alaric. And you are awful for standing there–trying to play into my anxiety. Maybe you didn't realize it. But your problem lies in your grudges. You don't know everything, and you'd do well to remember that!"