May 10, 2023

Syn

"What for?" I asked, adjusting Saint in my arms.

When she looked up at me, relief flooded her eyes and she wrapped her arms around me, making me stumble back slightly. With my free arm, I wrapped it around her and held her tightly against me.

I, unfortunately, wasn't here to witness the entire conversation. But I did hear the last bit and it made me want to go back into Aiden's room and beat him to a pulp. I wanted to interfere as soon as I heard him raise his voice, but I held back. She needed to do it alone and to my disappointment, it wasn't my place to come in and rescue her.

"Come on," I said to her. "Let's go."

We headed down the hall together to the elevator and I kept my hand on the small of her back. She hadn't said anything since leaving Aiden's room, but I wouldn't push her. If she wanted to talk, she would. I had a feeling that just being there was comfort enough.

We reached the elevator on the floor and I pressed the button. While we waited, I looked down at her and she glanced up at me. Neither one of us said anything, but for a brief second, I could sense exactly how she was feeling.

Relief.

The elevator opened and a familiar woman caught my eye. I tried to remember where exactly I knew her from but failed miserably. "Queen? Is that you?" She spoke with a huge smile. "How are you?

"I-I'm good." Queen nodded. "How are you?"

"I could be better," she said. "I'm too old to be worrying about this boy." Queen laughed with her and her eyes floated to me. "And who might you be?" She asked.

I glanced at Queen who seemed like she didn't know what to say and decided to take matters into my own hands. "I'm a friend of hers. You?," I asked, reaching my hand out for hers.

She quickly shook it and gave me a sweet smile. "Great to meet you! I'm Aiden's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Greene."

"Call me Simone," she insisted. Her hold on my hand lingered as she looked at me and I glanced at Queen awkwardly. "Have I seen you somewhere before?"

"It's possible," I answered. "I tend to get around."

"Hmm." She let go of my hand and returned it to the bottom of what looked like a pie. There was aluminum foil over it so I couldn't exactly tell, but there was the familiar circular shape. "Aww, is this your son?" She asked me.

"Yes, it is."

"Oh wow, he's precious," she said in a small voice. "Are y'all sure you don't want to hang around for a little while? I brought pie."

"As great as that sounds, we have an important meeting to get to," I said. "Thank you for the offer."

"Of course." She smiled.

"What type of pie?" Queen asked from beside me and I held back a groan. If she was hungry, I'd get her something to eat but right now we needed to leave.

"It's a Reese's cup pie," she said. "You know whose little chocolate candies? They're Aiden's favorite so I just...made it into a pie." They both laughed together and I looked between them in confusion. "I figured it would cheer him up a bit."

"Of course." Queen nodded. "It does sound delicious, but he's right," she looked up at me, "we do have to go. Maybe some other time?"

"Absolutely," she said, stepping aside to let the other people onto the elevator. "You have my number, feel free to call or come over anytime. We'd love to have all of y'all over."

"I appreciate it," Queen said sweetly. The woman gave us one more smile before walking past us. I pressed the elevator button, annoyed that we missed it multiple times because of their conversation.

"Wait, Simone," Queen called out. I sighed in irritation and she gave me an apologetic look before looking back at Aiden's mother. "I've actually been getting into baking..."

You can't cook.

"...and that pie actually sounds amazing. When you said Reeses's cups, you meant the little chocolate ones with the peanut butter inside, right?"

"Yup!" She said. "What you do is blend them up until it's smooth, okay? Then you can use it for your crust or filling. It's delicious."

"And you said it was Aiden's favorite?" Queen asked.

"Ever since he was a little boy." She smiled.

"It was nice seeing you, Simone."

"You too, Queen."

What the hell was that?

"Please don't make me a pie," I said to her as the elevator doors dinged open. "I like my kitchen how it is."

We walked into the elevator together and she nudged my side. "I wasn't planning to."

"Then what was all that back there?"

She bit the inside of her cheek as the door closed in front of us. "There's peanut butter in the pie."

"Okay...and?"

"Aiden told me he was in here because of a bad reaction to a peanut butter allergy."

"So he lied?" The elevator opened into the parking garage and Queen walked ahead of me. "Why lie about something like that?"

"I don't know, but it's too weird not to look into," she said as she walked up to the car. I unlocked the door, thinking about her revelation as I placed Saint into his car seat.

When I entered the car, Queen remained quiet and lost in thought. I sat back, waiting for her to at least put on her seatbelt. When she made no moves to do so, I reached over her and put it on for her. "Tell me what you're thinking."

She turned to me. "Someone close to me gave my number to Drake. What if it was him?" She asked and I raised my brow in surprise at the reach she made. "What? Think about it. He has my phone number...Drake is in business with his father— I don't know why I didn't think about this before. At the party, his father introduced him to Drake...but what if they already knew each other? What if they fucked up that night trying to do whatever they were planning and last night was some master plan to get me alone in the hospital?"

"I love the way your brain is working right now," I said lowly. "But you need to slow down for me. What if you're wrong and connecting puzzle pieces that don't go together?"

"I could be." She nodded. "But something doesn't feel right...If he's able to keep up a lie that small for over a year...then imagine what else he's capable of hiding."

I listened to her words, completely letting them soak in and she had a point. Even if she was wrong, there was something strange going on. "I'll look into him," I said.

"Umm, no," she said. "Since you forbade me from helping you with Drake, I'm forbidding you from helping with Aiden. I'll look into him. You can continue with Drake."

"And what if they're connected?"

"Then you and I will bump into one another at some point down the line."

"Fine," I said, starting the car. "Tell me everything you find out?"

"Of course." She looked behind her seat at Saint and smiled. "Now let's put this all aside for now and go home, yeah?"

I nodded and reversed out of the parking spot. I drove down the garage, turning the corner and descending into a lower and darker level. "Where are we going?"

"Did you think we would be driving to the Underworld?" I glanced at her and smiled. "There are much more effective methods of transportation."

꧁꧂

Queen

Syn kept driving lower and lower down the parking structure and I sat back curiously. I didn't know where he was going with this, but I trusted him enough not to question it.

After driving down three levels, he parked his car in the far corner of the empty garage. The only thing there was an abandoned camper a couple of spots away that would hide Syn's car from view. He turned the car off and I looked at him in confusion as he left the car and walked around to my and Saint's side.

He opened the door for me and I removed the seatbelt before stepping out. I still wasn't sure what was going on, but he seemed like he knew exactly what he was doing.

He detached Saint's entire car seat and lifted the hidden handle to carry him out. "Can you help me grab the bags from the trunk?" He asked as he closed the backseat door.

I did as he said and opened the trunk. I carried the few bags onto my arms and when I was done I closed it and headed to Syn. He touched the empty wall in front of him and I smiled as a portal appeared. "It's been a while, huh?" He asked.

It definitely had. I couldn't remember the last time I had been in one. I never felt the need to travel that way on Earth considering everything I needed was a drive away. I missed having the freedom to travel through realms freely though.

"Ready?" Syn asked me. I nodded and he tilted his head for me to go through first. I took a calming breath and did just that. My feet landed in his bedroom and I took a look around. Everything looked the same. His minimal decoration and dark color scheme flowed effervescently throughout the room as per usual and there wasn't a spec of dirt to be seen.

Syn appeared next to me with Saint and ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. "I hope it's not too boring for you in here," he said. "We could always redecorate together if you—"

"It's fine." I set the bags down and took a look around. "I love it."

"Good," he said as he tried to hold back a smile at my admission. He placed Saint's car seat down on the floor before removing him from it and setting him on the bed. "I sent a text to everyone earlier that I'd be home around noon."

"What time is it now?"

"Three," he said. I gawked at him and he shrugged innocently. "What?" I couldn't have known it would take so long to get to the hospital."

"Seriously?"

"It's fine," he said. "I'm always late. They know this."

"By three hours?"

He squinted his eyes in thought for a few moments before shrugging. "Okay, there is a first time for everything." I crossed my arms and he pulled my arms closer to him. "Are you being so uptight because you're nervous?"

"I'm not being uptight."

"Yes, you are," he said. "Just a little." I sighed and he stopped teasing, looking down at me seriously. "Look, if you're not ready, we can leave, okay? There's no pressure to do this today."

"I want to," I insisted. " I'm ready."

"Let's head down then."

I picked Saint up and he pointed to the floor. I set him down on his feet and he grabbed my fingers, taking small steps to the door. As soon as we walked out, I sucked in a sharp breath as I was faced to face with my old bedroom when I was Queen. All the painful memories of what happened behind that door soared through my mind and my heart ached.

"What's wrong?" Syn asked from behind me.

"Umm." I cleared my throat and shook my head. "Nothing. Where am I heading?"

"Dining room," he said, taking Saint's other hand.

We walked down the dark and quiet halls together and I took everything in. It was all still the same and I loved everything about it. The only thing that bothered me was that room.

Syn would look at me every few seconds and I wondered if it was because he sensed something was wrong. I would plaster a smile on my face for him and return my attention to anything else. He didn't say anything, but I knew better than to think he'd believe my act. He knew me like the back of his hand.

"Here we are," Syn whispered, lifting Saint into his arms. I took a deep breath, hearing the chatter behind the door and Syn looked down at me. "It's not too late to turn back, you know."

"I know," I whispered. "I'm ready."

And he pushed open the double doors.

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Omgggg😭😭😭

Is anyone else scared?
We kind of have a lot to talk about though.
First of all...Aiden. What do you guys think is going on? Is Queen tripping or do you think she's on to something?🤔

There was a moment in this chapter where Queen was faced to face with her old bedroom. She's not exactly telling Syn about it, but maybe he knows she's hiding something👀 how do u think that'll go?

Lastly...but not leastly...
How do you guys think this reunion is going to go?🙈 Are we glad to be back home ORRR is this not the home you guys want?

Lmk your thoughts ❤️

There was going to be one more chapter but this felt like a great place to end it hehe. Stay tuned for an announcement on the next day I'll post✨