Hello! I'm sorry about the last chapter being so sad, it was essential to the plot though, so I had to write it. This chapter is about Nick and Angel and I hope it cheers you up. Thank you starr1095 for your quick response and kind comments toward my story. Thank you also to Azetta, Nightgirl25, Fanatic4Fiction, Lolastarz2010 and Bianca666 for your reviews. Hopefully you still enjoyed the last chapter even if it was depressing. I know most of you were wondering about Nick and Angel and I hope this clears things up.
NPOV
She opened a small glass jar of lavender and sniffed hesitantly at the little purple flowers. When she finally put the jar back on the shelf she had a delighted expression on her face.
"I love everything purple" She explained giggling. "I wondered if I liked lavender too, I've never smelt it."
"Really?" I asked.
"Yeah" She said smiling slightly. I was suddenly filled with inspiration.
"Hey Krystal?" I asked timidly.
"Yeah" She said in her soft melodic voice.
"Do you want to see my sister's room?"
"Sure"
We walked to the other side of the room and pushed open the birch door leading to Aradia's room. The floor was made of the same light birch wood of the door but with small silver patterns in it. The walls were painted pale lavender and the room smelt strongly of fresh flowers. In the middle of the room there were many ancient looking silk rugs piled on top of each other and if you looked closely the patches of fur stuck to the soft fabric. The small shelf near the back of the room was filled with material bandages and many bottles filled with colorful liquid. There were small holes in the walls which were all filled with fresh flowers petals- daisies, roses, lilies, violets and tulips. The back wall was lined with lilac candles and directly in the center there was a crimson water lily in a small bowl of clear liquid.
"This is her room, isn't it?" Krystal gasped. There was no doubt in my mind about who she was.
I nodded mutely.
"It looks so… majestic. Like something that's been lost in time" She stared at wonder around the room and turned to me.
"Where does your sister sleep?" She asked curiously.
"There" I said pointing the half hidden window seat with the violet sheets and woven bark blankets.
"Wow" She said trailing her finger over the material Hellewise herself had made thousands of years ago. Above the window seat there was a large hole. Not a window, a hole. My room, the room that used to be Hellewise's journal room, only had a window because she wanted her journal to be protected from the elements.
"Isn't she scared of bugs crawling in in the middle of the night?" She asked dumbfounded.
"No" I said smiling to myself "Neither bugs or animals enter her without permission"
For a moment she stood silent and I was scared that she had noticed my slip up. Most people would laugh and wouldn't even consider the possibility that what I said was true. Why couldn't I keep my mouth shut around this girl?
After a moment though, she seemed to let it go and acted as if nothing had ever happened. She absentmindedly pulled her waist length strawberry blond into a high bun on top of her head revealing a slim white throat. Good thing I'm not a vampire, I thought to myself, I wouldn't be able to resist. She sat upon Aradia's bed and stuck her head out of the hole. She leaned forward slightly to get a better view of something outside and she wobbled slightly. I reached forward to help stabilize her but at my touch she jumped and fell out of the hole, straight into a patch of mud. The thick mud clung to her skin and clothes and was matted into her hair. She tried to get up but seemed to be stuck in the mud.
"Help?" She asked struggling to pull herself out of the mud.
I jumped out of the hole and landed right beside her in a patch of grass. I smirked at her and then held out my hand to help her up. She put her hand in mine but it was so covered in mud that I ended up with a ball of mud instead of her hand. I automatically shook my hand to try to dislodge some of the mud and it accidentally hit her in the face. She gave me a look of utter disbelief before scraping the wet mud of her face and threw it back at me. It hit me square in the chest and I winked at her and then reached and threw the biggest ball of mud I could fit in my hand and dropped it into her beautiful hair. Her cheeks flushed with color and she tossed a mud ball back at me. It splattered all over me and before I knew it we were having a full out mud fight. I hit her in the calf and she hit me back in the shoulder. Just as the sky was starting to darken I covered her in mud and then flung her over my shoulder.
She didn't seem to mind until she noticed that I was carrying her in the direction of the gushing stream. She began thrashing, screaming and giggling all at the same time. Still fighting, I gently placed her into the clear liquid. She seemed surprised that water wasn't freezing cold but actually quite warm. I watched the water embrace her and clean her off. Her hair had mostly all came out of her loose bun so she now let it down and float on the surfaced of the water. With her hair strewn about and her skin glowing softly in the faint sunlight she looked like a water nymph. I saw her smile at me in a sort of a daze; I didn't even notice I was joining her in the stream until I felt the change of temperature from the air to the water. She laughed once and then splashed me playfully. I knew she didn't want a water fight though; her eyes had a sort of glazed look as she stared at setting sun. The sky was all shades of pink orange and blue and as the sun dipped lower into the sky it became a darker shade of red and a rich plum color. Her eyes drifted to my face and for a while neither of us looked away. It was only when a small crimson water lily bumped into her that she broke. She looked gently down upon the flower and stroked one the petals with a loving hand.
"Hellewise was a hero, wasn't she?" Krystal asked dreamily. "Someone who was respected."
"Yes" I smiled. This girl was so obviously human and yet she was wise and caring enough to be a witch.
Suddenly a dark shadow loomed against the forest. I looked huge with a tail, muzzle and fur. Werewolf, I realized. I heard a low guttural snarl. I stood in front of Krystal and braced myself for the animal's attack. The werewolf was approaching fast and as its shadow began to come within an arm's length. Krystal stepped in front of me and pushed me gently, because of how focused I was, this little distraction caused me to lose my balance and slip beneath the water. I raised myself out of the water as quickly I could to see Krystal cradling a small ball of fur. I didn't relax even when the puppy began crawling close into Krystal's chest and letting out small sounds of contentment.
"This is Salt, right?" She smiled stroking the dog's sleek fur.
"Yes" I said still distracted.
When Salt began to fall asleep in Krystal's arms I suggested we return inside. It was a little cold and getting out of the warm water made it worse still. We scampered inside, Krystal still holding Salt, and made our way to the herb room. There I walked over to the half concealed fire place and pretended to use a match to light a nice warm fire. The house gradually began to fill with light and warmth. Krystal sat down with her back to the wall her wet clothes dripping on the floor. Salt continued to doze on Krystal's lap while Pepper stumbled into my lap and tried to keep still. Neither of the dogs seemed to mind that we were both sopping wet, they truly were amazing dogs.
"Nick?" Krystal asked keeping her eyes closed.
"Mmm?" I asked drowsily.
"I really should be getting home" She said as if she wished it wasn't so.
"Why?" I didn't like the concept of her leaving any more than she did. We had had so much fun and I didn't really want it to end abruptly like this.
"My parents are very… protective. They would be very angry if they knew I was here." She sighed.
"Do you regret staying here today with me?" I asked hoping against all hope that the answer would be 'no'. Why did I want to please this girl so much?
"No" She said thoughtfully "Actually, I wish I could come back again."
"Can't you?"
"No. I'm busy all the time."
"Oh" I said disappointed. She must have heard it in my voice because she quickly added:
"If you could tell me how to get here again… then maybe I could come back. Would that work?"
"Yeah" I said suddenly elated "You could visit me and Aradia at night, if you want to. We don't mind."
"Then I might take you up on that offer, except that I don't know where the heck we are."
"If you go to Theorn Forest and follow the trail of oak trees you should be able find a little fruit grove. If you ever come we can meet there."
"But how will you know I'm coming?"
Oh Goddess, I slipped up again. Shut up, Nick!
"Um, the dogs will probably see you coming" I said half heartedly hoping she would believe this lie.
"Right" She said nodding.
She stood up still cradling Salt and placed her on a rug in Aradia's room. When she returned she was completely dry and ready to go.
"Will you walk me to the edge of the forest? Once I get there I can call a cab."
"Uh, sure" I said standing up. Pepper slid off my lap and let out an audible grumble. He rolled over and fell asleep still mumbling to himself.
Krystal and I walked through the forest smiling as we went. As we walked I pointed out things that would help her find the cottage next time she came to visit. The walk felt very short and once we had passed the last of the trees I wished that it could've been longer.
"Well, bye Krystal" I said awkwardly.
"Goodbye Nickolas" She said leaning forward and kissing me on the cheek. "Thank you for all you've done for me"
My cheek still tingled from where she had kissed me and I could still fell her soft rose bud lips against my cheek.
As she turned and pulled out a phone, that had somehow managed to stay dry, I turned and retreated into the forest.
It was then that I realized that I loved her.
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-Katie