Auras-Book One

Chapter 16

My first day back, the weather was warm and sunny. I opened the curtain and let the sun shine into my room. It felt great to be getting back into the swing of things.

"Where do you want this?" Dustin asked, from behind me.

I turned to see him holding a brand-new laptop. "Where did you get that?" I asked.

"I got it for you. Kind of a welcome home gift. It's loaded with the newest art software. You can actually detach it from the keyboard and use the stylus to draw on the screen."

He looked like a little kid on Christmas. "Shut up! Dustin, this is a Mac!" I exclaimed. "This is too expensive! I can't believe you got me this."

He grinned and set it on my desk. "We'll play with it later. Now, we need to get the rest of our stuff unpacked. We have an early day tomorrow."

I watched him fill Dani's closet with his clothes. "It's gonna be weird to be back in class. I hope I can still pay attention with your mental chattering in my head."

"I promise to keep my mental chatter down to a dull roar." He came up behind me and kissed my ear.

"Okay, you two." Dani came in with a box. "Shawn wanted me to bring these to you." She set the box of books on the bed. "But hurry up cuz I need the box back." She began to pull her books off the shelf.

I turned towards her, surprised to see her ringed in a green glow. I closed my eyes for a moment and opened them. Everything was normal again. I was beginning to wonder what was up with my eyes. Was I still having weird side effects of the Link? "Dinner tonight?" I asked her. "We could go to the diner."

"Sure!" She grabbed the empty box from Dustin and stacked her books inside. "I'll tell Shawn and we will meet you here at six." She propped the box on her hip and gave me a hug. "I'm so glad you're back."

I smiled after her and turned to Dustin, giving him a sexy wink. "It's good to be back."

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. "I have a quick errand to run. Will you be okay here for a few hours?"

I gave him a curious look. "Where are you going?" It had been so long since I had been alone, without him.

He pulled his jacket on and headed towards the door. "There's something I need to do now that we are back. I'll tell you later." And he was gone.

I busied myself with unpacking, arranging my clothes in the closet next to Dustin's. It felt normal to be sharing a room with him. I laughed to myself as I realized how quickly things had progressed between us. I had come to SLU with no relationship experience, and now I was shacked up with my first boyfriend, playing Supernatural house, so to speak. All we needed was a couple little vampire babies and a German Sheppard.

I pulled out my new computer and began loading the new programs. It had been awhile since I had drawn anything, and my creative juices were flowing. I removed the screen from the keyboard and picked up the stylus, marveling at the technology that was now available to us. I took a deep breath and began sketching a beautiful landscape, complete with a pair of love struck doves flying towards the horizon.

I lost track of time as I immersed myself in my creation. "That's beautiful," I heard Dustin's voice behind me.

I jumped and dropped the stylus. "I didn't know you were back." I reached up and kissed him. "How did everything go?"

He smiled and dropped his coat over the back of the chair. "Perfectly."

I looked into his eyes, trying to figure out where he had been.