Rouge

Rouge - Chapter Thirty-Four

Eli breathed deeply, his hair ruffled and askew, his face buried deep in the pillow. He looked different without his glasses; older and less vulnerable. Even in a peaceful slumber, Eli glowed stronger and more masculine than he ever had. Hunter smiled, watched him for a few more minutes and then decided she was hungry.

Hunter gently climbed out of the bed, slipped on one of Eli’s hoodies - refusing to look at Jack’s - and crept to the door. As she glanced back at Eli with his hands under his pillow lying flat on his stomach, one foot sticking out the side of the bed, Hunter remembered last night and it made her flush and smile at once.

Closing the door behind her, Hunter crept downstairs. Her understanding of the morning after usually involved one of two options; sneaking out and leaving a note on the pillow or breakfast in bed - depending on the guy. Hunter couldn’t think of anything worse than leaving, so she started gathering breakfast.

It took her less than ten minutes to prepare a quick vegetarian breakfast and some coffee for her and Eli, having no need for a kettle, stove or toaster. She should have been more careful. Even if Mr. Akerman and Melissa wouldn’t be returning until tomorrow, this wasn’t her house. Anyone could waltz in and see her.

But at that point in time, Hunter didn’t care. The whole world practically knows anyway, said the fire. She held the pan above her fingers and watched her eggs fry – none for Eli, of course. Hunter had come to enjoy using her powers after the long months of training. Perhaps it was her mother’s words of encouragement in the letter, or even because she had saved two lives already. Perhaps it was also because she hadn’t killed Eli, which was possibly her worst fear. On the contrary, the fire made the experience even more passionate. For it was passion that had led Hunter to believe she loved Eli so much that it had changed her, that for the first time in months she felt like she had a destiny beyond using her powers to save people. She could have a normal, real future.

The clattering of the china woke Eli as Hunter entered the bedroom. She found herself grinning as he rolled over, revealing a distressed hairstyle and pillow creases on his cheeks.

“Morning,” he yawned and took his glasses from the bedside table.

“Good morning.” She gently placed the tray in the middle of the bed and crawled under the covers, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I made breakfast. It seemed fitting.”

Eli adjusted himself and frowned, reaching beneath the duvet. When his hand came out, he was grasping Hunter’s necklace.

“Oh no …” She fingered the broken chain delicately.

“What is it?”

“It’s my necklace. My mother gave it to me. I mean, she wanted to give it to me when I was younger, but didn’t get the chance to. Joshua says it means fire.”

Eli took it out of her hands and looked at it closely. “It’s beautiful. Pretty ironic, though.”

She smiled. “I used to think so too. But then, my mother knew about my powers. Actually, she only knew one of them. She had immunity to fire as well.”

“Wow. How did-”

“Hey,” she snapped, “breakfast first, questions after.”

He smirked, inspecting the tray of steaming food. “This is great. I feel terrible that you had to make it though.”

She rolled her eyes. “It’s fine, here have some.”

Eli began picking at his toast as Hunter leant against the leather bed head with her coffee mug between her fingers. She closed her eyes and became aware of Eli’s arm touching hers as he ate. It seemed like only yesterday they were sitting in the theatre watching the black and white movie. How much had changed since that night. It was as if they had finally crossed the bridge to where the grass was greener, to where they were completely comfortable with each other.