The Dark Ones

Chapter Twelve

"I thought you said you wouldn't get scared," he pointed out. "What was with all the 'I'm a shadow hunter' talk, then?"

"I am a shadow hunter," I defended myself.

"But you're afraid of a ghost?" He asked.

"That's not a ghost, that's a demon." I deflected.

"You hunt demons," he reminded me.

"Forget it, I'm done with this conversation." I said, moving to stand up. I'd had enough of the scary movie and defending myself for being scared, even if it was just a joking conversation. He moved quickly, grabbing my wrist.

"No!" He said, pulling gently on my arm. "Don't leave, I'll put on a Disney movie."

One look at his pouting face and hearing his pleading voice made me give in, and I sat back down beside him, "can't we watch something like... The Fault in Our Stars?"

"That movie was so sad," he pointed out, but glancing over at me he quickly changed his tune. "But a great movie, nonetheless. Let's watch it."

"Do you want to do something else, instead?" I asked, not entirely sure if I could sit still for another few hours.

"Whatever you want," he responded, closing his laptop and turning to look at me. "Are you hungry?"

"Yes." I told him instantly, and he chuckled.

"I'll order the pizza now," he said, grabbing his phone from his nightstand and walking out into the hall to make the call. Within a few moments, he was walking through the door again and tossing his phone onto the bed, a toss that he only narrowly made.

"That's how your phone broke the first time, huh?" I teased, and he shook his head.

"I was rushing, it wasn't my fault." He defended himself before sitting down beside me again, "I ordered, should be here s-"

Before he could finish, my attention was taken away from the thought of pizza by the sound of voices resounding through the halls.

"Who is that?" I whispered, glancing at his phone too see that it was nearly 2 AM.

"Two or three of the derelicts that live here," he responded, and I tried to single out just one voice to see if I could figure out who was outside.

Seconds later, the door swung open, "Clarissa!" It was Sebastian, and the loudness of his voice caused me to jump. I felt Noah move away slightly on the bed, "Where did you go? Noah, where did you take her?"

"I just took her to Illusion," he explained, and I noticed Dylan inching his way into the room behind Sebastian.

"You should have told me," Sebastian responded, but his voice seemed to be filled more with relief than anger. "I was worried about the two of you."

"Worried?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing at the thought of Sebastian genuinely feeling emotions. I reprimanded myself, remembering that I was going to actually give him a chance. I had to if I was going to be living there for a decent chunk of time.

"I mean... They were worried." He responded cooly.

"Oh, well look," I said, "I'm fine, and so is Noah. We looked out for each other."

"Alright," Sebastian looked at me, then Noah, me again, and then back at Dylan and Chase, who had just appeared in the doorway seconds before. "Let's leave the sweethearts alone."

"We aren't—" Noah started, but Sebastian cut him off quickly, his icy gaze returning to us.

"Love makes you weak, brother." Sebastian stated. His tone was sharp, "you of all people should know that."

I hadn't expected him to say anything remotely close to that. It seemed like such a strange thing to bring up, especially regarding Noah and I. But I had to remind myself that Sebastian was someone who was possessive, and though he might have changed in some ways, it was possible that he had remained the same in others. Seeing two of the people he regarded as close to him, growing close to each other, might have stirred up some uncomfortable feelings from within him. A part of me almost felt bad for him.

Noah sat up further, "that's what you think," he responded. "But maybe that's because you don't know what it's like to truly love someone."

Sebastian raised an eyebrow, a devilish smile playing on his lips, "and you do?"

When Noah neglected to answer, Sebastian turned his attention briefly to me before he walked out with Dylan and Chase close behind. I turned to face Noah, who had a clenched jaw and a stressed look on his face. "Are you okay?" I asked, my voice quiet.

"I'm fine," He said, but there was a look on his face that I had difficulty identifying. He looked as though he was hurt.

"Are you sure? You don't look fine," I pointed out. He looked to me, his gaze softening and his face changing. "Was it what he said?"

"No, of course not. I do know what it's like to love someone," Noah explained. "I just don't enjoy feeling as though I'm being vilified over it."

And when he said that, I felt uneasy. I wasn't sure what caused these feelings within me, but I could feel that they were there. I parted my lips, racking my brain to think of something to say, but I was forced out of my own head when another noise could be heard in the distance. It caused me to jump slightly, but Noah was unbothered by it.

"It's the doorbell, relax." He smiled, standing up and making his way toward the door before disappearing in the hall. I sighed, standing up and walking over to his mirror.

I glanced at my reflection, at my red hair cascading down my shoulders and my face that had not a stitch of makeup on. I remembered Isabelle telling me to always carry a tube of mascara with me, and I did, but I never used it. I unsuccessfully tried to run my hand through my hair to try to tame the unruliness of it before giving up and just staring at myself.

I wasn't sure what made me so concerned about my looks in that moment—The somewhat light lashes that I had been born with... The pale skin, short height, or my red hair—but I was. When Noah came back into the room, I turned on my heel so that he wouldn't see that I was staring at my own reflection. Despite focusing on my insecurities, he may have taken it as me being vain and I didn't want that.

"Just me," He said with a pizza box in his hand, not seeming to notice. I looked at his grin and felt my body relax under his gaze, and that's when I realized what I was feeling. The awkwardness and nervousness that I felt whenever he was around, coupled with the way that I was feeling in that moment, I figured it out. I was beginning to like Noah. Despite this revelation, I decided to keep it to myself and continue acting as though nothing had changed.
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(Edited on November 9, 2017)
(Edited again on July 28, 2018)
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