Strings of Fate by Kit Bryan

29- Rewards and rom–coms 

“I am so sorry Ryann, I came as fast as I could an- oh…” she stares up at Darrien. She seems a little intimidated, I’m not sure if it’s because of his size or just his generally severe 

demeanour but she freezes and stops mid sentence. 

“Let her through Darrien, it’s just Maggie.” he steps aside and she tentatively enters. I notice a bit of effort to her breathing and frown. We traded floors so she could avoid coming up these stairs so often, but she seems to be struggling even more than she used to. Or maybe it’s just because she was in a hurry. I hope for the latter. 

“Maggie, this is Darrien. He’s friends with Bellamy, the Shifter guy who scared Paul off. You met him yesterday morning briefly.” I explain. Maggie seems a little suspicious. 

“Right… you seem to be having a lot of Shifters over recently. Not that I have any objections to that of course dear. I am a little curious how you all met, and what this young man is doing here. Forgive me sweetheart but you have never been one to entertain often. I have to wonder if this has something to do with those men that attacked you the other night, the ones the other young man fought off.” She says casually. The blood drains from my face. 

“You saw that? I was hoping you wouldn’t notice, I didn’t want to upset you.” I’m freaking out a little. Maggie might be my friend but if she thinks I’m endangering her precious grandson she will ask me to leave, no doubt about it. Maggie shrugs. 

“Dear, it did take place just outside my window. I’m old, not blind, or deaf.” she reminds me with a kind smile as she waits for me to explain. 

“Uhm… Bellamy, the first Shifter you met before… he is actually the feline Alpha. I don’t really know the details but the men who attacked were after him, they just thought that I would be an easy target to try and get him to cooperate. The men are gone now and everything, but Bellamy thought it would be a good idea to have someone keep an eye on me and this place until he’s sure that no one will try anything like that again.” I decide to omit the fact that the men were Vampires. Maggie didn’t mention it and in the dark, she might not. have noticed. Besides, it’s unlikely that the Vampires were the ones who planned the attack, which I guess explains why I have to have a day guard as well. Maggie looks thoughtful for a moment as she considers what I’ve told her. 

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“Well, I’m glad you’re okay and that the boy from the other day is taking good care of you. You deserve to be taken care of for once.” Darrien gives me a look that says ‘yes, it is that obvious‘ I sigh and hang my head. Maggie continues, not noticing my reaction. 

“Speaking of taking care of, I should fetch my grandson.” I nod and head into my room to get him. The poor kid is fast asleep. He doesn’t even stir when I call his name. I close the door. 

“He’s fast asleep, I think it might be best not to wake him. He can stay here a bit longer. I don’t mind.” I offer. Maggie nods. 

“If it’s okay with you dear. I’ll take him downstairs once he wakes up. Another thought occurs 

to her. 

“And don’t worry about your sheets sweetie, I’ll sort them out before it gets too late. It’s the least I can do. In fact I think you need some chocolate chip cookies too.” She declares. I grin, I absolutely adore her chocolate chip cookies. Score! She turns to Darrien. 

“And you’ve been here helping all day too haven’t you. What kind of cookies do you like?” she demands. Darrien glances at me helplessly. I shrug. Eventually he responds. 

“I prefer honey biscuits ma’am.” He admits, Maggie looks horrified. 

“Ma’am? You’re making me feel my age. You call me Maggie!” It is hilarious to see the little old lady lecturing the bulky Shifter, I stifle a giggle, trying to be quiet and not wake Logan. 

After peeking in on Logan to make sure that he is indeed okay, Maggie heads back down to her own home to begin making cookies. She makes me promise to call the moment Logan. wakes up. The next hour or so is pretty peaceful. Darrien sneaks into my room and fetches my laptop and we sit and watch a movie. A pretty cliché romantic comed 

When the movie 

finishes, we sit and discuss how unrealistic the romance is. Personally, I think the couple would have been doomed, Darrien is a little more optimistic. 

“She spent the whole movie trying to decide between two guys, if the decision was that difficult then she really can’t like him that much, not to mention he took her back way too easily.” I point out. Darrien shakes his head. 

“But the fact that he took her back despite her flaws is just evidence of how much he loves 

2/4 

het. Plus the fact that she took her time deciding shows that she wasn’t just blown away by some romantic gesture, she thought it through, even compared him against another guy and ultimately found that she loved him. Some people need to mess up in order to understand when they actually do find the right person.” he argues. I frown, I am the one who usually argues that people need to be allowed to screw up a little because fate always balances out in the end. It suddenly hits me how similar the scenario is to Darrien and Megan’s relationship right now. She’s with the wrong guy, but when she eventually does end up with Darrien he would accept her in a second, I should probably just hand this argument over to him. 

“Maybe you’re right.” I concede. I open my mouth to say more when I notice Logan shuffling out of my room. His eyes are sleepy but he does look a little better than he did a few hours. 

ago. 

“Hey sweetie. Your Nana came home but we didn’t want to wake you. I’ll just call her and let her know you’re up. I call Maggie who tells me not to come down, she wants to collect my sheets and such so she can wash them for me anyway, I reluctantly agree. For someone who moved to avoid stairs, she sure climbs up them a lot. Maggie is up a minute later and sets about removing the sheets from my bed. She won’t let Darrien or I help her. She spends the whole time complaining about her daughter. 

“That girl, she gets home from work in an hour or so and I am going to give Carrie a serious. talking to. She should know better than to drop Logan off without checking that anyone is home first. It’s true that he usually comes here after school while he waits for her to get off work but this is completely different. She assumed that I would be home and didn’t even make sure before driving off!” She continues on like this until she has gathered my bedding 

“I’ll bring this back up when it’s all cleaned sweetheart and I’ll fix up your bed for you. I’ll also make sure to bring up your cookies.” She promises. With that she guides Logan out the door and down the stairs. I watch from the doorway until I’m sure she’s made it all the way down. I would feel awful if she tripped down the stairs because she’s carrying my blankets. I head back inside and consider what I should do with the rest of my day now that I no longer have work. My phone goes off to tell me I have a text. I don’t think my phone has ever gotten as much use as it has in the last week. The message is from Bellamy, 

Bellamy- Darrien messaged that the kid is gone. 

Ryann- Yeah, Maggie took him down to her place. 

3/4 

29–Rewards and rom–coms 

Bellamy–Does that mean you’re available to come out for dinner?.