A Slave to Love

Chapter 28: Long Time No See

All week, Landon ignored me.

All week, Blade was nowhere to be found.

I didn't mind Blade not being around, at least that gave me a chance to figure shit out before I screwed whatever was going on with him up even worse. Though I had to admit, a part of me was worried that that something else had gone wrong, that maybe he was still healing from his wounds or worse.

But Landon...

I had to see him everyday. During track, during class, during meals, and when we hung out in a group. It was horrible. He didn't even look at me or talk to me; it was like I didn't exist. He talked to Katie and Nate and everyone else but as soon as I jumped in the conversation he'd go quiet and just get all stone faced and expressionless.

And it pissed me off royally. He said he wanted to talk later...so what the hell was taking so long? And why should he be so mad at me when he did the same thing to Jill a while ago? Talk about being a hypocrite. I understood he was hurt, but if he was going to dump me, it'd be nice if he just did it already instead of this uncertain freeze out he was doing.

It was unfair of me to feel this way, I knew that, but knowing it didn't make me feel any less shitty about it. And Blade's distance with our bond was only heightening how shitty I felt.

Our friends were feeling the strain too, though they were doing their best to keep the peace and fill in the gaps, the whole thing had left everyone affected.

By Friday I was ready to lose my mind, between worrying about Blade and his lack of presence making me crabby, and wondering if he was okay or not and then stressing over Landon and what he was thinking and how to act around him, I was moody, restless and a total crabby bitch. Which was not a good mix, especially when Landon finally decided to talk to me during lunch.

We ended up by the lake again, skipping stones in silence for a long time before finally he whipped a stone out across the lake, making it skip six times before it sunk and then he whirled on me.

"Why did you do it?"

I was so surprised I dropped my stone, and it took me a moment to realize what the hell he was talking about.

"It was an accident," I said, stooping down to get another handful of stones. It sounded so ridiculously lame and pathetic, but it was the truth. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn't have happened. We might push the line when we hang out, but I'd never cross it. Him drinking my blood...it did something to me.

"I thought you hated that guy, so why did you get that close?" he snapped.

I tried to keep my tone from being snippy since I was on a short fuse from not seeing said person that I supposedly hated, but it was hard. Especially because proximity to Blade hadn't been the issue; it had been terror that he was going to die and then a new kind of horror and shock when he sank his fangs into my arm. That wasn't something easily explained.

"Because you didn't see him, Landon. He looked like he was about to drop dead any second."

"So why didn't you bring him to a hospital?" he countered.

"With what? My magical, flying, invisible car? In case you haven't realized yet, I had no form of transportation even if I wanted to, and he didn't want to go to the hospital anyways," I said bitterly, whipping a stone out across the lake. 

"What about the nurse?"

"He didn't want to go," I repeated. "There was no way I could have dragged him like that, he could barely walk. And don't say I could have gone and get her; I couldn't have left him by himself, not like that. I didn't even have my phone on me to call for help."

Landon stayed quiet, but judging by the way he lashed another stone out I could tell he was still pissed. I couldn't blame him. The situation was frustrating and messy, but I couldn't erase it, much as I would have liked too.

I exhaled in exasperation and dropped my stones to my feet, dusted my hands off and put a hand on his shoulder. He jerked away from my hand so I stuffed my hands in my pockets instead.