Devon’s fierce scowl only caused him to laugh harder. Chris nearly toppled from his chair as he rocked backward, holding his belly. Slowly he began to regain control of himself, chuckling softly as he leaned forward in his chair again. “You acted like it, in the beginning,” Devon amended.
Chris brushed back a strand of unruly sandy blond hair from his eye. “I was worried about her; I was frightened that she would be hurt by you. Until you arrived Cassie had never felt anything for anyone, and I wanted her to go slow, and take it easy. I just didn’t want her to rush into something, when she had no idea what she was getting into.” Chris snorted as he ran a hand through his disheveled hair. His eyes were mischievous when he turned his attention back to Devon. “Hell, none of us knew what we were getting into with you.”
Devon shook his head at him. “Thanks,” he muttered.
“No problem.” Chris grew silent for a few moments, his foot tapped lightly on the wooden boards. “I have never felt anything at all romantic for Cassie, and I never will. What you two feel for each other is something so good and true that it has to be able to beat what she is going through. It has to be able to push past her walls and save her, again. In fact, I know that it can, and it will.”
Devon slowly digested this information as he leaned back in his chair. Chris did not love her. It was a strange thing to realize, it was even stranger to realize that he had long ago come to accept the thought that Chris was in love with her. It had not bothered him, he had not been jealous. Cassie had been his, then. He had known that her heart belonged to him, that he was all she would ever want.
Things were different now. She was no longer his, and he was relieved that Chris did not love her. Devon didn’t need the competition now, and he was surprised to realize that he didn’t want their odd friendship to be affected by it.
Slowly, he turned his attention to Cassie’s window again. With his mind he reached out to her, making sure that she was still present and accounted for. He brushed briefly against her mind, coming up against a wall of fury that was stunning in its intensity. The fact that Chris said it was directed at herself was enough to make his stomach turn. He would have much preferred that it be directed at Julian, or even himself. It broke his heart.
His head bowed, he took a deep breath as the weight of the world seemed to rest upon his shoulders. “There has to be something that we can do,” he whispered.
“Time,” Chris answered. “I think time is the only answer. She needs time to come to terms with everything, time for her to realize that she is not to blame.”
“What if there isn’t enough time?”
Chris bit his bottom lip nervously as he shook his head. “We’re going to have to make sure that there is.”
Devon leaned back in his chair, folding his arms on his stomach as he glanced at Chris again. He was surprised to realize that Chris was perhaps the first true friend he had ever had. It was a weird thing to realize. It was a weird thing to have. But Chris was on his side. Devon didn’t fool himself into thinking that Chris would choose him over Cassie, but Chris would fight for him, and he would not turn against him. It was a good thing to know. And it was something that he was exceptionally grateful for.
“Thank you,” he said softly.
Chris flashed him a smile. “Don’t go getting all sentimental on me you big bad vamp.” Devon chuckled softly, propping his feet up beside Chris’s. Though he would have preferred to have been in Cassie’s bed, curled up next to her, this was far better than standing outside in the cold. At least he wasn’t alone here. “You know, before all this happened, I had thought that she would end up joining you.”
Devon started in surprise, nearly toppling out of the chair as his sudden movement jolted it sharply. “What!?”
Chris grinned at him as he shrugged absently. “I thought that she would join you in the end. I’m not a fool, I see what goes on between you two, and no matter how hard I try to keep the emotions blocked out, some things slip through. I know how hard it is for you to be around her. I know you fear you will hurt her.”
Devon stared unblinkingly at him, unsure what to say, unable to believe what Chris was saying to him. “You don’t think I would hurt her?”
Chris shook his head, messing his shaggy hair up even more. “Not at all. I think you love her more than even you realize. You wouldn’t hurt her.”
Devon couldn’t move as shock held him riveted. “And it wouldn’t have bothered you if she decided to join me?”
Chris smiled wryly at him. “Before I met you I would have destroyed her myself, if such a thing had happened to her. Even though it would have killed me to do so. But now I know you, and I know that she will not be a monster. All I want is for her to be happy, and you make her happy.”
“Not anymore,” Devon mumbled.
Chris shrugged absently. “It will work out.”
Devon wished that he could believe him, but he wasn’t too sure himself. “She didn’t want to join me.”
Chris’s frown intensified. “You talked about it?”
Devon nodded, leaning forward he clasped his hands before him, trying hard not to recall the horrified look on Cassie’s face when he had broached the subject with her. “Yes.”
Chris started in surprise, his eyebrows drew sharply together. “She never mentioned it.”
“She had made up her mind not to join me. She probably felt there was no need to mention it.”
Chris was silent for a minute, his eyes distant as he thought over Devon’s words. “She will come around.”
Devon chuckled softly as he turned to him. “Are you always this optimistic?”
Chris grinned back at him. “No, I just know how she feels about you…”
“Felt.”
Chris’s eyes narrowed upon him. “No, it is how she still feels; it’s just buried beneath self hatred and grief right now. She just needs time to work it all out. I know Cassie as well as I know myself. I know she’s still in there somewhere and that she will come back. She has to come back.”
“And if she doesn’t?”
“Are you always so pessimistic?” Devon couldn’t help but smile at him as he shook his head. “I can’t let myself think like that. I just can’t. It means that I’ve lost her too, and right now I can’t deal with that. So yes, I have to believe that Cassie will come back to us, you should too.”