I hear the door open and am immediately swept off my feet before being gently placed on the bed. I hear Dwayne telling me that it's okay and he climbs in next to me, carefully wrapping his arms around me so that my face is buried into his chest.
"I," sob, "didn't," sob, "mean," sob, "to-"
"Shh, shh, I know," he soothes, running his hand up and down my back. "I told David about the visions and that you were probably trying to make sense of them. It's alright."
"She," sob, "was," sob, "so," sob, "upset! A-and he was s-so mad," I wail and he actually has the audacity to chuckle.
"She means everything to him, Keera; he's very protective of her. He's going to calm her down and we can talk to him tomorrow."
I panic, bolting up, ignoring my pain.
"I can't talk to him! He looked like he was going to murder someone!"
"He will not hurt you," he growls fiercely, hooking his finger under my chin, forcing me to look at him. I calm a little, my breath steadying, and this makes him relax too. He cups my cheek, his thumb brushing away the tears that were falling moments ago, smiling a little. "You're beautiful."
"Im a blubbering mess," I snort but squeak when he suddenly pulls me into his lap, his nose rubbing my cheek now.
"Beautiful," he murmurs, lacing his fingers with mine. I lean back to look at him momentarily but decide to rest against his chest, my face in the crook of his neck. "How's your side?"
"It's alright," I mutter, playing with his fingers. "Better than earlier. The whole thing is weird, I need to talk to my uncle about it."
"We can go tomorrow," he offers, leaning back so he can see my face. I smile softly and nod. His head tilts as if in question and I feel my eyebrow rise. "You don't believe I love you because I haven't kissed you properly yet, hm?"
"Dwayne," I sigh, trying, unsuccessfully, to untangle myself from him, but he isn't budging. "It's more complicated than that. Give me some credit, will you?"
"Try me," he smirks, resting back against the headboard and pulling me with him. I sigh again.
"I've only known you for like two weeks."
"And?"
"And?!" I laugh in disbelief but quickly realise he's serious. "Look, I respect and appreciate the whole mate idea and with everything that's been going on, I've been more than understanding and open minded. But love? That's huge! I need a little more time to wrap my head around all of this." He studies me for what seems like an eternity before his gaze shifts to the ceiling.
"What do you think about the room?"
"Seriously?" I roll my eyes, trying once more to untangle myself and this time succeeding.
"You asked for more time, what else is there for me to say?" he asks slowly. I think about this. He's not wrong. He tugs at my hand to sit again and I let him guide me to his lap once more.
"I like it," I breathe out. "The colours are nice, although I'll have to get used to sleeping in the pitch black, I guess."
"Does that mean you're staying here for now?"
"I don't see why not," I shrug; I look to find Dwayne watching me. "I like spending time with you, Dwayne. Whether I like it or not, I do feel like I've known you for years and have an inexplicable sense of comfort and safety around you. If my uncle's cool with it, I'm cool with it."
"When you say things like 'like it or not', it makes things hard to feel happy about," he grumbles and I laugh.
"What exactly do you expect? It's not normal; it's definitely not what I'm used to, but I'm trying to take it in stride. This whole dynamic goes against every instinct I'd have with anyone else, but that's not the case here. It's just, it's new."
"I can understand that," he nods, but brings his lips right next to my ear. "Can you understand that I've been looking for you for centuries?"
"How many?" I ask incredulously. He smirks.
"More than David."
That's all I got out of him on that subject. Afterwards, he kept pushing to go to bed, the sooner we went to bed, the sooner we could talk to my uncle. The sooner we'd get talking to David out of the way. Blah, blah; blah.
I have to admit though, falling asleep in a bed next to him is much nicer than alone. When I wake the next morning, I carefully lay on my back but surprisingly feel no pain at all. Letting my head fall towards Dwayne, I inhale to say something but stop short at the sight before me.
He's so peaceful. And damn fine. Mostly peaceful though.
I can't help smiling slightly and let my self watch him for a few more minutes before I feel like it's creepy. Very carefully, and quietly, I get out of bed and make my way into the common area. I see Keyna and David sitting on the couches. David is trying to talk to her but she's just staring off into space. He sees me enter, but surprisingly doesn't scowl. I ask him quietly if he wants some coffee and he nods before resuming trying to talk to Keyna. As I busy myself with making coffee, I try not to freak myself out with the conversation I know is coming. I'm turning around with the pot to pour some, when I notice David leaning against the counter behind me.
He looks exhausted.
I hand him a mug, hauling myself up onto the counter, before picking up my own mug. We stay silent for a few minutes, sipping our drinks, but it's short lived. He places two pieces of paper beside me and I barely have to look at them to know what they are.
"Who's that?" he asks pointing to the picture of a man standing in darkness. I inhale deeply.
"I saw him murder someone."
"Where did you see this?" he's pointing to the picture of a man on the floor of a house.
"I saw it when I looked at him," I gesture to the first drawing. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but since I came here, the insane is becoming more and more normal."
"Dwayne said something about a ring."
"This," I hold up my hand, showing the ring that Florence gave me when I first arrived and explaining what happens every time I touch it while looking at someone. He's silent and I start to feel antsy. "David, you have to know, I had no idea any of this would upset Keyna so much. I just, I was trying to figure out if there was a reason for all these things I was seeing. When I laid it all out, there weren't any connections. I was going to take them back to my uncle's but-"
"It's alright, Keera," David says wearily. I can't help the shock that I'm sure is on my face. "Keyna's gone through a lot; there's no way you could have known." I nod, not quite sure what else to do. He nods back, pushing himself off the counter before making his way towards the bedrooms. "Thanks for the coffee, Keera."
I stay seated on the counter for a while after he leaves, processing. This, he wasn't the David I was used to seeing. This David was normal, almost human. I snap out of my thoughts when I feel something tickling my thigh and find Dwayne standing in front of me.
"You see David?" he asks quietly and I nod. "How'd it go?"
"Fine?" I answer uncertainly. "I don't think he slept."
"Probably not," he nods, rubbing his hands on the outside of my thighs. I offer him some of my coffee, which he takes a sip of, but puts it on the counter next to me. A frown moulds my lips as I move to pick it up again, but his hand stills mine. His other hand rests on my cheek, which causes me to look up at him. In his eyes, I see warmth and genuine contentment.
His thumb strokes my cheek and I realise he's getting closer. When his lips touch mine, it's gentle but enough for me to feel a spark. I feel my body following him as he pulls back and bring my own hand up to the back of his neck, guiding him closer to me.
His simper is obvious, but he makes no move to do anything further. Closer still I pull him, until his body is flush against mine and I can feel his tenseness; he's trying to stay still. I take his bottom lip between my teeth, pulling back ever so slightly, but my hold is enough to make him follow.
A low growl sounds before I feel his hand on me. One on my lower back, the other in my hair, moving my head so he can have more access to my mouth. Laughter escapes my lips at his reaction, which receives another growl from him.
He pulls me closer, so that I'm practically falling off the counter, but his body is holding me in place. Our mouths are moving against each other's; when he takes my lip between his own teeth, I can't help rolling my hips against him.
"Keera," he says warningly but my hand is in his hair, already pulling him back down. We do this for a while, biting each other, pulling the other's hair, and teasing ever so slightly. Well the latter mostly me, but still. It's fun. "Fun, you say, hm?"
"Dwa-ayne," I whine quietly, he of course has the unfair advantage of being constantly in my head. Or does he? A smirk of my own forms as I picture several very naughty scenarios, getting the upper hand.
Noise from the bedrooms pull us a part and I hop down from the counter, looking up at him innocently as the door opens. Marko and Alan emerge, followed by Sam and Paul. I make my way around a glowering cowboy to greet them.
"Coffee anyone?"
