My Dark Knight (COMPLETED)

Chapter 26

((Sorry for the delay. Yes, I am safe despite all of the tornadoes, see more info at the end A/N. 

The song for this chapter was requested a dozen or more times so I relented and put it up. It is quite catchy and actually suits the story pretty well. 

And a lovely cover by tinkerbelltales!

Thanks Belle for editing! :) )) 

 --- 

--- 

My eyes flickered between Maria’s parents to Gabriel and back again. Normally, I would’ve been feeling a rush of embarrassment at this point. The alcohol had definitely tampered with my emotions, though, because although my logical side knew I was embarrassing myself, in my drunken state I didn’t care. At this precise moment I actually found the situation quite funny. 

“Hey Mom… Dad…. Alpha….” Maria greeted nearly incoherently. I could tell she was feeling the awkwardness of the situation, unlike me. She wasn’t quite as drunk as I was. 

“Do you have an explanation for this?” Jack demanded. Gabriel remained silent, eyes boring into me. I realized I was still standing on the table and that 'A Girl Worth Fighting For' had just ended in the background. I fought down the urge to smile because I knew it wasn’t amusing, yet the laughter was threatening to bubble up. I cautiously stepped down from the coffee table, swaying slightly as I stood on the ground. The world was nearly spinning around me but I attempted to stay upright so I wouldn’t appear as drunk as I really was.  

“Um… we….” My best friend began to stammer, slurring her words a bit. I quickly covered my mouth with my hand so they wouldn’t see me grinning. Maria’s face was so red with embarrassment that it was hard not to giggle. “Well... we just wanted to loosen up. I thought you guys wouldn’t be home for another couple of hours!” Her dark eyes looked absolutely miserable. Feeling brave, I attempted to distract Jack’s glaring eyes away from Maria. I didn’t want her to get in trouble. 

“We were watching Mulan!” I burst out excitedly, realizing belatedly that it was pretty obvious what we had been doing. I racked my brains for something more clever to say but came up with nothing. Unfortunately for me, the intelligent side of my brain had all but disappeared, and drunken babble began to escape my lips before I could stop it. “Maria said that I act like a mom. And she wanted to see me smile. And act spontaneous! Also, we really wanted to look at Shang. I know he’s a cartoon character and it’s weird but he looks really good shirtless-” 

“Enough!” Gabriel snapped, cutting me off. I frowned at him, not caring if he saw me. My inner caution was not making an appearance now – not when I had consumed so much alcohol. 

“Maria, you know better than this! You’re underage for crying out loud! And dragging Skylar into it?” Her mother lectured, and Maria shrank down slightly. 

“We don’t even really follow human laws, Mom, so the underage thing is-” 

“Upstairs. Now!” Her father commanded. Maria flinched and glanced at me over her shoulder. I blinked at her, bewildered, and opened my mouth to speak but my brain couldn’t conjure up a coherent sentence. My amusement was gone now that my best friend was getting in trouble. 

She sighed and began to trudge up the stairs, her mother saying a respectful goodbye to Gabriel before following suit. Jack’s stern gaze landed on me but he didn’t speak, instead asking Gabriel’s permission to leave the room. I had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach now seeing Gabriel’s expression. He granted Jack’s request, staring at me all the while.