Page 70 of The Outsider
“I got something for you,” he answered as he reached into his pocket.
I shot him a quizzical look, and he withdrew a small ring box and opened it. There were two inside, both white gold. One was thin and delicate, and looked like two vines entwined together. The other was thicker, more masculine, with a simple adornment of two lines etched around its circumference.
“My parents’ wedding rings,” he said solemnly. “With the way they died, during the virus…my grandparents didn’t get to keep most of their stuff. These are the only things I have from my parents. I wanted to show them to you before our wedding day, and have you wear my mother’s at the council meeting.”
He took my left hand in his and slid the ring onto my finger. It was beautiful, and I knew what a big deal it was for him to give it to me. John treasured his grandparents, their home at Summerhurst, and his family memories. Giving me the ring meant that he thought of me as part of all that.
Given that, he probably didn’t expect that my reaction would be to burst into tears.
“Hey,” he murmured, drawing me close, his eyes wide with concern. “What’s wrong? Talk to me.”
To be fair, I was as surprised as he was by my sudden outpouring of emotion. But it hit me all at once that staying here was still a massive question mark, and that I may not be able to keep all these new people that I had already begun to feel attached to. More than that, if I couldn’t stay…I couldn’t ask John to abandon them. This was hisfamily.These were the people who had loved him his entire life.
“It’s not going to work,” I mumbled, swiping at my tears. “They won’t accept me, and I can’t…can’t ask you to leave this. They love you.”
John hugged me hard, and I couldn’t help but cling to him. Even if the worst happened, I knew I wouldn’t be able to graciously let him leave me. I was too selfish, and I loved him too much.
“Everything’ll be okay, sweetheart,” he said softly. “Theywillaccept you. I promise.”
“Don’t lie. You don’t know that.”
I nearly jumped out of my skin at Asha’s voice. She was sitting on the other side of the room at the kitchen table, looking grim. I hadn’t even noticed her.
“Should’ve gone with the mineshaft when I had the chance,” John muttered, though I didn’t understand what he meant.
“Yeah, thanks for noticing I’m still here, by the way,” Asha said sourly, glaring at me. “Did I suddenly become invisible to you and Kimmy?”
“Definitely not invisible,” John said sardonically, then turned back to me. “Listen, okay? I know it’s going to be fine. I wouldn’t say that if I didn’t have a good reason to think so.”
Asha eyed him with suspicion. “What’s this big reason, then?”
“Stop, Asha,” I bit out, returning her glare. “Lay off him.”
She sighed and turned away, and John rolled his eyes, then went right back to ignoring her. He lifted my chin so he could look in my eyes. “I can’t tell you how I know, but I need you to trust me on this, baby.”
His jaw was set, determined, and his eyes revealed no trace of nerves. I took a deep breath to steady myself, then said, “I do.”
“Good,” he replied, gently wiping away a tear with his thumb. “Christ, you had me worried you were getting cold feet for a minute there.”
I gave a watery laugh. “Never worry about that.”
“Everyone here has been drumming up support for you,” John said, kissing my ring. “It won’t go as badly as you think. A lot of people are ready for change.”
I nodded, feeling better. “Thank you for the ring. It’s beautiful. I’ll wear it proudly.”
He gave me that sweet, heart-stopping smile that he saved just for me, and my heart fluttered.
“Go mingle some more,” I said. “I want to talk with Asha.”
He shot a guarded look in her direction but nodded. “Alright. Call me if you need me.”
He headed back into the living room, and I went to sit across from Asha. She sat, arms crossed, her expression unreadable again.
“I’m sorry if we forgot you,” I said, “but nothing was stopping you from introducing yourself and talking to everyone. You were welcome.”
She scoffed. “I’m an afterthought, Claire. But I don’t have interest in mingling with a bunch of Wastelanders anyway.”
“Could you at least try for once?” I shot back, frustrated. “Living here is better than living anywhere else. Can you at least try to get along with people and act as though you’re happy to be here? Because I have news for you: nobody had to bring you here.”
