Alek POV:
Chloe was playing music in her room while I sat on her roof, waiting for morning to come. I was hyperaware of the text messages she was sharing with Brian, but I was trying to ignore them in order to preserve my sanity. The girl had to be screwing with me; that or she was blind.
Jasmine sat next to me with a soft thud. "Hey. Watcha up to?" she asked. I sighed.
"I'm watching for the Order. The real question is what you're doing here. It's my job to watch Chloe at night," I said. Although this wasn't a written rule, it was unspoken between us. Jasmine had several suspicions about my feelings for Chloe, but I knew I could trust her to keep them to herself. She cared about Chloe, but she was also my cousin and one of my only true friends.
"You're exhausted. You need some sleep," she said. Concern was etched in her eyes and her fierce protectiveness was shining through. I shook my head.
"I'm fine. Chloe needs me," I said, trying to convince myself as much as I was trying to convince Jasmine.
"No I don't!" Piped up a familiar voice. I held back a smile as Chloe climbed up onto the roof next to us. "Sup,"
"Chloe, you should go back to bed," said Jasmine next to me. "You need your sleep,"
"Not tired, don't want to. Want something to eat?" she said chirpily.
"Why are you up here?" Jasmine asked.
"I could ask the same of you. Alek's the one who's always here. But, if you must know, I'm lonely," she said, crossing her legs and laying her hands in her lap.
"Well Alek can keep you company. I've got to get home," she said, winking at me behind Chloe's back. I rolled my eyes, but internally loved her more than ever.
"Sooo. What do you usually do up here?" she asked, leaning back so that her hair fell on the roof.
"Watch for the Order," I lied. Normally I listened to her, but she was next to me right now. So much better.
"Thank you," she said, sitting up and looking me in the eyes.
"It's my job," I muttered, breaking the eye contact.
"Not to stand in the freezing cold rain just because I asked you to. Or train me to get better at hearing things. That's not your job. And you don't have to sit up here with nothing to do just to make sure I don't get hurt, not every night. So thank you," she said. Her eyes glinted with gratitude. I shrugged awkwardly. One of my smart alec comments definitely didn't fit here. "Want something to eat? I'm hungry because Mom ended up having a business dinner, and I swear I have the cooking skills of a raccoon," she said, blushing from the seriousness of the previous moment.
Gracefully she climbed down from the roof without another word, presumably to get a snack. I gazed up at the stars, one leg stretched before me, the other bent to help with balance. I heard rummaging downstairs and Chloe came back up with a bowl of cherries and strawberries, a second bowl, and two cans of diet soda. "Help yourself! Put the seeds and stuff in the second bowl, though, because I think Mom would be a little curious to find cherry pits strewn about the roof.
"Don't mind if I do," I said, taking one of the strawberries as she handed me one of the sodas.
Chloe eating cherries was odd, to say the least. First she would remove the stem. Then she would cut the thing in half with her teeth, removing the pit and finishing it off. She did it with each cherry, over and over, like a ritual. It was fascinating, watching her little mouth devour the tiny fruits. "You're staring," she said before plucking another cherry from the bowl.
"Sorry. You eat cherries peculiarly," I pointed out, trying to stop watching her. I couldn't; her mouth was always tempting but now, with a tiny trail of cherry juice dripping along her lower lip, I couldn't resist. She licked it away and I swore at myself for the urge to kiss her. I needed a reminder that she wasn't mine. "How's Brian?"
"Ugh. Don't remind me. You know, he didn't wait for me? He just came back because my phone was in the car seat. Which could have been forgiven, before he claimed the credit for it. And he acts like there's nothing wrong with that! So I wouldn't know how Brian is. I'm not speaking to him," she said angrily. Crap. There goes my plan, flying out the window at light speed. There she goes with the cherries again. Won't they ever run out?
I wanted to kiss her. I needed to kiss her. Badly. Couldn't she see what she was doing to me?
"Anyway, Amy's coming over tomorrow. So you don't have to come. Because, you know, I have a feeling we'll be incredibly boring," she said, giving me the distraction I needed.
"What are you guys planning on doing?"
"Oh! Well, I've got the seven seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD so we'll finish at least one and two. Amy wants to give me a manicure, but I don't know how that will work with the whole claws dilemma. Basically we're going to stay up till two being girls," her eyes lit up with an idea. "Jasmine should come! You know, she doesn't really have that many friends," she said with a worried little frown.
"Jasmine is fine," I said, watching how her eyes relayed her emotions so easily.
"Whatever. Will you invite her? She needs some fun. You both take the whole 'protectors' thing way too seriously," she said. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, your life is definitely not important at all,"
"Oh, please. You know I don't want to die again. But the assassin guy is dead and you guys are doing a great job. I'll be fine. Loosen up," she said, her lips forming the most tempting, alluring shape. I really couldn't help myself.
"Since Brian is out of the picture are you planning on dating anyone?" I asked. She laughed.
"If this is your way of checking up on me, you're fine. No more flirtations with humans. I have no idea what I was thinking. I don't think I was thinking. I mean, how far could a relationship progress without a kiss?" she growled at her own failure to consider it thoroughly.
"You could kiss me," I whispered. Crap. Double crap. I didn't mean that. Well, I did, but I didn't mean to say it. She whipped her head up and I looked down.
Chloe POV:
I could tell he was serious. He wasn't smirking. I'd always liked him, but he was Alek. He couldn't like me back, he was the jock and I was the freak. But did he really want to be in a relationship with me? I thought back. He did have a tendency to be sweet, but he also had a tendency to be annoying. "Do you mean that?" I asked in a breathy, hushed murmur. He shrugged, but I knew he did by the way he averted his eyes.
"Just forget it. You don't like me," he said and he started to get up. I grabbed his arm.
"You don't know that," I exclaimed as quietly as I could before pulling him to me and kissing him on the mouth. God that felt good.
He stiffened momentarily before pulling me closer.
Alek POV:
This was a dream, it had to be, but I didn't ever want to wake up. Chloe's lips were soft and sweet, but were filled with her determination as she pushed them up against mine. She pulled away after a moment and looked at me with curiosity and fear in her eyes. I grinned back at her and the fear was replaced with relief. I slowly let my lips touch hers again. "You should go to bed, Chloe," I murmured sadly. Thankfully she didn't pull away to answer me, both of us keeping our eyes closed and speaking softly. Her breath smelled like cherries.
"Tomorrow's Saturday. No school. And Amy's coming anyway so it's not like I'm planning on sticking to my sleep schedule," she argued. She had a point.
"Fine. But you can't just stay up here and kiss me. I have to watch out for the order," I reminded her. I wished she could, but the fact was that I didn't have enough self-discipline to focus on protecting her when we kissed.
"Stupid protector," she pouted. I laughed.
"I'll help you clean up," I said, quietly, not wanting to disturb this peacefulness. She nodded and grabbed the bowl of cherry pits and her soda. I stuck my unopened can in the now empty bowl of former strawberries and cherries before following her through the window. Her room was pretty much the same as when I'd come before, to tell her that Valentina wanted to see her. I still felt guilty that her Mom had come in.
I let Chloe put everything away, her grace seeping out in spades. She bounced over to me and frowned. "You're tired," she accused. I shook my head. "Yes you are. There are circles under your eyes," she pointed out, stroking one with her thumb. I sighed.
"I'm fine, Chloe," I assured her. She shook her head at me before standing on her tip toes and pressing her lips against mine. I grinned. Wrapping my arms firmly around her waist I lifted her onto the counter. She wrapped her legs around my abdomen, loosely. Moaning a little her hand threaded itself into my hair while her arm held my back. I let myself get lost for a moment before I pulled away. She frowned at me. "Sleep," I reminded her, before unwrapping her legs. I knew she was tired, and she proved me right by yawning. The clock read 2:51 am.
I picked her up bridal style and she leaned her head against my chest. "Do you really want to be together?" she whispered sleepily.
"I want nothing more," I told her truthfully, setting her on the bed.
"Go home. Get some sleep. You'll be no fun if you're tired," she said with a yawn.
I laughed. "Okay. I'll come by in the morning," I said, kissing her cheek and slipping out the window silently as she fell into a dream.
I raced to the apartment breathlessly. Jasmine was still up, waiting for me. "How'd it go?" she asked me eagerly.
"Well. Uh. It went… well," I said with a grin.
She gasped. "Tell me everything, you secretive Brit!" she cried, slapping my chest.
"We may have… kissed," I said, turning away with a smirk as she froze.
"You may have what? Oh my gosh! Alek! That's awesome!" she cried. I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah well I'm sure you'll be able to gush with her and Amy tomorrow night. You're sleeping over," I grinned at her as she bounced up and down on her toes. I honestly don't think I'd seen her so excited, ever. Not even when her Mom got her a new bamboo staff. Not even when the Uniter first came around.
I collapsed on the bed, more tired than I had realized. Chloe and Jasmine were right, not that I would ever admit it. I was exhausted. I fell asleep with my jeans still on, but not before setting the alarm. I didn't want to be late for Chloe.