Promises
By: ParamoreXO
A/N: Tell me what you think! I hope you all will want more! Enjoy! DISCLAIMER: I own nothing, only everything that I made up! :)
"Hello?" My soft voice wavered in the air, slicing through the blaring silence of the icy night. Everything about this miserable place was deathly cold, barren …lifeless. No pigment of happiness shone through the inky dark of the night, except the golden glare of the full moon. Not a single star specked the black sky to offer light. Like the glowing orb high above me, I was alone with no one to answer my cry.
Shadows shifted along the stone walls placed on either side of me, towering over my petite figure. As my bare feet dragged along the dusty cobblestone path laid between two large buildings, I realized this sad place must be abandoned. The only sound was that of my padding feet, pressing against the frozen earth beneath me. No voices whispered from dark corners, there wasn't a dog barking in the distance, or crickets chirping their melodious tunes through the night. The frigid air remained still; my words and the small puffs escaping my wet lips the only thing that filled it. Then, something crunched beneath me, embedding itself into my creamy flesh. "Ow!" I howled, grabbing my stinging left foot. As I tried to examine it, the world began to jerk in my vision as I felt gravity pulling me backwards. The instant my body slammed into the hard surface that had flown from beneath me, a horrible pain screamed inside of my body, blood running cold in my veins. It was like a river in the wintertime; as the glacial rapids began to wind down, ice began to blanket over, liquid turning into solid, more frost-bound than ever imagined. Except in this case, I watched with burning eyes as crimson gushed from deep gashes strewn across my body. A poisonous agony like that of acid became contagious, infecting my insides. I shrilled, desperately gasping for air, as I felt my burning throat draw tighter. It was as if bile was eating it up, for the familiar feeling of just having puked fell across my mind. Muscles screamed in protest as I tried to move my aching limbs, but shards of glass pierced deeper, sticking out of my mangled skin at odd angles.
"Gwen?" My name was hard to hear over my screams but it met my ears, warm and reassuring. I knew that voice anywhere.
"HELP ME, BEN, HELP!" The sound of my desperate screams caused the hairs on the back of my neck to stiffen. I was beginning to wonder if burning alive could possibly be less crucial than this.
My watering eyes met a familiar pair that matched my emerald green ones almost perfectly. His were deeper, though, and mine were slightly brighter, but practically the same color. A wave of hope crashed over me at the sight of him. My eyes clamped shut as a zing of white hot pain shot through my body, my horrible screeching ringing in my ears. I reeled as my wounds grew abysmal, splintering pain too much for me "Please… Ben," my voice sounded weak and hoarse.
"I can't, Gwen. I'm not the one who betrayed you.
No, why was he doing this? Why couldn't he help me? And who had betrayed me? "W-What do you m-mean?" I spat out through gritted teeth.
"What you're lying in is your shattered heart… and every ounce of ache that comes with it."
"W-What?"
Colors began rushing together as the world around me swirled sickeningly. Ben's signature laugh echoed all around me, although it wasn't as sweet as I remembered. It was sugar coating a bitter taste, left to eat your tongue away to nothing. "You always had a heart of glass, Gwen."
Then everything went black, the unimaginable pain tickling away with my consciousness.
3
"NO!" My body shot forward into the nothingness of the night that filled my room. In an instant, I wished I hadn't reacted so fervor to my nightmare, for my head came in contact with something hard. Splintering pain shot through my forehead, blooming from the spot I had slammed into what felt like a brick wall. At that moment, I could have sworn my head was going to crack in half.
"UGH! GWEN, WATCH IT!"
My hand stayed glued to my forehead, stuck to the small bump that was rapidly changing from cream to purple. I winced despite my pain, "Kevin?"
If it hadn't been for the balmy summer air trickling through my open bedroom window, everything in existence could have been frozen solid. The only thing I could hear was my hammering heart… and another one beating along rhythmically with it. "Ahhh, hey, Gwen, what's up?"
A pink haze encircling my raised hand that was dimly illuminated my bedroom, casting eerie shadows along the walls, menacing and jagged. I shivered, fragments of my horrible dream popping into my head. More importantly, however, the image of the very person that took my breath away splashed into view. I could feel the blood rushing to my cheeks as I realized Kevin was sitting on my bed, his hand resting on my bare knee. Little tingles of joy shot up and down my leg, emitting from the spot where his warm hand lay. I wanted to shove my covers off, which was not fully covering my partially exposed body, the temperature in the room suddenly shooting up. Unable to help myself, a teasing grin (maybe even a little flirtatious) tugged at the corners of my wet lips. "I could've sworn I locked my windows before I went to bed."
"Come on," He leaned towards me slightly, the silver rays of the moon catching his earthy eyes just right, "A lock isn't gonna stop me."
That was all he had to say to make me want to lean over and press my mouth against his. But I didn't, I couldn't. He had a lot of explaining to do. For starters, why was he sitting on my bed at two twenty-one in the morning, giving me a smile that melted my heart? "So, why exactly did you pick it?"
The same embarrassed rush that had spread in my cheeks grew all over me, contagious, as I realized Kevin was looking me up and down. Of course tonight of all nights had to be when I wore an outfit I did not want him to see me in… ever. Fate would have it that my parents made living conditions here insufferable because they didn't want to pay a high price on air conditioning. So, naturally, I put on a tank top and shorts… maybe a little too low cut in the neckline and too high in the cutoff for my comfort. I could tell Kevin liked what he saw from the way his hand suddenly gripped tighter on my kneecap. I watched as his knuckles turned white, a tiny growl catching in the back of his throat. "I had to talk to you. Besides, I didn't want to risk meeting up with one of your parents if I came from the front door."
When I caught his gaze his eyes suddenly shifted to the glowing pink orb rising soundlessly above us, escaping my hand. It reminded me of an air bubble escaping a goldfish's stupidly gaping mouth, drifting to the surface. Was it me, or was Kevin Levin actually blushing? "What was so important to tell me at nearly two thirty in the morning?" I rested my icy hands over Kevin's burning one, leaning forward even more, not caring that my shirt innocently cleaving open a little. Kevin, however, did and I knew how much it was killing him not to look down at me… or my diving neckline.
"Um, well…" I watched as he bit his lip, a nervous habit of his. Usually he would never show a sign of breaking his cool demeanor, but I'd caught on. Being around a guy for so long usually gets you to notice certain things. What I couldn't pick up on, unfortunately, was why he wouldn't admit he liked me. I had even given him an outright chance to ask me out but no, he had too much pride to be asked by a girl. According to Kevin, the guy asked first, that was that. After that, I had still given him hints to ask me out, but he just brushed them off like lint.
"Just say it, Kev, if it was so important!" Sometimes, I didn't understand why I stood around for him so long. Then again, love does crazy things to people.
With his free hand, he ran it through his jet black hair, which came to rest at the nape of his neck. I sensed his muscular body tense as he blew out haughty huff. Closing my eyes, I took in the minty scent that escaped his mouth, just as intoxicating as the smell of his skin. Was it possible to get high off of a guy's scent? "Okay, princess, just calm down. I was hoping we could… run over the whole Charmcaster thing…"
Like any air bubble I watched drift to the waters' surface, it had to pop. The very instant the name of the wretched witch escaped Kevin's traitorous lips; my bedroom was flooded with darkness once again. The ball of manna had burst. A familiar feeling of pain and heartache crept in my blood, boiling it to a blistering heat, "And?" My voice sounded shaky and small, pathetic to my own ears.
"I know it was really stupid of me to go off on you Gwen, and I'm s-"
"Gwen, sweetie, are you alright?"
Déjà vu, I realized, as the same scared silence that had been exchanged between Kevin and I not too long ago enveloped us again. This time, though, was for different reasons. "Ah, yeah mom, I'm perfectly fine! Just…ah… talking in my sleep, I guess!"
"Smooth," Kevin snickered. Wait… was he under my bed? Dang, that was fast…
Once again, light illuminated my room, but this time I wasn't so relieved to see what lay before me. I don't think there has been any other time I was so afraid to see my mother. "Are you sure? I could have sworn-"
"I'm positive! Mom, really, you know I talk in my sleep sometimes."
Perched at the end of my bed, my mom looked me dead on in the eyes. "That was in second grade."
Dread dug a pit in my stomach, eating up all the hope inside of me. "Um, well, I've had a lot on my mind lately… maybe that's what's causing it?" Honestly, I tried to give her my most innocent look, making my eyes all wide like my cousin, Ben, would when he put up a fit.
"Oh? Do you want to talk about those things?" Great, it worked, just not the way I had wanted.
"I have a science exam this week, and…uh, I wanted to-"
"I think I know what's going on here," right then and there, I thought I was going to die. She knew.
"You d-do?" Hmm, I think a lifetimes' worth of grounding would make up for getting caught with a boy in my room. Considering my outfit, even when I was put to rest, I'd eventually have to face my parents in heaven…or Hell.
"Sure, I can spot boy trouble when I see it. Is it that Kevin boy again?"
I groaned, throwing myself into my pillows, sinking in their plush material. Poor Kevin, not only was it embarrassing for him to hear my mom go over boy troubles with me, but he had to find out my parents referred to him as "that Kevin boy". "Mom, I am not having boy troubles, okay? Can I just go back to sleep?"
Glancing up from my position, I watched as an internal debate raged inside her, the lines on her face full of concern. "Okay….but this isn't over, understand? You and I are going to talk tomorrow morning."
"Okay,nightmom!" I didn't care how obvious I was being while I tripped over my words; I just had to get her out. Otherwise, I would have suffocated from mortification.
"Night Gwen, love you," and with that, she shut my door, forgetting to flick of the lights like usual.
"Okay, I think it's safe," I hissed as I leaned over the edge of my bed. My eyes skimmed over Kevin's extruding muscular body, sighing a little to myself. Why couldn't things be simple between us?
He plopped himself down on my bed again, legs pushed up against my own, causing me to shiver even though it was practically one-hundred degrees outside. "You know, if you and your mom went on reality TV together, I would TiVo every episode," He sniggered. As I threw a punch at him, he caught it readily, slipping his fingers between mine. I looked at our intertwined hands, not knowing what to think about it. I knew I certainly felt happy. The feeling was exhilarating, sending goose bumps trailing down my arm. As his dark eyes met mine, I felt powerless. The tenderness in his eyes explained everything; why he did what he did. "Kevin… I don't want to fight anymore. It's killing me, seriously, I don't know how much more of this I can take."
"Yeah…" His thumb began to run in circles around my hand, rubbing soothingly against my palm. "Me too, but you look hot when you're mad. I think that's why I tease you so much."
"Ugh!" I dropped his hand and crossed my arms over my heaving chest. I couldn't tell which action brought on his puppy eyes; the fact that I stopped holding his hand (which I was starting to miss) or when I blocked his view from my cleavage. "You are impossible, Kevin Ethan Levin."
"But I'm also irresistible, right?" I couldn't help but giggle as he waggled his eyebrows up and down.
"Right, you wish," I rolled my eyes, hoping it would hide the fact that I actually did agree with his statement.
"So, you forgive me?"
The look in his eyes was unforgettable. I had never seen him so… vulnerable. He was throwing himself out there, with no protection, no defense, and no excuses. It was all him, no one else. "Of course…but if you ever do that to me again, you will regret it."
"I've already regretted it enough," I registered the change in his voice, as if he were craving something. Gruff came to mind, but husky would be a better fit. I could feel the sheets crinkle beneath me as he backed me up, climbing onto me. I tried to spit words out at him to get off but honestly, I don't think I wanted him to. "W-What are y-you doing?" I whimpered, unable to contain composure in my words. Then all my thoughts fell apart, unable to stay straight. All I could think about was Kevin's soft, warm hands sliding up and down my thighs, tracing aimless patterns with his fingers. I grabbed for the back of his neck, hooking my hands behind it, lacing my fingers through his hair. Something was ablaze behind the dark shades of his eyes, fully alive, hungry for something. And I was his satisfaction.
"I'll do whatever you want me to do," His whispered, lips brushing against my neck. My skin pricked where his breath became hot on my flesh. Apparently, his words weren't the only teasing trait about him. He was waiting for an answer, permission to move on, giving me the chance to draw a line as to where he could go.
"Give me what we've been waiting for…" I breathed, trailing off as his lips pressed against all the flesh he could capture. His hands skillfully moved back and forward between my thighs, hips, and sides, causing me to sigh out loud, blissful breath escaping into the night. My hands found their way to the front of his cotton shirt, black as the night. I gripped the front of the thin layer of fabric; a curtain blocking his rock-hard muscles, as tightly as I would with the reins of a horse. I had the power to steer him closer or farther away with one simple pull or tug. "Mmm," his lips buzzed against mine, most likely swollen by now. When I recognized the shape of a heart being drawn out with his finger against my stomach, I gasped, shocked by his daring affection. Seeing this as an invitation, he slipped his tongue in. It was thrilling and scary all at once, definitely unexpected. I had always day dreamed of this moment, never imagining it would actually happen. But never before had I kissed a guy like this, whereas Kevin probably had tons of experience with the many girls at school who drag on and on about him to me, hoping I could hook them up. Yeah, right. As if.
His breath became my breath; he breathed in as I breathed out, I breathed out as he breathed in. As his tongue explored, I followed, chasing after him like I had all along. Wanting to add a twist of my own to our first kiss, I decided it was my turn to take charge. I raked my hands up and down his ripped chest, my fingers lingering on ever rise and fall they met. Then, taking hold of his shirt again, I twisted myself over his body, lying on top of him. I could feel his lips spread into a smile against my mouth, pulling back to come up for air. "Gwen… your… parents…"
My head whipped towards the door, heart leaping to my throat. Thankfully, the door was still closed, my parents nowhere in sight. "What about them?" I hissed, resting my head on top of his frantically rising and falling chest, eyes closed. His heart pounded in my ear, the sound soothing. To know he was alive was all I needed. Sometimes, I couldn't stand him on missions when we fought against all the crooked criminals we have faced together. He'd risk his life on an attempt to crack a smart-aleck remark… just to make me smile.
"What if they walked in on us?" Kevin whispered into my hair, hands running up and down my back, slightly lifting my shirt in the process. Gripping his other hand, I gave it a squeeze, "Well… we could always do this tomorrow?"
"Is that a promise?"
I lifted my head to face him, eyes locking with his, hinting at a mischievous twinkle, "Maybe…maybe not."
"You better hold me to it, Tennyson." I felt him slide from under me, the warmth of his skin lingering, but nothing compared to the sticky, sun baked air. I watched as he strode towards the window, many years of stealth having taught him how to be completely soundless. As he began to crawl out the open window, he turned towards me. "I'll be looking forward to it."
I grinned, a giddy feeling bubbling inside me. "Me too," I whispered, but he was already gone.