Grian's POV

6 months later...

I'm glad to be moving to a new season under more positive conditions, and glad to leave Season 7 behind. That world held too many bad memories, and I'm probably not gonna miss it.

Despite only being here a few minutes, Season 8 has been strange so far. Xisuma and Joe have been repeatedly insisting that they have something to show me.

When it comes to those two, that can mean anything between a particularly pretty flower they found, or an insane, life changing secret that will inevitably put us in severe danger.

"Aaaand, right over here." Xisuma claims, pointing to a small house in the middle of the village we spawned in.

"A house...?" I mumble hesitantly.

"Technically yes, but that's not the surprise." Joe explains.

Then someone opens the door of the house, poking their head out and smiling brightly.

"I am!"

It doesn't even take a second for me to recognise Pearl, but it's a good 10 seconds before I get past the state of pure shock and disbelief I'm sent into at her sudden and unexpected appearance.

"P-Pearl?"

"Hi Grian."

I pause only momentarily before throwing my arms around her and knocking the two of us to the ground. I'm crying in no time, holding onto my friend as tightly as possible.

"I thought- I thought they took you away too! I thought you were gone!" I choke, struggling to breathe.

"I know, I know..." She tells me, her voice cracking a little as tears roll down her cheeks. "I'm ok, it's alright."

"H-how are you... why aren't-"

"I was visiting my dad when they... attacked, so I wasn't there."

She brushes her hair out of her eyes, before explaining further.

"When I got back, there was all this panicking, about a server being spontaneously destroyed and all it's members killed. They didn't know how it happened, or why, the Admins were calling it a severe bug in the servers code that lead to the world being... erased."

"I was worried, and I went to try and get home and make sure you guys were ok, but when I entered Evo's IP into the portal it kept saying 'Server not Found'. So... so I asked an Admin which server it was... and he said it was Evo."

Pearl's breathing becomes heavier, her body shaking a little.

"I thought everyone was gone, lost in some horrible freak accident, until 3 months ago. That's when I met Xisuma."

X sees how badly she's struggling to finish, so he takes over.

"I recognised Pearl from your photos you showed me, and I asked if she knew anyone named Grian. She said she used to, but that you were killed 3 years ago. So I told her the truth, all of it, what really happened to Evo. Then I invited her here."

"I didn't hesitate to say yes... so here I am." Pearl tells me, smiling through her tears. "One of the new Hermits this Season."

"Pearl that's... that's so amazing! I can't believe that- wait....One of?!" I repeat, raising my eyebrows.

Joe nods, smiling.

"You should come outside." He says. "I think there's someone you should meet."

He helps the two of us up, leading us outside to where the Hermits are crowded around somebody, who I assume is the other new Hermit.

Pushing my way past Scar and Doc, I see another girl, with long ginger hair tied in a braid down her back, and a light green t-shirt and brown dungarees. I also notice her little deer antlers, which are somehow both really cool and really cute.

She turns and sees me, smiling and holding a hand out.

"Hi, I'm Gemini!" She tells me. "I assume you're Grian?"

I smile, nodding in response.

"Yep, that's me!"

"Great! It's lovely to meet you!"

I'm interrupted by a small tap on the shoulder, and turn around to see an incredibly anxious Ezra. It doesn't take me long to realise he needs to talk, so I quietly excuse myself and lead him over to the side.

"You ok?" I ask.

"Um... yeah I'm fine, there's just... something I need to ask you?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you maybe have- I mean be able to... Uh..."

He's blushing like mad, and it's kind of adorable. Pinching the bridge of his nose, Ezra takes a deep breath and forces his question out.

"Would-you-maybe-be-free-around-7-on-Tuesday-if-you're-not-that's-ok-and-"

"Of course I am." I assure him, taking his hand and laughing a little. "I always have time for you."

"Oh!" My boyfriend exclaims, as if he's surprised by my answer. "Th-that's perfect Grian, um... I have to go! Erm... love you bye!"

And with that, he darts off back to the spawn village.

"Is he ok...?" I ask Xisuma, who's nearby.

"Oh I'm sure he's fine!" The Admin assures me quickly.

I raise an eyebrow, definitely suspicious of whatever 'this' is. There's something going on behind my back, and I don't like it. Before I can ask anything else, though, Xisuma looks over.

"Huh, looks like the others are starting! Wouldn't want to fall behind!" He shrugs, walking off.

I frown, before sighing and deciding to follow Mumbo.

"You know Mumbo, those shorts make it look like you haven't got pants on." I point out, clinging onto the Redstoner as our tiny boat makes its way across the water.

"They do...?" He asks, before looking down. "Oh goodness."

I burst out laughing, Mumbo's face turning red.

"Now is not the time to question my unfortunate clothing choices-"

"GRIAN!"

Mumbo's interrupted by a panicked yell I can only recognise as Scar's. Turning around, I see him swimming as fast as he can (which is actually pretty fast) towards us.

"Oh jeez, I've been looking for ages to try and find you guys!" Scar gasps, holding onto the side of the boat while he tries to catch his breath.

"DROWNED IN THE WATER! DROWNED IN THE WATER!" Mumbo yells, making the former mayor panic all over again.

As is obvious, Scar really hates mobs, so we end up letting him into the boat. With Mumbo busy rowing in the front, and me in the back, he has to sit in my lap, which I wouldn't have an issue with if he wasn't dripping wet.

When we finally reach the other end of the lake, we run into Impulse and Pearl. We have a crafting table set up for the 5 of us, which then gives me an idea.

Dragging the boat over, I haul it on top of the crafting table and clamber into it.

"Who's the shortest one now?" I tease, crossing my arms.

"Not me!" Impulse claims, shoving me out of the boat and climbing in.

"Oh really?" I snicker, grabbing a purple bed someone left lying around, balancing it on top of the boat, grabbing ANOTHER boat to put on top of the bed, and climbing into that.

With Impulse sitting in the first boat, holding up the bed that supports me in a 2nd boat balanced on top of it, we looks pretty ridiculous.

"How tall can we make this...?"

Mumbo passes me up a grinder, which I place upside down in my boat so that the bottom can balance a 3rd boat on top of it for Mumbo to climb into. Then a second bed is placed on top of that 3rd boat, holding up a second bed to support a 4th boat.

Then Scar GETS a 4th boat for himself, puts it on top of the second bed, gets a large chunk of amethyst he found to support a 5th boat for Pearl, and we end up in all squished into some mad stack of boats and people.

"...What was the point in this?" Mumbo asks.

"I don't know about you guys." Impulse gasps. "But my arms are definitely getting a major workout out here!"

"What do we even call this?" Pearl laughs.

"It looks like a boat totem pole!" Scar observes.

"A BOATEM POLE!" I exclaim, before the 5 of us start laughing so hard that it almost collapses.

4 Days Later...

"You call THIS a starter base...?" Ezra asks, eyes wide.

"Well, yeah." I shrug, staring at my newly completed house. "I mean, it's nothing compared to... whatever that is that Scar's built."

"Still... even if I watched you build this it's still amazing. I guess you're just amazing."

"Thanks." I tell him, smiling. "Now, what was it you wanted to show me?"

Ezra's face turns bright red again, and he awkwardly clears his throat.

"Oh... that. Yeah, it's just over here..."

He takes my hand, leading me over towards a tall hill with a single, lonely tree on top. The sun is slowly setting over the beginnings of Boatem Town, basking everything in a beautiful orange glow.

Looking over at my boyfriend as we climb the hill, I can't help but notice how nervous he looks. I consider asking him if he's ok, but then he smiles once we get to the top.

"It's really nice, isn't it?" He asks me.

"It really is."

Ezra nods a little, before taking a deep breath.

"I love you Grian... even if I say it every day, I just really want you to know it. Even when I first met you... when we felt so alone and scared, you were always there for me, you were like my little ray of sunshine keeping me going.

You mean so much to me, more than I could ever tell you. Even if we're apart... if I can't remember you... if I think I love somebody else... I still love you, and you still mean more to me than anybody in the world."

Then he pulls out a small black box, small enough that it fits in the palm of his hand. My eyes widen in shock as I realise what that box is, my breathing quickening and my heart feeling like it's going to explode.

"That's why I wanted to ask you..."

I'm pretty sure he goes to get down on one knee, but he instead loses his balance and falls backwards. Grabbing my hand to try and stop himself, he ends up pulling me down with him and the two of us go tumbling down the hill together.

I land on top of Ezra, the two of us lying in the grass. His face goes bright red, but then he smiles shyly, holding up the box and opening it to show a beautiful ring.

"Marry me?"

I can't speak, struggling to find the words I want to say and hesitating as a result. My boyfriend suddenly looks concerned, as if I'm trying to say 'No'.

"I-I'm... you're..."

I trail off, feeling immensely light-headed. I'm not sure if it's from the pure shock of the moment or falling down the hill, but to be honest it's probably both.

Then I take a deep breath, pause for a moment, and smile.

"𝙹⎓ ᓵ𝙹⚍∷ᓭᒷ ╎ ∴╎ꖎꖎ"

(Of course I will)

Despite understanding exactly what I said, Ezra looks almost as shocked as I feel.

"||𝙹⚍... ||𝙹⚍ ∷ᒷᔑꖎꖎ|| ᓭᔑ╎↸ ||ᒷᓭ?" He asks.

(You... you really said yes?)

"∴⍑|| ∴𝙹⚍ꖎ↸ ╎ ᒷ⍊ᒷ∷ ᓭᔑ|| リ𝙹?"

(Why would I ever say no?)

His face softens slightly, and his surprised expression fades into a warm smile. I close the relatively small gap between us, calmness and happiness replacing my shock.

"I love you." He whispers.

"I love you too."

Joe's POV

A few weeks later...

For someone who's more or less considered the server's non-official-therapist, I'm really bad at asking for help. I've been getting scared, and angry and upset so often, especially since all that happened in Season 7, but I just can't bring myself to tell anyone about it.

I think my reasoning is that if one of the Hermits sees me in need of emotional support, they'll think they can't come to me for their own emotional support. It doesn't make sense if you think about it, which is exactly why I haven't been thinking about it.

So I've been writing down how I feel whenever I need someone, in the hopes it's a good enough substitute. That's what I'm doing now, writing all of this down instead of bothering someone else over it. Emotionally, it's admittedly not helping, but at least I'm not a burden on anyone.

I sigh heavily, closing over the book and putting it away in a shulker box, which I then push underneath my bed. I doubt Cleo would ever find it, but if she did, it's entirely written in Galactic.

I pause at that thought. She knows that I'm an (ex) watcher, but the only reason I'd want to write in it would be so that she couldn't understand it. Then she'd ask me what it would say and even if I tried to lie she wouldn't believe me and-

I stop what I'm doing, realizing that I'm really overthinking the situation. Cleo isn't gonna find the book, and she isn't gonna find the shulker box with the other books. Nobody will.

I get up, trying to forget about all of that. I'm meeting up with X, Grian and Ezra very soon, and I want to keep up my lifelong streak of never being late. It's one of the many reasons I like this smaller continent. Everyone is so close, and easy to get to.

I meet the rest of my friends on top of the hill where Ezra proposed to Grian, (although technically he popped the question at the bottom of it) because it's one of their favorite places to be now. They said that they're gonna miss it when Season 9 eventually comes around, so they're trying to get the most out of it now.

The couple had tried their best to make cookies, combining Grian's mom's recipe with the twins' moms' one, and they were actually amazing, albeit very sweet. We listened to Xisuma ramble about the 1.18 and 1.19 updates, especially the latter seeing as it was announced so recently, and laughed when he realized an hour had gone by.

We were there for sever hours, just talking about the randomest things and reminding each other of the few happy memories we had when we were younger, until Grian stood up and cleared his throat a little.

"I hate to ruin the moment, but Ezra and I have something important to do."

Ezra looks like he'd very much forgotten that important thing, and his eyes widened.

"Oh crap, we do!"

I look between the two, a little confused.

"My mom doesn't know we're engaged yet... we were gonna tell her today." Gri explains quickly.

"It's ok." I assure, smiling. "I do actually have some things I need to talk about with False."

Grian goes very quiet at the mention of False, who he'd been avoiding for months, and says a quick 'bye' before leaving abruptly.

I watch as he leaves, feeling pretty bad for him. False, of her own choice, had left the server when Season 8 started and moved to a single-player world. This was mostly because most Hermits are still angry at her for betraying us and unintentionally killing Nora in Season 6, and almost getting the rest of us killed again in Season 7.

Only Cleo really visits her from time to time, but I had made a plan to talk to her about all that happened in the last few years to at least try and settle some things. Unfortunately, me mentioning False put an immediate end to Grian's positive mood, seeing as he'd been more affected by her actions then anyone.

"I didn't mean to upset him." I admit.

"It's ok... he's holding a grudge, which I understand, and it might be a while before he'll be able to talk to or about her." X explains.

"Yeah." I sigh, before standing up. "I'm assuming you have 'important admin stuff?"

"Not really, but now that you mention it I did wanna look into the 1.18 update that's coming soon!" He remembers, smiling brightly when he thinks of it.

Joe gives me one last hug, before leaving. I watch as he flies off to his base, before turning around and heading back to Spawn.

Grian's POV

As soon as we're somewhat away from my base, Ezra stops me, frowning.

"What was that?"

"What?" I ask, trying to get past him. He doesn't move.

"Gri, I know you dislike False for many, very understandable reasons, but you can't stay mad at her forever."

I sigh in frustration, trying my best to avoid this conversation.

"I'm not asking you to forgive her, I just want you to let your grudge go." He tells me. "I know she hurt you. I know she hurt someone you loved. But some grudges you just need to let go of."

"But she killed Nora!" I yell, starting to cry. "I can't let that go!"

"I'm sorry I need to tell you this, Grian, but you can't change that. Getting mad every time someone talks about False won't do anything. She's not a part of your life anymore, and you don't need to be upset by making her part of it."

Ezra holds my hands in his, his voice staying soft and comforting.

"Please, hating her isn't worth your happiness. Just forget her, and remember Nora. Not the way she died."

I've fallen silent. I hate how right he is, but at the same time I understand that I should listen to him. I briefly dry my eyes, before hugging him tightly.

"Hey, it's ok, Grian. It's alright." He assures me, gently stroking my hair to get me to calm down.

"I'm sorry." I admit, making a weird noise that kinda sounds like a choke and a sniffle.

"Nobody's angry, I just wanna help." Ezra tells me.

"Th-thank you."

"Ok... you ready to go now?"

"Yeah." I confirm, talking his hand and going with him in the direction of the spawn. I haven't seen my mom in years. I don't want to cancel this just because I'm still mad at False.

Thinking about my mom makes me more upset. She doesn't know we're coming, seeing as we've completely lost contact. It was so painful to see her the last time, and after Nora's death I don't know how to handle this.

Heck, I'm not even sure if she knows Nora died. The Listeners and Admins assured us they'd tell her, but for all I know they never did. It really makes me feel guilty over how I've effectively abandoned her.

But, being me, I don't tell Ezra about any of this.

It almost hurts me to get onto the bus, the same one I did 10 years ago, to get to my mom's house. The last time I made this trip, I was scared and lonely. I'd lost everyone left in my life that I loved in only a few minutes, and I hate thinking about it.

The last time I was here at the back of the bus, I remember hoping that Ezra was ok, wishing he was with me, praying he wouldn't forget me. Even though he's here, and holding on closely to me, I still feel sick thinking of the old memory.

My old estate is unrecognizable now. They've knocked most of the old houses, built new ones, and redecorated the few that weren't falling apart. My mother's house is still standing, and even if it looks almost the same as when I last left it it's definitely changed.

The dull red door has been repainted a vibrant scarlet, the broken '5' sign has been replaced, and I can see the new bricks in the wall that fill the hole I once made in it. For a moment I'm terrified that she moved, that she broke her promise and forgot me, but the roses in the garden, the ones she'd take with her to the end of the earth, are still there.

I've traveled pretty far to get here, but as soon as I see the house I want to run, or hide, or ideally both. Ezra notices my silent panic, and takes my hand to lead me up to the door.

"I- uh... what if she isn't here?! Maybe we sh-should go and come back later or-"

My fiancée, who knows me better than I know myself sometimes, ignores all of this and rings the doorbell and steps back a bit, leaving me in front of the door. There's a few seconds of silence, before the door opens.

Mum looks surprised to see me, just like I expected. But unexpectedly, she smiles warmly, tears in her eyes as she pulls me into a close hug.

"I thought you wouldn't come back."

The words are like a punch in the gut to me. She genuinely thought I'd left her forever. Trying to hold my tears back, I nod.

"I'm so sorry." I admit, quickly ending up crying harder than I have in a while.

"Hey, it's ok Sunshine. You were scared, and in danger, and you only wanted to keep me out of it."

I wonder if someone's already filled her in on what's happened, but before I can ask she notices something over my shoulder and pulls out of the hug.

"Who's this?"

I turn around, trying my hardest not to laugh a little at how red Ezra suddenly goes when my mum smiles at him.

"Uh... hi. I'm Ezra."

I take his hand, pulling him over. I know he can be shy sometimes, but he's almost like a child trying to introduce himself. In all fairness to him, I was in a similar state when I met his parents.

"Yes, I've heard about you." My mum remarks, before opening the door wider and stepping aside. "Come in, both of you, I think we have a lot to talk about."

Ezra and I share a surprised look, as if he's just as surprised as I am that this has gone so smoothly. Almost like she'd expected us to turn up.

Even the inside of her house looks brighter, which honestly makes me happy. It's good to know that she's been doing better than when I last saw her. She sits the two of us down on the couch, before taking a seat in the armchair.

"I had a feeling you two would come over, sooner or later." She remarks. "How has everything been?"

"Not great..." I admit, my mum nodding sympathetically.

"The Admins... told me about Nora, and most other things."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's alright, nothing is more important to me than you being safe." She promises, taking my hand. "I've had the time to accept it, and it's ok now."

Then she smiles.

"I don't mean to go off topic by the way, but your ring is gorgeous."

I glance down, realizing that she's noticed my engagement ring. I go a little red, trying to find the words to explain it. My mum just grins knowingly.

"You picked a lovely one." She tells Ezra, who proceeds to choke on literally nothing, and I don't know whether to laugh or cringe at how embarrassed my poor fiancée is.

"The wedding's in August." I explain, wishing I could invite her under more normal circumstances. "It's happening on the server we both live on, but I'm sure you can come if you want to."

"I'd love to." She responds gratefully. "Now, neither of you are hungry, are you?"

I'm about to say 'no' when Ezra interrupts.

"Yes." He blurts, still a little red. My mum smiles, standing up.

"Alright then love, you don't have any allergies do you?"

I try not to laugh at how she instantly starts looking after Ezra like she's his mom too. It's kind of adorable, especially the way my future husband's eyes light up when she says she can make cookies.

"We brought our own." I remind him, before he can get too excited, pulling out the remainder of the cookies we shared with Xisuma and Joe.

"Still, I haven't made cookies in years and I need an excuse." She tells me, kissing the top of my head before leaving the room.

I glance over at Ezra, who's grinning from ear to ear.

"I like your mum."

"You like anyone who gives you cookies." I point out.

"Well she's also really nice." He admits, yet again going pink in the cheeks.

"Really?"

"...Ok maybe it's mostly the cookies."

False's POV

Sometimes things can be hard to understand, but I think I have it worse than a lot of people. The aftermath of the Watcher's brainwashing is still there, and sometimes I don't know what's real and what isn't.

Sometimes I want to cry and wish I could undo everything. Sometimes I want to kill everyone I see. That's why I moved here. At least nobody can get hurt.

I think back to that woman I killed. Of all the things I've done, I probably regret that most, even if it was accidental. She died saving someone, someone who was devastated after her death, and sometimes it hurts me to think that I've caused so much pain.

I'm hurting Cleo too. I know she cares about me, a lot, and I also know that staying away from her is what's best for both of us. I keep telling her to stop coming here, that I might hurt or even kill her one day, but I don't have the heart to blacklist her.

When my phone buzzes I sigh; she's probably here again. I should reconsider the blacklist thing, or at least locking my door when she tries to come in. I don't even know how she gets in here to be honest, you'd think a house literally hanging off the bottom of a sky island would be hard to reach.

When there's a knock on the door, I frown with confusion. It's definitely not Cleo, you'd need wings to get up here this fast. But only Cleo knows the IP. So I quickly come to the conclusion of who it actually is.

Someone who has wings.

Who Cleo can entrust with the IP.

And who would actually bother to come and visit me.

"Go away Joe." I snap, scowling and locking the door. "You shouldn't be here."

I hear him sigh from the other side.

"You don't have to talk to me if you don't want to, False, but I want to talk to you."

"I don't want to listen! Just leave and we can both be happy."

"But you won't be."

I don't respond for a second. Sighing, I unlock the door and glare at Joe.

"Why would you care if I'm happy or not?"

"Because, even if it wasn't real, you were still my friend for 6 years." He tells me, with a smile too kind to be fake. "And so, even if you hurt me, I want to forgive you and help you."

I consider closing the door again. But looking at him, and hearing how genuine he sounds, I don't want him to go away. I miss the feeling of having a friend, or just someone who cares about me but won't make me feel guilty because they want to be more than friends.

"...Come in."

A few hours later...

"Memory lapses, unexplained feelings of violence, inability to remember anything before you were sixteen-"

"Twelve." I correct, watching him look through what he's written so far. He started talking to me about side-effects of brainwashing, making a list of them as I went on. He finishes reading it over, looking up at me and trying to conceal his shock.

"False that's... that's really bad." He admits. "Worse than it should be."

I can't really decide which I hate most. The violence and gaps in my memory are scary, because I don't know what happened in between them. It's like I'm in the middle of doing something, then suddenly I'm lying on the floor with a dagger in my hand, and the wall has knife marks on it.

Not being able to remember anything before the Watchers is painful. On one hand, I can't miss a family I don't remember, but it also hurts me to think about how much my parents might have loved me, and now I can't even picture their faces.

'False' isn't even my real name, I can't remember the real one. All I remember is Xyah. It's like nothing else even existed before the Watchers took me, and sometimes I think that maybe nothing did.

"I mean, I remember my family... kind of." Joe continues, and I hear the sadness in his voice. I knew his parents weren't good parents at all, and he'd never miss them, but even thinking about his life before the pain the Watchers caused him must hurt.

"I wish I could do something about it... anything."

"I don't think you can." I admit. "I still don't know why you'd care about me anyway, I stepped out of your life for a reason."

"Those reasons aren't your fault, not entirely. I know what you did was your own choice, not somebody else controlling you, but I also know that you didn't want to do it. They would have killed you if you didn't bring Grian back. You had no choice."

"Don't blame what I did on somebody else." I snap bitterly. "That's a pathetic excuse, nobody but me was to blame for what I did."

"False, if there's one thing I've learnt in my life, it's that there's always a bigger person controlling things. You, Demetrius, Ezra... none of you ever had a choice. None of you wanted to do what you did, but you had to. You were just someone else's puppet, their means of getting the dirty work done."

"But what about that woman I killed?!" I demand, trying to push back my tears. "She wasn't supposed to die! She's gone for nothing!"

"Nora chose to die, for Grian." Joe explains, and even he looks like he'll cry soon. "She had a long life of pain and grief, and she made the choice to end it for him."

"It's not alright, I still killed her... it's not fair on Grian..."

"Grian's come to accept it. He's still reluctant to see or talk about you, but he doesn't hate you. He doesn't want you dead. Nobody does."

I stay quiet and stare at my shoes. Partially because I don't want to look Joe in the eyes, partially because I want to hide the tears running down my cheeks. I feel him reach over and hold my hand, and when I look up he holds his arms out, offering a hug.

I'm too tired and upset to pretend I don't want it. Besides, Joe's good at hugs, I don't want to reject it anyway. As he holds me, I mumble something under my breath.

"Can you come back sometime?"

I'm sick of being lonely, and maybe if I let him, Joe can help me forgive myself for what I've done. My friend smiles at me, nodding his head.

"As much as you want."

Vali's POV

I'm hurting him

He's trapped

They're making me

I can't stop

He isn't safe

I'm not safe

They won't let me go

They don't care

"VAL!" Someone screams, shaking my shoulders. My eyes open, and I see Emmet's scared face above me. For a moment, the nightmare still lingers and I'm convinced I hurt him, that he's scared OF me. Then he leans down, kissing my forehead and pushing some of my hair out of my face.

"You're ok, we're safe now..." He assures me. "It's not real anymore, you never meant to..."

"Ho-how did you know what I was dreaming about?" I ask, sitting up. I know we can hear each other's thoughts, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't extend to dreams.

"You were screaming "I'm sorry" and "Please leave him alone"... I kinda guessed what it was about."

"I-I'm so sorry." I admit, pulling my knees to my chest and pretending that I don't want to cry.

"For what? The Vex's choices? We've spoken about this Vali, you didn't do anything."

"I made that deal with them... I practically gave my own soul away to try and chase a one sided romance."

"They took advantage of you in your lowest moment, everybody makes stupid choices when they're desperate. And you're ok now, you freed yourself from their control."

"You did." I remind him, smiling a little.

"Well, I guess I had some relation to it." He admits, grinning too. "But my point is that you're safe now, and they can't hurt you or me ever again."

"That doesn't change what I did to yo-"

"What they did to me." My boyfriend corrects. "And you. We were both their victims, just like Ezra was."

Mentioning Ezra doesn't really help things, even if I don't remember what happened while I was under their control. That's what scares me the most sometimes. I can only remember what happened once I started falling for Emmett, so I don't even know the full extent of what I did.

I wonder what Em remembers. He wasn't under the Vex's influence 24/7 like I was, but he might not remember most of what happened between when he died and when they lost control of me.

"Maybe some people see us as the bad guys, some people might think we're innocent." Em tells me, and takes my hands in his.

"You care about me, don't you?"

"Yes." I confirm in a heartbeat. Even if I have no memory of what happened to us, that's one thing I know for sure.

"And I care about you. So who cares about what happened to us before? We don't need to remember that, all that matters is right now."

I nod, still uncertain. There's a lot of things I'm uncertain about when it comes to this relationship. But if we genuinely love each other, I don't think we need to question it.

"What was it like?" Emmett asks. "When they stopped hurting you?"

"It was... strange." I admit. "Like the Vex's power just slowly disappeared, and all I was left with was independence for the first time in years, and unexplained feelings for a guy who basically hated me."

I look back up at him.

"How did you go from hating me to being my friend to loving me anyway? It was a bit spontaneous."

"I didn't hate you, I hated that Vex-controlled bastard who called himself BadTimes. And when he disappeared, I finally got to meet you. The real you. And that's who I fell in love with."

You wouldn't think something so sappy would make me blush, but it did. BadTimes does feel like a different person, like how EX and Ezra aren't the same, and it helps me feel less guilty to think of it that way.

"I thought it would." Emmett admits, knowing what I'm thinking. "We can forget BadTimes, and just be happy together, can't we?"

I nod, smiling genuinely this time. My boyfriend mimics my smile, and hugs me.

"It's all ok now... we're ok now."