The clip

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Hazel Sinclair

Waking up the next day, wasn't so shocking and disbelieving. Instead, when I opened my eyes, I felt nothing but happiness. Yes, that may be a strange feeling for a girl like me who wishes death upon herself, but the way it was filling every tiny part and mending the broken pieces of me was more than enough for me.

"The way you're smiling right now indicates that you're not going to go all grumpy on me. Right, Hazel?" I heard a smooth yet husky voice from behind me.

I turned my head a bit to my left and pursed my lips. "Don't test, then."

The strong arms around me tightened a bit, filling me with a sense of safeness. Then I heard a husky chuckle. "Woah! Calm down already, tiger."

I turned around to be met with a brightly lit face of Jayden Lister. Seeing the way he was smiling so genuinely towards me, made the butterflies in my stomach to erupt in powerful flutters.

"Good morning, Jayden." I meekly greeted, averting my eyes from his eyes to his lips. Those lips were so tempting.

He didn't reply for a moment, instead, he just kept on smiling at me like a prize, or a possession. "Ah, I'd do anything to be lucky enough to have you say that every morning, and just like this."

Feeling bold enough, I leaned forward and brushed my fingers on his lips, earning a mix of groan and moan from him.

"I-"

"You need to stop before..." He smirked. "...before you regret."

I looked down. That's the thing about me. I always start things and then get grumpy on him for giving in to me. Although I knew what his feelings for me were, I hated myself for it. I hated myself for leading him on and starting things I couldn't finish.

"Y-yeah." I sneered. "I mean, I lead you on and then make fun of your feelings, I know."

Feeling a bit upset and somewhat disappointed, I sat up on the bed, ready to start the day.

"You don't have to blame yourself for everything, you know." I heard his voice and stopped in my tracks. "My feelings for you are genuine and..."

I turned around and passed him a small, sad smile. "I get it."

Sadness washed over his features before he quickly recovered. And I turned around to continue my way towards the bathroom but I still caught his expression which he hid away from me a few seconds ago; sadness.

***

Walking my three grown-up cats in the park was like fitting an elephant in a janitor's closet. None of my cats were willing to walk by themselves, not forgetting that they were screeching and growling at every dog or a stray cat who passed them.

The white fluffy one had hidden himself in the bushes, and the orange one was growling in a scary way at a kid who was trying to pet her. The black one was just playing with something and jumping every few seconds.

Do you know how cats jump when they're scared? Yeah, that way. I was sitting on a bench, watching people with happy pets, playing with them as if they were their one and only. Only if they knew that my cats are always planning my assassination one day.

I jumped in horror when I saw my big white fluffy cat jump on my lap and growled at the cute dog who was running towards us with full doggy speed.

Oh, no no no.

I'm gonna get bitten by a dog!

I screamed, hugging my cat in a defensive manner and hiding my face from the supposedly approaching dog.

"Hey!" I heard a whistling sound. "Sweetie! No, sit!" I heard a male voice shout in command.

I un-hugged my cat and it ran away from my lap. Looking down where the cute golden retriever dog was, I saw a guy sitting down with the dog while the dog kept its tongue out.

"Hey, you okay?" The guy smiled at me. "I'm sorry about Sweetie. She loves cats so much. She gets excited to see one each day but today was extreme of her."

The guy grinned at me and I found his face features cute and stunning. "I'm Marcus."

I was still calming myself down so I just shrugged. "Hazel." The dog, Sweetie, licked Marcus' side of the face.

"Yeah, um... Cool. So... The cat was yours, I suppose?" I could clearly make out a British accent in Marcus' voice.

I nodded. "That was mine and also those two."

"You're a cat person, I see." He smirked. "But dogs are better."

I sneered. "I know. Cats are assholes, anyway. But I love them."

He laughed throatily. "As can be seen by your face."

"What, you say I look like a cat?"

"No, but minor scratches on your cheeks imply that."

"I don't have scratches!" I yelped, touching my cheeks until I realized Marcus was joking.

My first instinct was to land punches after punches until Sweetie, his dog started to bark. I screamed when Sweetie raised her paws and rested them on my shoulders, barking on my face. Marcus Immediately grabbed his dog and pushed her away from me, gently.

"I don't think Sweetie likes when her daddy is getting beaten by a pretty girl." He smirked.

I was just thinking if he had complimented me or just flirted with me and at that moment before I could realize, I heard a stoic voice from behind me.

"I don't think I like it when some twat is flirting with my girl." Jayden was there, with a stony expression only he could show on his face.

"Oh, I didn't know you had a boyfriend." Marcus smiled at me, while I moved towards Jayden who was still staring at Marcus in vain.

I looked at Marcus. "I don't... uh...", then I looked at Jayden. "Let's just go."

Just as we were about to move out of the way, Jayden turned around and looked back at Marcus.

"Don't even think about it, bro." I nudged Jayden and motioned for him to move.

I heaved a long breath and let it out. Woah, that was about to be some intense moment right there. Jayden's stoic face was almost scary. Key word being almost. It felt like he was very serious. Wait, he referred to me as his girl.

Hold yourself, Hazel.

Then I felt his hand on my waist, leading me towards the elevator. I looked up at him and he smiled at me.

There goes the butterflies in my stomach.

When we reached the hallway of our apartments, his phone rang from inside his pocket. He let go of my waist, taking away the warmth of his hand along with him and answered the phone.

"Yeah?" Upon hearing what the other person on the other line had to say, he went silent and I could almost feel him tensing. "Sure, I'll be at home. Yes. Love you, too, bro."

"Chris?" I spoke, knowing it could only be Chris if he tensed that way, and the way he ended his call.

He nodded. "He's coming over for tonight. You should probably go to bed now if you don't want any interaction with him."

I thought about it for a second. "Yeah, I don't want to see him as of now."

Just as I entered my apartment, I heard the voice.

"Bro, what are you doing at Hazel's place?" Chris was already here.

Oh, fuck.

The dreadful thing wasn't that he was already here, the dreadful and most certainly terrifying thing was that how long has he been standing there and eavesdropping on us?

***