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Love Never Dies,

Bella

Chapter 3

x

Graveyard shift

At five thirty o'clock AM, Daniel was lying on his bed – Staring at the ceiling above. He had been awake for an hour now, his violet eyes filled with grief. Daniel had been shook awake by his all-too-real nightmare, well – It was a memory. The memory of their time in Tibet, where she had died only by his words and Daniel hadn't even been able to touch her. It had angered and depressed Daniel so much that he had rocketed himself off a mountain cliff, laying on the ground for weeks until Gabbe found him - All of Daniel's bones were shattered, his body black and blue. He had lain there for weeks, his body wedged in the dark emptiness between two vast boulders.

Of course, Daniel's bones knit back together. His wounds sealed in neat scars and, over time, disappeared completely. His pulverized organs grew healthy. All too soon his heart was full again and strong and beating. But, not once, had he moved. It was only Gabbe who had finally gotten him to finally move, helping him put his wings into splints and made him vow that he would never attempt suicide again and to always maintain hope.

Daniel sighed, rubbing his face and sitting up in his bed. He ran the images of his suicidal attempt from his mind before swinging his feet off the side of the bed, looking out the barred window. The sun was slowly creeping up, the light hidden behind the clouds. It was then when Daniel remembered he had to get to the monolith for detention. Daniel got to his feet and begun undressing.

While only in his jocks, he reached into his dresser and pulled a fresh pair of black pants and a black long-sleeve shirt. Daniel pulled them both on quickly, grabbing his red scarf and aged leather jacket, throwing them both on. He glanced once in the mirror that was pinned to his door, running his fingers through his hair before swinging the door open and descending down the stairs.

It only took a couple minutes before Daniel arrived at the cemetery and then walked towards the monolith. He saw the small gathered group, some with pissed looks on their face, others didn't exactly care, and then – there was Daniel, with his never-showing-any-emotion look as he approached the large angel statue that stood in the middle of the cemetery, all the other angel statues gazing upon it. Daniel sighed, leaning against the statue and crossing his arms across his chest.

"Get any sleep?" Daniel heard a voice ask, his gray eyes flickering over to where he had heard the voice come from. Arriane.

Daniel shrugged. "Ya, I guess." It was common knowledge among Daniel's group that he had insomnia, mostly due to his recurring nightmares. Arriane nodded slowly, as if though she wasn't convinced and glanced at Roland, as if to give him a cue, however, Roland did nothing but watch Daniel stare off into the forest.

Nothing had been on Daniel's mind, it wandered through the abyss deep within it, hoping to find something. But, Daniel knew if he thought of anything at all – It would lead his mind to Lucinda. And quite frankly, Daniel was in no mood for thinking about Lucinda, even though he wanted to get into detention to see her. His nightmare had terrorized him so much, that even glimpse at her would quake him.

And, of course, there she was – In all her glory, his hazel eyes gazing upon Daniel, trailing long him until they met their gaze. Unlike Lucinda, Daniel had glared – Frustration and anger igniting in his gray eyes. Why couldn't she stop looking at him? Why couldn't she just stay away like Daniel wanted? Daniel knew the answer to that, of course.

"I'm sorry," Lucinda then rushed out. "I didn't know where we were supposed to meet. I swear-" Ms. Tross cut her off.

"Save it," Ms. Tross said, making a cutting motion at her neck. "you've wasted enough of everyone's time. Now, I'm sure you all remember whatever despicable indiscretion you committed to find yourself here. You can think about that for the next two hours while you work. Pair up, you know the drill." Daniel turned his head away, no longer looking between Tross and Lucinda, until he heard a sassy remark from Tross after a huff came from her..

"Okay, who wants a protegee?"

Daniel wanted ever so badly to volunteer as her partner, to help her wash away the grime on the statue while they talked. But, Daniel knew the risks in that. Daniel sighed, turning away and looking at the ground until he heard the all to familiar voice volunteers to Ms. Tross's offer.

"I do." It was the one and only Cam, it made Daniel let out a hoarse breath – And Arriane quickly took notice to this.

"Dibs," Arriane said, stepping in between the two. "I called dibs."

"No you didn't, " Cam began to argue.

"Yes, I did – You just didn't hear me from your weird perch back there." Arriane rushed out. "I want her."

Daniel waited for a moment, tempted to hear Cam's response. Daniel knew he hadn't wanted Lucinda, he never truly wanted her. This was all a game, a sibling rivalry. He knew where Cam's heart laid, and that was with his love, Lilith. Daniel sighed slightly in remorse and a bittersweet feeling, because the moment Lilith had left Cam and Daniel had said the wrong thing at the wrong time, Cam had changed. He had joined sides with Lucifer.

"I-" Cam started, but stopped, curling his lip as Arriane cocked her head, watching Cam with an expectant look.

"I'll catch up with you after, okay?" Cam patted Lucinda's arm, and it made Daniel surge with jealousy. Daniel had wanted so badly to touch Lucinda, to even near her, and here he was - Being an ass while his ex-bestfriend and brother promised to catch up with her later, he was going to be able to see her, talk one-on-one with her. And it made Daniel ache.

"Pity, everyone is taken – Be my partner, Dani-o?" Molly's voice came from behind, making Daniel look over his shoulder to see her. Molly was right, everyone had found a partner. Even though he was pissed at Molly for bullying Lucinda, what was the point now? Daniel shrugged, showing he didn't exactly care and followed Molly towards a statue of a kneeling angel.

"So, how is that 'never loving Lucinda again and letting her live a happy ever after' thing going?" Molly smirked, but Daniel ignored her, shrugging off his torn leather jacket and scarf, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and then picking up a wire brush and getting to work. It was a fine distraction from Lucinda; Work. Daniel has always been a hard worker, once he set his mind to it – There was nothing stopping him. . .

That made sense.

Daniel looked up to wipe the sweat from his forehead with his wrist, glancing to see where Molly went. She ah gone away from the statue, and was now talking to Lucinda. He heard his name, he heard his name and 'a very, very bad idea'. Grown with Curitiba of what had been said, Daniel approached Lucinda. He had to know what had been said. Daniel saw her knees begin to tremble and her eyes staying on his. She was nervous. It took everything inside of Daniel to not pull her into his arms and ask her why she was so nervous, he wanted answers to questions he couldn't ask and it irritated him.

"What did she say to you?" Daniel finally spoke as he was now only a foot or so away from Lucinda, their eyes locking into a gaze. "Um," Lucinda began, only to seem as if she had drawn a blank and begun to crack her knuckles.

A bad habit Lucinda had since Daniel could remember.

Daniel instinctively reached over, cupping his hand over her's. The moment their skin touched, it was as if a fire had bloomed between them, but – Lucinda yanked her hand away,a light flush over her cheeks. Daniel wanted badly to take her hand back, to feel the ever-growing fire that radiated through them. But, he hadn't. Instead, his arms went slack to his sides, his gray eyes watching her calmly, his facial expression showing Lucinda that he had still been waiting for an answer.

"Molly told me to stay away from you." Lucinda finally spoke, her hazel eyes filled with caution as she held her hand, the hand that Daniel so greedily wanted to take hold of. Daniel thought of this for a moment, tilting his head side to side as he considered this. Molly was right, and she was the only one actually listening to Daniel's request. Daniel swore to stray from her this time, and he had already done too much – He couldn't let it go on like this much longer.

"She's probably right." No, she was right. But, he couldn't admit that – Not to Lucinda.

A shiver ran through Lucinda, he saw it happen, and her eyes followed the Announcer that had crept over them, Daniel's eyes matching Lucinda's as they watched the Announcer until Daniel looked back at her.

"What is it?" For a moment, a burst of excitement ran through him. Could she see them?

"Nothing." Lucinda's reply was quick and curt, leaving Daniel, once again, hopeless.

"So, are you going to do it?" Daniel asked, finally getting back to the main point of their conversation, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What?" Lucinda asked. It was obvious to Daniel she was nervous and something was distracting her, but – He had to keep his act up. The uncaring, mysterious guy who dislikes Lucinda Price. And was also madly in love with her. Daniel then, unintentionally, took a step forward, a foot of space in between them now, Lucinda stills slightly and sucked in a tight breath that whistled through her teeth.

"Are you going to stay away from me?" Daniel's voice was slow and coquettish, his gray eyes beginning to glow slowly into their violet color – The color that always radiated when his affection for Lucinda began once more. He watched her, as if he had her under his control. But, Lucinda quickly blinked, rubbing her temples as if it were to erase an image from her mind. Daniel's guard was down now, everything else hadn't mattered, but Lucinda and him.

"I guess so." Lucinda whispered, taking a step back away from him. But, Daniel wasn't playing now – Now he wanted her, his temptations boiling under his skin as his eyes penetrated her soul. He took another step forward, his eyes filled with longing, but with a slight bitterness.

"I didn't hear you," Daniel whispered right back, his voice alluring and slow as it had been before. Daniel's fingers twitched, tempted to reach and pull her into his embrace and kiss her like he never had before. But, then, Lucinda took a grand step back, practically slamming her body against the statue behind her. Another Announcer sweeping over them and causing a shiver between the two.

But, then, a low creaking shocked them both, making them both look up at the bowing angel. Expect, it wasn't bowing.

It was falling.

Only a second it took for Daniel to realize what was happening, and quickly he wrapped one arm around her, his other hand forcing Lucinda's head into his chest as they crouched. And Daniel's wings burst behind him, blocking the statue from harming either of them. Both Daniel and Lucinda panted, their noses almost touching and their breaths pushing into their open mouths. Daniel could taste her lips already. But, then he remembered; His wings were still wrapped around the two. Quickly, Daniel drew them in, before slowly pulling back from Lucinda's face.

"Luce?" Daniel breathed out, his violet eyes wide and fearful. Lucinda nodded slowly in acknowledgment, still panting heavily against Daniel's face.

"What did you see?" Daniel's eyes narrowed and his voice husky, suddenly acting cold again. He wasn't being cold because he was angry, no – Daniel was scared. He was trying so hard to keep his space, and here they were; locked in each others embrace, their lips only inches apart, and he had nearly exposed his wings to her.

Lucinda didn't respond, instead – She reached for the hand that had been offered to her, by Cam. Daniel released her, staring at the shattered angel for a long moment before scooping up his jacket and scarf and quickly leaving the site.

Daniel's jaw was tight and his shoulders were tense as he escaped to the Magnolia tree near the edge of the cemetery and sat on the ground, leaning his head back against the tank.

"Dani!" Roland calls after him, but Daniel's eyes never looking at him – In fact, they weren't looking at anything at all. "Dani, hey – Are you alright?" Roland asks, bending down slightly to get into eye contact with Daniel.

"She could have died-"

"But, she didn't-"

"Do you think that matters? I exposed my emotions, I exposed myself her to see." Daniel jeered, his gray eyes narrowed at Roland now. "Now she'll never stop going after me. And you and Arriane aren't exactly helping either. You didn't think I'd figure out that you two were shoving her at me? Come on – Telling her to get a book from the Special Collections?" Daniel stood up and shrugged his jacket on and shoved his red scarf into his pocket. "You and Arriane need to keep your damn distance." And with that, Daniel brushed past Roland, going straight to the main building.

A bittersweet feeling ran through Daniel, regretting that he had saved Lucinda as he did – But, being able to hold like that. . . Daniel relaxed just at the thought of their embrace. And they had been so close, close enough that they could have been kissing. He could still taste her breath on his tongue and it sent chills down his back causing him to gasp slightly. Daniel closed his eyes tightly as he reached the top of the third flight of stairs, grasping the railing as he leaned back.

Daniel so badly wanted to kiss her, and it was causing him the strangest feeling; A feeling that Daniel knew all too well, and made him wish he could kiss her right now. Feel her soft lips molding against his, his tongue tasting her sweet mouth, his fingers tangling in her hair, and pressing him against her; Baring all of his love to her, showing her all he had. Daniel whimpered when he opened his eyes, to find that Lucinda was no where near him, and he was alone at the top of an empty staircase.

He ran his fingers through his blond hair, his breath whistling through his teeth before turning down the hall and continuing to his dorm as he awaited his morning classes.