How It All Goes Down
Hanging in the Balance
- The next day, Luce knows once and for all that she has to break things off with Cam. She also expects an apology from him for his behavior at the bar.
- When Luce speaks to Cam next, he tries to make things up with her, but her mind is made up: she wants to be with Daniel, and knowing that he wants to be with her too solidifies her resolve.
- Not surprisingly, Cam does not take too kindly to this news, and he asks Luce why she would choose Daniel over him. He tries to prove to her that he could be a better match for her…by kissing her again. Of course, Daniel and Gabby walk in on them.
- This does not a pretty picture make.
- Luce, mortified that Cam has kissed her, and even more mortified that has Daniel witnessed it, watches in shock as Gabbe is the one to start tackling Cam, walloping him with a force that Cam can't seem to keep up with.
- But…it's Gabbe. Perfectly manicured, Southern belle Gabbe. How can she possibly be taking on Cam, who just last night we saw throw a grown man against a wall?
- Daniel doesn't seem surprised by any of this. He takes Luce away while Gabbe and Cam go at it, telling Luce not to worry: Gabbe has things well in hand.
- Gabbe? Really?
- But Daniel is adamant, and Luce goes with him to sit under the shade of a tree, away from the ruckus. He promises to try to explain things to her.
- Daniel starts with Bible talk—Miss Sophia's lectures must really have hit home—telling Luce that God made the condition that all creatures, all of creation, must love him with all their souls. Some have been cursed.
- Daniel explains that he's cursed to fall in love again and again, and every time, it will end badly.
- Like, catastrophically badly.
- Daniel also tells Luce that the person he falls in love with over and over again is her.
- Wait…what?
- Nope, dude's serious.
- Daniel tells Luce that she comes back every seventeen years, that she has been coming back every seventeen years for eons. Every time, she finds him, they fall in love, and when they kiss, she dies.
- That's why Daniel claims he was so confused after they kissed: Luce didn't disappear as she usually does.
- For her part, Luce takes it about as well as we could expect: she assumes it's all some elaborate joke—or a lie Daniel's weaving to try to break things off with her.
- But the look on Daniel's face is so sincere that Luce can't quite be sure whether to believe him or not.
- Also, Daniel's story would explain all those weird déjà vu moments she had with him over the course of these past weeks.
- Something about what Daniel's saying stirs Luce, but she can't quite believe it yet, so she tells him she needs some time to think things over—which is pretty reasonable, considering how weird this story sounds.