Page 51 of The Bully Alien

Delana left me. We didn't have sex for once, and I think that's a good thing.

Because I am so fucking confused.

And yet, I'm not.

It's not confusion, not when it comes to her at least. I know precisely where I stand with a line drawn in the sand.

I love her.

I do.

She's fierce and driven and smart. She's a fucking warrior. A fighter.

She deserves so much more than the life she'll have on this planet.

But here, she'll be safe.

Here, she'll never have to worry about the Grots.

Here, she'll live. She's learned how to live again despite the horrors in her life, and she'll keep on surviving.

I have nothing to offer her.

Besides, if I can get off this rock, I'm not stuck like Franx is. There's nothing to keep me on Earth. I can leave without fear, and so long as I avoid the Grots,I can try to see if there is another Grolla somewhere out there, a female one.

Don't I owe it to all Grollas to try to find a female one?

I can't be selfish.

I can't doom an entire race all because I feel in love with an Earthling.

But it hurts, the thought of leaving her, and I don't even know if that's possible or not.

I need to find a way to get off this planet.

And I need to find a way to say goodbye.

Goodbye first.

* * *

Iwait until it's nighttime to finally make my way back to campus. Based on the campus directory, I know which dorm is hers, and the security guard isn't the most amendable to telling me which room is hers until I slip him a twenty.

I know it's late, that she'll be asleep, that her roommate will be there, but I can't help it. I have to see her.

I have to say goodbye as much as it'll hurt us both.

But she'll get over it.

Get over me.

I knock on her door.

She opens it almost immediately, still dressed, her hair in a messy bun.

"Wyatt, come in."

I enter her room, but my gaze remains fixed on her. "Your roommate..."