The Spawns

The Spawns | Chapter XV -- All Kinds of Mixed Up

THE SPAWNS

All Kinds of Mixed Up

Chapter XV—Lilibeth

© DarknessAndLight

“Then you are mistaken, and you know nothing about me, and nothing about the sort of love of which I am capable. Every atom of your flesh is as dear to me as my own: in pain and sickness it would still be dear. Your mind is my treasure, and if it were broken, it would be my treasure still if you raved, my arms should confine you, and not a strait waistcoat—your grasp, even in fury, would have a charm for me: if you flew at me as wildly as that woman did this morning, I should receive you in an embrace, at least as fond as it would be restrictive. I should not shrink form you with disgust as I did from her: in your quiet moments you should have no watcher and no nurse but me; and I could hang over you with untiring tenderness, though you gave me no smile in return; and never weary of gazing into your eyes, though they are no longer a ray of recognition for me.”

            “You can stop reading now,” I interrupted Cole. I should have stopped him sooner, I shouldn’t have allowed him to read those lines because now they echoed in my head and it was hard not to believe he had actually been the one telling me—Cole telling Beth, not Rochester telling Jane. 

            When he had first climbed into our tree, I hadn’t known what I was supposed to do. Part of me wanted to talk about what had almost happened, another part of me dreaded it.

But, he hadn’t talked about the hand holding or almost kissing and for that I was grateful. Even when I had passed him the book, his fingers hadn’t brushed against mine like they usually would have. I wasn’t so sure I was grateful about that, though.

            I had no idea what I was feeling, how I was feeling, what I was supposed to be feeling. My head was all kinds of mixed up.

            “So, are you planning on hiding out here all day long, or you’re actually going to come down at one point,” Cole asked me, teasingly.

            I shrugged. “I like it here.”

Cole pursed his lips slightly and I averted my eyes quickly. Looking at his lips was the last thing I should be doing.

“How are things with the cousin?”

Cole sighed heavily, like it could answer the question. It kind of did. I chuckled as he handed me back my book—his fingertips not touching mine again. “That bad?” I teased.

I didn’t want to judge Cole’s cousin too quickly, after all she could be a really nice girl deep down. But for now, to me she just seemed slightly obnoxious. And obviously, Cole was thinking the same thing.

“She ate my Fruit Loops,” Cole stated.

I tried to keep from laughing. “And what a crime that is.”

He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you making fun of me, Miss Eaton?”

This time I couldn’t help the grin to spread on my face. “What if I am?”

Cole was still trying to act offended but he was slightly smiling too. “There will be dreadful consequences.”

That’s all it took me, to grab the branch I was sitting on, and letting myself fall down out of the tree. I looked up at Cole, with a face-splitting grin on my face. “Well, you’re going to have to catch me first.” And then I ran.