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“Grace said WHAT, question?" The question was emphasized with two stomps Simon could feel through the ground. They were using one of the small conference sections in the biodome rather than Adrian suiting up and joining him. She'd hurried over when Simon asked to talk with her.
“I'd say it doesn't sound as bad as I'm telling it but I'd be lying.” His head was in his arms as he slumped over the table. “He's using me because he can't have the person he loves.” When there wasn't an answer Simon looked up.
Adrian was at full height, quivering with anger. “What does Grace expect from Simon, question?”
“Sex, I guess. Someone to talk to? Someone to hold when he has his nightmares about missing his husband?” He'd dropped his head back into his arms. Talking about this was more difficult than he'd expected but he had to tell someone. Who better than the Eridian who saved him, brought him here, built him a home? Someone who had talked through the long nights about her own missing mate? His best friend and the person who knew him like no one else ever had. “Maybe I'm just bitter right now.”
"No, statement! Grace unfair to Simon. Unacceptable, statement!" This was the first time she'd seen him cry over Grace and was horrified she hadn't seen how much he was suffering. "Simon deserves better."
“Yeah, well. He's here. I'm here.” He waved vaguely in the direction of the house they shared now. “We're stuck here. Together.” Wiping his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve he gave her a weak smile."You missed your mate, too." This did not have the softening effect he expected.
"I did not make another person suffer by taking them into my nest as a temporary replacement." She settled down on the ground, her legs tucked under her. "I think we made a mistake, forcing you to share your home with Grace. At first, yes. He needed a place on Erid. Then he needed to be around another human, and you too." She started tapping a claw on the ground. “Time for Grace to have his own biodome. Away from Simon.”
Simon stood up fast enough to tip his chair over. “No! I didn't say that!”
Adrian stood up too. “I did.”
“Adrian. I love him," he felt embarrassed to say it. Like he was failing himself in some way.
“He does not love you. He told you he will never love you. He's using you because you're here.” She was uncompromising in the brutal truths he'd told. “The solution is easy. He leaves.”
Simon thought about what she said. Repeating his own words made him realize how bad the situation sounded. It sounded bad because it was bad. Bad for him. Grace was getting everything Erid could give him. He was their Savior. He and Rocky had returned with the solution to the problem of their star dimming and Simon's world shifted forever. He wasn't the first human anymore. Grace was First, with that capital F. Polaris, the person who rescued him, became Adrian. Orion became Erid. Orii became Eridians. Polaris's mate Arcturus became Rocky. Three years he'd been here and Grace took everything away before he ever set foot on the planet. Then he took Simon's heart.
Adrian stood up while he had been lost in his thoughts. “What else, question?” She was far too in tune with his expressions after their years together. “You're both angry and sad now.”
He righted the chair and sat heavily. “I was thinking about how the entire planet started revolving around Grace the moment he arrived. I understand that he saved all of you. I get it. But did he have to take you too, Polaris?” He rested his head on his crossed arms, looking through the clear xenonite.
She froze as he said the name he'd given her, all those years ago. Clicking her claws, her thoughts ran along the same path as Simon's now, how everything he'd done was erased when her mate arrived with another human. She hadn't considered how Simon would feel about her using Grace's name. How he would feel about everyone lauding Grace after all the work Simon had done to bring their cultures together. That he would be relegated to being, well, nothing. Even she had all but abandoned him when Grace arrived, bringing so much Earth information.
“Simon. Apologies. I have not been a good friend.” Her vents moved in what passed as a sigh. “I have no excuse. Excitement over what Grace brought is no excuse. Excitement he brought my mate home is no excuse. I will fix.”
He looked at her with tired eyes, “You can't make him love me.”
“No. He does not deserve you.” She reached out and pressed a claw to the barrier between them. He pressed his hand against his side, as close as they could get to touching. “At least for now he must leave.”
“You could build me a new biodome. He loves it here.” Raking his fingers through his hair he winced as it hit a snarl. Had he brushed it today?
“This is Simon's home. This will always be Simon's home. I built this for you.” She pulled her leg back and stood tall again. “I will build the dome. Rocky—Arcturus—can build the rest. As soon as the dome can support your atmosphere he will leave.”
Simon felt like he should fight harder. Fight for Grace, for them. But he was tired of fighting a battle he knew he couldn't win. There was no “them”. It was Grace and Tom, with Simon somewhere around the edges. He was so tired of being on the fringe of Grace's life. It felt like he'd been forced out of his own life to be a supporting character in the other man's story.
“Why are you always right?" he asked Polaris.
“Because I'm smart. And because I love you,” she answered.
It wasn't the love he wanted, but it was real. He had at least one person whose feelings for him were genuine and not based on what he could give them. Simon broke down at that and Polaris's determination hardened that Grace was never going to get the chance to hurt him again, and she wasn't going to let him down anymore.