Southern Hospitality

10

Sweet

Rae's slanted, dark eyes went round, staring at him in shock, and maybe a little bit of horror. When she saw Chloe, rage twisted her pretty features into a gargoyle. "What's she doing here?" she spat, "and what happened to your lip?"

"Nothing," Derek muttered, touching his cut tentatively. His brain was sluggish, chugging through bloodstained memories. He took a deep breath to steady himself and placed a hand on the door-frame, gripping it tightly; the edge pressed into his palm and it made him focus.

"Oh, I know." A sneaky smile spread across her strawberry-red mouth and it made him sick looking at it.

He turned his eyes to Chloe, who was holding the first aide kit against her chest, wide-eyed and terrified, her face colorless.

"W-What?" she squeaked, stepping forward a bit and resting a hand on Derek's arm.

Rae sneered at the sight.

"You go after little girls like her, right? She's fourteen, you know that right?" Her big, dark eyes glared up at him, framed by her coppery braids.

Derek swallowed hard.

"L-liar. I turned fifteen in April," Chloe said quietly, backing up quickly when Rae's bared teeth swung her way, peeling back even further than before, revealing rose-pink gums and a piercing on the front connective tissue between her front teeth.

"It's not my fault you can't tell how old you are," she snapped, flipping her braids before she turned and stalked away.

Derek watched her leave, stomping down the stairs with the grace of an agitated toddler.

"S-she really hates me," Chloe whispered quietly and he turned to her, taking in her ashy face and round, pale eyes.

"I don't like her particularly," he replied, reaching for the first aide kit and gripping Chloe's shoulder instead.

She carefully maneuvered him in front of the toilet.

When he began to sway, he sat down and blinked away the dizziness as Chloe began to clean up his chin.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs and made his head pound as his eyes watered.

"Derek, Rachelle—" Kit began but stopped mid-sentence as Chloe carefully wiped away the glob of Neosporin dangling on Derek's chin and gently spread a thin layer.

"Is a vindictive bitch?" Derek answered, wincing at Chloe's cold fingers gently applying the gauze and tape. "Hate to break it to you but I'm pretty sure everyone knows that by now. She hasn't exactly tried to hide it," he said calmly, staring down at Chloe as she carefully washed her hands.

The tips of her ears slowly turned red, indicating her embarrassment as Kit's world wise brown eyes blinked. His mouth flapped open and closed.

"Besides," he continued, eyes on Chloe, "I think she just wants to get me in trouble for-"

"Royce?" Kit cut in, putting words in his mouth.

He glared.

When Chloe leaned down, her shirt fell away from her collarbone and he saw the necklace she kept tucked under it, a golden chain with a red pendant, gleaming like blood.

His face heated and he quickly turned his eyes to hers, only to find her staring at him.

"Rae doesn't like anyone she can't sleep with," she said flatly.

He rose and gripped the edge of the sink for leverage when his knee locked up. Grimacing, he stretched it out slowly and winced as it popped back into the normal position. "Side effect from being a monster's son," he muttered and headed out.

"Derek!" It was Ramon, a side-hand that came down during the first week of summer each year, wide-eyed, his hands covered in something wet. He was soaked with sweat, his grey tank top clinging to his skin and his jeans covered with soil, his face streaked with it.

Derek blinked as he reached for his jacket, shrugging it on.

"What happened?" he asked as he took in his friend's pallor face and flushed neck.

"The foals…" the Russian boy breathed.

Derek had been sitting on his bed but he rushed to his feet, ignoring the head rush and yanked on his boots.

"Show me."

Chloe was already there, kneeling in the hay, stroking the horse's neck gently, and whispering under her breath.

Derek could see a set of legs peeking out of the horse and knelt down beside her, rubbing her swollen belly. "It's okay, Theo," he murmured, kissing her nose as she breathed heavily.

"What's wrong?" he asked Chloe.

"The foal isn't coming out."

He peeled off his coat and pulled his hair back with a hair band, twisting it into a messy bun. He maneuvered behind her and stroked her flank, feeling the heat coming off the legs. He braced himself and gripped the ankles, pulling slowly.

Chloe comforted the horse.

In a rush of liquid, the first foal flopped out; he grabbed the next set of legs and guided out the next one. They lay there in motionless heaps, surrounded by amniotic fluid, steam peeling off them in wisps.

Ramon knelt down and wiped them down with a towel, watching as they came alive, slowly; two pairs of eyes slowly opened and their chests rose and fell. Ramon took his leave quietly.

Derek helped them find their mother and let them feed in peace, Theo falling asleep exhausted.

Chloe glowed as she chattered on the walk back to the house; she shivered in the cold air.

Shaking his head at her, he unzipped his jacket and placed it over her shoulders; the cool air whipped at his skin, the light rain cooling down his overheated skin.

"Chloe?"

She peered up at him from behind red streaked bangs; her cheeks flushed pink and rosy under her freckles. "Yes?"

"About…earlier today—when I told you—No one can know. Not Kit, not Simon, not Tori, no one. You're actually the first person I told."

He crammed his shaking hands into his pockets as the rain plastered his shirt to his back and his hair to his neck.

"A-are th-those…on your back…" she began softly.

"Like I said, I didn't have a great childhood." He shrugged.

"From a young age, Zachary Cain taught me that pain would be my only companion in life. Pain motivates, pain pushes limits, and pain keeps you together. That's w-what you s-said," she murmured.

"It was how I was raised," he muttered, kicking off his muddy boots onto the porch.

"Derek?"

He turned, barely registering her leaning up on tiptoes to kiss his sweaty cheek.

"I don't think you're a monster. I think y-you're r-re-really sweet." When she pulled away, a blush devoured her face.

She headed inside quickly and left him standing there in the rain, touching his cheek softly over and over; her lips burned his skin in the most delicious way.

He ducked inside and crept to his room, quietly knocking on Chloe's door. "Let me take you out to dinner tomorrow, for helping me with the foals. Ramon will be there, too." When her big, blue eyes met his, he felt his stomach pull tight and his pulse skip.

"G-goodni-ight, Derek," she whispered, giving him a sleepy smile.

She was beautiful.

"Goodnight, Chloe," he replied and walked to his room with shaking legs. He closed the door behind him and slowly stripped, mind turning over a new possibility.

She isn't that bad.