HORNS (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight

"So... what about--"

"We aren't doing this."

"But--"

"No!"

"Horst, come on! I have questions, and--"

"Kat," I said in a warning tone, and she sighed aggressively from her spot on the couch. "I'm serious. I've had enough."

She scowled and took a swig of the coffee I'd made her, and I turned my attention on my laptop, trying for the umpteenth time to get a hold of Aerin and Sebastian through MyLife.com, the modern equivalent of Facebook. I hadn't been able to reach their cellphones so this was my last resort option, but they weren't answering and I was getting nervous about it.

Kat and I been sitting alone in the music room together for the better part of two hours trying to get in touch since everyone was busy doing stuff. The house had suffered extreme damage and I'd gone out of my way to offer my help to people but everyone seemed to just want me to relax. Which was difficult, considering I had to babysit a fully grown bipolar-as-hell woman who could flirt with me as easily as she could scream at me.

I groaned in frustration when the call dropped again without being picked up.

"I hate MyLife.com," I muttered, snapping my computer shut and leaning back.

I glanced around the antiquated music room, filled as it was with classical instruments such as a harp, a huge freaking grand piano, and an enormous cello amongst other things. My eyes flitted to the furniture, a red and gold set of plush suede couches with floral patterns on the cushions.

A fireplace the size of a pickup truck made the muted browns of the wooden floor and the walls practically glow. Hearty flames roared and crackled, giving the otherwise chilly room some heat. Kat and I were sitting in front of the fire in plush love seats that lay directly opposite each other.

One half of her face was illuminated, flickering eerily, and the other was cast in shadow.

Both hands remained wrapped around her coffee mug, and I absently watched as she sipped it.

"You know its rude to stare at a girl while she's eating or drinking, right?" she suddenly said, and I twitched when our eyes connected. Heat rushed through my cheeks when she raised a perfect eyebrow at me and tilted her head expectantly.

"Sorry," I muttered, immediately averting my eyes.

"I'm teasing," she sighed. "You know, you're too hard on yourself."

"What do you know?" I snorted, scowling at the floor. 

"Well, after our little... squabble... a few hours ago, quite a bit," she said airily. "You made it pretty clear to me that you genuinely hate yourself and you thought every word I said to you back in my mother's basement was true. You believed I meant them instantly because you've already been thinking those sorts of things about yourself for so long. I also know that, like me, you wonder about your place on this world."

I started, giving her a shocked glance. "How do you know that?"

"You're easy to read," Kat admitted, giving me a sad smile. "People with such harsh opinions of themselves tend to suffer from the deepest sort of depression. So, yeah, I may not really know what sort of struggles you've been through, but I do know what it's like to be depressed... and I do know what it feels like to look in the mirror and hate yourself."

I frowned and looked at her intently, thinking.

"What do you want from me?" I bluntly asked, and she blinked a few times. "The thing is, you aren't easy to read. All I know about you is what you've done and said, and... well, you proved me right once before. When I told you how you'd react if you saw all of me, BOOM, exact reaction even though you totally denied it. You built me up and then..."