CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
I THINK I WANT TO BLEED

"HE was just the man across the street," Thea mumbles under her breath. Her golden hues lay on her son, who was doing his daily gardening.

She didn't know why she called Carmilla. Somewhere deep down, a place unknown to Thea, a part of her needed to call.

"Thea, what are you talking about? Do I need to come up there? Because I will." Carmilla spoke worryingly on the other end of the line.

Thea couldn't move away from the window. "He was just a man across the street and now he's my—" Her thoughts were frozen in place. "He's alone."

"Thea, you're worrying the hell out of me right now. What's going on?" Carmilla pushes for a response. "Who's this man that you're talking about?"

"I can't leave." Thea was able to muster up the words. "I can't come back."

"Why? Did your sister do something to you? Thea? Thea, why aren't you responding?" Carmilla sighs, barely leaving time for Thea to muster up a response even if she could.

"There's a wound." Thea breaks through her silence, "One that I thought was healed...and maybe in a way it was, or maybe I was hiding from it. I'm not sure. I have a choice, I can hide and stay healed or I can bleed...I think I want to bleed."

Before Carmilla had the chance to reply, she hung up the phone.

✸

Thea was already attached. Maybe even too attached. "Do you drink coffee?" Thea holds up a singular cup in her hand, Arthur is surprised by her unannounced appearance but he smiles.

"I do." Arthur accepts the coffee as he welcomes her into his home. Thea walks in, examining the pictures on the wall as soon as she walks in. He takes a sip, cringing, "Don't tell me this is black coffee."

Thea doesn't know why those words affected her so much. She wished she knew these little things about him but better late than never. "You don't like black coffee, got it."

He chuckles, his legs had a small shake in them as he strolled to his kitchen. Thea doesn't miss the odd movement, he was an old man after all. "So what brings you here?"

Thea couldn't help but watch him. He was once a child, an infant. All those moments. His first steps, his first words, all of that was gone. Now Thea stood here in search of something, she wasn't exactly sure what it was she was looking for but she wanted to find it. What brings you here?

"Well, I had to repay you for the strawberries." Thea smiles ear to ear, causing him to do the same.

"I told you that was nothing." He takes his coffee and sits down in his large cushioned chair. "Go ahead, sit down." Thea takes a seat on the sofa.

"You must be here for a reason, Miss Thea." He chuckles, taking a few sips of the coffee in between his words. "What's on your mind."

Thea bites down on her tongue. "I want to know you...I...I want you to know me." She knew she sounded crazy, he probably thought she was crazy. Any second now he will tell her to get out of his—

"Well, what do you wanna know?" Arthur smiles softly, his voice in a casual tone as if they'd known each other forever.

Thea looks around, "Everything."

"Well, I was born December 18th, 1939. I was adopted. My mother was a stay-at-home mom, she cooked the best macaroni and cheese. I had an older brother. I had my first girlfriend when I was thirteen, I never went to college, I met my wife in high school and we had our daughter. I've lived in Tennessee my entire life and I love it here." He rants and a sad smile spreads across Thea's face, "I like to garden, as you can see. It keeps me moving. I hate black coffee, I hate the color orange, and I think it looks tacky. I love blueberries, I hate spicy foods."

Her son went on and on and Thea loved every second of it.

"...as you can see, I love to talk, a good conversation always makes my day." Arthur laughs, "What about you, Miss Thea? What's your life like?"

Thea didn't know what to say. What was there to say? "I have a wife, her name is Alice."

Arthur hums, "Alice. I like that name. What else?"

"I was born November 29th. I move around a lot. I hate trying something new, it makes me anxious. I love libraries. I love a quiet scenery. Pixie cuts are my favorite hairstyle. I can be very clingy. I love the color blue, a pretty ocean blue—not a navy blue. I think snakes are adorable. Donuts are my favorite desserts." Thea tries to find every fact she knows about herself, "And I'm sure there's more but that's all I can think of right now." She chuckles.

"You say you move around a lot, where do you live now?" Arthur asks.

"Alaska."

Her son's eyes widen, showing off the classic green. "Alaska? And you came all the way here? To Tennessee?" Thea nods. "You must really love your sister to travel this far away from home."

Thea doesn't reply verbally, just nodding her head in response.

Arthur suddenly raises his head, and a small grin covers his lips. "...would you like to learn how to garden?"

✸

Days later Thea was outside his home gardening alongside him. Arthur found it nice to finally have someone willing to do this alongside him. He found gardening therapeutic, it felt good to share this with someone.

Harper watched from her house. Thea seemed visibly lighter on her feet, almost as if she was floating.

The sisters had things planned but Thea put it all to the side for him. She never wanted to leave his side, she didn't want to miss any moments.

Thea barely talked to her family now. She called at least once every few days. She didn't tell them she found her son, apart of her was afraid that it wasn't real.

Alice was worried. Although she did talk to her wife nearly every single day, she had a feeling something had changed. She felt like Thea was pulling away and it made Alice sick to think about it.

Day after Day. Coffee after Coffee. Talk after talk. The more Thea stayed, the more a heavy weight lifted from off her shoulders.

But the more Thea stayed, the more she never wanted to leave.

"You know this is completely unnecessary." Arthur releases a raspy cackle as Thea brings him a plate of breakfast food. A plate of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, and even some orange juice. "You aren't going to eat any?"

"I'm not a breakfast person." Thea shrugs, sitting down across from her son.

Arthur took a few bites before offering her a bite, which she refused. He playfully rolls his eyes, continuing to eat.

Thea goes to clean up his kitchen. Arthur frowns, "You know, I love having you around, but aren't there any other people who would love having you around?"

Thea smiles softly, "Trying to get rid of me already?"

"As long as you keep cooking me breakfast, of course not." Arthur jokes, a grin playing on his lips.

Thea places a clean dish in the cabinet. "I like being here."

Arthur squints her way and Thea notices his curious eyes. "What?"

"You like spending your days with an old man?" Arthur questions.

Thea looks away for a quick moment. Every fiber of her being wanted to tell him the truth about who she was but she knew it wasn't right. His life was peaceful and telling him who she was will only disturb it.

"Guess so." Thea catches Arthur staring down at the breakfast. "What's wrong, why aren't you eating?"

Arthur softly shakes his head, a faint smile spreading on his lips, "Guess, I'm not too hungry today." He grabs his cup of orange juice and takes a small sip.

Thea's enhanced eyesight couldn't miss his tremor hand.

Thea smiles, "I'll wrap it up for you, save it for later."

"Thank you, Dear." Arthur's eyes sparkled slightly watching Thea put away his breakfast.

ragerwrites, The cliffhanger I left y'all on was brutal, I was starting to feel bad. 🫶🏾

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