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I woke up with a pounding headache, a dull ache on my wrist and a mouth as dry as the Sahara Desert. I sat up gingerly and moved my head side to side, taking in my surroundings. I was in a room, a big room, sitting on a big bed, covered in black satin sheets. Black. In the corner, there was a big black dresser, beside it sat a big black chair. Why was everything so oversized? I moaned and lay back down. The ache in my wrist seemed to intensify and I looked down at it. On the inside of my wrist, I noticed a light scar that wasn't there before. I traced it with my finger, thinking how unusual it was. It wasn't a normal scar; it was an infinity sign, but the letters JC interrupted the left loop. I only had time to vaguely wonder what it meant and what had caused it before the darkness took over again.

When I woke up for the second time, I was still covered in black satin sheets. The headache I had retreated, but my mouth still felt like cotton. I rolled my head to the left and saw a glass of water on the table. I sat up, a little too quickly, and picked up the glass with a shaky hand. I downed the glass in three big gulps. Setting the cup back down, I took in my surroundings again. The bed was still huge, but the dresser and chair to my right seemed to be a normal size. Belatedly, I noticed a dark figure in the chair. Had he been there before? I was almost certain he had not.

"I'm glad you're finally awake," he said, his voice full of relief. "I wasn't sure if you would wake up."

"Why - Where am I?"

I heard rustling and he stood up, coming over to the bed and sitting on the edge. He looked down at his hands clasped together, not meeting my eyes. "My house. Nora..." The way he whispered my name sent shivers down my spine. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for that to happen." He looked up, his eyes begging me to believe him.

"Patch. I don't - I don't know what's going. The past two weeks-" My voice began to waver and I took a deep breath and started again. "The past two weeks have been hell. I haven't been myself and everything seems to be falling apart. The only thing - The only thing I know is that I can't stop thinking about you. Ever since the diner. Maybe that makes me crazy, but I feel like a part of me belongs to you." I'd never had that thought before, but I knew as I spoke it aloud that it was true - that the thought had been lurking in the darkness of my mind since the Sunday I met him. "I just...I need you to tell me what's going on. Please."

"Nora," he whispered again. I held very still as he moved closer to me, sitting with his legs crossed, his face inches from mine. "Nora, look at me." He said it so low I wasn't sure I heard him right, but I leaned in anyway. "I wish you could know how long I've loved you." I felt my mouth drop open at the words and he cupped my face in his hands. My eyes fluttered closed and his lips met mine. Stars exploded behind my eyes and I let out a soft moan. Patch slid his hands down my sides and pushed me softly back on the bed so he was laying on top of me. His body covered the length of mine, our chests, thighs, knees pressed against one another. I slid my hands around his neck, pulling him closer. Our legs tangled together and I didn't know where I ended and he began. He pulled away, only to place tiny kisses along my jaw line, down my throat. With his lips not on mine anymore, my mind cleared a little and I remembered he had a lot to tell me

"Patch," I breathed.

"Mmm?" He was still placing kissed on my throat and I shivered at his touch. He hands slip up my arms and he placed them on either side of my head on the bed, propping himself up a little so he could look into my eyes. They were the blackest I'd ever seen them, full of desire and need. "Patch. We need to talk. We can't just go around kissing all the time." He bent back down, a smile palying on his lips. "We can't?" he whispered, his voice rough with want. I gently pushed him back, even though I wanted nothing more than for him to keep kissing me. I looked into his dark eyes. "I need some answers."

Placing a final kiss on my forehead, he let out a disappointed sigh and sat up. "I guess you do. But, I'm going to sit in the chair. I don't think I can control myself if I sit this close to you." He met me with a look of pure lust before standing and slowly walking to the chair. He sat down and looked at me. "Well, where shall we begin?"

I sat up, pulling the sheets with me. "The beginning would be nice," I suggested. I saw his mouth twitch out and he let out another sigh.

His face became very serious before he spoke. "This is going to be hard to believe, Nora, but I need you to listen to everything I say. Okay? I need you to promise me you won't say anything until you hear everything I have to tell you. Promise me."

"I promise." It was barely above a whisper, but I knew he heard me because he gave me a slight nod. I prepared myself for what he had to say, pulling the sheets around me tighter as if they could ward off anything I didn't want to hear.

Without another look in my direction, Patch delved into the story that contained the answers I so desperately wanted.

"When people are born, they're given a guardian angel," he began. "Before, it didn't matter whether they were good or bad. They still got an angel to protect them. The head angels hoped that the evil kids, the ones full of hatred for the world, could turn good with a little help from their guardian angels. However, that wasn't the case. The guardians of the corrupt, well, they became corrupt, too. They focused on power and money and became very greedy. They wanted more than to just be guardians; it wasn''t enough for them anymore. Eventually, they became a threat to everything the head angels worked for, forcing them to send them from heaven. The leaders thought that the fallen would fail in the human world - that they would die in a matter of days. But they didn't. They thrived. They took over people, stealing their money, their lives." Patch paused. I stared at him, wide-eyed. Did he really think I would believe this load of crap? I knew enough to understand that I got hit in the back of the head last night - I had a knot to prove it - but I wasn't hit so hard that I would believe this trash he was telling me. Was this all a joke? Was he doing this to make fun of me? I bet Claudia would jump through the door any minute, laughing at the stupid girl who believed fallen angels existed. Hell, we might as well add Darren and Julia to the list. They could jump in with Claudia, laughing and pointing at me.

"I'm telling you this," Patch continued, breaking me out of my reverie, "because my dad was one of the fallen. He fell when my mom had just given birth to me. Us angels, we're created the same way you are, we just age a lot slower. And you know, we're born up there," he added, pointing to the ceiling. I snapped my head up and met his eyes. Now he was saying he was an angel? Oh, for crying out loud. I knew my grades in school were slipping, but I was not dumb! Feeling my anger swell up, I flung the sheets back and slid off the bed. I searched around for my shoes, but I couldn't find them. "Nora." I could hear the pleading in Patch's voice and almost looked at him, but realized it was probably just a ruse.

"Where are my shoes?" It was nearly a growl out my mouth, but I couldn't bring myself to care. I made my way to the other side of the bed. Who did he think he was? Just because he was tall and dark and gorgeous and his lips tasted like - I shook my head to clear my thoughts. I heard him stand behind me, but I continued looking for my shoes. Getting on my knees, I looked under the bed. Nothing. Where the hell were my damn shoes? I finally decided to forget them and swung around to head to the door. Patch stood right in front of me, his eyes still begging me to believe him, but with a hint of anger behind them. Who was he to be angry? Before I could stop myself, I reached out and slapped him.

His mouth dropped open and he grabbed my wrist. "What is wrong with you?" he nearly shouted.

"Me?! What is wrong with ME?!" I didn't hold back on my voice level. "You're the one telling me made-up stories about fallen angels and guardians and being born in heaven, so you age really slow! You might as well tell me that aliens also exist and probe my brain when I sleep! Really, Patch. Tell me, are you friends with Bigfoot?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Nora." I looked more closely at his face and noticed that he seemed slightly offended. Good, I thought. He still held a firm grip on my wrist, and I tried to yank it free. Annoyed, I pulled back my other hand, ready to slap him again, but he noticed and grabbed that wrist too. I let out an annoyed sigh.

"Nora," he spoke more urgently this time. Something in his voice made me listen. "When I was old enough, when I turned seventeen, I was assigned someone to look after, to guard. That someone was you. At first I didn't take my job seriously. I didn't think it mattered. But then I realized my dad had left me with a stigma. Everyone kept a close eye on me, thinking I would turn into him any moment. It was like that with all the fallens' children, but they seemed to like me the least. When I realized there was a chance they would banish me, I took my job seriously. I took you seriously. I watched you grow up, I watched you learn to ride a bike, learn to draw. I watched you deal with your father's death, all the while not realizing that I was falling in love with you a little more every day. At first I could brush my feelings aside, convince myself that it was normal for a guardian to have strong feelings for their 'assignments.' But the leaders caught on to my feelings and weren't convinced. They gave me new people to guard and sent someone new to look after you. After about two weeks of not being able to see your face anymore, I gave in. I looked in on your life, saw that you had fallen in love with someone else. The way you lit up when you would first see him every day - it killed something in me. I started acting out again, not following orders, but not really caring. If I couldn't have you, why did anything matter?" He chuckled a little to himself, but it was a sad laugh.

"And then I heard that someone was trying to kill you, that someone had planned an attack, but failed." I thought back to my car accident last winter and wondered if that's what he was referring to. It was almost a year ago. I was driving home at night and hit a patch of black ice. Or at least, that's what I always thought. I looked up to see Patch's eyes boring into mine. "I went to the leaders and begged them to let me guard you again, so I would know you were safe. They refused and I told them I would rather be fallen than not be able to protect you. So, they banished me. I was stripped of my wings and sent here. As soon as I landed, I went straight for you. When I found out you were safe, a part of my rejoiced, but I knew you were still in danger. I stayed hidden; I didn't want to get in the way of your life. Not that it mattered, because you couldn't see me. Sometimes I would stand in your room, watching you put on make-up for school. The whole time, I thought about how you didn't need it because you were perfect. You are perfect." Patch paused, a slight smile transforming his face.

"Sunday, when I realized you could see me, I couldn't help myself. I had to talk to you, I had to feel your energy from more than across the room. But I also knew I couldn't make you like me. You were in love with Darren and I couldn't get in the way of that. I may be fallen, but the rules are still clear: messing with the love life of any human is met by being banished to hell. Last night, when I found out what happened, I didn't know what to do. I was so happy because I thought we could be together. But I saw your heart breaking. And I knew if we were to be together, it had to be because you wanted it. Not because I forced it on you."

I did want it, I thought. When I kissed Patch last night, part of my wanted to just get back a Darren, but another part of me, a bigger part, just wanted to feel his lips on mine.

"Can't you see, Nora?" He whispered the words, flipping my right hand over and tracing the infinity scar with his fingers. "I've always loved you, and I always will." Right at that moment, I knew with every fiber in my being that he was telling the truth. I believed him whole-heartedly, no matter how crazy it sounded.

I slipped my hands from his grasp, placing them on either side of his face. I pulled his head down to mine and we closed our eyes at the same time. The shock of the kiss was welcome and he pulled me toward the bed, falling on top of me once again. I loved the pressure of his body against mine, the way he kissed me like I was oxygen and he was going to drown at any moment. Suddenly, something he said rang through my ears and I gasped, pushing him back. He looked at me with bewildered eyes.

"Patch. Patch, you said that someone wanted to kill me. Is that - Is that what happened last night?" I raised my hand to the knot at the back of my head. Patch closed his eyes, a grim expression on his face. I got the distinct feeling he hoped I would breeze over that part, forget it all together. Fat chance.

"Yes. That is what happened last night." I felt panic rise to my throat. "Shhh. Shhh. It's okay," Patch whispered in my ear. "You're safe. You're with me. You're safe."

"Who is it?" I asked, barely above a whisper. Patch went rigid all over. "Patch, who's trying to kill me?"

He sighed and looked into my eyes, his full of worry and sympathy. "I know him as Cooper. But you," he paused. "You know him as Darren."