Madeline:

“She seems to think I’m only with her because of you,” Byron said softly, his eyes meeting mine, sadness filling them.

I felt bad watching him like that.

It made me wonder how much hurt Rosetta must have been.

“What do you mean? Why would she think that?” I asked, not fully understanding what was going on.

“You see, Madeline, I–” He closed his eyes and pressed his lips together before finally admitting, “I used to have a huge crush on you. I mean, I was crazy about you.”

He paused while I just sat there, staring at him.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t had my suspicions, but I never expected him to say it out loud.

“She thinks I’m only with her because she looks like you. But trust me, it’s not just that. It’s not like you two are carbon copies of each other. Your mannerisms and some other things are similar, but Madeline, I’m with her because I love her. And I don’t know how to prove that to her.”

His anxiety made me anxious for her too.

“But that’s not fair. I mean-” I paused because, in a way, I felt like it was fair. She had every reason to be upset about it.

All her life, she’d been made to feel as though her body wasn’t hers.

Now, even the love of her life didn’t feel entirely hers either.

That wasn’t fair.

“I understand. It is fair,” Byron mumbled, reading my silence.

“I did try to convince her, but I’m gonna find a better way. I’m gonna wait. I’m gonna do something that proves to her that what I’m willing to do for her is something I was never willing to do for anyone else.”

Byron looked very determined, and honestly, I was all for it, as long as he wasn’t planning to do something really stupid that could get him hurt.

“Okay, listen, first things first. I don’t like this human land,” he commented, pouting. “I mean, the scents are so dull here. When I was coming here, I could barely smell anything. I just need to get this job done quickly so I can go back to Rosetta. The longer I stay here, the more stories she’ll cook up in her head, and I don’t want that.”

I was shocked to see Byron being so mature about it.

So he had been right in a way. He’d had a crush on me, but he was in love with her.

And it wasn’t like she and I were exact copies of each other. We just had similarities, like any siblings would.

We weren’t conjoined twins or conjoined triplets.

“Okay, I’ll give you the details of the whole plan,” I said as I got up from the couch.

He followed me silently.

I walked out to the front yard and pointed into the distance.

Pet

“Behind that wall, the garden wall, there’s a guest house. That’s where she lives. It’s around ten now, and she usually goes jogging around afternoon. We’ll leave you at the exact spot she’s supposed to jog past. Just charm her,” I said, smirking.

“Oh, we’ll see how I trap that bitch.”

Wow.

Byron surprised me.

He really was in a hurry to get back home to his lover.

“Well, I am glad you are in a hurry, because we are too.” I commented. Later, we spent some time preparing Byron. We only had a few minutes. Once he was ready, I let Baxter take him to the road and leave him there.

At the same time, I realized Kaylee was awake in the room.

Before leaving, Baxter and I had a few minutes to talk.

“I’m gonna come home,” he said, looking at me as he tucked his shirt into his pants

and fixed his clothes. “I’m going to propose to Kaylee.”

Even though it was all part of the plan, his words still sent a shiver through me.

“Right,” I said, looking away.

“Please don’t think about it. You

know we are doing it all for a reason, right? have to. I have to get back at the people who have done us wrong, Baxter said slowly, reaching over and cupping my cheek with one hand, making me look back at him.

His thumb gently rubbed against my cheek.

“This will be the last time you ever see her stupid little face,” he commented, making

me smile.

I moved his hand away and rushed into his chest, hugging him tightly.

“I just want everything to go back to the way it was, or even better than it

was,” I said, resting my head against his chest and listening to his heartbeat

It has become my new favorite song, my new favorite kind of music. “Everything will be just that,” he whispered, planting a kiss on my cheek.