Orange Roses

Chapter Sixteen: The Awkward, Almost Kiss

"...Is that coffee...?" I asked as I forced myself to get up. Drake already sat up and looked clean. He held a cup of coffee for me. Should I trust a faerie making coffee? My hands reached out for the cup. My fingers curled around his. I looked up at him before I demanded, "Give it. Now. Drake, I will hurt you."

He smirked. "I know, I have the bruise to prove it." I looked at his cheek before he gave it to me. One hand went to my hair. "Your hair got burnt in the fire. Let me cut it." I nodded and brought the cup to my lips. He tenderly grabbed my hips and pulled me to his lap before I saw a silver thread in the air.

"Drake," I said, "I've seen that thing cut off arms. I'm not sure I want that thing near my head."  I took a sip of coffee.

"You don't trust me?" He asked as he took a chunk of my hair. I let out a sleepy sigh. "I won't cut off much. Just the burnt edges." Drake liked long hair too much to cut it. I'm pretty sure if I ever did cut my hair, he'd throw a fit. He snipped my hair.

"Where are Daisy and Unicorn boy?"

"There's been a new murder. Daisy and Unicorn boy are doing some research on it."

I felt my body wanting to cave in on itself. Another murder, another dead body, another family hurt. I felt his hands slide to my shoulders and began rubbing my shoulders. My muscles melted under his hands as I tilted my head back against him and let out a moan.

"Don't worry so much," he whispered in my ear, "this isn't your problem."

Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump...

I opened my eyes and looked over my shoulder to see Drake, whispering in my ear. I realized that he was close enough to kiss me and I waited. My heart beat against my chest as I thought about how handsome Drake looked at this moment with his muscles twitching against me and his strong jaw tightened before relaxing for a moment. Drake's pink eyes turned to me before they slid close as I held my breath.

"Matty," he whispered.

I didn't say anything as I waited for him to move. Should I lean close to him? Should I tilt my head? Should I open my mouth? Or should I just sit here and wait for him?

The door to my room suddenly slammed open as Drake jumped away from me and off the bed. Dad walked into my room, scanning the room, but I guess Drake had his glamour on because dad relaxed and asked, "Honey, your mother said that Drake carried you in last night."

I nodded. "Drake's...just worried about me." Not a lie at least. Dad sat on my bed before he asked.

"Are you dating him?" Drake raised an eye brow as I did a face palm. "No dad, I'm not dating him. He's a good friend of mine."

"Well, it sounds-"

"He carried me in because I fell and got hurt a little." Dad's body stiffened as his eyes scanned me and found my bandages on my hands.

"What happened?" He asked as he held my hands to see the damage.

"Burned," I said, deciding against lying as I heard my phone vibrate, which I answered before telling my dad. "Dad, I have to take this..." Dad shook his head, but left my room as I smiled. "Ruth?"

"No," a voice said. "Hey babe," Ari told me as I sighed. "John just called and he wants to have a meeting. I feel like I'm being forced to go back to school."

"Okay."

"Meet me by the boardwalk entrance, okay?"

"Deal," I said before hanging up. I got up and quickly changed as Drake looked at me before asking,

"Are you planning on going without me?" He leaned his back against the wall of my room as I grabbed the dagger and put it in my pocket before tying up my hair. I pulled on a thin white hoodie over my tank top and ripped jeans.

I smiled before I told him, "Think about this for a moment, Drake, these humans hate faeries as much as you hate vampires. If I bring you they'll never let me in." I left my room in silence as I went down the stairs to find Hanuel and his girlfriend at the table, giggling and looking like they were starring in their own romantic comedy. Drake followed as I got out of the house without a word.

The blue sky seemed to glitter with the sun burning my skin. People talked, laughed, and screamed. The smell of food made my stomach gurgle.

Everything is going to be okay. I have to tell myself that as I wondered who died last night. Was she a student who just wanted to have fun before going back to college in the fall? Or a immigrant who just got off a long hot day at work and was exhausted enough to consider sleeping by the ocean?

I found Ari among the crowds of tourists, but he looked out of place with his black clothing and scar.

"Yo! Baby girl, we got to get going!" Ari called out before breaking out into a run. I was ready to break out into a run when Drake grabbed my arm and spun me around to face him before he planted a soft kiss on my forehead. He let me go and pushed me toward where Ari had run off too, but I nearly stumbled before breaking me out into a run and following Ari.

The crowds already filled the boardwalk, but now I could see the nervous glances and the whispers, especially those who weren't tourists. I'm pert sure the crowd would be thin tonight. Fear buzzed around us as I ran close to Ari. Faeries, most of them humans. The smells of fast food lit up the place like made and made my stomach clench.

The whispers and gossip began. "Did you hear about the latest girl?" An old woman whispered to his daughter. "He plucked her like a flower! She screamed like an angel!" A mermaid cackled. I ran faster. It's easier to let the worlds' blur together. Sounds no longer no longer

coherent in my head. My legs burned as Air left my body. My heart pounded against my ribcage. Nothing could touch me. Nothing could hurt me.

Ari stopped suddenly which made me run into his back. We stood in front of a cotton candy stand as I poked my head around to see what stopped Ari. Two men in stiff suits stared at Ari. One of them looked at me. "Ari, it's good to see you again," one of them said, "and now you're with a friend."

"Who the hell are you?" I asked as Ari stood in front of me.

"I'm Mr. Marks," he shook my hand after I shoved Ari away from me. "From the FBI. We've been wanting to talk to Ari Nelson for awhile now since he was the one who called in the body."

Ari kept up a mask even though he was probably thinking the same as I was. How'd they know it was him who called in the body of Audrey, but we both knew he didn't give his name.

"Excuse me," I said before Ari could say something stupid, "but can he talk to you later? Ari and I need to go to a friend's place to celebrate my sixteenth birthday."

Honestly, that had been the first time I realized it had been my birthday.

Ari looked at me before slipping into the role. "Yeah, we want her to enjoy her self, so if you don't mi-"

Mr. Marks grabbed Ari's shoulder as he said with a big fake smile, "We'll be talking to you later." He smiled at me. "Happy birthday." He turned to leave with his partner.

"What weirdoes. Who wears suits in the summer?" I asked Ari as I lightly tugged on Ari's sleeve. Ari looked pale and his hand felt cold. I grabbed me and looked up at him as I swore, "Don't worry about it, Ari. I'm not going to let them take you away."

He looked at me, the heat of the sun making color return to his face before he said, "You're the real weirdo, Matty. Who makes promises like that? It's impossible to keep."

"I can keep promises like that!" I swore to him as Ari stared at him, I could tell he was trying to figure out if I w.as telling the truth or not."I won't let anyone I care about get hurt."

Ari's eyes soften as he patted me on the head. "You're so naive."

I opened my mouth to argue with him, but he looked away from me and started going up the hill and into the house.