Tristan felt like the breath had been knocked out of him already but seeing the ice surrounding his fists made it feel like he couldn’t breathe at all. He’s never had magic and never thought he’d ever have it; no one in his family had powers, well none that he knew of.

“Tristan, you need to try and breathe for me okay? Take a deep breath with me.” Theodore was saying but it sounded like he was under water as Tristan tried to take a breath, though as he did he felt Theodore use his magic to make more go into his lungs, filling them and then emptying them when Tristan breathes out, continuing the process until the brunet’s heart isn’t pounding so hard and he’s breathing more calmly.

“Why is this happening Theo?” He whispers, feeling the blond flinch at his nickname. Tristan hadn’t called him Theo for almost two years, not unless he was in trouble.

“It’s probably an outcome from your bond settling and becoming permanent.” Ares replies for Theodore who has become paler than normal.

“I don’t want magic, I don’t want this to happen.” Tristan whispers, his fists tightening onto the grass under his hands and without meaning too, sending the ice over the ground surrounding him. “I’m not meant to have magic.”

“Maybe you are, did your parents say anything about Tristan getting powers Theodore?” Ares asks quietly, well aware of the other people staring at the interaction though they were soon moving away from them and closer to the house to give slightly more privacy.

“No, they didn’t.” Theodore was also speaking quietly and looking at his brunet. “Tris, maybe this isn’t such a bad thing. Now you can learn like we do…”

“I don’t want to learn what you do Theodore, I’m a prince; A future king of Endolias. We’ve never had a sorcerer as a king before,” he turns his green eyes from his hands to Theodore and narrows his eyes at him, shifting away from the blond and standing quickly, Theodore standing as well. “This is your fault.”

“My fault?”

“Yes, if you hadn’t come into my life none of this would’ve happened,” the brunet’s voice is full of venom and Theodore sucks in a breath of surprise, he’s never spoken to him like this before.

“Tristan, you can’t mean that.”

“I do, if you weren’t thrown into my life this wouldn’t be happening, my parents and brother wouldn’t be dead. I wish this wasn’t happening, I wish I’d never met you!”

“Tristan…”

“No, Theodore! Leave me alone, I wish you weren’t here. You're ruining everything! I wish you’d never been born because then we would never have met and this wouldn’t be happening to me!” The hate in Tristan’s words make Theodore take a step back, his cheeks going pink as he watches the prince turn away and walk inside the house, slamming the door behind him. The people gathered turn to look at Theodore in shock and pity as he looks down at the ground, seeing the ice that Tristan created slowly dissolving into water. Ares stands and moves to put a hand on his shoulder but Theodore shoves him off and away.

“Theodore, he’s just upset. This is a strange thing no one could’ve predicted…” Ares trails off at the look in the blonds eyes; he’d never seen someone look so defeated, especially someone like Theodore. “Theo…”

“Don’t bother Ares,” the blonde tells him as he turns and walks further into the field, away from the house and away from Tristan.

Just when everything seemed to be going good for us.

Tristan crumbled to the ground once he entered the kitchen, his hands against his face as the tears stream down his cheeks. Two hours later, Ares is entering and dropping beside him, placing a hand on the prince’s shoulder.

“Are you all right?” The raven haired man asks and Tristan shrugs, his tears had stopped but he couldn’t stop the feeling of sorrow in his body spreading from his chest to his finger tips and toes; he knew most of it was Theodore but he couldn’t pull himself off the floor to go find him; to apologise for the things he’d said. The guilt wrapped around his heart and squeezed, though there was anger there still. Anger at Theodore for being in his life; because surely without him none of this would be happening; that he’d be at home with his family not having to worry about anyone breaking in to kill them all.

But then what if it had happened anyway? He’d be dead now if it wasn’t for Theodore.

“Where is everyone?” Tristan asks, raising his eyes to Ares.

“They’ve all gone to wherever they’re staying while being here,” the older man says and Tristan nods, glaring at his hands which had lost the ice but he could still feel the power swirling in him, like it was waiting to be let out again. “I don’t know where Theodore has gone, he took off a few hours ago and I haven’t seen him since.”

“Maybe that’s a good thing.”

“You don’t mean that and you know it. A few weeks ago you were telling me that you’d loved him since you were sixteen.”

“It doesn’t seem to matter now, he’s the reason my parents are dead.” Tristan tells Ares, anger coiling into every word he spits out.

“Okay let me tell you something right now as someone who was once working with the guys who want to kill you, are you listening?” Tristan locks his eyes onto the icy blue ones of Ares and focuses on what he says, “we didn’t even know you had someone like Theodore protecting you until that night I grabbed Theodore. I thought he was you to begin with but when I saw his eyes I knew he wasn’t and that he was protecting you. If he wasn’t in your life Tristan, you would’ve died the very same night your parents and brother did because that was the plan and had been the plan for years before it actually happened. Before Mara actually got the guts to send her men in to kill your family. She had no idea that Elliot and Eliza Ashwood were in the castle raising a son who would be able to wipe her and her army out and I can tell by the look on your face that you understand me. Theodore is not at fault and no one knew you’d get powers from connecting a bond with him.”

Tristan stays looking at Ares for a long time until tears start dripping down his cheeks again, causing the older man to wrap his arms around him effectively bringing the brunet’s head against his chest. The steady beat of Ares’s heart pounds against Tristan’s ear and he lets his tears flow heavily as he sobs, feeling the strong arms tighten around him.

“I’ve ruined everything with him, haven’t I? He’s never going to forgive me for how I spoke to him, he probably hates me now,” his words are slurred through his tears and his fists grip the fabric of Ares’s shirt tightly.

“Tristan, he could never hate you.” Ares tells him softly, running a hand through his brunet hair.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because I see the way he looks at you, like you’re the reason the sun rises every morning. Like you put the moon in the sky every night. He’s so completely in love with you.”

“But, I can feel his sadness. His sorrow.” Tristan hiccups and tries to slow his breathing.

“What you said to him was harsh and mean, it hurt him more than he’ll ever admit to anyone. I saw the way he looked before he left, like someone had ripped his heart out. It may take him a little bit to forgive you but he won’t hate you.” Tristan pulls back when Ares finishes talking, wiping his eyes with his hands and looking over Ares’s shoulder to see Theodore standing in the doorway, his eyes red and his cheeks tear stained.

“Theodore.” Tristan breathes and pushes himself up to stand, Ares is quick to stand and excuse himself.

“You were right, I should’ve left before this all happened. Knowing what I did all this time and yet I stayed, I’m selfish and I didn’t want to leave knowing I could possibly have what I’ve always wanted. No matter how much I didn’t deserve it.” Theodore’s voice is rough and scratchy, like he’d been shouting.

“No, Theodore I was wrong. You saved my life that night and have continued to save me and keep me safe all this time; Ares explained about Mara. She was going to attack either way, they didn’t even know about you until he grabbed you that night. I was wrong and I am so sorry about what I said to you.” Tristan says and Theodore looks down at his hands, they were bloody and scratched up, he'd obviously taken his emotions out on something, looking at them brought the pain Theodore had been feeling because of them to the surface of Tristan’s feelings and he felt his heart constrict. He steps closer and flinches when Theodore takes a step backwards.

“I need some time to think and figure out what’s going to happen from here. I’m going to ask if I can stay with Ares for a little while, until we can sort things out.” Theodore says and Tristan is too shocked to nod, though he doesn’t get the chance to do anything as the door opens and Alissia comes in, her smile dropping when she can feel and see the tension in the room.

“What’s going on?” She asks and the boys share a glance before looking at her, Theodore spares Tristan one last look before going into their room and putting some of his clothes into a pack, bringing it out with him once it’s full. Tristan is sitting in a chair and Alissia hasn’t moved from her place, Theodore moves over to her and gives her a half hug.

“Take care of him until I come back,” he whispers in her ear and before she can question him, he’s out the door without a look back at Tristan. He finds the older man standing silently in the field and instantly walks over to him, Ares turns to him when he stops beside him and raises his eyebrow at the pack. “Can I stay with you for a while?”

“Theo, you should be with Tristan.”

“I don’t think I can be right now, he hurt me Ares. More than you could know.” Theodore’s voice is hollow and his eyes seem to have lost their shine as Ares looks at him, really looks at him and nods.

“Let’s go then.” They both walk away from the house, though Theodore could feel Tristan watching him from the window he didn’t look back. When they reach Ares’s home, the larger man shows where Theodore can set his things and sleep before they both settle in the kitchen to eat. “Do you want to tell me how your feeling?”

Theodore is silent for a long time as he moves the food around on the plate with his fork, his golden eyes seeing but not seeing at the same time.

“I feel like he reached into my chest with his ice hands and squeezed my heart as hard as he could before ripping it out and freezing it over. I feel like everything that’s happened has been a mistake. Why me, Ares?” He raises his eyes to meet the older mans, the tears brimming making Ares hold his breath. “Why was I the one chosen to do all this? What was so special about my parents that they had to have a child like me? The fact they had me and chose to be close to Tristan’s family got them killed, it got Tristan’s family killed and yet here I am. Happily in love with Prince Tristan like nothing happened, or I was happy until a couple of hours ago.”

“He didn’t mean it, he was distraught after he said those things to you.”

“I still am distraught, Ares. He wished I’d never been born. I’ve done my best to protect him and keep him safe. He’s the first person I have ever truly loved, the first man I’ve ever thought about being intimate with and the first person I wanted to spend my life with and I thought he felt the same.” Theodore pauses as the tears fall and sniffles inelegantly before continuing, “after last night, I believed us to be unbreakable, like a soulmate bond is supposed to be but look at us. I can’t even be near him without hearing what he said to me.”

“Oh, Theodore. It will be okay, a couple of days and you’ll be back to normal.”

“I hope so.” Theodore murmurs.

“You’ll see.”