A/N : I JUST finished Awakened, like, five minutes ago, and I totally had to get this out because Rephiam + Stevie Rae has now become my official favorite couple of the book. BTW, this is my first House of Night story.
Takes place after Awakened.
Disclaimer : The HON series belongs to the fabulous pair, P.C. and Kristen Cast. Not me.
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Getting Used To It:
Stevie Rae opened her eyes, slowly adjusting to the darkness around her. She didn't want to move just yet; after all, the week had been long and hard. But the results (for her, at least) were most definitely worth it. She rolled over in her bed, snuggling into the fluffy pillows, deciding that she'd get up and moving when he came in to wake her.
She had very good hearing now that she wasn't so stressed out, she admitted. She heard the soft flap of the sheet that she covered her doorway and footsteps—human footsteps—slowly approach her. She closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep.
Her visitor stopped by the edge of the mattress before finally deciding to lay down. Double checking to make sure the red vampyre was asleep, he lifted the blankets and eased himself in, rolling over and spooning Stevie Rae from behind. Gently, more gently than he had ever believed himself capable of, he wrapped and arm around her waist and nuzzled the back of her neck.
"This is a new way of wakin' me up," the sleeping girl commented. The boy jumped, pulling his arm away. She frowned, rolling over to snuggle into his chest. "Hey, I didn't say that I didn't like it," she added, looking up and giving him a big, loving grin. "Good morning, Rephiam."
Rephiam had soon gotten used to her strange logic—it was sunset, not morning. However, he knew what she meant. "Good morning, Stevie Rae."
She leaned away in order to tilt her head upward and give him a lingering kiss. He responded happily, smiling at her when she pulled away. "How was your day?" she asked.
The ex Raven Mocker shrugged. "A blur. Flying can only keep me occupied for so long before I start missing you."
Giving him a swift peck on the cheek, she sat up and raised her arms above her head and stretched. "I guess we should be gettin' up soon, huh?" Not waiting for an answer, she threw off the covers and turned, placing her feet on the cold, hard floor. "Dang," she said, shivering. "We really needa convince Aphrodite to splurge for a heating system."
Rephiam also sat up, moving behind her and placing his legs on the outside of her, letting them dangle off the bed. He hugged her and said, "Zoey was looking for you earlier. She also told me to mention that it was not an emergency and that you could take your time getting back to her."
The small, blonde girl sighed in response. Since they had left Tulsa's House of Night, it had been nothing but work, work, and more work. They all deserved a break. Maybe she'd tell Zoey that when she went to go talk to her.
Disentangling herself from her lover's arm, she rose, striding to her dresser to get ready for the day. She made a shooing motion at the boy sitting on her bed. "C'mon, get out. I have to start gettin' ready. I'll meet ya out in the hall, OK?" she said when he didn't move. Finally, he got up, giving her a little wave as he disappeared from view.
After a few minutes, Stevie Rae met up with him in the hall, feeling ready for the night. "All right. We can go now," she stated, taking his large hand in her small one. "Where'd ya last see Zoey?" she asked, ready to find her best friend. He told her the kitchen, and they both set off for it.
The tunnels were almost nice now. They'd renovated even more, adding things to everyone's liking. They passed a few red fledglings, and Stevie Rae waved happily whenever she saw one. Unfortunately, Rephiam wasn't quite that comfortable yet. Kramisha stopped to talk to them at one point, and he stayed silent, looking at the floor rather than the girl. After she had left, Stevie Rae tugged on his hand for his attention.
"Now, Rephiam, they don't bite! Well, not you at least," she said, laughing at her own joke. The corners of his mouth twitched up in response. "Anyway, stop be so dang shy. You're already forgiven... Everyone's A-OK with you now." He nodded, and soon they reached the kitchen, where Zoey was happily munching on some chips while Stark sat next to her, always on guard. Aphrodite and Darius were also there, with the blond girl searching the cabinets in vain for something.
"Hiya, Z. Didya need to talk to me 'bout somthin'?"
Stevie Rae felt bad for Zoey. Real bad. She had recently told them that her mother had died, and loaded everyone with work, if only to get her mind off of things. Most of the kids were just happy that she didn't go into another comatose state, but Stevie Rae just really hoped she didn't hurt herself trying to do everything at once.
Stark eyed Rephiam wearily. While it was true that everyone had forgiven Raphiem, it didn't mean everyone was comfortable with him, or, in the warrior's case, trusted him.
"Yeah," Zoey said, swallowing her Doritos. "Actually, I was just thinking. I mean, everyone's been working so hard since we got here. Why don't we all go out and so something, you know, fun?"
And this was why Zoey was her best friend—they could practically read each others mind. "'Course. That's a great idea! What were ya thinkin'?" Stevie Rae answered excitedly. Aphrodite looked up from her quest, momentarily noticing that there were additions in the room.
"Oh. Bumpkin and Bird Boy." Stevie Rae cringed inwardly at Rephiam's nickname. Rephiam pondered on what Stevie Rae had told him when he announced he's be joining her; Aphrodite was quite mean.
"I don't know," Zoey said, answering Stevie Rae's earlier question. "I'll figure something out. Why don't you go round up Damien and the Twins and we'll all think of something." Stevie Rae nodded, dragging her boyfriend behind her and out of the room.
"I really don't appreciate the name given to me by Aphrodite," Rephiam noted, frowning.
Stevie Rae sighed. "Don't mind her. Ya think I like being called 'Bumpkin' all the time? It's just her way to show us she ain't goin' soft, no matter how much I'd, personally, like it."
Damien had been easy to find. After all, following the Glee music down the hall wasn't all that hard. Letting go of Rephiam's hand, she pulled back the curtain slightly, peaking into the room to see Damien laying down on the bed, petting his cat absent mindedly. She had to be gentle with him—he was still upset over Jack. But he'd made a lot of progress recently.
"Hey, Honey," she said quietly, patting his shoulder as she stood next to the bed. Rephiam stood by the doorway, not sure what to really do. "You in the mood for goin' out later?"
The normally happy teen boy looked up. "Hey, Stevie Rae. Hey, Rephiam." Damien actually did like Rephiam. As he'd said when he'd first switched over sides, abandoning Kolana, he believed in love. To him, it didn't matter what had happened in the Raven-Boy's past—as long as he was good now and treated his friend right. "Where are we going?" he asked.
Stevie Rae smiled. "Well, we don't actually know yet. Z wants us to think of somethin', so go down to the kitchen, K?" When Damien nodded, she hugged him before taking Rephiam's once again and setting off to find the missing pair of friends.
Rephiam smiled a little, remembering when how often Stevie Rae and Damien hugged made him uncomfortable. He's asked her about it, wondering if she had feelings for the boy. Stevie Rae had laughed outright, telling him that Damien was gay. Rephiam didn't quite understand, and so that left Stevie Rae to explain the concept of homosexuality to him. He was still getting used to modern terms. Sure, he'd heard people refer to Jack as Damien's boyfriend, but, back then, figured that it just meant he was a male friend.
Needless to say, Damien no longer made him jealous.
They also found the Twin's quickly. Erin and Shaunee had been entertaining themselves with a magazine, pointing out all the "yummy" guys, which confused Rephiam yet again. He was lead to believe fledgling vampyres did not drink blood, with the exception of those like Stevie Rae.
He'd have to ask her about that later.
"Erin, Shaunee!" Stevie Rae called out once they were close enough. The giggling girls stopped, looking up at they're visitors.
"What's up?" they both asked simultaneously.
"How do ya'll feel 'bout goin' out later?" Stevie Rae asked. That was all it took. They had been tired of staying cooped up there all day. She told them follow her to the kitchen, where Zoey had hopefully made a plan for the day.
Their circle of friends were ready, waiting for a destination. "Uh," Zoey said, looking around the room. "Anybody got a plan?"
"Shopping."
"Movies."
"Mall."
"Park."
"Beach!"
"And where, exactly, is the nearest beach, stupid?"
"...Road trip?"
Zoey sighed, then mumbled something that sounded like, "ohmygoddess." Standing, she said, "Can we just decide on one place? The park sounded nice, and there's one not to far from here." There was a collective agreement, and so it was decided on.
"Well? Let's go!"
Zoey couldn't help but watch Stevie Rae and Rephiam together carefully as they all walked to the park. It was still so strange seeing him as a human—never mind in love with her best friend. Don't get her wrong, she was glad he switched sides. But she never did really get the whole story from Stevie Rae, and she really wanted it.
The two of them walked in front of herself and Stark talking and laughing, as well as playfully bumping into each other. It was so weird.
"I know," Stark said in response to her thoughts. She glared at him.
"Not in any danger," she pointed out, pinching his arm. He grinned at her, and she really couldn't stay mad at him. "But it really is," she whispered so they wouldn't hear. "But I think I'm okay with it. Just look at them—they're obviously head over heels. And, if he makes Stevie Rae happy, I'm willing to forget all the bullpoopie he put us through before.
Meanwhile, the couple were in another confusing conversation.
"Let me get this right," Rephiam said. Stevie Rae nodded, waiting for him to continue. "So they," he continued, pointing to the Twins, "Do not drink human blood? Yet they find this Ashton Kutcher 'yummy.' If not to eat him, why?"
Stevie Rae blushed, looking down at her feet. Aphrodite, ever the helpful one, piped up, "They don't want to eat him. They want to jump his fucking bones." Once again, the new mortal turned to his lover for an explanation.
"They, uh, want to have... intercourse with him." Rephiam's eyes widened and and he blushed, red staining his tan cheeks and murmuring a barely audible "oh."
"We don't want to have sex with him," Erin piped up from the head of their procession.
"We will. Someday," Shaunee finished, both of them breaking out into giggles.
Rephiam felt reasonably uncomfortable. After all, he and Stevie Rae haven't exactly discussed that matter yet, and while he knew some of the other couples living with them did it, the fact was, he wasn't sure he knew how to bring up the topic, never mind not even knowing if she wanted to...
He kept quite, putting the hand that was not holding Stevie Rae's into the pocket of his newly acquired jeans. They were uncomfortable, but, as his new friends told him, necessary.
The group soon made it to the park and set about placing down the blankets they had brought with them. Rephiam was about to go sit, but Stevie Rae tugged on his arm, nodding away from the group. "C'mon, let's go for a walk."
He nodded, following her into the darkness. They soon came upon the playground, and Stevie Rae smiled, started to jog and dragging him along.
"I haven't been to one of these since I was a kid!" she announced, releasing him to climb the rope ladder leading up toward a tower of sorts for children. Laughing, she waved at him before going down the slide.
He found himself waving back and smiling. Her exuberance and innocence amazed him at times, making him temporarily forget how powerful she truly was and that they were in the middle of an unofficial war. Stevie Rae ran back over to him, grabbing his hand and tugging him toward the swings. She directed him to sit down and he did so, watching her take the other one.
"Haven't you ever been to one of these before?" she asked. When Rephiam shook his head, he noticed her frown into the dark. "Right, you probably wouldn't. But still! You're supposed to go crazy and play around! Ya know, like I sorta did a few minutes ago," she added with a a giggle. "Do you know how to swing?" she asked.
"I have seen people do it," he confessed. "You just pump your legs?"
She nodded brightly. "Right!"
They both began a steady rhythm, soon getting very high up with Stevie Rae giggling all the while. "Let's jump off!" she suggested. "On 3! 1, 2...3!"
The two of them leaped. He landed steadily, but she was not so lucky. She landed awkwardly and ended up stumbling, almost hitting the ground if he hadn't caught her in time. Soon, they realized how close this proximity really made them, both of their faces glowing in the dim light.
Getting on her toes with a random burst of confidence, she pressed her lips to his, gripping the front of his shirt. He hesitated, but responded quickly, one hand going up to caress her cheek and the other resting on her waist. The need for air soon became great and they pulled away, grinning at each other like young lovers should.
Rephiam took her hand, leading her to a nearby bench before sitting down and pulling her into his lap, burying his face in her hair. "I keep thinking this isn't real," he said quietly, his voice a little muffled. But she head him.
"Think what isn't real?" she asked.
"This." He pulled away holding her chin so they were looking straight at each other. "You and me, together. Being human. Joining the good side... I'm afraid that this is all just an amazing dream and I'll wake soon. Then, I'll still be with my father and Neferet. Still trying to sway them not to hurt you without being obvious. And you... well, you would be hating me." He pulled away a little, letting his hand fall and he looked away from her, embarrassed.
"Hey," she said softly, using the same, comforting tone she used with Damien. "Look at me." He did, and she leaned her forehead against his. "This is real," she told him. "You're on the Light side and followin' Nyx. You can make your own choices now. You got freedom. And I love you."
That brightened his mood considerably. He gave her a sweet, chaste kiss. "Thank you. And I love you, too."
She wished this moment could go on forever, but her friends were probably worried and she was nervous about the nasty rumors that would spread if she stayed out, alone, in the dark with Rephiam too long. "We should be getting back," she announced. He nodded and, instead of letting her slide off him, she scooped her up bridal style and started carrying her back to the group. "Rephiam!" she exclaimed, shrieking with laughter. "Lemme down!" But she didn't really want that. He was nice and warm and she felt so small and safe.
"No," he said, smiling at her. "I'm still getting used to this. Getting used to being in love. Let me experiment, please." He kissed her forehead, right on her tattoo and she smiled, closing her eyes and snuggling into him.
She didn't care if they looked silly walking back to her friends. She didn't care that they were probably all in danger. She didn't care if being in love with him was wrong. Right now, it didn't matter.
She could definitely get used to being in love.
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A/N : Viola! I really loved writing this, and I hope everyone likes it.
Read and Review!
