Separate Entities//Miss Peregrine AU

Chapter Thirteen

I shook my head, trying to dismiss the conversation. "Never mind, it's stupid. Now, where was I?" With that, I launched into a sloppy rendition of Victor's Piano Solo from 'Corpse Bride'. I'd hardly played ten notes before Millard placed a hand over mine and sat down next to me, cutting me off. I was slightly uncomfortable at the sudden closeness between us and my mouth grew suddenly dry. I licked my lips nervously.

"You really like what?" he asked again, this time with much more intensity in his voice than before. I looked into his eyes - gleaming and golden-brown, like sunlight shining through a glass of whiskey.

"You," I whispered, finally looking away. He lifted his hand off mine and instead held my cheek, lifting my head to meet his gaze once more. He didn't say anything. Instead, our faces were drifting slowly closer. Just when I could feel the presence of his lips in front of mine, someone coughed.

We turned immediately to face Emma, Jake standing awkwardly behind her. A light pink blush rushed up my neck and flooded onto my cheeks. Emma had a smirk on her face and her arms were crossed over her chest. "Are we interrupting something?" she asked. Millard and I both shook our heads, though she really was. "Well, this is your last chance, Mill. Are you coming or not?"

"I've already told you, I will take no part in this. You know it's against the rules - I'm not going to risk the chance of death," he replied, leading me to very confused. What the hell were they talking about?

"Well, then, it's your loss," she replied, uncrossing her arms. "Carry on." She and Jacob took off down the hall.

"I really don't think it is!" Millard shouted after them in response before turning back to me. "I must apologize, I wasn't expecting that at all. I wasn't really expecting any of this, actually."

I smiled, then looking around the room, as I'd nearly forgotten where we were. "The same goes for me. What was that about, anyway?" Millard swallowed, which made me grow nervous immediately. This time, however, it was more of a 'what-the-hell-is-going-on' nervous than an 'I'm-embarrassed-that-you'll-hate-me-forever-if-I-tell-you-I-like-you' nervous.

"Emma, Jacob, Enoch, and Bronwyn are all sneaking out to speak with the dead bloke on your side of the loop. We all think he was murdered by a hollow, that's no surprise, but they want to find out first hand." I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Well, that seems kind of dumb. How would they do that without me? I'm the one who can actually speak to his ghost," I pointed out. It was Millard's turn to be confused.

"Don't you know that Enoch can bring things back to life?" I thought back to the show they all put on and recalled Enoch bringing to life a clay man by inserting a mouse heart into it.

My eyes lit up as I remembered. "Oh, yeah! Duh, how could I forget?"

"I knew you would remember," Millard replied. When I looked at his face, I was expecting a smug smile, but instead, it was warm and proud - not in a rude sense, but the way a teacher does when a student got their fifth A in a row. I smiled right back.

"Alright, well, I understand now." I sat silently for a minute, then frowned as I realized something else. "It kind of hurts, though, that they didn't ask me to come along. I suppose this plan was created while I was in the kitchen calming down?" Now Millard nodded, and I grimaced a little.

"If it hurts, I suppose I could kiss it better," Millard said out of nowhere.

My immediate reaction came in the form of laughter. "I would never expect a pick-up line that smooth coming from you," I said, a wide smile on my face. It was reflected on his, though I wasn't very surprised.

"Is that a yes?" he asked, throwing in a wink for good measure. My nod was slightly subdued as I leaned forward, at last meeting his lips with mine. There were no fireworks - as that was very unrealistic - but there was a loud boom, which immediately made us part; the first bomb of the night had just fallen. We shared a look and laughed, but as Millard leaned back in I leaned away, winking coyly before I began playing Victor's Piano Solo again. He pouted but let me, listening intently and clapping when it was over.