"You won't leave me, will you?" She despised how much the question made her stomach lurch when she asked it.
"Never."
She put her hands on her hips and raised her eyebrow. "You promise?"
"Of course."
She stepped closer, indignation washing through her, and prodded his chest, her finger staying there as she spoke. "You promise you'll never leave."
He stepped back and nodded, serious as he could ever be. "Of course, Imelda. I will stay here with you no matter what."
Imelda really wanted to believe him.
They'd had this conversation many times before this and his answer was always the same. Still, she knew Héctor inside and out, knew how quickly his opinion could change with the right nudge or sudden ambition. And with the right influence. The people's words, which had become gossip about her and Héctor too long ago to remember when, rang in her ears every day, and the thought of Héctor's dream to play his music for the world stayed at the forefront of her mind.
Imelda kept questioning him just in case her fears came true one day, in case he was somehow lured away from her by something more powerful than she was.
She never, ever, wanted to lose him. And she reminded him each day of the consequences that would follow him around if he ever did decide to leave her.
She peered at him as she leaned in.
"You won't ever leave me?"
"No."
"Not even to share your music?"
His face was blank. "Not if you don't want me to."
Imelda made sure she was staring directly into his eyes for her next words. "Not even if your 'Superhero'--" She spat the word-- "asks you to come with him?"
He didn't answer right away, his brows furrowing in thoughtfulness as he stared up at the night sky.
"I will try to say no," he said finally. "But you know how Ernesto is."
She wanted to question him further, but the look in his eyes told her not to. His eyes held sorrow, she realized, seriousness. His mouth was a thin line. He took her hands in his in the silence that followed.
The gesture got to her more than usual as she realized what it must mean.
"You'd leave with him, wouldn't you?" she asked coldly, pulling her hands away.
"I'd try not to, but--"
She crossed her arms amd glared. "But you would if I let you?"
He closed his eyes and rubbed the back of his neck. His answer was a quiet, "Yes."
Imelda stared him down, but he didn't take his words back. "You'd be making the wrong decision, you know. We've talked about this."
The regretful look in his eyes deepened. "I'd be doing it for you." He held his hand out to her and took it, squeezing it once before she slapped it away.
"I don't want you to leave."
And then there were tears in his eyes. "I know."
"So you promise you won't."
He didn't answer, just stared at her in the darkness, turned toward the horizon, and walked away. Only because he was three feet away from her when he replied did Imelda hear his words through his whispery voice.
"I can't promise that. Not right now."