Surprise! Oh and Happy Halloween!!!! Just to let you know this is just a little something, something. I've never broken a chapter up before but I had to give you guys something! haha So this isn't as long as my chapters usually are but at least it's something!!! <3
Chapter fifteen
After being ushered into the house and seated on the couch the questioning began.
“What’s happened? Why do you look like someone just killed your dog? Did he hurt you? ‘Cause if he did, I swear-”
I slapped my hand over his mouth to shut him up.
“I really don’t want to talk about it, but no, he didn’t hurt me”
Physically, he didn’t. But I was hurting and Teddy was the cause of it.
“Bullshit” he narrowed his eyes at me, trying to call my bluff.
I really didn’t want to talk to him about this for several different reasons. One, if I told him that Teddy just upset me then he would question why I was upset which would just make him realize that I sort of had feelings for Teddy. Two, I would have to admit that Teddy claimed me and that wouldn’t go over well seeing as Fevah, like me, didn’t approve of it. Three, I just really don’t want to relive it by telling him what happened.
“Fine if you don’t want to talk about it then let’s talk about something else. Like, say, you avoiding me for almost two fucking months. Do you know how worried I’ve been? I was tempted to call the police but I thought better of it, it’s not like they would do anything, monsters can get away with fucking murder when it comes to their tethers” he told me, his bright hazel eyes locking in on my face.
I avoided his eyes by focusing extremely hard on my chipped fingernail polish. This was yet another topic that I really didn’t care to discuss. But I knew he wouldn’t just let it go, I was going to have to give him a great freaking reason as to why I’ve been totally ignoring him. I just wasn’t up for it. Plus I was afraid. If I told him I was claimed he would probably flip out and I just couldn’t deal with it. I already have more than enough to deal with.
“I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you, I’ve just been stressed out and-” I didn’t even get to finish.
“I’m not going to except some half-assed apology, Blaire. I know something’s happened, I’m not a total idiot, so just fucking spit it out already. Why have you really been ignoring me?” he says, cutting me off.
I cross my legs and attempt to get comfortable on the couch not that anything would really make me feel comfortable right now. With a sigh I open my mouth and mumble the words that could probably wreck my entire friendship with Fevah.
“He claimed me. I let him claim me. I…I didn’t know what else to do, Fevah, he was dying and I just couldn’t…” I broke off feeling my throat swell with the urge to cry.
I was met with silence. I ducked my head, fiddling with my hands, avoiding looking at him at all. I was too scared. Fevah was never one for silence so I knew it wasn’t a good sign.
“Are you fucking serious? You idiot” he muttered.
Before I could even think of some sort of response he leaned in and hugged my neck.
“You were afraid to tell me” he continued, sounding surprised.
I nodded, unable to speak.
“You dumbass! I would never treat you any different, I don’t care if you’re claimed or not. You’ll always be my best bud” he told me, pulling away and punching my shoulder lightly.
I couldn’t do anything but smile. I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.
“I really am sorry”
“I guess I can understand but don’t make it a habit, I’ve got important things to tell you and it’s hard to do when you’re avoiding me” he jabbed my side with his elbow playfully.
“I won’t do it again, promise. Now what are these important things that you need to tell me?” I asked raising my eyebrow in curiosity.
“I’ve met a girl” is all he said.
My eyes widened. Fevah has never been a huge fan of relationships, I couldn’t get why and we never really talked about things like that so it has always been taboo to see Fevah in a real relationship, sure, he’s had his flings but he never really came to me about anyone so this girl must be special. My smile grew and I wiggled my eyebrows teasingly at him.
“Really? How long have you guys been dating? What’s her name? Is she from your school?” I hounded him, all the while grinning.
“Yes, I met her at school. Her name is Isra but here’s the thing…she’s not really into me” an apprehensive look suddenly crossed his face.
“Why not?”
“Well, I’m not really her type” he said, dragging his words.
He was leading up to something, I could tell so I played along and asked what he seemed to be waiting on me to ask.
“And her type would be?”
“Monsters, because Isra is a monster and I know we’re suppose to be against them and all that but it’s just something about her…I just can’t stay away” he looked to me, waiting on my reaction.
My mouth dropped open. Was he serious? He wanted to seriously date a monster? I had had no choice in the matter but he is willingly choosing to go after one. My brain was so scattered, I couldn’t process it. Fevah, my best friend since forever, wanted to date a monster; beings we had always shied away from and never really accepted. Woah.
“Okay” I manage to get out.
He exhales loudly like he had been waiting for my response before he allowed himself another breath.
“I know it’s weird and shit but I just… I don’t know, she’s really interesting and different and I just really really like her, okay?” he said, talking fast.
I nodded.
“Alright, whatever makes you happy” I shrug.
I was in no position to judge, at all. I couldn’t deny that Teddy had somehow wormed his way into my life and affected me in the most peculiar way. Just thinking about him and what I had just been through saddened me to the point that I was surprised. I hadn’t noticed how much power Teddy had over me and my emotions until now.
“Now that that’s all settled and all the girly stuff is out of the way, do you want to watch low budget scary movies and complain about the quality and the dumbass plots they come up with?” he was grinning, looking relieved that everything had went over well.
I returned his grin.
“Duh, don’t we always? I get first pick though!” I laugh, stumbling off the couch and over to the shelf with the movies near the TV.
I guess I could always count on Fevah to get my mind off of things.
*******
It had grown quiet between us, partly because we were both dozing off. He was at one end of the couch and I at the other. I nudged his hip with my foot.
“Hmmm?” came his sleepy reply.
I had to ask him or else it would bug me.
“Do you think Ursula is your tether?” I ask.
“Isra, her name is Isra” he said, rolling his eyes at me.
I shrugged and waited for him to answer. He was silent for a long time, so long in fact that if I wasn’t looking at him and his eyes hadn’t been open I would have thought he had fallen asleep.
“I’m not sure, I mean if she was my monster wouldn’t she have claimed me by now? Wouldn’t she want to be around me all the time? Wouldn’t she acknowledge my fucking presence instead of acting like I don’t exist?” he huffed out in frustration and pulled at his hair which I noticed had gotten even longer.
In fact Fevah did look a bit different. His hair was now grazing his shoulders and his facial hair was coming in nicely, he kept it trimmed low though. He just overall looked older, I wasn’t sure if I liked this new look because with new looks comes a new personality, was he changing for this Isra girl? I hoped not, if she didn’t like Fevah for who he was then she didn’t deserve to be with him. That got me thinking, did I look different? I doubted it. If anything I probably have more worry lines near my eyes and dark circles beneath them.
“Teddy waited a long time to claim me, he almost died…” I trailed off thinking back to when I had found Teddy handcuffed to his bed.
“How long is a long time exactly?” Fevah ask, his eyes calculating.
“A little over a month”
He flinched and stared off into space, looking to be in deep thought.
It was silent for so long that I felt the need to clear the tension.
“It’ll work out, if it’s meant to be, it’ll work out” I told him.
He stayed silent as if he hadn’t heard a word I said, which I’m sure he had. I soon fell asleep with a silently brooding Fevah and the overdramatic screams of teenage girls as they got slaughtered coming from the TV.
******
Fevah had to leave the next day which sucked but watching him leave wasn’t going to be as bad as the first time he left for college. It didn’t feel like I would never see him again, I promised to see him next break. Glanda cried into her husband, Buck’s, shoulder. He rubbed her back soothingly and pulled her inside the house as I said goodbye to their son.
Before I could open my mouth to say anything the sound of a revving motorcycle met my ears. My heart dropped and all the blood drained from my face. I could do nothing but stare as I caught sight of a white headed boy pulling up into the driveway, blocking Fevah’s car from backing out.
Fevah turned from his position of standing in front of me and looked to the loud ass ruckus that was being caused in his front yard. I stayed in my spot as we both watched him make his way over to us. The closer he got the more my heart squeezed tightly in my chest.
Once he was directly in front of Fevah, who now had his back to me in a protective stance, he pulled off his helmet. I’m not even going to lie, disappointment washed through me and I swallowed hard to keep the feeling of rejection away. I had been expecting another white haired boy.
“Buttercup, I’ve been looking all over for your skinny ass” Devin said, peeking around Fevah as if Fevah’s protective and somewhat defensive stance didn’t bother him in the least.
Fevah side stepped and blocked Devin’s view of me, earning himself a ‘what the fuck’ from Devin. I walked around Fevah so that I could get a good view of the two, not that they were paying attention to me anymore. Now they were sizing each other up, glaring at each other when they were done.
That’s when they both turned to me with narrowed eyes.
“Who the fuck is he?” they both demanded at the exact same time.
I stared at both of their dead serious faces before I burst into laughter. I was laughing so hard I nearly fell over. It seemed odd that I never noticed how similar Fevah and Devin were. When I noticed that both guys were still just staring at me like I was crazy I sighed and let my laughter die down.
“Fevah, this is Devin, Teddy’s little brother” I introduced half heartedly.
“Wait, is he your boyfriend or something? Are you cheating on my fucking brother? That’s so not cool, buttercup” Devin accused, glaring at me.
The whole cheating bit really stung, since it was his brother who let another girl kiss him. I wasn’t the guilty one here.
“No, this is my best friend Fevah” is all I can say, I wanted to tell him his brother was the cheater but I kept that to myself.
Devin cut his dark brown eyes over to Fevah’s as he absentmindedly toyed with his gauged ear.
“I don’t like him” Devin says, sounding like a little kid.
“Yeah, well I don’t like you either, fucktard” Fevah spat back, clenching his fist.
Devin just grinned, showing off his sharpened teeth, looking totally mischievous and just a tad bit scary.
“Alright, now that we have established that you both don’t like each other…Devin why were you looking for me?” I asked, furrowing my brows.
“Well for one, you weren’t with Tedvor so I figured you had ran off again. So I came looking for you, duh. And I don’t want to discuss the other reason right now since it’s a family matter so we’ll talk about it when old nosey ass gets out of my face” Devin said, staring pointedly at Fevah who was in fact being nosey.
Family matter? Did Devin seriously count me as part of his family? Something warm shot through my chest and I smiled faintly.
“I can’t leave until you move that, fucktard” Fevah pointed to the motorcycle blocking his car.
Without saying another word Devin walked off to move his or rather his brother’s motorcycle.
“I guess I’m going now, call me whenever…I hope whatever it is that’s bothering you gets fixed or whatever” Fevah says, giving me a hug.
I punched his shoulder playfully and smile up at him.
“Same goes to you” I say, still smiling.
“See you Christmas break, loser” he called, hopping into his car.
“Yeah, see you then” I called back, watching him back out of the driveway only pausing to flip Devin off and then he was gone.
I rubbed my hands together to warm them up, hating this cold weather.
“I talked to Terra, she told me what happened” Devin said, his voice sounding sympathetic.
I stared down at the ground, not knowing what to say to that.
“I went to go check on him, because you know how dramatic he can be and I think you should go see him. You know, talk it out and shit”
I snapped my eyes to his and glared at him.
“Why in the hell would I do that?” I say, sounding bitter and angry.
“Because you care about him and to be honest if you stay away from him much longer he might do something stupid…” he trailed off with a worried look etching his pale white face.
“Like what? Kill his self?” I laugh humorlessly.
To my surprise Devin stays silent. My heart nearly stopped. And I shook my head.
“He wouldn’t really do that, that would be the stupidest thing to kill yourself over” I utter, furrowing my brows.
“Really? Do you not remember him being ready to die just because you didn’t want to be claimed?” Devin asked, raising his pierced brow at me.
My mouth dropped open and I suddenly felt violently sick.
“That was different”
“Just think about it, the girl he really cares about has just started opening up to him and then that happens and she runs off. She’s already kind of skittish and now in his eyes she will never trust him, open up to him, or want him. It would be a bitch move to do that but he’s attempted it before, who says he won’t try it again?”
My hands start shaking and I can’t stop the panic that is welling up inside of me, urging me to go see him just at least to see if he’s alive. I feel jumpy now, feeling the need to hurry before it’s too late. But I didn’t want to see him, I couldn’t face him. He hurt me and I don’t want to ever see his dumbass again.
“How was he when you went to see him?” I ask, trying to not show how jittery and restless I was feeling as I shifted my weight from foot to foot.
“Drunk off his ass, I’ve never seen him so wasted. I took his car keys, in case his inner monster comes out. He can’t be drinking and driving while looking for you, he’d definitely fuck something up” Devin shook his head as if disappointed.
I didn’t say anything else, my mind was reeling. I knew that if something happened to Teddy it would hurt me. It would feel like I’d lost someone close to me, like a friend or something. He better not do anything stupid.
“Fine, I’ll go check on him but that’s all. I don’t want to talk, I’m just checking up on him” I told him, already making my way back into Glanda’s to gather my stuff.
When I came back outside Devin was gone. I had told Glanda and Buck I had to go check up on something and they brushed it off with smiles, though I knew they just didn’t want to get involved with monsters and what not. I wonder how they’ll react when Fevah comes home with a monster for a girlfriend. I doubt they’ll act out as drastically as my parents did.
I make my way to the house, going just a little over the speed limit. When I finally pull up to the house my heart feels as if it’s in my throat. I sit outside fighting with myself for at least fifteen minutes before I say fuck it and make my way inside.
The first thing I notice is that there is not one light on in the house and I suddenly feel like one of those stupid girls in the cheesy horror movies Fevah and I were making fun of. I swallow hard and keep telling myself that the monster in this house won’t rip me to shreds like the ones in the movies. It doesn’t help. I go to cut on the living room light when a freezing cold hand comes out of nowhere and halts my movements. I, like the stupid ass I am, scream like I’ve just been stabbed. When I stop, he speaks.
“I must be dreaming, no fucking way could you be here of your own free will” his says lazily, obviously drunk.
I realize that he’s still grasping my hand so I snatch it away and turn towards him. It’s dark and I can’t really make out his features all that clearly.
“Devin was worried, so I came to check on you…you’re still alive so I’m leaving now” I said, going to walk off.
His bitter laugh freezes me to my spot.
“You think I’m suicidal? That I’d kill myself just because we got into a misunderstanding? I’m not some depressed conceded asshole, Blaire. I almost did it once, for good reason too, but I would never put my family through that. Now come here” the sudden seriousness in his voice frightened me.
I thought over what he had said and came to the conclusion that Devin is a sneaky lying bastard and a damn good actor. I should have known. Of course he would say anything to get me to come here and talk to his brother. I can’t believe I fell for it.
I shook my head and went to go to the door when of course he grabbed my wrist to stop me. I let out a frustrated groan. I was growing tired of our little back and forth routine.
“Wait, don’t go” he pleaded, making my breathing falter.
He took advantage of my pause and wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against him. He bent down and his lips just barely grazed his bite mark on my neck when he suddenly stiffened. He sniffed at my shoulder and made an angry noise in his throat.
“You smell like another guy, I can smell his cologne on you” he accused, releasing me only to spin me around to face him.
I know he wasn’t accusing me of what I thought he was! I narrowed my eyes at him and crossed my arms over my chest.
“So what?” I shrug, glaring at him in the darkness.
“Don’t mess with me, Blaire” he said, his voice strained.
“I’m leaving” I said, going for the door.
“No, you’re not” came a grumbly voice from behind me.
Great, now Grizz was here. Fuck my life.
“I’m serious, I don’t want to be here. I’m leaving” I try again, opening the door only to have it slammed shut before I could step out.
“Come to me” he demanded.
Which was stupid since he was almost directly behind me, I sigh and take the one step that was between us, being a good little tether at the moment.
He suddenly picks me up and tosses me over his shoulder. I squeal and squirm, trying to get down as he led us to his favorite place to chat with me. The bedroom.
I instantly went still and grew nervous. What would happen now?
It was even darker here due to the thick dark curtains in the room.
“Take off your clothes”
My mouth dropped open as he sat me down on the bed and stared at me expectantly. Was he fucking serious? He was going to rape me. Oh god, he was going to rape me.
“I don’t like you smelling like another guy” he continued.
Oh. Well, I guess that sort of made sense. I sighed in relief just as something was tossed at my face. A shirt and some pajama pants, they were his. He wanted me to wear his clothes. I crinkled up my nose but didn’t argue, remembering when my wrist got bruised because of what I had said. I know he didn’t mean it but that didn’t stop me from being slightly afraid of him. I sat up and turned my back to him as I changed into his clothes. I’m not going to lie, his clothes smelt really good and they were definitely comfortable.
Vanilla, cinnamon, and apples; that’s exactly what he smells like and I suddenly wonder since I’ve been living with him for a while now has it rubbed off on me. It wouldn’t be a bad thing, I guess.
When I was done he grabbed me up and pulled me on the bed with him. I just laid there not knowing what to do or how to react. He nuzzled my neck briefly then began murmuring sweet nothings in my ear. I could feel my cheeks slowly start to heat up. He pulled me closer against him as he began caressing the curve leading to my waist.
“I’ve missed you” he whispered, kissing just below my ear.
I nearly melted into a puddle before I finally snapped out of it. He was trying to distract me and he was doing a good fucking job too. I pulled back a little and scrunched up my face as I looked up at him. He and Teddy were acting like nothing was wrong between us, like I was overreacting by running off.
“Why didn’t you stop her? I...I thought that at least you wanted me, why didn’t you push her away?” I asked, my voice shaky.
He noticeably stiffened. I waited for him to respond but he stayed silent.
When he still had said nothing I went to go sit up and get the hell out of here but he wrapped his arms around me and caged me to him.
“I’ll always want you, never question that” he spoke roughly.
I felt a few tears escape from my eyes and land on his shirt. He took in a sharp breath as if surprised.
“No, don’t cry” then he paused for a long moment.
“Blaire? Are you okay? Did I hurt you?” Teddy was back, which annoyed the piss out of me.
I wiped at my eyes and sniffled.
“Shut up, I don’t want to talk to you. I want to leave, so let me go” I ordered, shoving at his hard chest.
“No, we need to talk”
“I said I don’t want to fucking talk to you!”
“Please, just let me explain and then you can leave if you want” he begged, tightening his hold.
I thought it over and sighed in defeat. It wasn’t like I had a real choice anyway.
“Fine”
He leaned in and kissed the tip of my nose. I glared up at him, not liking that he thought he was allowed to do that to me now.
“Sorry, I just really needed to do that”
I rolled my eyes and waited for him to explain.
“Well, in order to explain everything to you I have to tell you what happened to Terra…it’s not really my story to tell but…for you I will” he told me, his voice growing sad.
I really didn’t want to hear shit about Terra but something was nagging at me, keeping me from interrupting. Curiosity is a crazy thing