"Robin, we..."
"Amon, I heard what happened from James, are you two okay?" a feminine voice called from the stairs. Looking up, Amon saw Aideen running towards him and his gaze immediately went to Robin. He watched as her eyes glazed over and her face became expressionless. Aideen ran to his side and placed a hand on his shoulder before she touched his face. Despite this, Amon's gaze remained on Robin.
"Oh Amon, where did these bruises come from?" Aideen asked softly. Robin turned her head towards Amon at this, her eyes centering on the small cuts and bruises that had made his face their home since his fight with Nagira.
Shaking Aideen off, Amon walked towards Robin. He put his hand on her right shoulder lightly before turning back to Aideen. "I need to take care of Robin now." He then directed Robin towards the stairs and made his way towards his room, not glancing back even once.
He, again, opened the door for her and gently guided her in and to his bed. He walked into his bathroom and took out what he'd need to care for her wound and made his way back to her. As he kneeled before her, he looked up into her face and saw her looking back down at him with a small smile playing on her lips. Upon seeing this, he fought back the urge to smile back at her but felt happier nonetheless.
"What happened?" he asked quietly as he touched her wound gently.
"We...we were in the park when we were shot at. We couldn't find him, no matter where we looked he always seemed to...disappear." Robin recalled softly as she watched Amon examine her wound.
"I'm going to need to tear your sleeve, is that okay?" Amon asked, looking up into her eyes. Shaking her head, she watched as he gently tore off her sleeve so he could clean out her wound. She winced slightly when he started to clean off the blood but remained quiet.
After he finished, he looked up at Robin and watched as she smiled back down at him. She slowly raised her right hand up to his face and cupped his cheek, neither taking their eyes off of the other. He felt her rub his cheek gently with her thumb and closed his eyes.
"How did you get these bruises?" she asked softly, still rubbing his cheek.
"That isn't important." he answered, never opening his eyes.
"Yes it is, you got them just today. They're still fresh. What happened, Amon?"
Sighing, Amon opened his eyes to stare into her's. "Nagira and I...we had a small fight. It's okay though." he added when he saw her eyes widen a bit.
"Oh." was all she said before she grabbed his large hand in her small one and lifted him up as she stood. She turned so that he was forced to turn with her and then lightly pushed him so he'd sit down on the bed.
"My turn. You take care of my wounds, I take care of your's." Robin said gently, still smiling at him.
Putting her left hand on his face to steady it, she carefully wiped off the blood from his cuts. She kept her eyes on the cuts she was tending to but could still feel Amon's gaze. Her heart sped up and the full realization of what had happened hit her. He turned away from Aideen and helped her...he was with her, not Aideen.
"There." she said quietly when she had finished. She took a step back but felt Amon's hand shoot out and grab her's. She looked down at him and saw warm, grey eyes looking up at her. She felt herself being pulled slowly towards him but kept her eyes on his. He then wrapped his left arm around her waist and pulled her down, onto his lap. She felt him put his head against her shoulder and heard him breathe in deeply. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to turn around and hold him. Even though he had saved her, even though he was older, even though he was...Amon...he seemed to be nothing more than a child who needed love and attention right then. Everyone needs someone...
As Amon sat there, his head against Robin's shoulder, her in his lap, he realized, for the first time, he really needed her. Before, he had thought there was a way around it, that he, somehow, had developed a crush on her and it was only a temporary fancy; something out of a fantasy. He had been wrong before and all the pain, confusion, and loneliness he had felt, he had caused. He didn't doubt his feelings anymore nor did he doubt what she meant to him. She made him feel things no one ever had and she certainly had a way of terrifying the hell out of him. It was as though she were the most precious and valuable thing on the planet. Nothing equalled her, not in beauty, not in intelligence, not in strength. But...she was still so fragile, so young. She needed protecting, that's why she alone managed to frighten him. The fear was similar to that of what a father experiences when watching his daughter take her first steps, afraid she'll fall and get hurt, only, his feelings weren't of a fatherly type.
"I'm sorry" was all he could say. He couldn't think of anything else at the moment and not even that seemed to do.
"It's alright." Robin whispered back, turning and tilting her head so that she could rest her cheek on the top of his head. Upon feeling this, Amon carefully moved so that he could guide her to lay back against his chest so she, too, could be comfortable in their embrace. And there they sat, in the quiet, enjoying one another's company; Robin in Amon's lap, curled into a ball against his chest and Amon holding his entire world in his arms, fully and completely for the first time.
Panting, Nagira finally came through the front door with Nate.
"Aw, I'm going to kill Amon if I find out he left me there and still hasn't patched things up with Robin..." he muttered under his breath so that Nate couldn't hear him. "I should probably take this guy upstairs to his room...well, to James's room for some medical attention of...some sort...aw, but it's so far..." he continued muttering to himself, taking a sluggish step forwards, dragging Nate behind. Looking over, he saw Nate breathing heavily and looking more like a drunk as time passed. "Must have lost a lot of blood...here we go, one step at a time..." Nagira panted, taking yet another step forward.
Finally reaching the stairs, Nagira looked up and thought, for a second, he was looking at a mountain. "Don't be silly, you've...walked up these steps...a million times..." he breathed. Sticking his tongue out slightly in concentration, he took one step up...and lost his balance. Nate fell to the floor with a groan and Nagira fell forward with a loud "Wah!" Rolling over onto his back, Nagira yelled out for James and decided he AND Nate may need help up the stairs.
Robin jumped a bit in Amon's arms and turned her head towards the door. "What was that? It sounded like Nagira..."
"Probably, he's bringing Nate home."
"Oh, I forgot about Nate, was he okay?" Robin asked worriedly, surprised by her own selfishness.
"He was fine, Nagira will take care of it." Amon said, hoping Robin wouldn't insist upon going to him. He felt Robin stir, then sit up in his lap. His heart sped up when he thought she was going to get up and leave but slowed back down as she turned to face him and simply smiled.
"Alright." she answered softly.
He placed one hand on her cheek and leaned in to kiss her. It felt so liberating to be able to do that, to be able to kiss her and not feel dirty for kissing a girl he wasn't even with knowing she wanted to be with him more than anything. He was her's and she was his, it was okay, everything was okay now...
Still panting, Nagira made his way back the hall towards his room. "Stupid stairs, stupid guns, stupid hunters with nothing better to do than hunt innocent people...yeah, let's kill all witches, mass genocide is great...in the name of God we shall murder you...morons, that's what they are...a bunch of...uh...Amon?" he whispered to himself upon seeing his brother exit Robin's room...smiling? Now, that isn't something you see every day...
"Get some sleep." he heard Amon say before leaning in to tenderly kiss a smiling Robin who, in turn, kissed back. He watched as she shut the door and Amon turned towards his room...stopping mid turn to see Nagira.
"Well, well, well, you certainly don't see THAT every day...he he he, Amon and Robin sitting in a tree..." Amon turned away and walked towards his room, ignoring his brother's taunting.
"K-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Amon with a baby carriage! Wait, Amon, come back!" he called. "I just wanna know, are you two together or not?"
Amon opened his door, turned his head in Nagira's direction, gave him a cocky smirk, and then went inside.
"Hey! I asked a question, I want an answer! I just wanna make sure this isn't a one-kiss stand sort of thing like before. Inquiring minds need to know!" Nagira shouted childishly.
"Hey! Ototo!"
And here's the fluffiness. I had this chapter already started when I posted the previous chapter but I ran out of time. I stayed at my Gram's until Sunday then volunteered at the library from 5PM until 8PM yesterday. Today, I have to meet my teachers because my Dad is insisting upon it despite it being a totally asinine idea. It's kind of like an open house thing for the cyber school students...-Shrugs- Then, I have to go back to the library on Thursday, study on Friday, and take my SAT on Saturday. This week is one big pain in the ass...hopefully, after this week is over I won't have too much homework to catch up on and I can figure out where I want to take my story next. :)
As usual, please read and review. Much thanks to those who have and those who do. :)