Who's Laughing Now

Chapter Seven: My Lollipop and his Cupcake

I couldn't bear opening my eyes and seeing him sprawled on the floor in a bloody mess that I just created. My hands were shaking so badly, I had dropped the gun.

I was chasing my own ragged breathe as it dawned on me. I had just killed a man.

There was no excuse for my murdering him. It was not self-defense because I was not being assaulted in any way. After all, I was the one who had sexually assaulted him. I was the one who had initiated any form of sexual act that was going on between us. And worst of all, I had shot an unarmed man. I'll be charged for assault and murder. There will be no end to my suffering, I'd be thrown in prison and I will never see the broad daylight for as long as I live. The rest of my life will be spent on playing cards with my cellmates and carving lines on the silent walls of my cell.

I had been ensnared in my thoughts when I was suddenly grabbed on the arm. My eyes darted open in shock and fear.

"What's wrong with you?" The guy in the ski mask inquired.

"B-but y-you're dead." I panicked and frantically searched for the bullet hole I had just inflicted.

"Stop it. Stop that! Calm down!" He grabbed both of my arms and willed me stay still.

"I killed you. You're supposed to be dead. I swear I shot you. I heard it! There was a bang." I mumbled, trying to reason with him.

"The gun is just a replication of a real one. I made it myself, okay?" He shook me. "It's supposed to scare people away and to assure us that no one gets hurt in the process."

"So in the bank, there were no casualties?" I looked him, hoping that we would say yes. I hated every single one of them who worked at Axford's bank but I wouldn't want death to befall to anyone.

"Of course not! Do you take me for a cold-blooded killer?" He smiled.

"I guess not- just a rash one."

"There's the Clary I know!" To my surprise, he enveloped me in a hug.

"Will you tell me who you are now?" I breathed on his chest, trying to analyze his scent.

"No but you can call me Ash in the meantime." He pulled away from the hug, instantly missing the warmth of his hug as he drew away.

"And you're not a dog, cupcake. Stop trying to sniff me out." He made a stupid kissy face.

"I wasn't. Wipe that grin off your face." A pink shade tinted my cheeks. "And stop referring to me as cupcake or sweetheart! I hate those endearing names. You know what my real name is, why don't you call me that, lollipop?"

"How do you like that huh, lollipop?" I continued until I learned that he wanted me to give him a nickname.

"Go ahead; I'll be your lollipop, cupcake." His blue eyes twinkled in delight.

"Um... dinner was inedible and I'm dying of hunger." I flustered. He was clearly flirting with me. I had to change the direction of the conversation or else his manipulation will get the better of me.

"You didn't eat the pasta. What's wrong with it?"

"Taste it yourself. I would have been more satisfied with a lollipop." I waved my unrestrained arm theatrically.

"No wait! I didn't mean lollipop. I meant sweets or junk food. Anything at all!" I tried to undo what I had previously said. But what has been done cannot be undone. It was too late, he had figured it out.

"Are you saying that eating me will satisfy your craving, cupcake?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Someday, cupcake, someday," he winked. "But right now, let's go get you something to else to eat."

He dragged me to the dining room and set his eyes on the dinner he had made for me.

"Why is it burnt?" He asked inquisitively. "Did you tamper with the microwave?"

"No. You were the one who set it on thirty minutes. Here taste it." I handed him the plastic spoon.

He hesitated for a second before he took a mouthful. I bit my lips in anticipation for him to spit it back out.

"It's not that bad." He said with a shrug.

"No way! You're used to eating your own terrible cooking that's why! Spit it out, Ash, it's stale. You're going to get sick."

"I'm kidding!" He chuckled. "I didn't swallow it."

"Then where it is?"

"I spat it inside my ski mask."

"That's disgusting! You're so gross." I made a face.

"I'm sorry about the food. I didn't know it was bad when I found it in the fridge." He slid his hand into the mouth hole of his mask and took out the remnant of the fettuccini in his mask and threw it in the waste basket.

I nodded curtly.

"You make me sick, Ash. I don't think I'm hungry anymore." I said as he stood up and went to wash his hand on the sink.

"That reminds me, cupcake. Where is the key to the handcuffs?" He asked.

"What?"

"It's not that I don't want to bind to you like this but my wrist is getting pretty sore." He ruffled my hair.

"That wasn't what I meant, Ash! I don't have the key! I thought it's with you." I swatted his hand away.

"It's not." His eyes widened.

One word: Shit.