Skins & Needles (COMPLETE)

Almost Like Belonging Part 2

Charlotte

By the time evening rolled around, I had entangled Arsen in my cooking scheme. I would have been completely fine doing it myself, mind you, but he had to ask if I needed help, and the devilish side of me had said, "Why yes! We could use all the help preparing for this crowd of guests!"

And thus, he stood, battering chicken for my crispy chicken tacos while I tried my damndest not to laugh at the amount of flour in his hair and stubble. I was failing. Miserably.

"Would you pipe down?" he snapped, but I saw him struggling not to smile out of my peripheral vision.

"Nooo caaan dooo," I sang, sauteing onions and tomatoes a couple feet away. "I had an idea and now I am seeing it through!"

"You're unstoppable," he muttered, and my smile grew. Whatever did or didn't happen between us, little comments like that made this weird detour in my life a lot more worth it.

We worked together until guests began to arrive, and then I finished up my concoction while Arsen entertained the group. Crispy chicken tacos with beans, avocado, lettuce, lime, and my sauteed veggies, with a side of tasty tater tots and little steak skewers were on the menu.

When I brought it all out, the group cheered.

"Arsen told us it would be something other than pizza," Nathan said, "but he didn't say it would be brought to us by the one and only Charlotte."

"I'm not here much longer, so I figured I'd go out with a bang!" I beamed. Over half of them I knew, so I hadn't pulled any punches. Granted, I never slacked on my cooking.

"She had me covered in flour, so you know," Arsen announced from his armchair. "Painstaking labor went into this meal."

"Oh, hush," I said as I set the platters of food and a stack of recyclable plates down. "You had fun."

"We'll see if her skill as a chef is as good as her tattooing. I'm not convinced by this presentation," Nathan teased, and I punched him lightly on the arm.

"You get the honor of wearing my work all the time," I scoffed, sitting on the floor by the coffee table as everyone began digging into the meal. "Sass me too much and I won't be 'Angel Hands' next time, hmm?"

"Is that a threat?" Nathan gasped, and I smiled deviously.

"It's a promise."

"What game are we playing tonight?" Adrian's wife, Macy asked. She sat on the floor with me, apparently for better comfort in the later stages of pregnancy.

"Probably some overtly offensive card game?" Adrian guessed.

"I haven't played it yet," Arsen began, "but I will try to explain it to you while we all feast."

Everyone loved the meal. They congratulated me on shaking up game night, and reminded me countless times how much Arsen loved to order pizza. They also encouraged me to join the game, and somehow, that made all the difference in how I felt about my time here. Maybe I wouldn't be around them forever, but for a moment, it was almost as if I belonged.

And I would miss that forever.

The card game boiled down to who could be the most offensive. Some baseball game played in the background, but I was focused on only one thing.

Total domination.

It came down to a race for the most winning cards between me and some guy named Ethan, who I think was trying to flirt with me. It was hard to tell with all the wine going around.

"Okay, but what does the winner get?" I asked him once it was clear no one else stood a chance. Ten cards won. The next closest person to our nine cards each was Adrian, and he only had six.

"I didn't exactly plan on prizes," Arsen grumbled, and the laughter erupted throughout the group.

"How about this," I decided. "If I win, you come get a tattoo done by me when I'm back in the real world."

"And what do I get if I win?" Ethan asked, leaning forward a little in piqued interest.

"State your demands, and we shall make it a deal!" I threw back the rest of my wine and smacked my glass down dramatically.

"Ever heard of seven in heaven?" Ethan wiggled his thick eyebrows when he said this, making almost everyone laugh. Everyone, but Arsen.

"That's all? You have to get a tattoo if I win but all I have to do is make out?"

"You've heard the terms."

"Shake on it!" Nathan called, and I glanced across the living room to see him watching Arsen with a mischievous smirk. I imagined he thought that Arsen had some sort of feelings toward me, but if that was the case, the fucker should have done something by now.

I held my hand out and Ethan grasped it tightly.

The prompt card was dealt, and we all cast our votes to Macy, the judge of the round.

"Why did I lose my virginity?" she read aloud, and then flipped our cards over one by one. "Some tough choices here guys... 'Getting high at the drive-in' is fun. 'The Wicker Man,' also solid."

Come on, you have a vagina! Pick mine!

"But the winner is way too obvious. There's no way 'bicycle accident' can't win. I mean, we've all heard the myths!"

"Yes!" I shouted, throwing all my cards into the air and letting them rain down around me.

"No!" Ethan cried, but he was grinning ear to ear.

"Better be thinking about that tattoo, cuz yoooou lost! Wasted!"

"You're the devil," Ethan said, and I leaned back against Arsen's chair.

"And you still shook my hand," I reminded him. I glanced back to see Arsen slamming his wine and smirked. I might have had an unyielding crush on Arsen, but if he wasn't going to reciprocate, then I didn't really have qualms with making out with his attractive cousin. Granted, I'd been hoping to win, but losing would have cost me next to nothing.

A thought struck me then, and I briefly considered asking Arsen about it. If Ethan was so optimistic to engage in physical intimacy with me, an outsider, why wasn't he? How did dating work in his world? Relationships? Feelings? Flings?

"Wanna go for a run?" Adrian asked the group, and I blinked away the questions I would never speak aloud. "Perimeter check and all?"

"Careful," Arsen warned with a glance in my direction. "But yes."

"Woo!" Macy cheered, pushing herself from the floor to wobbly stand. "I am desperately in need of one."

The rest of the group followed suit, setting down any cards or drinks they'd been holding and heading for the door. I watched in confusion before standing myself.

"Run?" I asked Arsen softly, and he turned back to face me with a look of regret.

"Something we do as a family," he told me slowly. "We won't be back until late. You'll be fine here on your ow—"

"Of course!" I chimed, doing my best to sound upbeat even as my stomach was twisting. "There's plenty to do here."

I didn't hear what he said next, or what anyone else called out as I waved to them all with a faux-cheerful expression. I just watched as they filed out, one by one, until I was once again by myself.

A familiar feeling.

I looked around Arsen's house in slow motion, taking in each discarded plate, each half-filled wine glass. I could hear my heart throbbing in my ears with the sudden silence, and let out a shaky breath. Tears escaped the corners of my eyes as I began to clean, but I pressed on, determined to distract myself from the onslaught of emotion.

In the distance, wolves howled.

At least the beasts aren't alone tonight.

---

So close to the truth, and yet...

Happy Reading!

-Haybails