With Hell we Raise | ✔

|05|

The first thing she noticed about her hand in his, was that it fit. Like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle falling into place; indisputably perfectly aligned. His hand was warm, and as if starting from his hands and travelling through the rest of his body like a current the man began to relax.

Seth's heart practically skipped a beat. Here he was, a man of 34 acting like a love-sick puppy over a female five years older than half his age. And for all intents and purposes, he was a love sick puppy. He knew that having her, holding her, loving her would complete what he wanted in his life but he couldn't. He had allowed himself her friendship if only to try to partly fill the void.

"Tell me why it is wrong," Orion insisted.

Seth did not want to have this conversation, it would only hurt his heart more, yet there he was pouring his heart out to this girl. Even when he feared it would certainly mean the end of his very self to tell her what he felt.

"I watched you grow, I taught you to speak, to hunt. I made your clothes, I looked after your cuts and bruises, I bathed you when you were 5 years old." Seth sat on the sofa, running a heavy hand down his face as he sighed.

"So you see me as a child? Is that it?"

"I most definitely do not see you as a child." He looked over to her with a pained sense of admiration. "I have watched you grow into a beautiful young woman, but the way I have cared for you is the way that parents care for a child."

"Seth, I'm not your child. I never was, and I never saw you as anything other than a friend."

"And I you, but still, I feel as though I'm wrong to feel like this."

"To feel like what? What do you feel?" Orion stood in front of him, her heart pounding relentless. The thing was beating so hard in her chest she was certain that Seth could hear it rattling against her ribcage. "Tell me."

She dared to move half an inch closer, then another until her knees were practically touching his where he sat. A silence came over them, and for a minute Orion felt as thought the temperature was rising in the room.

Seth shook his head, burying it into his hands. He looked like such a man of despair, devoid of all hope and happiness; it saddened the girl so much that she actually felt her heart squeeze painfully. Why was he torturing himself when she was right there? Wanting him in the very same way that he said he wanted her.

Orion took another step forward, her body reacting to her need to comfort him and just be near him. She slid onto his lap, straddling his waist. She felt him tense below her, his breathing quickening to soft pants as his heart rate increased.

"Tell me what you feel." She urged him, her voice dropping to something just above a whisper. She dared to push her luck just a little further, framing his face with her palms, feeling the rough beard on his tanned skin.

Seth remained still, his heart pounding so fiercely in his chest he was afraid she might hear. What was he supposed to say? There were no words that could be enough to cover the expanse of what he felt- part of him wasn't even sure what he felt for her.

"Little star..." His words died in his throat as she stared at him, with sad eyes. But it was her sadness that caught him off guard, it was the tiny glint of hope.

"Because I'll tell you how you make me feel." She filled the silence when he didn't, the space between them closing so gradually that neither of them took any notice. "You make my heart flutter and skip by just looking at me. I get breathless when you speak, and warm when you touch me. But I want you the most when you're gone, because without you I feel empty."