tangled up in blue

bonus chapter

Eugene was completely unaffected and I didn't see anything wrong in describing it as hot. Like, it was a totally objective observation. A normal passing thought. I definitely wasn't thinking about it for longer than five seconds. "Leave. Now."

His anger was the scariest kind of anger. The dude himself was terrifying, and terrifyingly attractive, but that's not the point. He remained calm in a fight and then destroyed you with a few sharp words, and he wasn't someone who cared about mean girls. That's probably how he put up with Jace, the meanest girl of all. But I still had absolutely no idea why he was angry at Chesca. Why he was rescuing me.

"Or what?" She retorted smugly. "You're gonna run and tell Jace that I'm a big meanie? Please.  I might be a ten, but my patience is at a three."

"No," he said coolly, staring her down. "But you are gonna fuck off. I'd count down from ten, but apparently you get your numbers mixed up." When she paled, his sarcasm fell and his face hardened with it. "Go."

I stared at him in shock. With one last sour glare at me, she stormed off, dragging a very confused Brandy along with her. Apart from Jace, I'd never seen anyone shut Chesca up. It was particularly surprising, since I thought he was only capable of glaring at people and offering moody grunts as stimulating conversation.

My face heated when he turned his cold gaze on me, and then his body, which was- shit, the opposite of cold. I looked like an idiot sprawled out on the steps, watching someone pull me up by my shirt and lead me upstairs, someone whose idea of a good time was probably starting small fires and ripping the wings off of butterflies.

Before I knew what was happening, Eugene walked us into my room. It was dark, and I was confused, and he was looking at me. Like, looking looking at me.

"Uhhh," I said stupidly. "Hi?"

His hard stare and crossed arms gave nothing away. "You okay? Did she hurt you?"

So, that was the last thing I expected.

"Huh?" I blinked, realizing he was waiting for an answer. "Oh, er, yeah. I'm fine... but..." I could feel his patience withering. In all the time I'd known him, which was only through vague, silent appearances he made around my brother, Eugene had never exactly been friendly. Nor had he ever paid me any attention besides the strange stares he shot in my direction sometimes. But when I introduced myself to him over a year ago, he straight up ignored me, and hadn't said anything to me ever since. I just assumed he was friends with Jace for being equally unlikeable, but all at once, the guy was even more of a mystery. "Why did you do that?"

He narrowed his sharp eyes as if he was trying to figure me out. "Would you rather I let her walk all over you?" Eugene stepped closer to me, and when he cocked his head and his lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile, I had the faintest feeling that mocking me amused him. "Or do you like that?"

What the fuck. What the fuck. 

My mouth opened and closed uselessly before the shock I was feeling transformed into annoyance. "Hey. You barely even know me," I snapped, but my confidence was more like nervousness dressed up as confidence. A cheap imitation.

"I know you, Lee." The way he said my name felt criminal. It was just my name. Three letters, the same as always. And yet, he said it like it was something dirty. Like it was a secret only he knew about. He didn't look mad, either. I'd thought he was angry before, but that strange, slight tilt of his lips didn't budge. I stepped back. He stepped closer. 

"Okay, I have no fucking idea what's going on. I've only heard you speak like, one fucking sentence since we met, so if this is some kinda joke, you can tell Jace it worked. You're both hilarious. So... if-if we're cool, I'm gonna g-"