Chapter Twelve

Don't own Teen Titans.

Arella lay awake long after Slade did.

She didn't usually, because it was so nice when he stayed with her, and she felt so protected that Arella usually fell asleep instantly and stayed that way, curled up in Slade's arms.

But tonight she was the one holding him.

Breathing out a sigh, Arella ran her fingers through Slade's hair as he slept, something the mercenary rarely allowed when he was awake. She smiled and separated the white strands with her fingers while listening to him breathe in the dim silence.

Slade was so...tranquil when he slept. She smoothed a hand over his face and bit her lip at the slight scar along his left cheek, and the black patch where his right eye should be.

"Poor man," Arella murmured, kissing his cheek and realizing it was pathetic for her to think something like that about a person like him. He wasn't weak at all.

Well...

She stood there helplessly, the fire tossing orange strands behind him as she squinted in the dim light and fiddled with her hands, which were slick with nervous sweat.

"I..." she began, but trailed off when he stared down at her, and somehow they seemed closer together than before.

"You," he muttered, tilting his chin down as she tilted hers up.

Neither knew who started it but somehow he was kissing her, and she wasn't doing a damn thing to stop it-not even when his burning hot hands locked around her upper arms, as if he could draw her closer and shove her away all at the same time...

"N-never do that again," he gasped, letting go and jumping back a step to simply stare at her, though it was irrational to wish someone away with a stare...