Soft moonlight shone through the bedroom window. The crisp, clean bed sheets smelled of lavender. Nyx stared at the ceiling, her heart pounding until it hurt. The familiarity of Angel's bedroom was somehow disorienting.

Angel turned toward her and cuddled up close. "I want to sleep so bad, but I'm wide awake."

"Are you scared?" she asked.

"No." He draped his arm across her. "We can pretend like tonight never happened."

"You died in my arms Angel, how can you expect me to move past that?"

"Because I'm asking you to." He got away from her and sat up against the pillows. "Frankly, it's none of your business."

She propped herself up on her elbow. A lump formed in the base of her throat, but now was not the time to argue about their relationship.

"Your business is my business," she growled.

"Please, can we drop it?"

"We don't know much about Ivy's powers -"

"I know what Ivy can do," he snapped. "Everyone knows what she's capable of. That's not what I want. I want to go back to how things were."

"I don't think that's possible," Nyx said gently. If all of this was hard for her to stomach, she couldn't imagine what he must be feeling. "I'm sorry. I think we need to learn more about it, that's all. It strikes me as odd these powers would sit dormant for so long. Why would your body repress it? Where did they even come from?"

"Bodies do weird shit all the time. Especially mutant bodies. It doesn't mean there's anything sketchy going on."

"You're not the least bit curious?"

"Not at all."

Nyx didn't believe him for a second, but didn't bother to press it.

"Maybe there's a way to control it?" he suggested, and seemed to brighten. "Maybe I could use them to actually start wining some fights? Even if I only used them to heal, I'd have an advantage."

Nyx's stomach dropped. Part of her had wished this would have been it, that he'd finally be careful after such a close call.

What did I expect? He's never going to stop. How could I be such an idiot?

"I don't think you should do anymore fighting," she said. "Revealing your new powers isn't a good idea. At least not right now. Ivy might hear about it."

"Why on earth would she give a shit?" he exclaimed.

"She may find someone having her abilities to be a threat."

"Ivy is going to find me threatening? I'm flattered, but seriously, that's ridiculous."

"If you can flip your powers like she can, you could suck anyone's life-force out, including hers."

Angel's eyes widened. "Yeah, but I wouldn't."

"It doesn't matter that you wouldn't do it. It matters that you could. So far as we know, you're the only person capable of killing her, or coming within a ball park range of it at least. Plus, she'd lose a lot of her leverage, especially in international politics if you were to decide to heal the leaders and elite she's been negotiating with. She might want to get rid of you before she no longer has that option, or best case scenario, she'll strongly insist you go to The Academy."

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

Angel bristled as it finally dawned on him that he would not get much of a say in either situation.

"Fine then," he sighed. "We won't say anything to anyone." Angel fixed his eyes ahead, looking toward the window. His jaw twitched. "Do you think the others would hate me?"

He sounded so quiet and soft, her heart broke.

"What do you mean?"

"Your mom and dad, Daisy and Aiden. Julian. They might be scared of me after seeing what Ivy did in the war."

"That's not fair," Nyx argued. "You're not Ivy, and you're not going to suck out anyone's life by accident or on purpose."

He laid down, pulling the covers up. Nyx scooched down and cuddled up close, and they faced each other. Only a few hours ago she was certain she'd never get to stare into his eyes like this again. Her grip tightened.

"Do you hate me?" he asked.

"Not in a million years," she said, and smoothed her hand across his cheek and hair.

"Good." He closed his eyes with a soft sigh. "I don't think I could bear it if you did."

Eventually, Angel's breathing slowed as he finally sunk into sleep. Nyx snuggled closer, put her arm across his chest and savored the beat of his heart.

Her chest tightened. It hurt to inhale. Everything in her wanted to cling to him, but she could not stand to go through something like this again.

He died right in front of me, and he'd do it all over again if he could. I've been a fool to wait for so long, but I can't stand to think of being without him. There has to be some kind of way.

When she woke, he was gone. Sunlight streamed through the window. Squinting, she sat up against the pillows.

It figures he'd still go to work the day after dying rather than risk continuing the conversation.

Nyx slipped out of bed and stole another of his t-shirts before tugging on a pair of jeans she stashed here the last time. Angel pretended not to notice the items she'd leave behind and in return, she'd try to hide them well.

It didn't take long for her to gather them all up again. She stacked her small heap of belongings in the middle of the bed. Her brush, deodorant, makeup, toothbrush, jeans... it was all there and she stuffed it inside of a tote-bag. There had been no sense in picking at it, but his attitude told her all she needed to know. His reaction was born out of fear, but to her, it spoke volumes.

He clearly wants space and has no intentions of settling down anytime soon.

Nyx took her stuff and found her skateboard in the coat closet. She'd left it here one day when Angel offered to fly her home instead.

Last night was horrifying. If he didn't have that hidden power... I don't even want to think about it.

The asphalt was cracked and pitted, catching up her wheels as she rolled along the road toward home. Her parent's cabin was only a few blocks over. The tote bag bumped against her hip. Cicadas hummed under the summer sun, hiding somewhere within the overgrown lawns.

A stone caught the front wheel, sending Nyx face first onto the sidewalk. Cursing, she got up on all fours and struggled to her feet. The rips in her jeans had grown wider, leaving her skin torn and bruised.

Nyx brushed herself off and looked up at a squat red house. The boarded up windows and decayed siding told her it was still unclaimed. Scraggly black - berry bushes guarded the front lawn from view. The driveway had begun to grow weeds through the cracks in the pavement.

She approached with caution. Just because people hadn't moved in didn't mean racoons hadn't. The deck sagged under her weight and she was mindful of where she stepped. The boards nailing the door closed had already been pried apart by another nosey investigator.

It was love at first sight. The yellow hardwood shone as the light from the door hit it. The main floor appeared to be entirely open concept with a large space for a living-room and dining area, with a kitchen in the back.

The narrow staircase lead to a half-story. One room to the left could be a bedroom and the other could be for her drums.

She didn't waste time staking her claim and brought her items inside. Under Portsmouth law, the house was now hers until she said otherwise.

When mutants had first arrived on the island, the abandoned Portsmouth fishing village was in shambles. Over the decades, they worked on fixing up the buildings and adding more infrastructure as needed. Any empty cabin was fair game for an island resident in need of one.

In the beginning, they were gradually occupied by mutants fleeing the mainland in search of refuge. Later, recently liberated mutants from The Old Academy took them during and after the war. These days, remaining cabins were picked at by recent high school or Academy graduates and newly weds.

Angel will be relieved to have the pressure off. The houses are close enough together we can visit each other even easier than we can now. I can't think of a better compromise.

Nyx skateboarded toward the dock to find him, careful to dodge any more stray rocks.