A/N: I've always thought Bad Things by Machine Gun Kelly & Camilla Cabello fit this story so perfectly. If you've never heard it, click the attached video!
Chapter 26 : Game On
Nikki's POV
I turned off the running faucet, placing my now clean breakfast dishes in the drying rack. I gripped the edges of the counter and leant against it, biting my lip.
I was finally going back to school, having already dressed and combed my straight hair into a high ponytail. Even with it up my long hair still reached past my shoulders.
Around me the house was silent. Painstakingly silent. I stood over the sink, scratching my stockinged leg with the other foot and all the while my mind trained on the man upstairs. Behind me the refrigerator hummed softly.
How was I suppose to cope living under the same roof, alone and only a door down from Alastair?
I breathed out deeply, rocking my body against the edge of the sink. After that night, I felt as if things had changed between Alastair but... nothing else had happened since!
It baffled me. What exactly was our relationship? Now that I knew we weren't related I struggled to label what we were. A couple? Alastair insisted he loved me and although it made me happier beyond words to know we shared the same feelings, I failed to understand why he was still holding himself back.
Why wasn't he holding me in his arms this precise second? I internally cried at the thought. I'd always envisioned my love life being some bliss romance, not that it ever was that, but I hoped one day it might.
Like my parents. You would always see them embracing, always looking at each other with equal admiration and always, always having each other's back. Glimpses into my memories as a child proved that.
Alastair was acting the same as always; mysterious and indifferent. I, on the other hand, could barely contain myself when in close vicinity of him.
I didn't understand, and it was frustrating me to no end. Perhaps I was to be the one to break the ice? The thought alone made my cheeks burn. Nikki taking the initiative wasn't an idea I was well aquatinted with, nor fond of.
"Good morning."
I jerked out of my stupor the second I heard Alastair's voice behind me.
Moving to the bench I began to pack the breakfast cereal away. With my back to him, I attempted to act as if everything was normal.
"Morning!" Ugh, too much enthusiasm. "Sleep well?"
He hummed in agreement. "Like the dead."
My lips fell into a thin line. "That wasn't even funny."
I could hear the amusement in his voice when he responded, "I thought so."
Knowing I had little time to spare before the first bell rung for school, I rushed to finish getting ready. I turned around -- only to stop dead in my tracks to find Alastair directly behind me.
My heart came to a screeching stop when he suddenly stretched his body out against mine, reaching for something up high. I sank into the cupboards behind me, the sharp edge of the bench digging into my back. But the pain hardly registered. I held my breath, crunching the cereal box between my hands, my eyes fixated on his lean torso.
"What are you doing?" I breathed, my voice guttural and throaty.
"Just grabbing a mug," he said innocently, pulling his arm down, in his hand a blue mug that he'd gotten from the cupboard above my head. "For coffee. Want one?"
I blinked, quickly clearing my throat. "Erm, no, no. I'm good, thanks."
"You sure?" This time he practically purred it out, still standing no more than five inches away from me. The air grew heavy with his presence and I licked my dry lips.
"I-I'm sure."
I stiffened when he suddenly put his arm through mine, wrapping it around my waist. He leant forward and my eyes didn't falter from his. I loved his eyes, I forever would. Clear and surreal. That's what they were. A luscious and beautiful sea of ash mauve that seemed to gleam in the light whenever they'd peak through his bangs of midnight hair.
Surely he could hear the pounding of my heart. I thought he was going to pull me closer, to claim my mouth with his. He was but a breath away.
My lips parted but before I could say anything he pulled his arm back, a cookie in hand. He held both hands up, showing me that's all he was getting. There was a knowing smirk pulling at the corner of his lips which made my brows draw into a frown.
He purposely did that. He knew one little touch would drive me mad and aching for more. Meticulous and cunning. That's what he was. How dare he.
Having achieved making me a hot mess, Alastair took a bite of the cookie and leant back on the edge of the sink. As if what he was doing wasn't enough, I caught a glimpse of his fangs as he bit into the cookie. Deadly sharp and white.
"You're going to be late for school," he said, amused that I was gawking up at him.
I stole a quick glance at the time and gasped. Racing to the cupboard, I threw the cereal in before slamming it after me and racing out of the house, slipping on my shoes along the way and almost tripping multiple times. I realised I was shaking as I power walked down the track and placed a hand over my thrumming heart.
His playful antics were going to be the death of me.
Realising my back wasn't being weighed down by anything like it should have been, I threw my arms in the air in stupidity and ran back to the house.
"On the stool," Alastair called out, walking up the stairs engrossed in the book in his hand.
Flushing, I picked my school bag up from where I left by the bench. As I went to turn away, I noticed a blue coffee mug sitting clean and empty on the end of the bench. The same Alastair had reached over me to get from the cupboard.
Pursing my lip, I threw my bag over my shoulder. So Alastair wanted to play games?
Game on.
***
"I said I was sorry," I pleaded to Brianna who sat across from me on the bench in the lunch quad. Her arms were folded across her chest, brown eyes scrutinising me fiercely. "There was just a lot of stuff happening at home and I couldn't come to school when you asked me to. But I'm here now? What is it you wanted to tell me that you couldn't say over text?"
Bri's straight face slackened and she slumped in her seat, beginning to peel the chipping green paint off the bench with me.
"It's about Zac," she sighed. "Marginally, anyway."
I nodded. "That much was obvious. Are you still ignoring him?"
"I'm not ignoring-" she stopped short when she saw my pinned look. "It's complicated, alright? Look, Nikki. You're my best friend, I couldn't ask for anyone more loyal and compassionate as you. I would love you even if you were some heinous beast or.... or monstrous vampire."
At that, I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and chuckled awkwardly. The monstrous part might not have been true but the vampire part sure was.
I distinctly remembered Alastair saying that Brianna couldn't remember that I was an Imperial. Whether she was allowed to know of our kind I didn't know. If her memories were taken away, it was more or less for a reason. And whether that reason was me or something bigger was also unknown.
I doubted I was permitted to say anything about who - I meant, what I was to her, despite her own father being a Vampire Hunter. Did she know about that? Was she living a lie too?
Lying to my friend wasn't something I was proud of but it was probably for the best. Until I was sure it wouldn't harm Brianna to know of whom I was born, it was safer to keep my mouth shut about the whole thing. Which also meant that I couldn't tell her that Alastair was my mate.
Even as I thought that, I couldn't shake the strange nagging feeling whenever I was reminded of Brianna. It was something to do with my past... crap, what was it? It was on the tip of my to tongue. It had come to me before, I was sure of it, but just like that, the memory had broken off from the rest and I could no longer locate it within the sea of resurfacing memories in my mind.
"Nikki, things are different for me," Brianna said softly, eyeing the people around us warily in case anyone was listening. "I'm not suppose to be telling you this but I can't talk to anyone about it-"
"Do you love Zac, or not?" I asked her straight out, tired of her excuses that were ruining my two friends relationships. "If you do, tell him. If you don't, tell him. Ignoring him and trying to forget won't make this better, Bri."
"I don't want to forget it," she said quietly, "I just... don't know if it's the real type of love."
"Why are you making it such a big deal, Brianna?" I demanded. "It's not like there was ever something holding the two of you back! I don't understand why you can't just admit that you like him more than a childhood friend. You always have. Do I have to spell it out for you?"
It became personal at the end. I didn't mean it to be but looking at Brianna's conflicted face reminded me so much of me before today. Why did she have to make this more difficult than it needed to be?
"I... I..." She stared at me, mouth opening and closing without any words escaping. Her hair was up neatly in her signature bun, watery brown eyes matching its rich chocolate colour. She looked past me, eyes widening and wiped her cheek as a solemn tear fell. "I'm sorry, I can't..."
Immensely regretting my words, I reached out for my friend as she quickly got up from the bench. My face was stricken with concern for her as her bottom lip trembled, trying to mask the pressure to cry. Why couldn't I shut my mouth long enough to really listen to her?
I turned over my shoulder finding Zac striding quickly towards us. By Brianna's current state, I knew she couldn't handle speaking to him, no matter how long they'd spent apart already.
I tried to stop him. "Zac, wait."
He stalked straight past and ignored me, grabbing Brianna by the shoulders as she turned away to leave.
"Zac, I don't want to talk," she whispered.
"You need to get over one lousy kiss, Brianna!" He yelled in her face, shaking her roughly. I'd never seen him so angry before. Around us, people turned to see what all the fuss was about. "It didn't mean anything!"
Brianna's brown eyes set hard in her face. In a flash she no longer appeared fragile and scared. She swatted his hands from her. "Is that your way of fixing this? It didn't mean anything?!"
Zac stepped back, taken aback by her sudden outburst and murmured, "I thought that's what you wanted to hear..."
"So what, now you don't care about me?!"
"Stop trying to be ignorant, Bri. You know I've always cared about you!"
Brianna dug her nails into her scalp as she mumbled, "I can't handle this. You don't understand..."
"Then tell me!" He demanded.
She stared at the ground, breathing deeply. "I'm not who you think I am."
"What the fuck are you talking about? Brianna just stop for a second and look at me-"
He grabbed her biceps, but before he had a chance to say anything more she pushed his chest back with the force of an army. He flew back, hitting the ground more than a metre away.
"That," she said, looking down at where he wheezed on the dirt. Then she grabbed her bag, hardly acknowledging me and walked out of school.
Zac slowly pulled himself up and dusted off his jeans, staring after Brianna with a look I couldn't describe. He turned to me for a moment, dark brown hair disheveled and light blue eyes wild.
"I'll give you a tip, Nikki. Never surprise a girl by kissing them," he advised. Then he strode off in the opposite direction, pulling twigs and leaves out of his short brown hair.
For a few short moments I remained standing, wondering if that fight really just played out between those two or if my eyes and ears were deceiving me. Then carefully, I lowered myself back into the seat and the crowd that had gathered also began to disperse.
I guess surprise kisses don't always work for everyone, I thought to myself.
A/N: Well damn. I wonder what Brianna's hiding?
Fact about me/this story: my favourite book(s) including those on Wattpad and off, would definitely have to be the Death Is My BFF series by katrocks247. Bloody amazing stories and the writer is bubbly and awesome. I live for Death UGH <3
Published 30/8/17