The heart of Cleopatra

Nice guy

Chapter forty two.

"So what did you do today?" Charlie asked Cleo down the phone. Her suspension made his days significantly boring, he still had Oli around but he didn't quite compete with Cleo.

"Training." Cleo answered simply, she did her best to curve her bluntness, given the bad mood Kai had put her in.

"Just you, or was Kai there too?" Cleo's eyes went wide. It's as if he read her mind. She tried to avoid any conversation about Kai with Charlie. He wasn't aware of the current living situation, due to her not telling him.

"I trained Kai for a while, the longest hours of my life. I almost forgot how irritating he is."

Charlies chuckle rang through the phone. "I could have told you that, in fact I do." Cleo rolled her eyes, snuggling closer to her bedroom window.

"Yeah, well we all have our roles to play." She said. A sigh came from Charlie, at first Cleo thought it was about her defending Kai, however, she was wrong.

"About tomorrow night." He started sounding guilty. "I have to help my parents set up for the gala. I tried to get out of it but I couldn't." Cleo's mouth formed to a frown, today has been a disappointing day.

"It's fine Charlie." She told him.

"No it's not. I'm missing your birthday dinner. I'm sorry, but I'll make up for it."

Cleo smiled. "I'm sure you will, but seriously it's no big deal. My family get more excited about birthdays than I do."

A certain person walking through her front door distracted her from Charlie's reply. "Hey Ivy league, I'll speak to you later." She said, Charlie quickly said bye in confusion and waited for Cleo to end the call.

"You've got a lot of nerve Malakai." Cleo told Kai as he stood in the entrance.

Kai tilted his head sarcastically. "You aren't still mad about training are you?"

"More shocked, I didn't think you could be any more of a dick than you already are." She replied with a patronising grin.

"Oh come on, I was just riling you up." Kai replied while punching the air. Cleo rolled her eyes as she opened her cupboard full of blade. "Woah, Valencia, this is how you're going to kill me?" He joked putting his hands up in surrender. She looked over her shoulder to his smirking face with a disapproving glare.

"If I was going to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago." She replied, taking a set of silver blades out, she closed the cupboard and sat back on her bed, ready to sharpen them. Kai made himself at home on the sofa he had been claiming as his own.

"I'm not coming to your Arcane birthday night." He said out of nowhere breaking the tense silence.

"I'm truly devastated." Cleo sarcastically gasped, Kai rolled his eyes but his face wasn't as playful as earlier. "You have better plans?"

He looked down and shook his head. "I figured since your boyfriend is going to be there, I'd give you a drama free night and back out."

Cleo burst out in laughter. Kai glared at the brunette in her humoured state. "Since when have you been a nice guy? The Malakai I know would show up just to make the night a disaster."

Kai smirked and leaned back on the sofa. "Your right, that does sound like me." The two laughed with each other. "But for real I have to go see my Dad." Kai's words made Cleo stop wiping her blades. Kai's Dad has no good intentions when it comes to his son, so why the hell is Kai going to see him?

"No fucking way!" Cleo shouted.

Kai narrowed his eyes at the clearly bothered girl. "That's not really you call Valencia."

"It is when you turn up with new cuts and bruises. Or have you forgotten why you're crashing at my place?" Cleo replied angrily, despite their differences she has grown to care about Kai's wellbeing. Kai looked away, he knew he was easily drawn by Cleo's words. The longer they've been together the weaker he's become.

"Look, I'll be fine. Besides, if he tries to hit me then I can hit him harder now." The two's eyes met with small smiles on their faces. "And now you can have the night with your family and boyfriend."

Cleo looked back down. "Wouldn't bet on it. Charlie and I aren't exactly official and he's helping set up the gala so he can't come."

"Wow, your almost boyfriend ditching you on your birthday. That's some heartbreak song worthy stuff right there." Kai laughed. Cleo threw her blade in hand through the air, missing Kai but an inch and lodging into a wooden beam. Kai ducked dramatically covering his head. His eyes were wide with shock.

"What the fuck! You could have killed me." He shouted, Cleo looked at him with a proud smirk as she flicked another lightly and catching it.

"If I wanted to hit you, I would have. I've never missed a throw in my life."

Kai sighed and shook his head. "You're mental Valencia."

"I know." Cleo replied.

Cleo walked to collect the blade which was heading for kai. She pulled it out of the beam and blew the small splinters of wood off. She turned to kai and extended her hand, presenting the blade. "Take this." She told him.

Kai furrowed his brows. "Why?"

"Just take it. If something goes wrong with your Dad, a blade to the heart usually does it." She said.

"It's only my Dad. I don't need a weapon." Kai replied. Inside he was debating whether he should, he had feared facing him again, it kept him up some nights. However, the thought of killing his own Dad was a step to far.

"Just take it." Cleo urged still holding the blade.

Kai softly placed both palms on Cleo's cheeks, moving her head up to look in his eyes. "Cleo, I will be okay. Besides, I was trained by the best, right?" Cleo managed a smile as she gazed into Kai's deep brown eyes, she could see through his confidence act like he was glass. He was scared and she didn't like it, in fact, she hated it.

"Okay, but I swear if he does anything."

"He won't." Kai said bringing her close to him. Cleo wrapped her arms around his waist as he cradled her head. They stayed there for what felt like a life time and a second at the same time. Something about being in Kai's arms made Cleo feel safe. She wondered if it was because they were equally as screwed up and lost in the world as they know it. "Silver isn't really my colour either." Kai joked. Cleo laughed against his chest which she had become snuggled into. She loosened her grip slightly and looked up. Their breath hitched as they were flush against each other. Cleo couldn't help but rise on her tip toes and place her lips on his. Kai became breathless as he kissed her sweet lips back. He'd dreamt about what Cleo tasted like for years and it was better than he ever imagined, but it wasn't right. "You should probably call your almost boyfriend." He whispered as he pulled away. Cleo's beautiful dark eyes were clouded with passion, just like Kai's. There was nothing more he wanted than to kiss her again, but he knew she would hate him for it later. Cleo stumbled back, breaking their intimate hold.

"Yeah." She mumbled and cleared her throat. Kai watched the girl he'd become obsessed

with walk away from him. In this moment he truly hated the nice guy he was becoming.