I'll Protect You (Re-Edit #2, 2016)

Weddings have dances, and I can't dance

"Your Highness?" Darkwood said with his eyebrows raised. "That's not a cute pet name at all. I thought the two of you were..." He trailed off to pucker his lips at me.

"I don't recall us being good enough friends for me to tell you," I replied, rolling my eyes. Darkwood feigned an expression of hurt as he placed a hand over his heart. 

"That hit me right here, Sparrow. And here I thought trying to murder each other was the seal on our eternal friendship."

 "Bruises and death threats. The ultimate friendship package," Jasper mused. "Sometimes, I think you two would make the best of friends with your whole 'be aggressive' deal."

Before either of us could untruthfully protest that we weren't aggressive, a couple of guests came up to us, bowing before me before asking how Jasper and I were. Of course, that wasn't their real aim. The moment we said we were fine, the guests snapped their attention Darkwood, the star of the show. 

Everyone knew that Jasper had gotten kidnapped for a short while. When my parents left the hotel, the guests there immediately began documenting their day onto social media, and it didn't take long for the cameras and reporters to announce that Jasper Bishop was missing. 

Thanks to the lovely people at the beach who came forward to eagerly claim the limelight for a few short seconds, my presence at the beach was spread and naturally, vans gathered at the ports,  When Alec Darkwood reappeared from his trip to the afterlife, the whole country had seen him stumble onto the beach. 

"I should just write a book. Maybe that'll stop everyone from bringing up the fire," Darkwood muttered as the guests finally walked away. 

"Think of all the copies you have to sign though," I pointed out. 

"But get this: I can sign it as, 'Alec, the boy who lived.'"

"Who's the geek now?"

His nonchalance was a façade, I realized, because the moment Jasper turned his laughter to the side to greet some passerby, I saw the muscle in his jaw twitch before the moment passed.  I knew better than to press the issue--talking about emotions with Darkwood was never a fun ordeal. It was best to let his irritation simmer and blow off rather than ignite the flame. I'm reckless, not suicidal. 

It was a while later that something interesting finally took place. And when I say interesting, I mean that the three of us were deep in a conversation nearing ultimate geek territory when suddenly, my insult at Darkwood was cut off as a ball of brilliant violet tackled me. I was knocked backwards in a flash, and for a second, I was unable to understand what the hell was happening.

"I can't breathe!" I coughed, flailing my arms. 

"Park!" a familiar voice cried, and if possible, the girl's grip tightened around my chest. Then, she was pried off of me by a tall Asian boy with a rather amused expression on his face as his arms gripped the girl's tiny waist, keeping her pinned against him. Elijah stood by, laughing silently as he watched me struggle for a gulp of air. 

"Let me go, Zen!" Minnie Bellamy demanded, her French accent seeping into her Cimerian dialect. "I haven't seen that girl in forever!"

"Neither have I, but you don't see me trying to kill my best friend," Zen said.  

"You got to talk to her on the phone two weeks ago!" she argued, fighting against Zen's grip. However, despite how strong that French girl was, she still wasn't strong enough to break the grip Zen had whenever he was determined to hold onto something. 

Like his gaming controller. Just try and take that thing away from him. His grip could crush the Kraken into dust. 

"Not to mention it's not very nice to tackle people," I coughed, rubbing the base of my throat and shooting Minnie an angry look.