I woke up on the anniversary of the eighth week of my curse with my heart beating my anxiety and my mind flooded by what had happened the last couple of days.

It still felt a bit like my head was spinning while I forced myself out from under my covers. I pulled on my robe and forced myself out to meet the day ahead of me.

Serge was not in the kitchen, but Karen was. I peeked in her direction and saw she was wearing her typical kind smile. "Good morning. How're you feeling, Elise?"

I supposed she had probably seen me the previous night while I huddled in the shelter, but I had not seen her through the storm of the curse.

"I'm okay," I said, and it was relatively true.

"Want me to get you breakfast?" she asked.

I nodded. I could manage myself if I had to, but I still felt shaken after the previous night.

"Eggs and bacon?" she offered.

I nodded my agreement, because I still did not care what I ate. I sat down at the island and fought the curse like I always did.

I heard Serge's footsteps as he walked into the room.

"Morning," he said.

"Eggs?" Karen offered him.

"Please," he said.

I glanced over at him and saw him tapping furiously on his phone and that he had a pile of papers under his arm. His brow was furrowed and he looked upset.

I had not been in any condition to observe him the night before while Matthias had carried me inside, but his obvious distress made me question the outcome of the battles. Obviously the enemy forces had been stopped, but Serge seemed less depressed and more actively stressed this morning.

I bit my lip. "S-Serge? Um, what happened last night?"

I dared a glance and saw him frowning. My guess seemed to have been correct.

"It wasn't good," he told me.

"Oh," I said, not daring to ask for further clarification even though that much had already been obvious.

"Austin lost two fighters and we lost two as well," Serge added.

My stomach sank, both with distress for the loss and with guilt for feeling relieved that it seemed my father's pack had been unharmed this time.

"Who?" I managed to ask.

"Ivan and William from Austin's. I don't think you ever met Nelson, but Peter has been by the office a few times."

I nodded. I had the vaguest memory of Peter being a spirited man about my own age. There was a lump in my throat that threatened to choke me.

"Do you need to go in early this week? I can skip my run," I offered him, my voice shaking more than I would like.

"Thank you, Elise."

"And, I guess you'll need to attend the funerals? I can go there with you, too." I did not want to, but I would be a coward to avoid it.

"I'm not sure when they are going to be exactly yet, but I appreciate that."

"It's the least I can do."

Karen slipped a plate in front of both of us. I had almost forgotten she was there. "I'll be going, too. You can sit with my family, Elise."

"Thanks, K-Karen," I said. Even though the curse still wanted me to fear her, she was always a good buffer against the rest of the pack.

I ate as efficiently as I could. I gulped down my medication and juice and quickly went back to my room to get ready for another day at the office with Serge.

* * * * * * * * *

The office was as busy as ever and I hide in my crevice office with my things and my cell phone. I texted my dad that I was fine which was at least partly true, and then I wrote everything that had happened in my journal for Alexi. After that was done, I tried reading for a bit, until I was interrupted by the ringing of my phone.

I jumped out of my skin and scrambled to get it. I breathed a little more evenly once I realized that it was Matthias's home phone. I touched the screen to answer with my icy finger.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Elise. How're you feeling?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I asked instead of answering. I was not the one who had lost people I loved the last night.

"I don't know. But I want to know that you're okay."

"I'm okay," I assured him. "It gets better after I'm back around Serge for a while."

"I see," he said and I identified the note of displeasure that he tried to hide.

It was time to change the subject. "Do you work today?"

"Yeah, I've got night patrol."

"I'm surprised you're not sleeping then."

"I woke up early and couldn't get back to sleep. Want to have lunch together?"

I frowned. "You're spending too much time rushing back and forth, Matt. I don't want you wasting the time you should be resting on me."

"I'm not wasting anything, Elise. I relax best when I'm with you."

I did not bother to argue with him. Instead I just smiled. "Okay, Matt. I guess I'll trust you to take care of yourself."

"Well..."

"Don't make me regret my words," I laughed.

He laughed. "I'll see you about noon then," he said.

After we said goodbye and hung up, I went back to my near futile attempt at reading.

* * * * * * * * *

As promised, there was a knock on my door at lunchtime. I called out a greeting and the door opened and Matthias strode into the room.

"Hi Matt," I said, feeling happiness almost overwhelm the curse fear.

"Hey, Elise. I don't know if you've got lunch, but I brought you something." He held up a bag.

I probably already had something because I usually ate whatever Serge gave me. I felt a bit guilty again and the curse clawed at my skin, as if to remind me of what a terrible person I was. I forced my attention away from the feeling.

"Want to eat outside? It's a beautiful day."

I bit my lip indecisively.

"I'll go ask Serge," Matthias said, but he sounded more weary than angry and for that I was glad. He dropped the bag on the desk next to me and retreated out the door.

He returned a moment later. "He knows, you have permission," he said. He did an admirable job of almost keeping the resentment out of his voice. "I've got your juice." He showed me the bottle as he set it in the bag with the lunch he had brought.

"Thanks, Matt." I felt another swell of affection at the lengths Matthias would go for me.

I knew that Matthias would happily battle enemies and climb mountains, but putting aside his angry pride to ask permission from the one who held my curse was a step I could barely believe. If I had needed proof that he meant it when he told me he loved me, this would be it.

Matthias held out his hand for me to take and grabbed the bag with the other one. I let him lead me out of the office. The secretary at the door gave me a little smile when I met her eyes as we passed and went out the door. Did that mean she approved? Next time I was back home with Matt there was little doubt we would get similar expressions all over the place.

Matthias stopped and looked around. "I guess we can't go too far, can we?" he asked as he glanced around the area outside the office. I followed his gaze around the gravel parking lot where Isaac's truck was parked with the other vehicles, the gravel road and the clearing around the offices lined with trees.

"Why don't we go over there?" I asked, pointing to a flat spot in the sun behind the building. The slightly sheltered location, which might also help soothe the ever harassing curse magic.

"Okay," he agreed. I doubted he cared. We walked hand in hand and then he let mine go to spread out the blanket on the ground.

I smiled at him as he started pulling lunch out of the bag, sandwiches and a couple of salads.

"So did you make all this?" I kind of doubted it since Matthias had never really enjoyed cooking. We were going to have a fun time together since was no expert cook either, especially if the curse did not lift. Maybe our eventual fate was starvation, I thought sarcastically.

The curse crept over me for my sass. I moved closer to Matthias in an attempt to push aside the feeling. We would puzzle everything out together...somehow. I shrugged a bit.

"I made the sandwiches," Matthias said defensively.

I smiled at him. It was sort of cute when cracks occurred in his usual confidence.

"Thanks," I said to him as he handed me a sandwich.

We ate fairly quietly together and when we were finished we put the containers back in the bag. Matthias took my hand and looked at the ring on my finger. "When do we want to actually do this thing?"

I paused as the curse wandered lazily through my body, reminding me who was supposed to be in control. I gritted my teeth and said, "As soon as possible."

Matthias squeezed my hand. "Seriously?"

I nodded. "Please just sort out a date and Moramay will probably do the rest."

"My mother's willing to help, too."

I nodded. "That sounds great." It really did. Heading towards a possible cure to the curse while minimizing the decisions I had to make sounded like a fine idea, even if the curse attacked me again for thinking of it.

He paused, then asked, "So, you're saying, if we could get married, say, next Friday, that's when you want to do it?"

I met his eyes. "Y-yes."

"You're sure?"

I closed my eyes. "Matt, I've known you forever and I had been ignoring what might have been for a long time. I already know we'll be happy, so there's no reason not to try to break the c-curse as soon as we can."

He nodded. "Then I'll do what I can, Elise. If you're sure."

"I am sure."

"Sorry. You know, it still feels like I'm dreaming."

I nodded. "I guess we are going a bit fast."

He shook his head. "Fast, but it doesn't feel that way to me. I've been thinking about you for years, Elise."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. I had a thousand chances before this. I could have asked you to grad."

"You did ask me to grad."

"As a friend, Elise."

"Or to go to Kim's."

"We went to Kim's a thousand times."

"As friends, always as friends. I should have done something sooner and maybe things would be different now."

I shrugged and moved closer to him. "Or I would have been cursed and trying a new relationship to break the magic would not have been possible to attempt between us."

"Things would have been different," he said stubbornly.

"Maybe," I agreed. "Who can say where our choices lead?"

Whether or not things would have been different, at least now, for this one small moment, I was getting relief from my curse and I would take whatever small mercy I could get.