TW: Mention of child abuse

“I want to protect you,” I explained, “there’s a spell we do for humans who know about the supernatural world, it’s a protection spell that leaves a mark that other supernaturals can see so they know you know about the world, so you’re kind of a safe zone for them, but also makes it extra illegal to attack you and I will always come to help you if you are attacked.”  I looked at him anxiously.  “Is it okay?”  I was about 92% sure I could do this, so if he’d let me, I’d try right now.

Riven looked a bit uneasy.  “Is it – what does it entail?”

“Nothing much, just I place the mark, and then you’re safe as far as supernaturals go.  The spell itself should shield you against magical attacks, but not as much physical stuff – it kind of depends?  If it’s from a supernatural, probably will, from humans, kind of iffy.”

“And…what do you get out of this?”  Riven seemed puzzled.

“A best friend,” I announced happily.  “I mean, if you’re willing.  I’m hoping.  Mostly I just get to protect you.”

Riven’s eyes widened a bit.  “Why – why are you so determined to be friends?  What do you see in me?”

I snorted a little.  “Why wouldn’t I want to be friends?  I think you’re beautiful, smart, sweet, kind, and brave.  You’re one of the best people I know, and I am pretty sure if you’ll let me I’ll follow you around forever.”  That might have been a little too close to the truth, a little more creepy than he needed.  The soulmates discussion could wait for another night.  “I really like you, Riven,” I told him earnestly.  “I want to make sure you’re safe and I want you to feel safe with me.  Please, let me protect you.  Please keep being my friend.”

He actually looked into my eyes with his beautiful gray ones, as if searching for something, and after a long pause, he nodded slightly.

“Okay,” he agreed.  “Let’s – stay friends.  And you can protect me.”

Delighted, I threw my arms around him again, leaning in to kiss his forehead and seal my mark on him before he had a chance to change his mind.

“Um, are most fairies this demonstrative?”  He asked hesitantly as I pulled back.  “I’m not entirely used to hugs.”

I snuggled up against him and rested my head on his shoulder happily.  “Probably.  I’m just happy at the moment so I’m having trouble containing it.  Is, um, that okay?  I can back off if you want.”

He paused for a moment and when he spoke, his voice was softer.  “No, it’s okay.  It’s – kind of nice.”

Filled with relief and happiness, I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.

This would be okay after all.  Riven was safe, protected now – my spell had worked, thankfully – and he was still willing to be friends with me.  No more running away in fear, maybe he’d even let me hug him from now on.

I was going to be able to keep my soulmate.

~~~~~

I learned a lot of new things about Riven.  I learned that he saw a lot of the supernatural world, but had never had any explanation for it, which floored me and finally explained why he was so hesitant to be around people and why he didn’t like looking at people.  He was confused about what he saw, unable to explain it, and afraid to ask because he didn’t know what kind of response he would get.  Apparently his mom had responded poorly – yet another thing that made me pretty sure she wasn’t a great parent – which hadn’t helped, either.

Riven’s curiosity, though, now that he was allowed to ask, had started to show itself eagerly as he kept asking me questions about supernaturals, finally starting to put together the pieces of what he saw and what it meant.  I was pretty sure he was thrilled to just get answers and I was happy to see him start to open up more, start to relax more in my presence and be happier around me.

I asked Dad almost immediately about Riven and he’d been stunned – not because of Riven’s abilities themselves, but because Riven’s abilities belonged to a supernatural species that supposedly was extinct.

“So Dad says he’d like for you to come over and talk about it sometime if you want,” I explained to Riven over lunch one day after giving him an overview of what Dad had said.  “He can probably answer some questions for you about what you see.”

Riven had looked absolutely shocked at the idea that there was a reason for why he saw what he saw.  “He…he thinks I’m supernatural, too?”

I shrugged.  “Well, you at least have a supernatural ability, apparently.  I don’t know how that works with an extinct race and all, but the way he described what the Vist see, it sounds exactly like what you described what you see.  Seeing people’s true forms, seeing magic, all that stuff.”

Riven looked shaken, pulling his knees up to his chest.  “I…might not be human?”

Oh.  Right.  That would be a bit of a shock to someone, wouldn’t it?  I immediately scooted over and grabbed his hand in a fierce but hopefully comforting grip.  “It’s okay!  You have me now – and my family, we’ll help.  I don’t know if you’re human or not, maybe just human with Vist vision because you look human to us, if you will.  If it turns out you’re not human, well, I don’t care either way, so you’re still stuck with me as a friend.  And if you come talk to Dad, at least you’d get some answers.”

He gave me a ghost of a smile, but it was the closest thing I’d gotten to a real smile since I’d met him, so I was kind of excited about that.  “I would like answers,” he admitted, “but I can’t go and meet him.  Mom won’t let me go to stuff after school.”

I frowned a bit, trying not to say aloud what I thought about his mom.  “What about on the weekends?  My brother or sister could pick you up,” I wished I could, but hey, not quite 13 yet, for some reason not allowed to drive yet, “and you could spend the day at my house and talk to Dad.  Oh, I could show you our garden!  I told you, fairy gardens are special, we have all sorts of plants in them, you’d love it.”

“I probably would.”  Riven didn’t look comfortable, though, and I was pretty sure he was going to refuse.

I was right.

“I can’t,” he finally said.  “I don’t think Mom would be okay with it.”

“Couldn’t you ask?”  I suggested hesitantly.  “I mean, if she knew you were just going out with a friend?”

Something flashed across his face, something close to fear that really bothered me.

“She’s, um, not a fan of me, um,” he paused.

“Having friends?”  I finished for him, this time not entirely able to hide the disapproval from my tone.

Riven gave me an apologetic look.  “Sorry,” he whispered.

“Don’t apologize!”  Man, it bothered me how much he felt bad about things like this, like somehow he was in the wrong for someone else being a…whatever she was.  Human, I knew from what he’d said, but an awful human, from what I could tell.  This wasn’t his fault, wasn’t something he could control.  I wished he wouldn’t feel bad about it.

“Don’t apologize,” I repeated, squeezing his fingers lightly.  “I can’t say I’m happy that your mom seems to want to keep you in the house and away from people and you don’t have a phone so I can talk after school,” which actually really bugged me now, I wanted so badly to just talk to him all day and I couldn’t.  Weekends were the worse, I didn’t see him at all.  “But it’s okay, we’ll figure out something,” I finished.

Riven looked a little doubtful, but he agreed and we reluctantly split up soon after to go to our classes.

It wasn’t two days later before I noticed something odd.  Riven’s color looked a little worse than normal – it was never quite as healthy as it should be, but now it was even worse – and he seemed a little shaky, sometimes almost zoning out.

I didn’t get a chance to ask him about it until lunch break when we usually studied – I tried not to eat meals in front of him – and I was worried he was going to pass out.

“Are you okay?”  I demanded.  “Are you sick?  We – fairies – can heal some stuff, so I might be able to fix you.”  I wasn’t particularly confident in my healing abilities, but for Riven, I would try.  I didn’t want him to feel bad.

Riven shook his head slightly, looking embarrassed as he looked away.  “It’s not that.”

I was about to ask what it was when the growling of his stomach answered for me.

I froze, thought for a moment, and then an answer I didn’t want to be true presented itself for me.

“Riven,” I asked quietly, “when was the last time you ate?”

He cringed a little.  “I – I – it’s not that bad, it’s just,” he wavered under my gaze, then slumped in defeat.  “Three days ago.”

My eyes widened and suddenly I reached into my bag, grabbing my lunch and dumping it in front of him.  “Eat,” I ordered, fixing him with steely determination when he started to protest.  “I’m fine, you need it more, and I am not okay with you not eating something.  Why haven’t you?  Can your mom not afford it?”

I hadn’t meant to bring up the financial situation and regretted the moment I did, but surprisingly, Riven didn’t seem offended.

Instead, he took a bite of the egg salad sandwich, closing his eyes for a moment as he appreciated the taste, then answered in between bites and he hurried to try to appease his stomach.  “She can afford it, she just doesn’t let me eat when she’s mad at me and I kind of upset her the other day.  It doesn’t last too long, a few days at most.”

I was appalled.  Furious.  Heartbroken.  Not sure what to do.

I was pretty sure this qualified as child abuse, but could I convince Riven to go to the authorities and report her?  And what would happen to him if he did?  Not that keeping him with his mom was a great option, but I was terrified he could end up somewhere worse.

“That’s not okay!”  I burst out.  “She shouldn’t – that’s probably not legal, she can’t just do that!”

Riven gave me a wry look.  “She’s been doing it for 15 years, I’m pretty sure she can do it if she wants.”

I felt even more horrified.  15 years?  She’d been doing this to him for his entire life?  No wonder he looked underweight and a little smaller than most 15-year-olds.

“Riven, it’s not okay, and that just makes it worse!”  I wished I had some idea of what to do.  “Can’t we – go talk to the school counselor or something?  Or my dad?”  Dad would know.  He always knew stuff.

He shook his head immediately.  “I don’t want to get her in trouble,” he explained.  “She’s just…she doesn’t like me because my dad abandoned her and left her alone to raise me.  So when she looks at me, she’s just reminded of him and getting stuck with a kid she didn’t want.  She’s not really that bad,” he sounded almost like he was trying to convince himself, “and it could be worse.  I’m fine, really.”

He wasn’t fine, though, and I didn’t know how to convince him of that.

So the moment I got home, I beelined to the clinic in search of Dad.

Dad was with a patient, but the moment he saw my expression, he told me to wait for him in his office.  I did, agitated, wishing that I wasn’t just a kid.  I wanted to be able to take care of Riven myself, make sure no one could ever hurt him again – and the protection mark, while I’d been able to make it, couldn’t even protect against stuff like this.  It felt pretty useless.

I wasn’t sure how long I had to wait, but it felt like a lot longer than it was.  The moment Dad appeared in his office, though, and shut the door behind him, I burst out with the whole story, about how Riven’s mom was abusing him or neglecting him or whatever the legal definition was, but whatever it was, it was not okay but I didn’t know how to convince Riven of that.

Dad’s expression got serious as he listened to me.  “People in abusive relationships often want to keep the status quo because they feel like it will only get more dangerous if they report the person.  This can be even worse for children, they assume adults will side with their parents or assume adults can’t be trusted.  And of course it’s complicated because she’s his mom, and he cares about her.  Sometimes it can be hard for a victim in that situation to be willing to come forward and testify against his own mom, but you’re right, what she’s doing is illegal.”  He sighed heavily, thinking as he leaned back in his chair.  “I’d like to talk with him if I could.”

“He’s scared of asking his mom to go out after school or on the weekends,” I grumbled.  “And apparently she doesn’t like it if he has friends.  So I can’t get him to come over here.”

“That’s fine.”  Dad was surprisingly unbothered by that detail.  “I can actually go there during school hours, you know.  Do you think he’d be willing to meet me in the woods during lunch one day?  Or I might be able to make arrangements to stop in at their nurse’s office or something, if he’d rather stay on campus.”

I suppose in normal situations, an adult arranging to meet a couple teenagers in the woods during school hours would be, uh, questionable, but in this case, it made a lot of sense to me.

I’d just have to hope that I could convince Riven to come.