I’d Give Up The World For You - Chapter 208

“That isn’t something you should be thanking me for,” Daisy mumbled guiltily into his shoulder.

Leo disagreed as he traced circles on her back. “It is though. You went out of your way to make me happy. Why shouldn’t I thank you for that?”

Because her motives weren’t quite that simple? But she would rather die than admit that. If she was going to have a real relationship with this guy it had to be after he wasn’t depending on her quite so much so she shouldn’t be getting his hopes up.

Her head was a jumbled mess anyway. She didn’t know how she felt about him or any of this. There were a lot of mixed emotions at play here; she couldn’t choose a single one to focus on.

“I didn’t go that far out of my way,” Daisy hedged.

More like she didn’t at all since she had been entertaining the possibility since this morning. She truly was a terrible person. Why had he decided that he loved her out of everyone?

Leo let out a tiny laugh. “Even better!”

She didn’t know what to say to that. She had been struggling with that issue a lot lately. This guy really threw her for a loop. Knowing how to respond had never been her strong suit but it was so much more difficult with him around.

===

Rukelion’s birthday was an emotional whirlwind. First, he thought Daisy genuinely remembered him only to have his hopes come crashing back down a moment later. Then she made him a cake she knew he would like based on one conversation where he mentioned he loved apples. Most perplexing of all, she initiated making love to him.

It was almost like he had his wife back for real. Almost.

That made him happier than he had been since arriving in this world but it also broke his heart because he didn’t really. He only had the promise of a year by her side in any capacity before she said they would “reevaluate.”

He had to get his act together and make her fall in love with him before that time was up. He had to get her to promise to stay with him forever!

Daisy probably thought Rukelion was insane based on how he had acted the day he had his allergic reaction. First he sobbed her name over and over then he had what she called a panic attack because they were trying to take him away from her into another part of the hospital.

It was incredibly embarrassing and, to make things worse, he had to lose his head laughing when she made a fire mage’s oath not knowing what it was. He knew she was only repeating what he said before back to him but it was still hilarious.

Honestly, it was amazing she wanted anything to do with him at all after that. But she had been very worried when he got sick. That had to mean something, didn’t it?

Rukelion kept an eye on her in the weeks following his birthday and she acted like nothing had happened between them. The same way she had after Valentine’s Day. She clearly wasn’t invested in this.

So why let him stay? Why look out for him and comfort him when he was upset if she didn’t love him? He didn’t understand what was going through her head at all. More than anything he wished he did because that might get him closer to his goal of marrying her again.

He continued wondering right up until the day he had his first therapy appointment. It was right after work so Daisy dropped him off and went to go get groceries, asking him to text her when he was done.

This was a bad idea. It was a very bad idea because he had no clue how he was going to talk about what happened without going into details that would get him in trouble.

Rukelion knew his wife wanted him to do this and he was a man of his word so he had to try. Even if he didn’t think anything productive would come of it. When he was admitted to the office he sat down and crossed his arms and legs self-protectively.

“Hello there! I’m Dr. Pullman but you can call me Amy,” the middle-aged woman said with a smile as she reached out to shake his hand. He did so reluctantly. “Your name is Leo, isn’t it? Why don’t you tell me why you’re here?”

“Because the woman I love wants me to be. I don’t think this will make any difference because I can’t tell you what’s going on,” he grumbled.

“And why can’t you tell me what’s going on?”

“You’ll think I’m insane. I don’t need to be locked up and I don’t need medication. Just because the truth is unbelievable doesn’t mean it isn’t the truth. So there really isn’t a point in me being here except to make her happy.”

Rukelion half expected Amy to tell him to quit wasting her time and get out of her office but that wasn’t what she did. “Why don’t you tell me about her? She must have quite an influence on you if she managed to get you here. A lot of people who need it don’t take this step.”

He relaxed slightly. Talking about Daisy wouldn’t be nearly as bad as trying to explain that he was a fictional character.

“Her name is Daisy Miller and she’s the most wonderful woman in existence. She’s beautiful, warm, kind, enthusiastic, and can make even the most boring things fun. She hasn’t had an easy time of things either and she’s still the happiest, most easily satisfied person I know. She can find joy in anything and I envy that ability.”

“She sounds lovely. How long have you known her?” Amy asked.

This was the more difficult part. It wasn’t as if Amy was going to ask Daisy and fact check him with what she thought was true but it was hard to talk about. He looked down at his hands.

“Since I was twelve. She saved my life. I was running away from the worst thing that ever happened to me and she treated my injuries and let me stay with her afterward because I had nowhere else to go,” Rukelion admitted.

He couldn’t say more than that. It would give him away. Minors didn’t live alone and he couldn’t get into the whole transmigrated soul bit either.

He couldn’t say that he stayed with her while training for his revenge but fell in love in the process or any of their history from their fake engagement to getting married to having her fall in love with him for real only to forget him when she returned to her original world after she died. It was all rather complicated.

“She must be very important to you then,” Amy said as she looked up at him after scribbling something down.

Rukelion nodded with a lump in his throat. “She’s everything to me.”

“Why does she want you to come to therapy?”

“She thinks I have PTSD.” He tried to recall what else she said when she convinced him to go. “She said I would get it confirmed or not when I came here. She said if I wanted to stay with her I had to go to therapy.”

“So you live with her then?” Amy asked. “I have to ask…what is your relationship with her? So I can put things in context.”

Rukelion’s heart dropped to his stomach. She was his wife but not here. Telling the therapist that wouldn’t be a lie but it would raise a lot more questions he wasn’t prepared to answer.

“…she’s my roommate.”

“Your roommate. Is this platonic or romantic in nature?”

He sighed helplessly. He honestly didn’t know at this point. “Both, I guess. It’s kind of hard to put into words.”

“Can you try? I’d like to understand so I can know how best to put your relationship with her into perspective,” Amy requested.

That would be impossible since Rukelion couldn’t share details of everything they had been through together. He had to do his best using a realistic mashup of what happened both here and in his old world.

“She’s my best friend and my lifeline. I get the feeling she needs me too somehow but not nearly as much as I need her. She doesn’t want to put a label on things because she’s been abandoned her whole life but I know she cares in some capacity.

“She wants me to be healthy and happy, I know that much. She worries about me when I’m upset and does her best to comfort me even though she gives off the impression of not knowing what to do with me.

“I don’t think she’s in love with me yet but she still gives me physical affection sometimes and she does hold me to sleep every night because of my nightmares.. I’m only here because I think she’ll love me if I’m better,” he finished resolutely.