"His love roared louder than her demons."
Monopoly Battles And Second Surprises
I lay on my back that night, looking up at the ceiling from on top of my covers as a silly smile remained plastered into my face, as if the curve of my lips was carved onto my face.
Mase and Renee had left shortly after Wes and I re-entered the house, informing us they had class the next morning and promising a visit in a few days' time to properly go over the guest list with Marie. After giving their farewells, they left the house hand in hand.
This left the four of us to play monopoly, an all time-favourite at the Bane household apparently. I found out Wes always started out badly, with little to none properties and falling on everyone else's and slowly losing all his money until he was close to bankruptcy and had to work hard to build his way up. Andrew and Wes were mainly in competition while Marie modestly played throughout the game. She was also the banker to prevent the two men from cheating.
"Sometimes the competition gets to them," she'd shake her head as she slapped Wes' hand away from the bank money.
Even though by some stroke of luck I owned all the dark blue's of Mayfair and Park lane. However, I still managed to lose to Wes by going bankrupt when I entered the side of the board that was all Wes', complete with all four houses and hotels.
"YES!" he shouted in triumph, swiping away all my earning and properties in victory.
"Now it's game on, son," Andrew squinted his eyes at Wes challengingly.
"This'll take a while," Marie had sighed. "So, dear, how are you going with school?"
Marie and I had talked endlessly for the next two hours while Wes and his father had continued battling on, both almost going bankrupt about three times each. Both refused to give up. They had even mortgaged half their properties to keep playing. We spoke about school, her primary school teaching job, about the different kinds of children she taught and then as every mother loves doing, talking about her children, especially Wes in his childhood years.
"He was a rebellious child, that Wes," she looked far off, a reminiscing smile on her kind face. "We had to be careful in letting him watch any show. Once, after he watched Spiderman, he was convinced he could stick to surfaces."
I smiled in response. Wes had told me this during our little confession session at the beach when he had kidnapped me on a date. But it was nice hearing it from his mother. It made me somehow feel closer to Wes by already knowing a part of his childhood.
"But the problem was that he was convinced it would only work if he was naked. Mason's doing," she sighed. "So he stripped off all his clothes and threw himself down from the top of the stairs to stick to the wall."
"Mom!" Wes protested, flipping his head towards us as he rolled the dice. It was a three and a five.
"You should have seen the look on the paramedics face when they came rushing in to find a naked little boy sprawled on the ground in the middle of winter! They almost called child services!" she shook her head, still that small smile plastered on her face as Wes face-palmed himself.
Just then something hit my balcony door and I screamed, bolting upright and switching on my bedroom lamp. It was Wes! Smirking through the darkness on my balcony. His pearl white teeth was the most distinct feature through the night.
I stood up, tugging down at the pajama top I was wearing. I stood in front of Wes on the opposite side of the door with my arms crossed over my chest. I raised an eyebrow at him without opening the door.
"What're you doing here?" I said, loud enough for him to hear.
"Aren't you going to let me in?!" he protested, wrapping his arms around himself. Before I could respond, he turned the door handle and let himself in. "You have a bad habit of leaving this open, you know."
"I'm sorry I don't predict people sneaking in through my balcony," I glared at him.
"See, I could have been some creepy stalker," he replied, lounging down on my bed.
"I was under the impression that you were my creepy stalker," I moved to stand in front of him, raising a questioning eyebrow at him. "That's twice you've broken into my house in one day, very creepy indeed."
"I'm here as your guardian," he pulled me to him, sliding me in between his legs. "To protect you against the scary dreams."
I laughed, pushing myself away, "Oh, you are so not using that excuse to invite yourself into my bed."
"Caught," Wes chuckled.
"So why are you here?" I asked him.
"I just wanted to see you," he shrugged his shoulders.
"I just got back from your place," I pointed out.
"I know," Wes spoke quietly, his eyes cast to the ground.
I opened my mouth to probe further, but just then headlights rounded into the driveway as my dad's car parked in its usual spot at the edge of the driveway, already prepared to leave early in the morning. Wes and I froze in place. My hands were rigid against his shoulders as I remained still standing in between his legs.
"Where did you park your car?" I asked, looking down at him.
"I walked," he reassured me. "Well, snuck out, really." He pulled me off of him as he stood up, walking around my bedroom. "Say, does your dad ever check on you after he comes home? This would be very awkward to explain."
I quickly pulled him back down onto the bed, "No, the top level is just mine. His room's on the second floor on the opposite side of the house."
However, it seems as though fate had other plans for me. Just to spite me, I heard footsteps rounding the stairs outside my bedroom.
"Shhh, hide quickly!" I shoved Wes through my room into my walk in closet, shutting the doors on him and just narrowly missing his fingers in the process. Almost at the same time, the door of my room opened and my father popped his head into the room.
"Hey, kid," he opened the door wide and walked inside. His was wearing suit pants and a purple dress shirt. If you paid close attention, you could see the fine creases of a shirt worn for too long for one day. "Saw your light was open, so I thought I'd pop in to talk to you."
"Really?" I said, my breath just slightly uneven as my heart rate sped up. "I mean, awesome. What's up?"
"Well, I didn't get to see you after you came back from camp," he walked in further into my room. "Did you and Elizabeth have fun?"
"It was pretty fun," I tried to put as much space between the closet and I so as to not appear that there was anything suspicious in there. "We did a lot of activities like swimming, canoeing, biking..."
"I thought Elizabeth hated swimming?" his eyebrows creased together. I noticed there were visible grey hairs even in his eyebrows. The bags under his eyes were still dark, although somewhat better than before.
"She did, but she had motivation," I said, before explaining when he raised an eyebrow at me. "Wes' friend, Jordan, taught her."
"How is Wes?" my dad asked. "He's a nice kid. When do I see him again?"
You could see him right now if you wanted to, I internally laughed.
"His mother is Marie Bane," I told dad for some reason. I don't know why I felt the need to mention it.
"Marie Bane?" he repeated quizzically.
"Well I don't know her maiden name, but her first name's Marie. She's married to Andrew Bane," I elaborated.
Even in the dim light of my lamp, I could distinctly see dad's eyes shift from confusion to a mixture of revelation and...worry?
"Ahh, yes, I remember Marie Stewert. She was a sophomore when I was a senior," he told me. His voice sounded very distant. "She was a quiet girl, but a very strong personality."
"Yeah, she said she knew m-," but dad was already yawning, stretching his arms tiredly.
"Yeah she certainly knew many people- that Marie," he rubbed the side of his head. He looked back up at me and smiled his crinkled smile. But it was only half formed. It didn't transform his face into my dad the way it always did. "Anyway, I'm going to go get some rest, kiddo. Long day at work tomorrow. Goodnight."
And with that he left my room, closing my door softly behind him as he descended the stairs. I remained rooted to my spot at his abrupt behaviour, looking after the door he had closed.
Sighing, I pulled open the double doors to my closet to reveal Wes leaning against my shelves, his arms crossed as he looked directly at me. His eyes pierced mine and they told everything on his mind. It was silent for a second.
"Now, now, how often do you get a sexy beast hidden in your closet," he commented lightly.
"You mean creepy stalkers? I replied, still distracted.
"Please, I'd make one sexy stalker," he grinned, pushing himself off and coming back into my room.
"What're you doing?" I asked as he opened my balcony doors.
"You were right, maybe I shouldn't be here," he said, walking out onto the balcony. His voice was light but I could feel the underlying disappointment underneath. The excitement he had in coming all the way here and the fading of it was almost palpable.
And all the while my father's abrupt voice and all his walls coloured my thoughts. Even that crinkled smile I loved so much wasn't the same. I realised the only reason I loved it so much was because it was the only familiar thing I had left of my dad. The only fragment of the man who used to push me up higher and higher in the air until the swing wouldn't go any higher anymore and I'd still scream 'higher, daddy!' and he'd try to push his arms higher, even knowing very well he couldn't. Maybe the image I had of my father was frozen in time to that warm summer afternoon in the park. Along with that realisation, that familiar smile of my dad I had pictured in my head for so long suddenly appeared aloof and distant. I wanted it to be my smile, the one that was only reserved for me, so bad that I never truly realised the warm summer afternoon had already faded years ago into cold darkness. And I was the one left behind waiting. Always waiting for just a small ray of sunlight to warm me.
Wrapping my arms around Wes from behind, I hugged myself closer, hiding my face in between his shoulder blades, "Please stay for a while."
He didn't move for several moments, remaining in our embrace as I tried to squeeze the emotions out of me and into the night. Wes didn't try to turn around or even look at me and I appreciated that more than anything. But I knew he noticed the sudden wetness of his shirt from behind where a few tears had leaked out as my self-control slipped for just a while.
"Kitty?" he whispered into the night after what seemed to be a lifetime.
"Hmmm?" I mumbled back.
"Kiss me," his voice was firm as he looked up into the sky.
"What?" I asked bemusedly.
"Kiss me," he repeated.
I loosened my hold on him, lightly wrapping my arms around his waist as he slowly turned to look at me. "Why?"
"What do you mean 'why'?" one side of his mouth quirked up into a smile. "Don't you want to kiss me?"
"I do," I commented, looking up at him with a raised eyebrow.
"Then go for it," he grinned. As if to prod me on, he closed his eyes.
Looking at Wes in this way, he looked different. Vulnerable. Just a boy standing on a balcony with his eyes closed in anticipation for a kiss from a broken girl. And all that, he'd do for me.
I had never actually initiated a kiss myself with Wes before, let alone a guy. The adrenaline kicked in along with an exhilarating sense of self control as I planted my lips on his, coaxing them apart as I pulled him against me.
I didn't hate Wes for always beating me at everything. No, I couldn't hate him for being the amazing person he was. All this time I was annoyed because Wes was who I wanted to be, yet I could never admit it to myself. But I didn't have to run to win that race anymore. Wes was mine now. And I knew we'd walk to that finish line hand in hand.
I was too excited to update and didn't have time to add in a quote. I shall do so the next time I'm on my computer. Unless one of my lovely fans have a fitting quote- then I shall dedicate this chapter to whoever can find a quote!
~ TheNightMarauder