Chapter 26: Broken?

Linri was looking at Jaime who was sitting beside him. He wanted to see if she was gonna say something but she kept quiet. She seemed somewhat lost.

"Well I guess now that I answered your questions we can return home right?" said Linri and got up from the swing. He just started to go towards home. When he was about to leave the park he noticed that there was not anyone behind him so he turned to see that Jaime was still sitting at the swing looking dazed.

"Hey! Are you coming or not?" Linri shouted at Jaime but there was no response. He got a little worried. He didn't even want to talk to her in the first place much less hurt her. He definitely did not want to broke her like this.

It was half past 9 so park was empty aside from the two of them. Linri went back to check if she was alright. When he came in front of her she still did not say anything and was just looking down. Linri crouched to make eye contact with her.

"You okay?" said Linri gently. Jaime lifted her head and their gazes connected. It seemed empty at first then life seemed to come back to them. Immediately after that tears started to well up in her eyes and she started crying. She was crying heavily there was even snot coming out of her nose.

"I- I am... not that... despicable" said Jaime while sobbing. Anyone seeing her like this would probably beat Linri up just for making her cry.

"Yes. Yes you are not. I'm sorry" said Linri comfortingly.

"I-I did not... want to.. do some..thing bad." said Jaime again while snuffling her nose in between words.

"Yes you did not. You did good. You just wanted to protect Brie." Seeing how much snot coming from her Linri took out a tissue from his pocket. He put it over her nose.

"Blow it." She blew her nose. After that Linri wiped her face with another tissue and just gave the pack directly to Jaime.

Seeing her keep crying Linri sat back on the swing again and waited for her to calm down. He could hear her mumble some stuff but since he was not so close to her any more he couldn't make out what she was saying.

Linri could not help but wonder why were women so unreasonable sometimes. He did not want to talk so she made him talk. When he tell her the reason then she starts to cry. Well he could have maybe used less harsher words to explain but since he felt like he was being used by her he did not. He was such a petty person after all. Then again if he knew it would turn out this bad he probably would not be this harsh. He and Jaime was still friends after all. Wait were they friends any more? Seeing her miserable looks Linri doubted that.

After crying for some time Jaime finally calmed. She was not sobbing any more but she was wiping her eyes with the tissues Linri gave her.

"Soooo you wanna go home or stay a little while longer?" asked Linri to see if the waters were clear.

"Stay" Jaime said and snuffled her nose.

"Okay then My Queen" said Linri sarcastically. He did not like this heavy mood so he thought it would better if he joked around a little.

"Don't" said Jaime suddenly

"Don't what?" Linri was puzzled by what she said. Did she not want him to joke around or did she simply wanted him to stop talking.

"Don't call me Queen" replied Jaime again.

"Whatever you say." said Linri and decided to shut up. after some time Jaime broke the silence.

"Max"

"Hm?"

"What is your father's job?"

"He is a bobby"

"Bobby? What's that?"

"A slang for a cop. Though I still have some doubts. Even though he is a cop I don't think I ever saw him wear a uniform."

"How old are you?"

"I used to be 22 but currently 14"

"I am 19" said Jaime.

"Okay"

After that Jaime kept asking him questions and he kept answering them. She was mostly asking about random stuff about his family and himself. She sometimes also answered her own questions too.

"Shall we go home?" Seeing her getting a little better Linri asked her again.

"Yes."

This time when he left the park Jaime was with him. By the time they returned home it was already 10 o'clock. Linri just opened the door with his key and got inside the house.

"Mom! I'm back!" shouted Linri and went upstairs. When he was about to enter his room he felt a tugging in his arm. When he turned back he saw that Jaime was holding the sleeve of his jacket.

"We are friends now.... right?" Jaime asked Linri with a weak voice. Hearing this question Linri couldn't help but laugh a little. Still seeing her almost cry again he stopped.

"Why would you even ask such a question? I said we can't be allies. I never said we were not friends" said Linri and entered his room.

Jaime though did not immediately leave.

"Right, friends" said Jaime to herself almost as if trying to reassure herself and nodded her head. Then she went to her room.

Now that Linri was back inside his room he messaged his arm's measurements to Silfy. He also messaged her that she can keep the gauntlet with herself and hand it to him when they were both at Autumnfall.

He also started to revise some of the plans he had in his mind. Now that he decided he can not trust his life to Jaime Linri had too much to work on. He had to work on his plans to ensure he could achieve them without her help. This would double the strain they had on him but he did not have any other choice. In this world he could only trust himself.