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Chapter 189: Over Me
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2024-10-29 19:42:56There was some sort of history between Jasper and Lila that Emmet wasn't privy to, and it hurt him somewhere in the chest that he was essentially excluded from whatever relationship that the two of them had cultivated.
To an extent, he knew that he was the goal of their efforts, but their specific actions and experiences were so far, far away from him that he had to wonder if he had become some sort of McGuffin to them both.
He had been through hell, abandoned, injured, and then kept in isolation, but he had still come out on the otherside surviving, through both of their efforts no doubt.
But to learn that Jasper was now years older than him, far more learned and tempered, far more restrictive with what he now said about his life here, about his life back in the future, and was just more subdued and pressed inwards, hiding more of his jagged and broken edges under layers of soft, fluffy, warm kindness.
It hurt Emmet with how much he was being kept in
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Lila, quieter than a mouse, took out a key from the pocket of her skirt, and unlocked the glass cabinet, lifting the glass top off and turning around to pass it to Jasper. Not that Jasper was actually looking at her. Lila didn't say anything, and instead just moved over to the work top at the front of the shop that housed the till and the butterfly display, placing down the glass cube there, tugging her sleeves up to cover the palm of her hand so she could wipe away her own finger prints and the dust that had collected. From the slow manner of the way that she moved, it was obvious to Emmet that she was stalling for time, which made him wonder whether Jasper was as well. Jasper wasn't exactly moving from where he had been stood for a short while, and Lila seemed reluctant enough to make Emmet and him stop what they were doing; she was far too busy slowly rotating the glass box around to make sure that no prints were left on its surface, while co
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