Page 253 of If You Give an Artist a Killer Muse

“Let go of me,” Rurik growls as one of the nurses tries to give him something to calm down.

“I got it,” I interrupt them. They all give me worried looks before Mr. Rogers and Nat comes in to usher them out.

I quickly wipe the tears from my face before walking over to Rurik. As soon as I’m inches away, Rurik’s hands shoot out and grab my waist, pulling me forward until I fall on him.

“Wait, Rurik, your monitor—”

“Fuck it,” He snaps, roughly pulling me to him. He forces my arms around him and then keeps his lips firmly on my forehead. “Stay.”

“Yeah, Rurik,” I whisper, my lips on his neck as I throw a leg over him. “I’ll stay for now.”

We stay like this. Limbs tangle together.

After an hour, I hear Rurik’s breathing finally steadying. I look up to see his eyes close shut, asleep. I swallow hard, leaning up to kiss the corner of his lips.

“I love you, Rurik,” I whisper, kissing his pulse.

I bring our clasp hands to my lips and kiss the back of his hand. Then, ever so slowly, I pull away, get off the bed, and let his hand go.

I stiffen when Rurik mumbles something but feel relieved to see him still fast asleep. I kiss his forehead again before dashing out of there, where Nat’s waiting for me down the hallway.

As soon as she sees me, her face softens. She opens her arms, and I let out a sob, throwing myself into her embrace where I can finally cry out the pain I’ve been holding.

“It hurts, Nat,” I breathe out, my shoulders shaking as she leads me toward the exit.

“I know,” Nat whispers, her hand slowly rubbing my back and circles. “Sometimes, we make choices we believe are right to protect others, even if we know those choices cause pain.”

On the ride home, I ask Nat, “Do you think I made the right choice?”

She glances at me quickly before focusing back on the road. She places a hand on my knee and squeezes, not saying a word.

Chapter 39

Briar

Who is the asshole who said that time heals all wounds?

I just want to chat with them. I want to call them a fucking liar and maybe punish them a bit for spreading such bullshit.

Three weeks have passed since I truly ended things with Rurik.

Three weeks.

Three weeks since I held an unconscious Rurik.

Three weeks since I thought he died.

Three weeks since I almost lost him forever.

Three fucking weeks.

And I’m still not doing well.

After I snuck away like a pathetic coward, I asked Nat to take me somewhere else that no one else knew. Not even Rurik.

She took me to her brother’s apartment, about an hour from the city. Her brother lives in California now, but he keeps the apartment for whenever he comes to visit — which is rare now. Something about chasing a girl. I don’t know. I can’t think about love right now.

His name is Aidan, and I was close to him when I was younger until he moved out and did his own thing. Anyway, during the drive, Nat called Aidan and told him everything. He immediately agreed to lend me his place until I got my shit together. It’s a nice, cute apartment.

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