A World in the Shadows

Chapter 17, Lyra

CHAPTER 17

LYRA

"Ergh this is awful" I said, throwing my coffee in the bin beside me.

"Hey, it could be worse" Charlie said, grinning.

"No. Worse coffee I've ever had" I said.

"I am so offended. I tried really hard with that" He said, opening the fridge and looking through it. I laughed.

"You'll get over it" I said. We were in Charlie's flat, and were trying to find something to eat for breakfast. SInce the masquerade ball, Charlie and I had gotten straight in to planning a rescue mission for Ethan and Jenna, and we'd gathered a sort of rescue team. There were seven of us; Ian, Emily, Matt, Jacob, Kian, Charlie and me. I hadn't really planned to tell so many people, but that was sort of how it all had worked out, and each of us were useful in different ways. Everyone except for Charlie and I were in the living room, and it felt good to be just in the kitchen with Charlie. It was the first time we had been alone since the masquerade ball, and it felt so, so good to be able to talk again.

"We haven't really had a chance to talk since the ball" He said, and I looked up.

"Yeah we have" I said, opening a sugar sachet and watching it spill onto the counter.

"Not alone" He said. I put the sachet down and hauled myself up on to the counter, my feet dangling off the end, and looked at him, biting my lip.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"The kiss"

"It was just a kiss"

"It was one hell of a kiss" He said, looking at me closely. "You can't deny that" I sighed.

"I don't want to talk about it" I said, looking away from him.

"Well we have to Lyra! You can't just skim over this and avoid it! This time, that's not an option. We kissed, it happened. And I seem to remember you were the one that asked me to kiss you!" He paused, throwing a tea towel down on the counter and looking at me.

"I know! I know it happened. And I wouldn't take it back, not for anything. I would to he exact same thing again if I re-did that night" He sighed when I stopped talking and raised his eyebrows.

"Then what's the problem?" He asked.

"That's the thing, I don't know! When I'm with you, I forget everything, and I'm happy, and everything's easy, but then I start thinking, and I realize how completely messed up my life is, and how I can't be happy with you because I have to save people, and do things, and It's just all too complicated!" I said. I realized I was yelling, and leant bak, looking at the ceiling.

"You're allowed to be happy Lyra" Charlie said, and I looked back up at him. "That doesn't make you a bad person. You need to stop doing things for other people and do something for you" He said, brushing my hair back from my face. I was still completely not used to it being brown. Whenever I walked past a mirror I had to blink a few times.

"That doesn't sound right" I whispered. He laughed.

"You're allowed to stop thinking sometimes" He said, lifting me off the counter. "I'm allowed to be stupid and do things for me?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. He spun me around and I laughed, dropping down and stretching behind him to pick up an egg.

"Yep" He said, grinning.

"Fantastic" I said, and I leant forwards, smashing the egg on top of his head. He yelled out as it cracked and slid down his back.

"That's just cruel" He said, laughing. He wrapped his arms around me and I laughed, yelling out as I tried to escape. He smashed the egg on my head and I screamed, pushing him back.