A/N: Alright, quick heads-up, readers—what's coming next shifts gears a bit.
From here to Chapter 24, we're diving into a flashback arc centered on Blue. It's the story behind the story—the moments, choices, and scars that shaped who Blue is now.
If you're here strictly for the BxB action, no worries—you can skip ahead to Chapter 25. The main storyline picks right back up from Chapter 15, so you won't feel lost at all.
But if you stick around, you might just see everything in a whole new light.
Happy reading.
(BLUE'S POV)
The road that brought me here—to Mason—had been a brutal, unrelenting war.
Every scar, every loss, every endless lonely night had carved the path. Step by bleeding step, through centuries of wandering and pain, all of it had led me to this single moment.
And now, as I held him in my arms, the memories I had buried deep for nine hundred and thirty years began clawing their way back to the surface.
Memories I had fought desperately to forget. Because the truth, plain and merciless, was this:
Nine hundred and thirty years ago…
I died.
******
FLASHBACK — 930 YEARS AGO
I remember that morning like it happened an hour ago.
The sky had been impossibly blue.
The roses in my mother's garden were bright red, blooming like little flames against the wooden fence. Their scent filled the air as bees buzzed lazily around them.
My mother hummed softly while watering them.
I remember that most clearly.
Because I was kneeling beside her, pulling weeds from under the rose bushes.
"Why are you so quiet today, Blue?" my mother, Evelyn Robert, asked gently, glancing over her shoulder at me.
My mother was a tiny woman, but somehow she always filled the space around her.
Her eyes were the bluest things you would ever see. Not just blue—deep ocean blue. The kind that sparkled when she smiled.
She had long black hair that she often tied back loosely when working in the garden. I had inherited most of her features.
Unfortunately, I had inherited my height and hot temper from my father.
Which meant trouble.
"It's Margaret, Mother," I muttered, yanking a weed out of the soil with perhaps more violence than necessary. "Do I really have to marry her?"
My mother sighed.
Ah.
That sigh.
It was the sigh of a woman who had already heard this complaint approximately one hundred times.
"I barely know her," I continued. "Actually, I know nothing about her."
Which was entirely true.
All I knew was, Margaret was fifteen and I was nineteen.
And apparently that made us the perfect match because her father was my father's business partner.
Logic at its finest.
"Oh dear," my mother said sympathetically. "Not this again."
"Mother," I groaned, dropping the weeds and turning toward her, "I don't even like Margaret, let alone love her. Can't you talk to Father? Please?" I clasped my hands together dramatically.
"Just once, be on my side."
My mother smiled softly. Which immediately made me suspicious.
"Blue," she said gently, "your father and I didn't know each other either."
I groaned louder.
"We met for the first time on our wedding day," she continued calmly. "Our parents arranged everything."
"That does not sound encouraging," I muttered.
She ignored me.
"And now look at us. We have four sons and two daughters. We built a life together. We love each other very much."
She touched my cheek affectionately.
"You will learn to love Margaret."
I stared at her. Then stood up abruptly.
"No," I said flatly.
My mother blinked. "No?"
"I'm never marrying her!"
And with that extremely mature declaration, I stormed away from the garden, boots crushing the neatly trimmed grass as I went.
Very heroic.
Very dramatic.
Very nineteen-year-old of me.
"I mean it!" I shouted over my shoulder as I marched toward the forest, waving a hand in the air like a man making a grand political speech instead of a teenager having a meltdown. "I'm never marrying her!"
Unfortunately for my dignity…
That was the exact moment my father stepped outside the house.
The back door creaked open just as my voice echoed across the yard. The cool morning air carried my declaration perfectly across the garden.
Along with him were his best friend Jeremy, and Jeremy's wife Sofia.
My father—Robert, though his friends called him Rob—stopped mid-step on the porch, one hand still on the doorframe. His eyebrows slowly rose.
He had definitely heard me.
There was absolutely no doubt about that.
"Blue!" he called sharply.
But I was far too angry to listen. Or maybe too embarrassed. Hard to say.
Either way… listening was not on today's agenda.
So naturally…
I ran into the woods.
Because nothing solves family conflict quite like dramatic forest running.
Branches brushed against my shoulders as I stomped down the narrow dirt trail, leaves crunching under my boots while my anger kept my legs moving faster and faster. The tall trees swallowed the sounds of the house behind me, replacing them with rustling leaves and distant birds.
Behind me I heard footsteps.
Not my father's.
Too light.
Too controlled.
They were Jeremy and Sofia's.
They caught up to me quickly, which was honestly unfair considering I had a good head start and was fueled entirely by teenage rage. Jeremy reached out and placed a large hand on my shoulder, steadying me before I could storm any farther into the forest.
The man wasn't even breathing hard like I was.
"What's the matter, son?" he asked kindly, his voice calm and patient like he had all the time in the world. "Why are you so angry?"
That single question was all it took for my dam to break.
All the frustration, embarrassment, and anger that had been boiling inside me suddenly spilled out.
"I hate this family!" I snapped, spinning around to face them. My voice came out louder than I expected, echoing slightly through the trees. "Father and Mother are always deciding everything for me!"
I kicked a rock across the dirt path. It skidded through the dust before disappearing into the bushes.
"My siblings are no help either!" I continued bitterly. "They're all perfectly happy to roll over and obey so they can inherit Father's land someday!"
I crossed my arms tightly over my chest, glaring down at the ground like the dirt had personally offended me.
"I wish I wasn't part of this family at all."