Chapter 10: Trying not to fall

Jayden's POV

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I sit on the bed with Olivia, watching a movie to get her mind off of everything. Every time I look over at her, she seems zoned out and sad, and I want to help her but I don't want to push.

"Olivia?"

She turns and looks at me with her big brown eyes.

"Do you need anything? Do you need to talk or anything?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "no I'm okay, I'm just trying to process."

I put my arm around her, but she seems stiff and she doesn't lean in like usual. She seems uncomfortable so I move my arm out from behind her and she looks down sadly.

"Do you want my arm around you?" I ask, confused.

She turns to me and her eyes start to water, "I... I don't know what I want."

"Do you need some time alone, Olivia?"

She shakes her head, "no I need you. I just... I don't know. Can we go back to watching the movie?"

I nod my head and we turn our attention back to the TV, I look over and see a sad look in her eye. I put my hand on the bed next to her so that she can hold it if she wants to. She looks at my hand for a minute and then turns back to the TV. I assume that she doesn't want to hold my hand so I was about to pull it back but then I feel her warm, soft hand in mine. She laces her fingers through mine, and we finish the movie in silence.

After the movie is done, she hops out of bed. "I'm ready to go downstairs and learn some more!" She seems oddly cheery.

"Are you sure? Today has been a lot."

"I want to fly." She says, already walking out of the room.

I follow her out the room and downstairs, where I see her walking up to Nevada. I listen in on their conversation.

"Can you teach me how to fly?" Olivia asks her.

Nevada's eyes got wide and she looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders, implying that I didn't know what Olivia was doing, and then she looked back at Olivia, "I don't know Olivia. I think we'll have to ask Beth if it's okay."

Just then, Beth walks into the room. "Ask me if what's okay?" She asks.

Nevada looked at Olivia and then back at Beth, "Olivia wants to learn to fly."

Beth smiled, "I think that's a great idea!" She said, shocking us all.

Olivia got wide eyed and smiled, "really?"

Beth nodded, Olivia turned to me and smiled.

Beth lead us all outside, where she told Olivia to bring out her wings again. Olivia closed her eyes and held out her palms and after a few seconds, wings appeared. Their beauty shocked me just as much as last time. They were huge and the purest white I had ever seen, and they look so soft. They remind me of beauty and innocence, but also of strength and confidence. She looks perfect. I catch myself staring at her, hypnotized.

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Olivia POV

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I'm standing outside with my wings out, I catch Jayden staring at me out of the corner of my eye, and I try not to blush.

"Are you ready Olivia?" Beth asks, taking my hand.

I nod my head and start walking with her.

"Okay, now just focus on flapping your wings, and it will come easily to you. I'll come up with you to make sure you stay in control of yourself."

"Okay," I say as I close my eyes and flap my wings, I finally lift off the ground and open my eyes. I fly higher and wait for Beth.

She flies up with a smile on her face, "you're doing great Olivia. Try flying back and forth a little bit."

I start flying back and forth, but I'm really unsteady.

"It's okay Olivia, just relax." Beth says as she steadies me.

It seemed a lot easier in my vision of Arcadia and Rose, but that was just a vision, I lose my balance and start falling toward the ground. Beth tries to grab my hand, but I'm falling too fast and she misses.

Just as I'm about to hit the ground, I feel a pair of strong arms around my body. I look up and my eyes meet Jayden's, and he pulls me into his chest.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

I nod my head and Beth lands next to us, "Olivia I'm so sorry I couldn't catch you, you were falling too fast. Do you want to call it a day."

Jayden let's go of me and I catch my breath, "it's okay, things happen. I'm ready to try again."

Everyone looks at me confused, "are you sure?"

"Yes, the only way for me to learn is to keep trying. I can't give up after the first time I fail."

She nods her head, understandingly. "Alright let's go."

We walk back over and I try again. This time I'm a little more steady when I get in the air, but I'm still a little bit off balance.

"Try flying in a few circles," Beth tells me.

I try to go in a few circles and I almost fall again, but I catch my balance.

"Alright love you did great, now let's get inside so I can start on making dinner. The key to landing is to go slow, if you're going to fall, fall forward and make sure your arms are out."

I nod as I start nearing the ground, I land on my feet but quickly tumble to my knees, with my arms out to catch me.

"You just need some practice, we can practice some more later." Beth says as everyone walks inside.

I sit down on a bench outside to enjoy the sun, and I start to feel dizzy.

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I'm walking through a field of flowers, holding a man's hand. The man is tall with long, brown hair and he's carrying a picnic basket and a blanket in his other hand. We stop near the edge of the field, right by a big, beautiful tree. He lets go of my hand and lays the blanket down on the soft grass, and then he sets the basket down. He then holds his hand out for me and then we sit down on the blanket.

He grabs the basket and starts unpacking all kinds of food and some wine and glasses. He pours wine into each wine glass and then he lays the food out onto a tray. There were grapes and strawberries and some other fruits with dip, there were some fancy cheeses, and then slices of bread with oil and seasonings. We talked and laughed as we ate the food and drank our wine, and once we were finished he set our wine glasses down onto the tray. He wraps his arms around me, so that my back is against his chest. We sit like that for a while, staring up at the clouds. Occasionally he would say something or lean over and kiss my cheek, but for some reason I felt sad.

He seemed to have sensed my sadness and he stroked my hair and then kissed me on the head, "would you like to play a game with me?

I nodded my head and he let go of me, and then reached into the picnic basket to pull out a deck of cards, and for some reason I couldn't help but smile.

Its one of the visions where I cant control what I say or do, so I'm confused but I can't ask the man any questions.

He shuffles the deck and starts dealing the cards, we start playing but it's not a game Ive seen before, yet I'm still winning.

"Aw come on, can you not give me a chance just this once?" He asks.

I laugh, "I cannot, you know that I must stay undefeated."

We finish the game, and I won.

"Alright, alright, good thing that was just a practice round. I will not be going easy on you this time." He says, laughing.

I laugh and roll my eyes, "you know that you cannot beat me, Vince."

He laughs again, "no, but I can try. I will win at least once, even if it takes all night."

"We will see, but first look! The sun is setting, I want you to watch with me and then we will play again, so that I can beat you."

He looks at me and smiles, it is the most beautiful smile I've ever seen, "alright, deal." He grabs his jacket and rolls it into a ball, and then lays on the blanket, facing toward the sun. He puts the jacket under his head as a pillow, he then holds his arm out for me to lay beside him.

I look down at him for a second. I look at his wavy hair and his chiseled jaw and perfect features, and his bright green eyes that shine in the sun. He is beautiful. I lay down next to him and put my head on his chest, he puts his arm around me and we watch the sun set.

Once the sun is down, he stands up and puts his hand out to help me up, "shall we continue on with our game?"

"Yes, but what will we use for light?" I ask.

He smiles at me and points over to a pile of logs, and then he closes his eyes and holds his hand out, and then the logs catch on fire. We get off of the blanket and he drags it a little bit closer to the fire, and then we both sit back down on the blanket.

He hands me the cards, and I shuffle and deal them this time. We play our game, and then I win again.

"I told you, I shall stay undefeated."

He looks at me and laughs, "I'll win the next one."

I laugh, "I don't think so, we have played many games and you have not won once. What makes you think you will win tonight?"

Suddenly he seemed sad, but I didn't know why. The sadness quickly disappeared and then he smiled, "I used to be undefeated at this game, until I met you," he laughed, "I am feeling like tonight will be the night that I will finally win against you."

"We will see," I laugh.

We start to play the game again but I look over and notice that he looks sad, "Vince are you okay?"

He snaps out of his thoughts and smiles, but it looks forced, "yes, I am sorry. My mind must just be a little bit distracted, I will pay more attention."

We continue the game but he keeps spacing out, and I get worried. "Let's take a break for a bit. How about another glass of wine?" I ask, snapping him out of this thoughts once again.

"Of course," he smiles and fills the glasses with wine. We drink the wine as we talk and watch the fire burn. I stand up and move closer to get warmer, and Vince follows. He wraps his arm around my waist and buries his face into my neck. He kisses it a few times, making my whole body tingle.

We stand there for a few minutes, before making our way back to the game. He pays attention this time, and he actually starts winning, but for some reason he looks sad.

"Vince, talk to me. What is going on?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I am okay, we shall enjoy our night."

"Are you sure?"

He nods, "yes my dear, you cannot try to pull us away from the game just because I am winning." He laughs.

I smile, "alright, we shall carry on then."

We keep playing and he finally wins the game, "you are no longer undefeated." He laughs.

"That is not fair, you must have cheated." I say, jokingly.

We laugh and then he reaches out and pulls me onto his lap. He wraps his arms around my waist and kisses my forehead. "We should talk Rose," he says, looking sad.

I start to worry, "is everything okay?"

He nods his head, "I am setting you free Rose," he begins.

"What? Vince what do you mean."

"Rose, I know how you felt when you met Arcadia. I know that you love me, but you cannot fight your feelings for Arcadia. You are destined to be together. I know that you didn't tell me because you didn't want to hurt me, but it's okay. I knew you would possibly fall in love with Arcadia, but I wouldn't trade my time with you for anything in the world. I love you Rose, I will always love you, but now is not our time. You and Arcadia are meant to be, and I don't want you to fight your true happiness, so I am letting you go. This will be our last night together, and don't worry, I will still be watching over you and protecting you from afar."

I feel the tears well up in my eyes, "but Vince, I can't lose you. I love you"

I can't hold my tears back anymore and they start falling down my face, he pulls me close to him. "Shh.... shh.... it's okay. I love you, Rose," his voice starts to crack, as if he's holding back tears. "You're not losing me. I will still be here as your friend, and I will still protect you. Do you feel my heart?" He says as he grabs my hand and places it on his chest, I nod. "It beats for you Rose, I want you to have everything you desire in life. I want you to live a life meant for you. Now is not our time my dear, but maybe our spirits will eventually meet again."

We sit on the blanket and he holds me tight as I cry on his chest for what feels like hours. He strokes my hair and my back and occasionally kisses my head and reassures me that everything will be okay. Still holding me to his chest, he scoots himself and then lays down on his back, so that I'm laying on top of him. He continues to stroke my hair as my face is nuzzled in his chest and then I feel myself start to drift off to sleep.

———————

I wake up in Beth's backyard and see the sun setting, and I realize that I'm laying on the bench and my head is on Jayden's lap.

He looks down and realizes I'm awake, "Olivia are you okay?"

"Yes, it was just a vision. How long was I out?"

"About 2 hours, Beth made dinner. Everyone else ate but she saved us each a plate, if you're hungry."

"Did you wait out here the whole time?" I ask, looking up into his eyes.

He nods his head, "yes I just wanted to make sure you were okay, I was worried it was a bad vision, and I'm guessing it was."

I reach my hand up to wipe my eyes, and my face is soaked with tears, "it wasn't great."

"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks.

I shake my head, "I'm hungry, let's go eat. And thank you for staying with me."

He smiles and helps me up, and then we go inside, where Beth is standing in the kitchen making something.

She turns and sees us, "good you're back! Your food is in the oven warming up. I'm making some pie right now for dessert. If you'd like to go sit down I'll bring your food out to you when it's done."

I give her a hug and smile, "thanks mom."

Jayden and I start walking out toward the dining room, but then Beth grabs my arm. Jayden turns and she waves him out.

"Are you okay love? You haven't been looking too good lately. I know it's a long and difficult process, so don't hesitate to tell me if you need anything, even just to talk about it."

I nod, "I'm okay, it's just confusing. The visions and my feelings and everything. I haven't even been getting many visions about Arcadia so I have no clue how I'll find him," I sigh.

She nods understandingly, "I know it's confusing. It'll get easier within the next few days. About finding Arcadia, you will find him eventually. Your visions will come when they are meant to, you may even get all of your memory before you get any clues about how to find Arcadia."

The oven beeps, "it looks like your food is done warming up, I'll put it on a plate for you." She plated our food and then handed it to me and I carried it out to the dining room, where Jayden was sitting.

I don't know why but sitting here alone with him eating dinner gives me a tingly feeling. I try to avoid his gaze, and every time he speaks, I try to avoid getting hypnotized by his voice.

We finish our food and then he goes into the kitchen to take care of our plates. I start thinking about my vision. Vince must have been the man that Rose loved before Arcadia, and he was a witch.

I think about the sadness in his eyes when he told Rose he was leaving, and when he said it was their last night together. I can never do that to Jayden. It's been hard trying to keep my distance, but I have to. I think about how strongly I felt for Vince in my vision, it was a type of love I've never felt before. How was it possible for me to love Arcadia more than that?

A few minutes later, Jayden walks back into the dining room with Beth, both of them carrying a pie. They set the pies on the table along with some plates and Beth leaves the room to go get everyone, Jayden sits down next to me. I look at him and he looks back at me, he looks concerned but I also can't help but notice how perfect he is.

As I stare into his eyes, all I want to do is kiss him, so I force myself to look away. I already feel myself starting to fall in love with him, and if I don't make it stop I may end up falling in love with him as deep as Rose loved Vince, if not more. If I let myself fall in love with him, that means I'll be letting him love me, and we'll both potentially get hurt. If I fall in love with him, I don't know if I could ever let him go, it'll be hard enough to let him go even now.

"Are you okay?" He asks.

I nod my head but I don't say anything, and then everyone walks into the dining room and sits down. We eat our pie and I take care of the dishes, Katie decides to come help me too.

"Do you and Jayden love each other?" She asks me.

I look down at her, "no, he's just my best friend, and he helps me a lot."

She looks at me, with a weird look on her face, "oh. Well I think you guys should get married."

I smile at her as we continue to wash and dry the dishes. I look over and see Jayden standing there leaning against the doorway.

"Need some help?" He asks.

I shake my head and start to say no but Katie cuts me off, "actually I have to get ready for bed, so you should help Olivia."

Katie walks out of the dining room smiling and Jayden walks up next to me and starts drying and putting away the dishes as I wash them.

I feel him walk up behind me, "you missed a spot."

I roll my eyes and he laughs, "I'm just messing with you, but do you want to go get ready for bed, I can take over."

I shake my head, "no that's okay, but you can keep drying them for me." I say with a smile.

"Okay," he says with a smile as I finish washing a plate, he reaches his arm around me to grab the plate from my hands, brushing his hand against my waist. I can't tell if it was on accident or on purpose, but I can't help but blush. He dries the plate and puts it away and then puts away the ones on the counter. He slightly pushes me away from the sink and washes the rest of the dishes, so I try to dry and put them away, but he doesn't let me.

"You don't need to do anything else tonight, just go get relaxed. Or you can keep me company if you want while I finish up these last few."

I stand by the wall as he finishes washing the dishes and then quickly puts them away, and then we make our way upstairs. I lay down on the bed without even bothering to change into my pajamas, I'm too exhausted. He walks over to the closet and pulls out 2 big, fluffy robes. I thought they were blankets at first. He walks over to hand me one, and then goes into the bathroom to change.

I start to get undressed and then I put the robe on, it feels like heaven against my skin. I hear the bathroom door open, and then I hear him ask if it's safe to come out.

I tell him yes and then he walks out in a robe, tossing his clothes into the hamper.

"I'll go get us something to drink, what can I get you?"

"Maybe just some tea or something?" He nodded his head and walked out.

After seeing him in a robe, I start thinking about what's under it. I know I shouldn't be thinking like this, especially when I'm trying not to feel anything for him. I can't help it though, he's all I can think about.

He walks back into the room carrying a tray with 2 cups of tea, he sets it down on the table and pulls out a chair for me, and I sit down. He then walks over to the shelf and grabs one of the candles, before carrying it over and setting it on the table, and then sitting down across from me.

I grabbed a cup of tea and inhaled it's scent before bringing it to my lips, it was cinnamon and honey tea, my favorite.

Within a few minutes, the candle had made the room smell like a fresh bakery.

I look up and catch Jayden looking at me before he finally speaks, "do you want to have some fun tonight?"

I look at him confused, "what do you mean?"

"I mean you've had a lot happening lately, I wanna take you out somewhere so we can have fun."

I look at him and hesitate, but he's right "sure, but what about the fallen angels? They're looking for me."

"There are many places that they can't go, and we're going to a really beautiful place, protected from fallen angels. Unless they are invited by a witch."

I nod my head, "okay I'm ready."

He looks at me and laughs, "we can't go wearing these, but let me pick something out for you to wear."

I hesitate but then I decide to let him pick my outfit. He looks through my clothes before leaving the room and coming back carrying some clothes. He hands me a purple bikini that laces around my body, along with a white sundress.

"But it's night time," I say.

"It'll be warm, it's okay."

I head into the bathroom to change as he looks through his clothes. When I come back out, he's wearing a pair of black swimming shorts and he's got 2 towels in his hand.

"You ready?" He asks.

I nod my head.

"Okay, but don't be scared." He says as he grabs my hand, "close your eyes."