YOU FIND OUT WHAT BRYN IS HIDING (for those of you who haven't figured it out yet. I know one person has so kudos to you!  You know who you are!) Enjoy :) 

Chapter Quote:

"Sometimes two people have to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together."

~Unknown

______________________________ 

Chapter 27: I Find Out The Truth 

Luke chased after Bryn with the others hollering at him to stop.  He didn't heed their warnings.  All he could think about was what was going on with Bryn, about what was so severe that it was making her lose control of her powers, about what was so severe that she couldn't speak of it.

For being injured, Bryn could still move quickly.  It took a while for Luke to catch up and the only reason he did was because she tripped.  He thought she'd get up, but she'd stay down.  Her body was shaking which halted Luke in his tracks.  It took him a moment to realize she was crying.

"Bryn?" Luke breathed in shock.  She flipped over.  Tears streamed down her face.  Her chest rose up and down rapidly.

"No, get away from me.  I don't want to hurt you again," Bryn pleaded, scooting away from him.  He knelt in front of her.

"You're not going to hurt me," he told her softly.

"How do you know that?  I just struck you with lightning in the chest!  I sent you flying backwards!  How do you know I won't hurt you again?" she cried.

Luke took her hands in his. "Because I know you."

"W-what?"

"I know you.  You would never hurt me intentionally."  He pulled her into a hug, cradling her body against his.  Slowly she began to calm down, but the tears kept coming. "Bryn, what is going on with you?  And don't tell me I can't know.  I do if I'm going to help you."

She pulled away. "You can't help me Luke.  No one can."

"You act as if you're going to die.  You're not.  And I can help you.  I want to help you.  You know my days are numbered.  I never told my family or anyone else but you about my curse.  So let me help you before I go.  Please."

Bryn shook her head.  All of a sudden, she became eerily calm. "You're not going to die."

"But my curse-"

"What are the two ways you can break a curse?" she interrupted.

"Well some curses are able to be broken.  That's the only way."

"No... It's not."

A cold feeling was settling in his stomach.  He had this dreaded feeling but why, he was unable to tell. "What do you mean?"

"There's another way.  The curse, it can be... it can be transferred to someone else."

"Bryn what did you do?" Luke breathed.

Her face started getting red again. "I couldn't let you die.  You have family and friends and-"

"And you don't?  What about your brothers?  Your mother?  Derek?  Silena?  The Michaels?  Mr. Drew?  Hallie?  What about them?"

"I made the deal with Hannah almost right after you were taken.  The whole show of me getting stabbed, it was to make you think I was dead because I'd convinced Hannah that it would be easier for me to train the troops if I didn't have you searching for me.  That plan kind of backfired... you knew I was alive anyway..."

"But those dreams, you told me you were dead," Luke pointed out, refusing to believe what she hadn't said but he knew what was true.

"It was the truth from a certain point of view.  I'm dead, Luke.  I'm going to die and no one can stop it.  I convinced Hannah to take your curse away from you if I served her.  She believed that my desire to stay alive was stronger than my loyalty to my friends.  She was wrong.  I knew it would be me that didn't make it out of this.  The gods told me as much when they came that one October night."

"B-but why pretend you were dead?  Why not tell us you were alive?  How could you just leave us like that?"

Bryn bit her lip. "Because I'm a coward.  I'm selfish... I couldn't bear the thought of seeing your face when I would've told you what I'd done.  I knew Derek and Silena would be angry at me, and I thought you'd hate me.  As for the leaving part, I never really left.  I did see you in person once.  The night you were in my mum's house.  It was some Mist tricks that I made you think you were dreaming.  The other dreams were actual dreams but that doesn't mean I wasn't real in them... then there was seeing you as 'Penn', there was yours and Derek's football games, Silena's graduation.  I couldn't stay away Luke, no matter how hard I tried.  Thera was at Camp Half-Blood because she was my intel on how you three were doing.  D-did you really think I was strong enough to stay away from all of you?"

Luke ran his hands through his hair, trying to come to terms with this new information.  Holding his head in his hands and staring at the ground, he asked, "I did.  You've always been so strong.  And you played the part really well, pretending to be Hannah's commander.  But you broke your promise to her, right?  You were supposed to serve her but you double-crossed her.  So what happens now because you did that?"

"Our agreement was that the curse would go back to you," she replied.

Luke looked up at her. "So I'm cursed again?"

"No.  That symbol of loyalty I was talking about, it's keeping you safe.  As long as I wear it, you're safe.  As long as I wear it, the curse will only affect me."

Luke shook his head. "But what if I don't want you to have my curse?  Why, when you knew what was going to happen, why did you still come after me?"

"Because I l-" Whatever she'd been going to say, the words choked in her throat.  She stared at Luke with desperate eyes. "Because I- I wouldn't have been able to live with myself knowing that I could've saved you and hadn't."

Luke glanced at her through his eyelashes, unable to bring himself to make full eye contact. "So it's over for you?"

"Yeah, it's over for me," she admitted softly, twisting her ring around her finger.

"What were you going to say before that?  Before you said you wouldn't have been able to live with yourself if you hadn't saved me.  Don't think I didn't hear it."

Bryn wiped tears off her face as she smiled sadly. "It doesn't matter.  Not anymore."

Luke cupped her face, making her actually look at him. "Yes it does.  It has something to do with why you saved me.  What was it?"

"Gods Luke, haven't you figured it out yet?"

"Would I be asking you if I had?"

Her face heated up beneath his hands.  Bryn's eyes roamed from his eyes to his hair to nose to mouth back to his eyes.  It was as if she was memorizing every detail of his face, as if she was going to forget it at any moment.  Her eyes began flitting between his eyes and his lips, making him wonder what exactly was going on in her mind.  Sure when girls did that in movies, it meant that they wanted to kiss the guy, but what about in real life?

His question was answered when her lips pressed against his.  Luke had no hesitation kissing her back.  He felt her hands grabbing his shirt to pull him closer.  The entire world stopped.  Time didn't even seem to exist.  Most people say the see fireworks when they kiss the person they love, but with Luke, he saw supernova explosions, much prettier and a hell of a lot more impressive.  When they stopped, both were slightly breathless.

"Does that answer your question Sharkboy?" she whispered.

"What question?  I don't remember any questions Cat Woman," he mumbled, giving her another short kiss.

"What have I done to you?" She laughed.

"Something wonderful.  You should do it some more," Luke said.  However he didn't go for more.  Instead he said, "Can I tell you something?"

"What is it?"

"I love you.  I should've told you a long time ago but I was worried you wouldn't reciprocate the feelings and then I lost you and thought I'd never get to tell you and I'm not making the same mistake twice."

"I know you love me.  I've known for a while.  And I hope you know I love you too.  I would've told you before but knowing what was going to happen to me, I didn't want to date you and then end up dying on you and having you not... go and date other girls because you were upset over me or because you felt like you were cheating on me even though I was gone.  And even after I died Luke, you didn't date anyone, you didn't even hook up with anyone.  Why?"

Luke shrugged. "No girls could compare to you.  Besides, believe it or not, it's kind of hard to find shared life experience outside of Camp Half-Blood."

Bryn chuckled. "I want you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"After I'm gone, I want you to find a girl who will treat you right.  Marry her.  Have kids.  I want you to have a long, happy life where you grow so old you become the man on the street with the stories that all the neighborhood kids come see so they can listen to your wild tales of monsters and gods and-"

"A beautiful, kind, crazy daughter of Zeus who I'm in love with," he finished.  Bryn stared at him forlornly. "Bryn, I won't love any other girl.  I don't know if soulmates exist, but if they do, you're mine.  And hopefully I'm yours."

"I don't want to die Luke.  I don't want to put any of you through that again.  I know what my death did to all of you the first time which is one of the reasons I tried to stay away after it.  But at the same time, I'm glad we're here together, because I got to tell you what I've always wanted to."

"You're not going to die Bryn.  I don't know how, but I will save you," Luke declared.

"Bradley, Brady, Hallie, they've tried to find a loophole.  There is none.  For the first time, I can't talk or fight my way out of this.  Just try to enjoy what time we have left, okay?  Promise me you won't try and find a way to save me."

"I..." Luke trailed off, unable to get the words out.  How could he promise her that?  How could he let her die?  Suddenly he understood why Bryn took his curse from him.  That's when he understood how helpless she must've felt when she first found out about his curse before she made the deal with Hannah.  But this was her one last request.  Luke wanted to make her happy, and if promising her he wouldn't try to save her would do that, then he couldn't see any other choice.  Taking a deep breath, he said, "I promise."

______________________________ 

Do you think Luke is going to keep that promise or not?  Let me know in a review!