“I know,” Sarah said as she wrapped her arms around me. “But you have to do what makes you happy. Maybe West is what will make you happy.”
I turned so that I was facing her. “Thank you, Sarah,” I said with a half-smile. “For all of this,” I said as I indicated the hair and the dress.
“You look beautiful,” Sarah said with a sly smile. “West won’t be able to keep his hands off of you!”
I just chuckled and rolled my eyes at her. “Come on,” I said as I stood and pulled her up with me. “Let’s get this over with.”
We sat down at the table, surrounded by Morgan, Eli, Bill, and Wix. Piles of food had been placed on the table, a good chunk of our left over stores from the previous fall’s harvest. The elk I had killed earlier had been prepared in every way I could think possible. Gabriel sat at the head of the long table, his family gathered around him. I had never seen him look so happy. He deserved it.
I glanced down the table as I ate. Avian sat near Gabriel’s family. I noticed he still wouldn’t look at me. It made my insides feel strange and not in a pleasant way. I almost felt sick. West was seated at the middle of the table, next to Graye. He on the other hand kept glancing down at me, the barest hint of a smile ever present on his face, the smile of a secret. West’s glances did other strange things to my insides, things that I kind of liked.
“I’d like to make a toast,” Avian said halfway through the meal, standing up and holding his glass. “To Gabriel. To the man who has always kept us safe. The man who has willingly led us, for not having to be asked to do so. To the man who has built this place we call home. To Gabriel.”
“To Gabriel,” we echoed.
As the meal came to a close, an unfamiliar sound came from the head of the table. It was then that I noticed Wix had disappeared as well as a few other people. They were now the source of the noise I heard.
“What are those?” I asked Sarah as I observed them.
“Teresa is playing a guitar,” Sarah said quietly to me. “Thereon is playing a drum. And Wix is playing his violin. He was something of a child protégé when he was young, before the Fall. He got to play at all these world class venues and with famous symphonies.”
I watched them as they played. The sounds were beautiful, but so foreign and strange to me. I knew nothing of music but something told me these instruments were not normally played together. Still, it was the most beautiful thing I had heard. It may as well have been magic.
As people finished their meals, they drifted to the sides of the table, and started doing what I could only guess was dancing. The tables were cleared away and a bonfire was built in the middle of the clearing, the dancers moving around the fire.
I stood to the side along the tree line, watching how they moved. At first it had looked so strange, so silly. But as I observed the way they moved in time with the music I understood why they did it. There was something about the music that spoke to a place inside of me. Dancing was a way to let the body and the music combine.
“You look really beautiful tonight,” a voice said from behind me. I turned to see Gabriel come to my side.
“Thank you,” I said as my eyes dropped to my bare feet. “I feel so exposed.”
Gabriel chuckled, his lips disappearing into the mass of his beard as they pressed together. “Not exactly what you’re used to.”
“I’ve never worn a dress before.”
“It’s good for you. A reminder of what you really are.” When I didn’t say anything in response Gabriel filled it in. “Human.”
“Thank you, Gabriel,” I said quietly as I looked back down at my feet. “Happy birthday.”
He gave a chuckle and then a sigh. “I feel so old.”
“That’s a good thing,” I reminded him. “Not too many get to feel old anymore.”
Footsteps approached us and we both looked up to see West coming to join us, his hands stuffed in his pockets.
“Happy birthday, Gabriel,” he said. “Eve,” he gave a nod in my direction.
“Thank you. Well, I’d better get back to my party,” Gabriel said with a grin that got lost in his beard again. He wandered back into the crowd.
West and I stood there for a few moments, staring at the scene before us. The fire, the people dressed up, the music, and the laughter. It was almost as if the Fall had never happened.
But in that case, we would probably be inside a building, not under the stars. There would be a heater warming the room, not a billowing fire that licked out at the night air. I think I almost preferred it this way.
“You look beautiful,” West finally broke the silence.
“Thank you,” I said, feeling heat rush to my cheeks, both from his compliment and at the feeling of our shoulders brushing. West slipped his hand out of his pocket and his fingers intertwined with mine.
“Would you dance with me, Eve?” he said quietly as we both continued to watch the people move before us.
A smile tried to break out on my lips but I shook my head. “I don’t know how. I’ll look ridiculous.”
He looked at me for a moment, that look in his eyes that made my stomach do strange quivers. He took a step toward the woods, pulling me behind him.
We didn’t go far, just through the trees enough that no one would see us. We stopped where the trees met the sandy water’s edge.
“No one has to see you dance,” he said quietly as we stood face to face. We could still faintly hear the music coming through the trees. West took one of my hands in his, wrapping his other hand around my waist. I placed my other hand on his shoulder since that seemed like the right place to put it. West pulled me closer and I let my head settle on his chest as we just rocked side to side in a small circle.
The sound of West’s heart beating matched the slow rhythm of the music. I closed my eyes and let the symphony of it reach inside me and find the part of me that was real, the human part.
“So have you thought about what I said?” he said quietly into my ear, his cheek resting on the top of my head. “I know you feel things.”
“It’s so strange. I’ve never felt things like this before. It’s overwhelming,” I said quietly into the soft cloth of his shirt.
“Is it bad though?”
I considered it for half a moment and then shook my head. “No,” I whispered. I didn’t tell him how it terrified me more than anything else had terrified me though. I’d been through a lot in my life and developing feelings was the scariest thing I had ever faced.
West slowed to a stop and brought his hand to my chin. Slowly he tipped my face up to his, his eyes staring down at mine with intensity. In that moment, I thought I almost remembered them looking at me through a window, younger and more innocent. Almost.
“I’m glad you don’t remember,” he said in a low voice, his eyes turning darker. “Even if that means you don’t remember me.”
“Good thing you found me then,” I said.
He tipped his head down and his lips met mine, brushing them so softly they tingled with anticipation as if they’d never touched at all.
“What was that?” I hissed as I whipped my head toward the tree line, stepping away from West and into a stance ready to spring. My ears strained, listening for the sound of a branch breaking again. I smelled at the air, searching for signs of life that shouldn’t be there.
I took a few steps into the trees, West stepping quietly behind me. “I didn’t hear anything besides the party.”
“Shh,” I hissed at him, my eyes straining to see through the dark. A figure stepped back into the clearing at the exact same time someone else stepped toward us.
“Eve?” Sarah’s voice called through the dark. “Is that you?”
I sighed as I glanced back at West who had a very annoying smile on his face.
“A little paranoid?” he said quietly.