Drawn to Love

Chapter 4

Soon enough, it was the Saturday Hope had invited Landon over, and she was getting a bit anxious as she stared at her blank canvas early in the morning. It wouldn't be long before Landon would be there, and she was nervous about if she would mess things up and also nervous about if she got too close to him. She did not have the will to push him away anymore, but she knew she still was eventually going to try again. But right now she just wanted to see him.

The tribrid hated knowing that it was going to get harder and harder to keep the truth from him about who she was and what she could do. This house was full of magical items, and Hope herself was extremely powerful. And what if something happened, and she hurt herself but it healed quickly because of the vampire blood coursing through her veins and the fact that she was also a werewolf.

She sighed and slipped her paint brushed back to where she kept her other ones stored before heading downstairs to make sure that everything magical around the house was stored away in the room they kept their herbs so that Landon would not find any of it. It was not Hope's views of a fun day to lie to the first friend she had had in two years and the first real friend she had that was not some manipulation or betrayal as of yet. She genuinely enjoyed time with him (something that scared her) and she could tell he cared about her as well. At least she hoped that she was right about that. The last thing she needed was a repeat of what had happened two years ago.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and though Hope was expecting it, her eyes quickly darted to it, a knife magically flying into her hand. She couldn't help her caution. It wouldn't be the first time one of her father's enemies had found her. And it would be possible that they could knock because it could be deception. Not that Hope couldn't easily handle herself. But she didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt. However, once she caught the scent, she could feel her body begin to relax.

Landon Kirby.

Hope quickly put away the knife before walking over to the door and opening it. A smile was broad on her tour guide's face as Hope opened the door. "Hey" Landon greeted. "I was a little worried I had the wrong house. But, uh, that's your aunt's car outside"

"Yeah. My, uh, my family likes large homes" Hope chuckled softly and stepped to the side to let Landon in.

Landon walked inside and looked around a little as Hope closed the door behind him. "Sorry if I'm a little too early. I just left sooner than I expected."

"You're fine. It's still past seven" Hope replied with a small smile. "Are you hungry? Have you eaten anything?"

"A little, but I wasn't expecting you to feed me, especially for breakfast at least"

"It's fine. I haven't eaten either so just come make yourself comfortable at the island counter"

"If you have some eggs, sugar, baking powder, and flour, I could cook. I make some pretty good pancakes. Unless you want me to just cook from a pancake mix. That works too."

Hope smiled as she reached the kitchen and pulled out some supplies. *I do. I don't cook a lot, but I've had enough practice to make some decent food. I'll cook some sausage for the side if you like sausage"

Landon nodded. "Sausage is fine" he said as he took the supplies and started getting to work preparing breakfast.

Hope's gaze lingered on him as she thought about how most people wouldn't offer to cook too, especially at someone else's house. A small smile formed on her face as she turned away, pulling out what she needed to cook the sausage before she started getting to work.

"So we're going to watch the Star Wars movies right?" Hope questioned, wanting to make sure she knew what he wanted to do

"Yeah. I can't believe you're agreeing to watch them just for me" Landon admitted, heat rising a little in his cheeks as he looked over at her before continuing to measure ingredients.