Love you Both, Love me Too

Dash: Temptation and Need

I still had a while before I was due to meet Thomas and Sela at the library, and yet after I drove into town and parked my car, my feet took me towards the one place I knew I shouldn't go.

I told myself I was just going to check in on the boys at the firehouse and see if they needed any help, but as I lingered outside for longer than necessary, my eyes drifted upwards to the second story of the building next door.

I could see her silhouette as she moved around her room, and though I tried to tell myself I needed to walk away, I didn't

I couldn't.

My best friend was on his way to ask Sela to marry him, and all I could think about was having her for myself. Jealousy welled inside me, followed by pain and anger at the unfairness of it all. If only I hadn't been afraid to speak, Sela would have been mine instead of his.

I watched as she paused in the middle of her room, her hands playing in her hair when the lights suddenly dimmed. She seemed startled by it, and suddenly another shadow appeared in front of her.

It was distinctly male.

My heart dropped, and I wondered if Sela had been keeping secrets from Thomas. I didn't want to think about her being unfaithful to him; though to my shame, it was not for Thomas that I hurt.

If she was willing to be unfaithful, why couldn't it have been with me?

I watched the two of them for a moment before the male shadow began to...grow? There were strange shadows coming from both of them, and I wondered if they were putting on some kind of costume.

That was when he lifted something that looked like a stick or a...sword?

...and it was then that Sela screamed.

I wasted no time, rushing up the stairs and to her locked front door. It was old, however, and it didn't take me long to open it.

"Sela? Sela, what's wrong? Are you..."

I rushed into her living room only to see a man standing there with black wings fanned out from his back. He seemed as if he was on fire, but before I could focus on his face he was gone in a gust of smoke and wind.

"What the f**k is that? What? What are you?"

Sela rushed out from her bedroom, and it was clear that she was terrified. Whatever it was, she had seen it too.

"Dash!"

She looked around for the intruder, and when she was certain it was gone, she rushed into my arms and began to cry softly.

I was frozen in place, trapped between the need to wrap my arms around her and the desperate desire to not betray my friend. Eventually, my arms closed, and my eyes followed as I allowed myself a moment of indiscretion.

Thomas would understand. Sela had been in danger and she needed comforting.

"What happened, Sela? Who was that?"

She looked up at me with tears in her eyes, and I gently wiped them away. I was aware that we were standing too close, and yet, she hadn't pulled away either.

"I don't know! Where...where is Thomas?"

My heart sank as I realized who it was that she really needed. I pulled away and looked at my watch.

"Thomas should be arriving any minute now. He went home to change. Let's step outside, yeah? You'll probably feel better once the festival gets started."

I tried my best to appear calm and unaffected, but I couldn't help but notice the striking similarities between the creature I had seen, and the photographs in Uriel's bedroom.

I eyed Sela suspiciously, wondering what it was that I had seen coming from her back in the window from downstairs.

Even though I refused to accept it, I knew the answer without even asking.

"Can we...can we sit here a while? I'm still shaking. I don't want Thomas to see me like this. You can't tell him what you saw, Dash."

She paused and regarded him for a moment before finishing quietly.

"What did you see?"

Sela was hiding something, of that I was absolutely certain. The fact that she wanted to hide it from Thomas made me nervous. I wanted to be a good friend...

...but I was also in love.

"I don't know what I saw, but if you're in danger, Sela, I can help you. Please talk to me. I won't...I won't tell Thomas.

Her hand rose up to caress my cheek, and I realized that she was still in my arms. I could feel her heartbeat, and I could taste her breath, and I wanted to lean down and banish the distance between us forever.

"What the hell are you doing? Oh, God..."

We both turned to see Thomas standing in her doorway with a broken look on his face. We stepped apart guiltily, but I was worried it was too late.

"Thomas, this isn't what it looks like, I swear. I heard something and I came to check on her. There was..."

Sela had wanted me to keep her intruder a secret from Thomas, and she looked at me with fear as I began to speak. My heart ached at the situation, and I didn't know how to hide the truth without making him believe we had betrayed him.

Thankfully, it was Sela who spoke, and with a touch and a few gentle words, Thomas dropped it.

"I thought there was an intruder, and I screamed. Dash heard me and came up to check on me. That was all, Thomas, I promise you."

It was the truth, and yet, it was far from it. Thomas looked between the two of us and sighed.

"Let's just get out of here and get to the festival."

Before he left, however, he looked at me pointedly for a long while before shaking his head.

"I trust you Dash. You're my best friend. Please, don't give me a reason to change my mind."

He put his arm around Sela and they left together, waiting outside for me to catch up. It was a warning I knew I had to heed well, or else I would lose everything that mattered to me.

We all existed in an almost oppressive silence for the first hour of the festival. All of our nerves and emotions were raw and exposed, despite our best efforts to conceal them.

I still felt guilty, and yet I knew I was still in love. Thomas was still angry, and yet he held onto Sela closely, and still kept me close. Sela still stole glances towards me when Thomas wasn't looking, though she held onto him tightly.

It was a mess on the verge of unraveling, and I hoped against hope that Thomas would ask her to marry him soon so I could convince myself that she was finally off-limits.

"Do you love me, Sela?"

My heart ached at the doubt in his voice. We had hurt him deeply, though it was never our intention. I knew in my heart, however, that Thomas had every reason to be suspicious.

How I longed to take her from him, to get on my knees and to ask her to be my wife before he could! How I wished that I could have her without hurting him because there was no one in the world I loved more than Thomas.