"Meow."
I stared quietly at the calm water of the lake that was near the place I'd once called home. My eyes focused on the smooth surface that looked perfectly untouched under the moonlight.
Even though Rainbow was doing her hardest to grab my attention and comfort me, I couldn't stop staring. I couldn't stop repeating what had just happened in my head over and over again.
"Destiny."
I didn't move. It was more like my body wouldn't move right now. I felt so pathetic, and I was unsure if I could get out of this mindset. How do you accept the fact that the person you were ready to share your life with, didn't love you because you weren't perfect in their eyes? I was so imperfect to the point I deserved to die to maintain the wish he'd desperately asked for.
How can I love again? After giving everything I had in hopes of pleasing the man I loved, the family I thought loved me in return, and the people I worked around all day and night, I felt as if I had nothing else to give.
Who would love me now? I wasn't perfect. I never thought of myself in that sense. I knew my curves weren't for everyone. I knew I didn't fit in because I was a mixed race. I knew that to the majority of my coworkers, I was considered a workaholic who cared about impressing my boss and only pushed hard to help the company be the best it could be.
All for what?
The world forgot about me. They traded rumors and spoke behind closed doors, but no one stood up wholeheartedly to help find out what really happened. The truth came out only because it benefited someone else's situation.
Everyone around me would have kept quiet otherwise. That was the hardest part. To acknowledge that everyone would have been fine with my murder and would have allowed it to slip under the rug.
My poor Snix must have thought I'd come back home and had brought over whatever she'd thought would be useful. A key piece of evidence that allowed my ex-fiancé to now be charged with 'murder.'
Everything that happened within these last two weeks had happened because of one wish. A selfish wish that a Jinn was okay with granting.
I couldn't deny that I had come to despise Marc. Even if it was his job, he could have seen the consequences such a wish would result in and yet, he let it be.
Thanks to him, I had suffered those seven days, and now, as I sat with Rainbow in my lap, it felt like the wound I thought was healing had been ripped open and was bleeding out.
I knew there was good to the situation. I could see that.
If it weren’t for all of this, I wouldn't have met the guys. Wouldn't have been able to experience such kindness from Luke, Jeremiah, Owen, and Cole. I wouldn't have found a mother who truly loved me with all my imperfections or Cedrick who showed such love and protectiveness a father would show his own child.
I wouldn't have found out about my ex-family being on the verge of bankruptcy. Knowing me, I would have helped them any way I could, and even supported them financially, thinking that was what family did when things were rough.
I would have never found out how Phillip felt about me. About our relationship. I never knew he was spreading lies and rumors about me across town, but I guess I was too oblivious to care. I thought he loved me, but that was all it was. Fabricated love that, even with the transparent signs, I had continued to fall for so that I wouldn't end up alone.
"Destiny."
"Meow?"
What now? What am I supposed to do? I can't go back. Not with how everything has turned out. I'm officially dead…
Thanks to Phillip's wish, my existence to the world was erased. If one person's wish could affect so many individuals, did I want to be a part of that world? To have the power and control to ruin someone’s or a group of people's lives because of the chain reaction one person's wish could create.
Was I ready to tackle it? I'd have to jump right into it if I did accept this new life.
And if I didn't decide to be a Jinn, I'd forget everything. Forget the kindness these four Jinns had shown me. Forget everything I'd just discovered.
I'd be back to where I was, but instead, it would be 90 days later, and everything would be fucked up. I'd enter a world where I technically didn't exist, and I'd leave the one place I'd felt like I belonged.
Not feel… I did belong here. This is my home… but am I ready?
"Destiny."
I flinched at the rather loud voice and turned my head to my left to see that Cole's face was inches from mine. My eyes grew wide before I glanced down to his lips. When did he get so close?
"Meow." I hadn't realized Rainbow wasn't in my lap anymore but in Cole's hand and right next to my face, until she reached out and gently patted my nose with her paw. She did it a few times before she sat back and stared at me with blue eyes that were wide and full of sadness.
"Cole… Rainbow."
"I know you need space, but I was getting worried when you stopped responding," Cole admitted.
"Sorry, I was..." I trailed off and lowered my head.
"You were thinking about what happened," Cole finished.
I nodded and lifted my knees to my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs and placed my head on top of my knees, my eyes returning to the calm water before us.
"Cole, I don't know what the fuck to do." I choked, realizing I was fucking screwed.
I felt like I was on a ticking clock and had to choose between the left path and the right path. Both paths could lead to shitty endings, but I had no time to decide on which one would be the right choice in the long run.
Cole sat down next to me and Rainbow hopped out of his hand and onto my shoulder. She snuggled herself between my shoulder and neck and began to purr quietly to help me calm down.
I started to cry, my shoulder moving up and down with my ongoing sobs.
"How am I supposed to do this? To have the power of granting wishes that could potentially mean fucking someone over for the sake of my own redemption? Marc didn't need to grant that wish. No, he SHOULDN'T have granted it. And yet he did! Now, look! Him granting Phillip's wish is exactly why I'm here. What if I wasn't a Jinn, Cole? What would I have done? Stayed in the hotel until my heart stopped beating? I'd have nowhere to go. No family to turn to. No one cared… and that's what hurts!"
I turned my head to show him a glimpse of my heartbreak as my tear-filled eyes locked onto his.
"No one gave a shit. They talked and pondered about how I could have possibly died, but everyone moved on. No one had the guts to take the step and say, 'Hey! This isn't right.' That's the group of people I surrounded myself with every day. The people I went above and beyond to try and please while sacrificing my own happiness! I'd get only 2 hours of sleep for these people. I'd skip meals, barely drink water, and run to the fucking toilet just to make ends meet. Jeez, I fucked up my apparent relationship because I cared more about helping the company he invested in instead of working on my ugly body image and shedding some pounds by doing the opposite and building muscle."
I took a few breaths and continued.
"Can I live and be a Jinn when I hold that much decision-making power in my hand? What if I make the wrong judgment and fuck up? Sure, I can reverse the wish but at what cost? There has to be a cost. There's just so much at risk, and I feel like I'll just contribute to someone else's pain. I'd rather die than hurt someone the way I hurt now."
"Destiny..." Cole reached out and placed his hand against my wet cheek. "The fact you care so deeply about how you'll affect another person is exactly why you are Merciful." He pulled me into his arms and Rainbow jumped off my shoulder so that I could sit in Cole's warm embrace. He let me rest my head against his chest and soothingly rubbed my back.
I didn't dare fight as I let my walls fall. I cried and cried, the tears rolling down my flushed cheeks and staining Cole's bare chest. My sobs carried into the cool night and I let all the pain out. It felt so right to cry, and it was even more comforting being in Cole's warm embrace.
Even when my sobs turned to whimpers and sniffles, he didn't let go. He held me like he'd hold a loved one when they were down and broken.
I didn't know if I'd be able to explain just how helpful his concern and comfort was. I couldn't confirm that this cry would help me think straight and decide on continuing, but I was happy to let go of so much sadness in my heart.
I pulled back and Rainbow sat there patiently looking at me with those wide eyes of hers that were now dark blue. I gave her a small smile and reached out to stroke her little head.
"I'm sorry. I… I just needed to cry so bad. I've never felt so sad in my life. That interaction, it was a lot. Maybe too much for me to take in. If you want to leave, you-"
"What did we say in the beginning, Destiny?"
I sighed and gave him the best smile I could while my eyes already started to water again. "You'll never desert me. I'm one of you guys." I sniffed.
"That still stands, and if it comes to the decision where you just want to part ways with the living, then I'll come too."
"What?! Why?! You just met me, Cole. I know nothing about you. I guess you know everything about me now, but..." I trailed off, feeling speechless and mentally exhausted. The world had hit me in the face, but a group of men wanted to brighten my sad reality, and now I had a man I barely knew willing to cross the valleys of death with me?
"Everything you said is right, Destiny, but my power tells me not to leave you alone," He confessed. "It's weird and may sound creepy to you, but I've never ignored the power within me, and I won't start now."
He gifted me with his 2cm smile and whispered. "Everything from your pain and sorrow is valid. The world was cruel to you, and it hurts that Marc was the reason all of this occurred. But it’s thanks to his selfish action that we found you and, frankly, I would like you to get to know me if you’re willing to continue forward. And if not, we'll just have to get to know each other on the other side."
I pouted my lips and gave him a look. "You just feel pity for an ugly, fat, pink hai-"
"Beautiful, curvy, purple to pink haired woman who, for once in my damn Jinn life, has ignited something inside me that wants to throw logic out the door and kiss you."
I gawked at him and felt my cheeks grow red. No way…
"You're just saying that! You don't like me. I can't possibly be an attractive choice to you, and you wouldn't dare kiss m-"
He didn't let me finish, those smooth lips that attempted to talk sense into me were now pressed firmly against mine as those galaxy eyes remained locked on my wide brown ones.
I thought I'd push him away, but my body immediately relaxed, as if this was the cure I needed for my anxiety and fears. My eyes slowly closed and, without thinking, my lips responded, pressing against his in a simple, tender kiss.
The kiss was short and sweet, but it was more than enough to prove his point as he pulled back to stare at me. "I'm not perfect, Destiny. None of the Jinns are. However, I won't let you think that because one ignorant jerk couldn't see the pure beauty in front of him, that that means you aren't worth it. I can't guarantee that I'm ready for something more, but I want you to keep me in mind as an option for when you are ready to move forward. You may think you can't love again, but you can… and you will. All you need is time."
"Cole," I whispered, knowing he meant everything he said.
I could tell that him comforting me was completely out of his comfort zone, just from his body language, but it meant that much more because of it.
He offered his hand to me and I stared at it.
"I know that was a hard trial for you, but before you make your final decision, can you at least see the good side of wishing? It may not be as happy or joyous as one would think, but… I think it will show some wishes can bring good to the wisher and the future they wish for."
I looked up to see that 2cm smile and returned to staring at his hand.
"Meow!"
Rainbow hopped onto Cole's hand, and he sighed. "Rainbow. I meant that for Destiny’s hand, not your entire body."
"Meow?" She tilted her head at him and turned to me, lifting her paw towards me.
A giggle escaped me, and I let my final tears fall before raising my hand to tap Rainbow's paw. Then I picked her up and hugged her against my chest with one hand.
I placed my other hand into Cole’s and stared into his eyes with confidence. "Alright. Show me the good side of wishing."