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An unexpected side effect of Lucie and Cordelia becoming parabatai was that now, Cordelia could see Jesse as well.
Lucie didn’t understand it. Matthew sure as hell couldn’t see the Shadow Realm despite the fact that he and James were parabatai, so why could Cordelia now see Jesse? She still couldn’t see most ghosts or command them like Lucie could, but perhaps it was something to do with how unique Jesse’s situation was.
Her first reaction to finding out about Jesse’s existence was surprise. Then, a little bit of anger, at Lucie for hiding Jesse’s existence. But then, understanding.
When Cordelia and Jesse met, they actually seemed to get along. Lucie didn’t understand the feelings she felt when she saw them interact. A terrible, terrible jealousy. But why would she be jealous of them becoming friends?
It took her way too long to realize that she was in love. With both of them.
It didn’t take long for their relationship to become… not friends anymore, but something new. Something different.
Romantic.
And it wasn’t just Lucie and Cordelia, or Lucie and Jesse, or Cordelia and Jesse. It was Lucie and Cordelia and Jesse, all three together. Lucie still wasn’t too sure how exactly that had happened, but she wasn’t going to complain. If anyone asked her, she’d invent some brilliant story, but she wasn’t sure why anyone would ask her, considering no one else knew about Jesse. (Well, there was Tatiana and Grace, but Tatiana was locked in the Adamant Citadel, and Grace had yet to ask, despite clearly having known for a while now.)
Lucie still worked with Grace to bring Jesse back from the dead, a cause that Cordelia was supportive of. Cordelia was still engaged to marry James, but they had an understanding that both were in love with their respective parabatai and as long as the Enclave did not find out, then it was fine. James did not know about Jesse, and they had all decided maybe it wasn’t the best idea to tell him about him yet. It wasn’t the best idea to tell anyone. As far as their friends were concerned, it was just Lucie and Cordelia. They did not tell them of their other part, their Jesse.
It went on like that, Lucie and Cordelia keeping Jesse a secret, the two girls staying with each other at night so that Jesse could see both of them. It was an arrangement that would change one day when Jesse was brought back to life, but for now, it worked.
Lucie and Cordelia were lying curled up together in Lucie’s bed when Jesse appeared. The ghost boy seemed surprised for a moment to see his girlfriends like that, but quickly recovered and smiled at them.
“Hey,” he said, a bit awkwardly. “What’s going on here?”
Lucie held up her manuscript. “I was reading from The Beautiful Cordelia. The duke that saved Cordelia’s life? He’s actually a duchess.”
“About time the Beautiful Cordelia got a female love interest,” Cordelia said with a small smile.
“You’ll have to let me read it later,” Jesse said, eyes sparkling. “What of Princess Lucinda and Sir Jethro?”
“Not in this chapter, unfortunately,” Lucie said. “I could not find a way to include them. But other than the reading session, Cordelia and I are cuddling. Join us, Jesse.”
“Make me,” Jesse said, his eyes bright, a smile playing on his lips.
And Lucie knew just what he wanted. “I command you to cuddle with us, Jesse Blackthorn,” she said.
Suddenly, Jesse was right by her other side, his arm resting over her chest, his hand clasped with Cordelia’s. Both girls smiled at him, and he smiled back.
“This is nice,” Lucie whispered, the two that she loved on either side of her.
“It is,” Cordelia agreed.
Jesse only nodded.
Once Cordelia married James and moved to Curzon Street with him, Lucie and Matthew were over often. The Enclave thought that they were each visiting their respective parabatai, and for Lucie, also her brother. Though it was true, the parabatai they were visiting were also their lovers.
Cordelia felt a bit guilty for the secretive nature of their relationships. Though her relationship with Lucie was new, and they did not know yet whether to tell anyone other than their friends, they knew that James and Matthew would have gone public with their relationship had it not been for James and Cordelia’s marriage. James had assured her that it was quite alright, that he and Matthew had waited this long to share the news, and that they could wait longer, but Lucie knew that she still carried that guilt.
She tried to comfort Cordelia whenever she had entered that melancholy mood of hers, but it was difficult. Cordelia loved James and Matthew, they were both her friends, and she did not enjoy the thought of causing any pain upon them. Lucie wished she could just comfort her more.
She brought up her concerns to Jesse. Due to Jesse only being able to appear at night, he didn’t know as much about what Cordelia was feeling as Lucie did, but once he knew, he appeared in Cordelia’s bedroom while Lucie was talking to her.
“Lucie told me what was going on,” Jesse said hesitantly, as if unsure if Cordelia wanted to talk about it.
“Ah,” Cordelia said softly. “I’m sorry, I just…”
“They said it’s fine, didn’t they?” Jesse asked. “James and Matthew, I mean.”
Cordelia nodded slowly.
“If you don’t want to accept that, then I don’t know how to help you,” Jesse said. “All I can do is try my best to reassure you that they mean it.”
“Thank you,” Cordelia whispered. “Both of you.”
Lucie smiled at both her partners, and then lay down in Cordelia’s bed, next to her. Jesse lay down on Cordelia’s other side, and the three of them drifted off to sleep - well, Lucie and Cordelia did, but Jesse probably didn’t, considering he was a ghost. But he was still there with them, and that was what mattered.
What mattered was that the three of them were together.
Many things happened, things that were good, things that were bad, moments that were happy, moments that were sad. In the end, they were together. Lucie, Cordelia, and Jesse.