Chapter 13: Vince Pt. 2

Jayden and I swim in the pond to pass time as we wait for Beth to come back, and it starts to near lunchtime.

Jayden gets out of the pond and reaches his hand down to help me out, "are you hungry?"

I nod my head, "for sure."

"I'll grill us some steaks and we can make steak salads, sound good?"

I nod my head as I go upstairs with him to get everything we'll need. We set everything down on the table by the bar and he grabs the steaks and starts to walk outside. He stops and turns, "do you want to make us some drinks and prep the salads while I grill?"

I laugh, "I don't know how to make drinks."

He smiles, "that's alright, I'll teach you after I finish the steaks." He plants a kiss on my cheek and heads outside.

I go over to the table and grab the salad bowls, before prepping all 4 of the salads. Once I was done, I walked behind the bar to look around at everything while I waited for Jayden. After a few minutes, he walks in with a plate full of steaks.

"Wanna help me cut these up and then we'll make some drinks?" He asks.

I nod my head and we each grab a cutting board and a knife, before slicing all of the steaks into pieces and putting them into the salads.

"We'll do an easy drink, come with me."

I follow him behind the bar and he grabs a bottle of whiskey, lemon juice, maple syrup, and a few cherries on a stick. He then grabs the cups and the shaker. He has me pour the whiskey in the cup, guiding my hand so I know when to stop. Followed by the lemon juice and maple syrup. He has me pour the drink into the shaker and shake it, and then he adds ice and I shake it again, before pouring it out into the 4 cups and adding ice into the cups. We set the table with the food and drinks, and he grabs napkins and silverware.

We walk outside to wait, but when we get outside, Beth and Vince are walking up toward the door.

I greet Beth with a hug and Vince with a handshake, "nice to meet you Vince, I'm Olivia."

He smiles, "nice to meet you, Olivia."

I lead them inside and we all sit down to eat. Everyone starts making small talk as we eat our lunch.

"This salad is amazing, thank you." Says Vince.

"He's right, I love it!" Beth agrees.

We both smile and say thank you.

I can't help but look at Vince. There's something about him that draws my attention, but I can't put my finger on it. I think about my vision of him and Rose. I remember feeling how in love with him she was, and I can understand why. He has an aura that seems to draw everyone to him, even Jayden and Beth seem intrigued by him, and Beth has known him for over 150 years.

Once we finish eating, Jayden stands up to grab our bowls and cups, and Beth stands up with him. They clear the table and go upstairs to the kitchen, leaving Vince and I to talk.

"Would you like to go outside? It's a beautiful day." I ask Vince.

He turns toward me and gives me a bright smile, "of course."

We walk outside and sit by the pond.

"Don't be afraid to ask me anything you want to ask me," he says, probably sensing my nervousness.

"Did you truly love Rose?" I ask.

"Yes, with all of my heart."

"How come you left her? She wanted to be with you."

"She was fighting with her feelings, and I could tell it was hurting her. I did what I had to do, for her."

"But did you know that she spent a lot of time looking for you? I'm sure that losing you hurt her more than fighting with her feelings."

"I did know, and I avoided her. I know that losing me hurt her, but she would've lost me either way. Eventually, she would have fallen in love with Arcadia either way. I didn't want to make her have to choose, especially when Arcadia would've eventually been her choice anyways. I had to leave before things got too far."

"I had a vision... of your last night together. The picnic, the fire, the cards, and the goodbye. I felt her heartbreak when you told her you were letting her go. It's hard for me to believe she could've been more in love with Arcadia than she was with you."

"I know it broke her heart, but eventually she thanked me."

"But I thought you guys didn't see each other after that last night?"

He lowers his voice to almost a whisper, "a couple weeks after I left, I let her find me. She told me she was pregnant with my child. Back then, it was very frowned upon to have a child before marriage. When she found out she was pregnant, she kept it a secret and married Arcadia right away, he was the only other person that knew. After she had Joseph, Arcadia took on the roll as his father. I helped out as much as I could and tried to spend as much time with him as possible. After a while, I could see Rose's love fading for me and growing for Arcadia, and then they had a daughter. Once Joseph was older and started getting his witch powers, they sent him here to live with me."

"Is he still alive?"

He nods his head, "yes, his sister too."

"Did you ever fall in love again?" I ask.

He shakes his head, "I tried, but nobody ever compared to Rose."

I think for a second, "do you ever wish you would've never loved Rose?"

"Absolutely not. Losing her did hurt of course, but no other feeling ever compared to being with Rose, even for a second. I don't regret it at all."

"Do you regret leaving?"

"No," he shakes his head, "she became very happy with Arcadia."

"Beth said you knew Rose would fall in love with Arcadia, how? I'm sorry for all of the questions."

"Don't apologize, I understand completely. I don't know how I knew, it was just a gut feeling I guess. When the time for her to see Arcadia got closer, that gut feeling grew stronger and stronger."

I rest my chin on my hand and sigh.

Vince reaches over and pats my knee, "don't worry about him, he loves you and all he wants is for you to be happiness."

"Are you guys related, you and Jayden? Or have you met before?"

He shakes his head, "no, we come from very different covens. The only thing we have in common besides being witches is the fact that we were both brought to Beth."

"When did you last see her?"

"After Arcadia died, she came to me for comfort. We got close again for a while, she told me about her life and I told her about mine. I watched over her and tried to keep her safe, but I failed."

"What happened?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you, but you'll find out soon enough."

There's a few minutes of silence before he gets up and held out his hand to help me up, "I want to show you something, Olivia."

I nod as he loops his arm through mine and starts leading me through the woods, we walk for a few minutes before we stop to rest and take in the scenery.

"Are your legs hurting?" Vince asks, nodding toward the scratches on my ankles from of the twigs and prickles.

I shake my head, "not really, I'll just put something on it when I get home."

He smiles and holds out his arm, "shall we continue?"

I loop my arm through his and we keep walking.

"What has your life been like since Rose has been gone?"

He looks surprised by the question but quickly smiles, "I was very sad at first, but I started channeling my sorrow into art, I travel around the world and paint the beautiful things I see that remind me of her. I still feel sad sometimes when I think about her, but I know I will see her again one day."

"That's amazing, I love art."

"So did Rose, you remind me a lot of her."

"I do? How?"

"You have a lot of the same traits she did. You're curious, brave, smart, kind, you light up the world. I can understand why Jayden loves you."

I smile but then my mind travels back to Arcadia, I'm scared that I'll fall in love with him and lose Jayden.

Vince stops walking and looks at me, "it's okay Olivia, let yourself love as deeply as you can. Make the best of the time you have, there's no guarantee that your time with him will end. Don't hold yourself back from what you want."

I feel my eyes start to well up with tears, I turn away embarrassed.

Vince gently turns me back toward him by my shoulder and wraps me into a hug. "It's okay to be scared, Olivia. A lot is happening, but everything will be okay. I promise everything will fall into place, just do what makes you happy."

I pull away as a tear slips down my face, I quickly wipe it away. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I completely understand, Olivia. Rose went through the same thing. Everything will be okay."

We start walking again and then we hit the edge of a field, a field full of flowers. The same field that Vince took Rose to on their last night together, it looks even more beautiful in real life.

"It's beautiful." I say, looking around.

I look at him and he seems to be lost in his thoughts, he quickly snaps back into reality. "It is. It's my favorite place to go, it was Rose's too. I thought it might help your memory if you come see it for yourself."

I smile at him, "thank you for taking me here." I lay down in the grass and close my eyes, spreading my arms out to the side and taking in the sun.

When I sit up, he's sitting near me in the grass, looking up at the clouds. We stand up and he leads me across the field.

We reach the other edge and there's a big tree, "this is where you and Rose had your last picnic."

He nods and points down to a big cross next to the tree, I walk over and sit next to the cross, reading the words engraved in it:

Rose

Fly free my angel

"Is this where she's buried?" I ask.

"Sort of, she wanted to be cremated. Some of her ashes are buried here, some are buried next to Arcadia, and the rest are with the kids."

We sit in silence, looking at her grave for a few more moments before finally getting up, "we should go back, Beth and Jayden are waiting for you."

I nod and he helps me up off the ground, we start walking back toward the woods. As we reach the woods, I turn to him, "thank you for answering my questions today."

"You're welcome, is there anything else you'd like to know?" He asked. I shook my head and we kept walking through the woods.

We hear a loud sound coming from behind us and we both turn to look. There is a man standing there with black wings and red eyes.

"Run!" Vince yells.

I start running while my heart beats through my chest, I want to turn back for Vince but I know that I can't turn around. I hear wings right behind me and a loud screech, I run even faster but I can hear the wings getting closer.

I feel someone grab me and I let out a scream.

"It's okay, I've got you."

I let out a sigh of relief as Vince carries me back to Jayden's house. As we get closer I see Jayden and Beth running toward us.

We get to the edge of Jayden's yard to where he's standing and Vince carefully sets me on my feet. Jayden holds out his arms and I fall into them, I can feel his heart beating just as fast as mine, holds me tight and gently strokes my back, "are you okay?" He asks, stepping back with wide eyes.

I nod my head and he turns to Beth. "They know where she is now, what are we going to do?"

She thinks for a second before answering him, "they can't hurt her here, she's safe. Once we're more prepared we will all fight, we can defeat them. Until then, she will stay here, and so will you."

"What about you? Won't they try to hurt you too?" I ask.

Beth shakes her head, "they won't waste their energy on me. They'll only hurt the angels that they need to because it drains them, and right now they can't get to you whether they hurt me or not. I need to get home, will you guys be okay?"

Jayden and I nod our heads, we both give her a hug and tell her goodbye. I thank Vince for saving me and for answering my questions, and then they both leave.

Jayden takes my hand and we walk to the house, "are you sure you're okay, Olivia?"

"Yes, just a little shaken up. Are you okay?"

He nods, "I heard the fallen angels and I was just scared to lose you."

We go upstairs to the living room and sit on the couch. I lay my head on Jayden and sigh, "I'm scared."

"I know you are, but I won't let anything happen to you, and neither will Beth.

I shake my head, "that's not what I mean."

He looks at me and his eyes soften, "Look at me, everything will be okay, I promise"

"Vince told me he never loved anyone after Rose."

He nods, already knowing where this conversation is going, "I love you, my beautiful queen. I don't care what's going to happen, I only care about what's happening now. It doesn't even matter what happens because I already love you more than I have ever loved anything in my life. Ending things now won't make it hurt any less, it will only make us miss out on what we could be. Please don't worry, don't let your fear of what may or may not happen in the future ruin your happiness. I know you're worried that you'll hurt me but you don't need to worry, I would take a million bullets just to be able to be with you for even 5 minutes. Nothing will ever be a regret with you Olivia, you have my heart."

He barely finishes his sentence when I press my lips against his. He deepens the kiss and pulls me on his lap. I pull away and smile at him, "you called me your queen."

He smiles and kisses my forehead, "because I want to treat you like the queen you are, are you okay with me calling you that?"

I smile, "of course it is, only if you're okay with being my king."

"It would be my honor."

We smile and lock eyes for a few seconds, and then he gently pulls my face closer and brings his warm, soft lips to mine once again.

This time the kiss is slow and tender, it feels more intimate. I can feel myself falling more and more in love with him with each second that passes, but this time I'm not holding my feelings for him back.

I wrap my arms around his neck, he then wraps one arm around my back and the other around the back of my neck. He carefully flips me over so that he's on top. He pulls back for a second to tuck my hair behind my ear and caress my cheek, and then brings his lips back to mine.

Our lips and tongues move together as he runs his hand through my hair. He moans into my lips, "I love you so much Olivia."

My whole body fills with a tingling sensation, I can't tell if it's love or lust, or maybe both. "I love you too Jayden."

He kisses my jawline down to my neck and lingers for a second, before he starts nibbling and sucking at the base of my neck. His eyes fill with amusement, "your eyes are so beautiful all of the time, but I love seeing them like this."

His phone is sitting on the table and it starts ringing, I see Liz's name pop up. He sighs and looks at me, "I have to take that, I'll be right back."

He disappears up the stairs for about 10 minutes, when he comes back down he seems distressed. He sits back down next to me and plants a kiss on my forehead, "I have to go take care of a few things, but it will only take a couple of hours. How about you do something fun and I'll be back in time to make dinner. If you get bored and would like to cut up some veggies you can, but you don't have to do that. I want you to have fun. However you can not leave the perimeter of the property because you won't be safe, and also please don't fly when you don't have anyone to protect you. I want you to be safe."

"What happened? Is Liz okay?"

He looks down, "I will be honest with you because I love you, Liz is in danger but I will be going to get her out of it. Everything will be okay."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Please be careful Jayden, I can't lose you."

"I will be okay, I love you my beautiful queen. I will see you at dinner."

"I love you, my king."

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AUTHORS NOTE

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Hello my beautiful readers 😊

So I have a few questions, and if you don't care then go ahead on with the story. If you do want to help me out then stay with me here lol

This is my first story that I've actually published parts of, I have started many many stories but I give up on myself pretty easily.

If you have been reading this story, I apologize for how long this part took to upload. I have been having second thoughts about this story and almost deleted it, but I've decided that I actually like it so far so I'm going to stick with it.

Any input would be highly appreciated, any criticisms with the story or with my writing would be appreciated (just try to keep it respectful). Anything that you do/don't like. I feel like not many people are enjoying my story(I may be wrong)

And I'm sorry if it's seems like I'm fishing for compliments, I'm really not. I'm 100% fine with only negative comments. I just want to improve my writing and I have a hard time finishing things if I feel like they aren't good.