Leaves and Petals – Chapter 2
Elain remained on the property of the decrepit building until late afternoon. Her property.
It was an odd feeling, to have a place of her very own, the accountability and responsibility of it even if it was mostly dust and creaky floorboards. She'd had places to live, of course: The mansion, before her family had fallen to poverty, the cottage - if you could call that a place to live, the town house in Velaris, and the River House that Feyre and Rhysand had so thoughtfully given her a room in…
But none of those places had she truly felt at home. This place… was her own. Well, it would be anyways. She picked at her bottom lip, remembering the loan that Rhysand and Feyre had given her. With enough luck and hard work, she would turn this space into not only a home, but a way to make a living. She would not need to rely on others again. She would not be a burden any longer.
Elain sighed and picked up a large paper trash bag. The foyer and first room had debris on the floor; papers, empty bottles, a few broken dishes, molding books. It wasn't long before Elain was breathing heavily, and a thin sheen of sweat coated her neck and forehead. She pulled her golden hair up, tying it at the back of her head. The cool air felt nice on the back of her moist neck. She was so embarrassingly deconditioned. Months of hardly eating or moving would do that, she supposed. The gardening she'd been doing in Velaris was helping, and she'd been trying to eat three times a day.
Just clearing the trash and debris from the main floor, upstairs, and back garden had taken her until the sun was high in the sky. She was about to start moving the old, musty furniture outside, when the front door banged open.
"You thought you could keep it from me, did you?" Nesta barged in. She was wearing Illyrian flight leathers and had likely just returned from Valkyrie training. She was glowing, her golden-brown waves thick and shining - and she looked powerful, built to withstand any wave that came crashing. Still, she wore the usual face of displeasure, and her sharp blue eyes missed no detail of the building. Elain felt almost embarrassed.
"I... I-" Elain began, desperately thinking of an excuse to why she hadn't told Nesta about her plans.
"I brought lunch!" Cassian broke in, striding in behind Nesta and saving Elain from a moment of awkwardness. It was never pleasurable to be under Nesta's stare. He was enormous, also dressed in Illyrian leathers, black wings neatly folded behind him. He held a basket in the crook of one elbow.
Nesta scowled at him - but there was no true fire in it. Cassian, looking around and noting the lack of available seating, sat on the floor with a great thump. Dust scattered through the air, and both Elain and Nesta coughed. He patted the spot next to him, gazing at Nesta with a wicked sparkle in his eyes.
"If you think" Nesta began with an even nastier scowl, "That for one second I will be joining you on this wretched excuse of-"
In less than a heartbeat, Cassian had swept her legs from under her, and she came down fighting like a wildcat: a blur of kicking boots, and fisted hands. Cassian roared with a feral grin. He had Nesta pinned against his chest, wings flaring, with her arms trapped against him.
"Looks like" Cassian grunted - struggling, actually struggling to contain the wild woman within his arms. It told of just how much Nesta had changed.
"You will be…" he grunted again, as she landed a punch square to his gut. She seethed at him.
"Joining me after all." He grinned triumphantly, with Nesta in his lap.
Nesta had heat in her eyes, so much heat that Elain's cheeks warmed. A heartbeat later, and Nesta was kissing Cassian, her hands pulled free of his chest, winding through his hair.
Elain felt a hollow inside her chest. What must it be like - to have somebody love you - to have what they had? Lucian's face flashed in her mind - and suddenly she felt sick. She was fated to be with him, as his mate. But the very thought of him had her stomach roiling. It wasn't that he was a bad male. It was just that… he felt… wrong. The mechanical eye he had, the way it watched her, whizzing in its socket…The way he was always pushing gifts on her, or hovering.
Elain must have made a sound, because both Cassian and Nesta were now looking at her. Elain cleared her throat and anxiously dusted the front of her dress before sitting in front of the pair.
"I was worried that you'd think it was a stupid idea" Elain looked around at the dusty room. "That you'd try to talk me out of it." Her fingertips were creeping up to her bottom lip again.
When Nesta looked confused, Elain went on.
"I want to open a shop here. I'm going to call it Leaves and Petals." She took a breath, speaking in a rush, "And I'm going to grow all kinds of exotic, beautiful flowers and herbs in the back garden. The front will be a tea shop, with a variety of teas made from what I grow - Lavender, jasmine, rose… Chamomile…" Her eyes were sparkling with joy and hope as she spoke.
"And the upstairs - Well… Once it's cleaned up, it will be a perfect little apartment for me to stay." Elain was beaming, she realized, before her smile began to falter as she glanced at Nesta.
"I… I know you always want to keep me safe, to protect me…But I-"
"I've never seen you smile like that." Nesta cut in. It was silent for a few heartbeats.
"I have been wrong - so very wrong to treat you the way I have. I never stepped up as your older sister when you needed me the most. Instead of protecting you - I suffocated you. I understand that things between us may never be the same but… I wanted to tell you how sorry I am. For everything." Nesta's eyes were lined with silver.
Cassian looked at Nesta with such tenderness that Elain had to look away.
"I hope that one day, you might forgive me. I will work for that forgiveness every day." Nesta said and looked down.
Elain was looking at Nesta too, lips parted in surprise. Nesta and her had such a difficult relationship, worse yet since they'd become Cauldron-made Fey. Elain's heart ached. She wanted to reach over, to embrace Nesta. But she did not - could not."
"Thank you." Elain murmured. "That… means a lot."
Cassian began unpacking the basket. It was filled with ripe fruits, aged cheeses, and fresh bread.
"How about some lunch?" Cassian rumbled as he began to slice the bread, "And then we help you fix your dream shop up?"
Elain's heart warmed. She was grateful, so grateful for this family she had.