He Wants Me, He Wants Me Not

Chapter 9

AN: Hey guys :) Please read the note at the end of the chapter, and again, thanks SO MUCH for reading :) Warning in Advance: This chapter is short, sorry to disappoint, but there'll be more in the next one, I promise!

-Alina

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Luna finished brushing her hair and slipped her knit beanie on. The blood behind her cheeks had gone away substantially, but you could still tell it was there. Laying like they were, so intimately, so sexually,  had a desire thrumming through her body that just wouldn't go away, as much as she willed it to. However, Luna couldn't afford to cave in to her body's desires. So she shook her head, slapped her cheeks and headed downstairs. After putting on her jacket, Luna stepped outside and waited for Austen, admiring the way the snow glittered in the morning sun. It was beautiful, her own Winter Wonderland.

 The wooden door opened with a creak and Luna turned her head to see Austen standing there in his winter coat. Trying to ignore what had happened between them not even half an hour ago, she nodded toward the tree line, "C'mon."

 "Am I allowed to ask where we're going now?" Austen joked.

 Luna smiled, "Ah…Let me see…Nope."

 Snapping his fingers, Austen tsked, getting a chuckle from her.

 The forest was serene and quiet, all the animals resting in the ground or up in the trees. The trees themselves were all bare, the snow resting heavily on each branch. The sky was a cloudy blue color, the sun now barely peeking out from behind the mass of snow clouds. Even so, it was a really nice day for Winter.

 After about five minutes of silent walking, they arrived at a lake. Not the one Austen had stumbled upon during his first night there, but a different one. This one was smaller and had a small, wooden shed beside it, some benches also surrounding half the lake.

 They stomped through the snow to the shed and Luna opened it up. Climbing in, she rummaged around for a minute before an "Aha!" echoed out from the shed. Luna climbed back out and held something behind her body. Curious as to what it was, he raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

 "Do you know how to ice skate?" She asked, excitement evident in her green eyes.

 "Uh, no. Why?" Before Luna could respond, realization crossed his features and he slowly backed away from her. "You're not thinking of--"

 Luna laughed, "Yep. Why else would I drag you out here at such an ungodly hour? It's really not that hard, once you get the hang of it. I'll teach you."

 Austen took another step back, "There's no way I'm getting out on that ice. And in shoes like those? You'd have to be crazy to get out there!"

 "Yeah, yeah, whatever. You're getting on that ice!"

 Ten minutes later, after relentless begging and a puppy dog face that Austen couldn't refuse, they were on the smooth ice.

 Austen was wobbling already and looked about ready to fall, so Luna grabbed his hand and wrapped her small fingers around his large ones. "Don't worry about tripping; I asked Daddy to get someone out here and smooth the ice out, so you should be fine." She sent him a spiteful look, "However, if you do fall, that'll be your own fault."

 "Har, har, you're so funny, Luna." His voice was dripping with sarcasm but she could see the humor twinkling in his golden eyes.

 She grinned and started to skate slowly, urging Austen along. "So," Luna began, "I wanted to talk, maybe get to know each other a little better?"

 Austen sighed and remorse was clear on his face, "Luna, I can't…"

 She shook her head and held up a hand to stop him from saying whatever she was going to say. Austen could see the hurt on her face and it pained him to know he'd put it there, on purpose, no less. Luna continued, "I may not understand why not, though Goddess knows I want to, but I don't see why we can't at least be friends? I mean, you're Sammie's best friend, so I think I should be able to interrogate my twin's closest bud." She laughed, hiding the emotions that were threatening to show.

 After a couple minutes of nothing but silence, Austen shrugged and asked, "Why not? What do you want to know?" He glanced over at her and saw her pursing her lips in concentration. How cute!

 Luna met Austen's gaze and hesitated, "Well…The basics, I guess? Favorite color, hobbies, where you were born, family, that kind of stuff." She paused to help Austen around a curve, "And in turn, you can ask me about anything you want to know, too."

"Fair enough. So…My favorite color's green, I like to listen to music and play my guitar in my spare time…" He laughed when he saw Luna's eyebrows go up.

"Really? When did you learn to play?" She questioned.

"I was…ten? Somewhere around that age. My sister, Megan, taught me how to play. She's twenty-seven and is married with two kids, Katie and Max. She lives in Seattle. My parents, George and Alice...died...when I was fifteen." Austen heard Luna's sharp intake of breath and glanced at her, then looked back at the ice.

"I know you probably don't want to hear this, but I'm so sorry you had to go through that…" She squeezed his hand in a silent effort of compassion and comfort.

"Thanks." Austen didn't like hearing the whole 'I'm sorry for your loss' spiel, because most of the time, the people muttering it either didn't know his parents or Megan and him well enough to actually mean it. However, he could hear the sincerity of Luna's words and knew she meant every one.

"I don't mean to bring up any bad memories or anything, but how did they die?"

Before Austen spoke, he let Luna guide him to one of the benches facing the shed. They sat down and he pulled his hand from hers, making his wolf whine as he shoved both hands into his coat pockets. "That's where it gets a little complicated." He hesitated before continuing, motivated by the look of curiosity on Luna's face. "I came home from school and Megan was in the kitchen talking on the phone. The words were spilling out of her mouth, like she couldn't get the questions out fast enough. She was talking on the phone with someone important, of authority, and later, I learned that it was the police station."

Luna noticed the lump in his throat and spoke, "Austen, you don't have to tell me if…"

"No, no. It's fine. It's still a bit hard to wrap my head around sometimes, but I'm okay." He smiled slightly.

"Okay…Just, if you want to stop, you can."

"Alright." With a sigh and a distant look in his golden eyes, Austen told Luna about his parents' disappearance.

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Hey again :) I know I absolutely SUCK at uploading more often, but I'm trying. Just seems like there's never enough time in the day, or week, or month to write! Add to that the serious case of writer's block I've been having, and it just adds up to a total disaster (maybe I'm just being me, but did anyone see that? No pun intended lol).

But anyways, enough of me ranting and complaining. What'd you think about the chapter?? If I can get at least five comments this week, I'll post on Christmas Eve AND Christmas Day :) Hopefully, that'll be a sufficient gift :P

I'm going to be really busy this week; however, I'll try my best to get the next chapter out there before Saturday, so that'd total to 3 chapters this week. I think you guys deserve it, since I'm such a bad, bad author :P.That will be my 'Thanks a BILLION for Reading' for this week! Hope you had a nice, lazy weekend, 'cos I know I didn't! :D

-Alina (^__^)/