Yeah I know, it's more Cinderblaze, but I can't help it XD If you guys want more frequent updates, the amount of Cinderblaze is probably going to increase XD Cause I've been to a co-op story (Wildly Famous) and so I've got Cinderblaze scenes galore XD
BTW There's swearing in this chapter, Cynthia has a high tendency to swear and has a very colorful vocabulary (especially in the morning when she's cranky and Leon's pissing her off XD) so she does swear more than unusual (but not a ton) in this chapter :P
Plus I've been getting annoyed at having to limit literally everything I'm writing because I'm not sure exactly how young my readers are, so I limit a lot more than you'd think I do XD So every once in a while I feel like splurging myself and writing mostly how I write when I'm writing for myself :P Hence what this is ^_^
What Happened? Why am I marked?!
Cynthia had never felt so sore and ache ridden in her life as she did in that moment. Her neck was on fire, spreading agony through her blood on top of her aching body and sore muscles. Ugh… what happened? She mentally mumbled and gave a verbal moan, shoving her face deeper into the pillow beneath her and pulling her arms up to her shoulders. Sixian Xiun, what happened to my neck? It's gotta be really on fire.
Um… Cynthia…?
What Cinder? Is now really the time? Cynthia lifted her head up from her pillow with a grunt, squinting against the morning light spilling in from the window. I'm actually dying…
But... something happened…
Really? Does it have to do with the massive blank in my memories? Cynthia grumbled and reached for her phone on the bedside table, noticing somewhere in the back of her mind the presence of a second phone next to hers. She narrowed her eyes at the screen, her vision still filling in colors, eleven-thirty? She let the phone drop onto the edge of the bed and dropped her head back down while closing her eyes. Damnit, Lila's going to kill me.
It's not a blank... I blocked them…
Cynthia blinked her eyes back open and narrowed them, gaze distant and slightly glazed. Blocked them? Why?
Um… something happened yesterday…
Yeah, so you said, Cynthia grumbled and pushed herself upright with her arms, feeling the fabric of her tank-top have problems with her movements. Did you take control of my body yesterday? The tank-top's backwards.
Y-yeah, I did, but only for a minute… Cinder murmured meekly. Cinder was blind, so when she took control under whatever situation required her to, she couldn't see anything.
Cynthia gave a grunt and slipped the tank-top over her head before turning the fabric around properly. She then paused before putting it back on and flinched when the left side of her neck gave a vicious throb. "Damn," the word escaped her mouth at a low volume in English as she straightened her spine and tilted her head back, trying to stretch her painful neck. "Cinder, did I sleep on it wrong or something?" She asked in English while slipping her tank-top back on, this time the right way.
N-not really… but I'd watch your language outloud…
Cinder, tell me why you're talking like a shy child again? Cynthia narrowed her eyes as she cupped one hand around the aching area of her neck and leaning forward on her other arm, and why should I watch my language? I feel like hell.
B-Because...
Soft footsteps alerted Cynthia to someone's presence, and the YouTuber looked grumpily over at the door, opening her mouth to curse at them and tell them to leave. When she abruptly stopped.
Standing there, at the entrance of her hotel room, was that same guy from the convention yesterday. She knew him from somewhere, but couldn't remember, neither could we remember the rest of the convention or the rest of the day really. Even so, he was just as handsome in shorts and casual high tops and Cynthia felt her face turn bright pink as she looked him over. He was muscular, with tanned skin, broad shoulders, an athletically toned body and she knew he was a wild by the way his consciousness brushed hers purely by being in the same room as her. Another Alpha? What's he doing here?
The other wild moved into the room, heading toward the opposite side of the bed and leaning over to grasp a t-shirt and hoodie folded together on the opposite bedside table.
Cinder.. Who is this? Cynthia asked slowly, watching him move around and pull both articles of clothing over his head before searching the pockets with a curse in Wilx.
This… This is Leon, remember him? Cinder murmured at the guy jogged out of the room, lightly shutting the door behind him.
The name yeah, but are you really telling me that my childhood friend grew up to be him? Cynthia was doubtful, the pudgy goofy kid she knew as a child for ten years was that guy? Granted she hadn't properly seen his face yet, so it very well may be him.
Yes…
Okay, let's say that I believe you, Cynthia said slowly as she folded her legs beneath her in a criss-cross fashion, facing the door. Why is he here in my hotel room and space?
That's… Complicated?
Complicated? Cinder, I'm so not feeling well enough for this guess work.
I'm sorry Cynthia, it's just…
Just what? Cynthia murmured and tugged the blankets more comfortably over her lap.
Light knocking broke Cynthia's concentration and she looked up at the door, cheeks going pink at the sight of the guy supposedly Leon.
"Hey, um, is my phone over there?" The guy asked awkwardly in English, his amber eyes connecting with Cynthia's blue ones.
Cynthia narrowed her eyes slightly, studying his face and at the moment, ignoring his question. It was definitely Leon, little baby fat and clean cut features, but it was Leon alright. "Your phone?" She repeated, blinking out of her studiment of his face and looking confused.
"Yeah," the blonde guy said awkwardly and sheepishly rubbed at his neck, "the firey cased phone over there on the table."
Cynthia nodded and went to grab the phone before it hit her and her eyes widened. Cinder, tell me why he's here, now!
But…
Tell me!
Cynthia held the other phone to her chest, looking warily at the awkwardly standing guy in her doorway. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked rather eloquently, fear flickering in her eyes. "And what did you do to me?!"
Leon held up both hands, "woah Cynthia, calm down! I didn't do anything to you!"
"How do you know my name?" Cynthia snapped, looking warily at him, "and if you didn't do anything then why do I feel like hell?"
Leon's lips quirked into a wry smile, "just as much of a swearer as you used to be."
"Answer me!" Cynthia snapped harshly, narrowing her eyes further at him.
"Huh? Oh right," Leon chuckled sheepishly and smiled an awkward smile at the angry, and highly confused YouTuber. "I know your name because I grew up with you, don't you remember me? Oh, and I promise I didn't do anything to you."
Cynthia looked warily at him, "then why are you here in my hotel room Leon?"
Leon blinked, "um because I am? Don't you remember?"
Cynthia gave him a blank stare.
"Right, obviously you don't if you were accusing me of harassing you," Leon mumbled to himself and seemed to muster his courage. "I was at that convention yesterday walking around with a friend, do you remember that?"
Cynthia narrowed her eyes and spoke slowly, "I remember seeing you, but after that it's all black." Cinder, unblock my memories.
I… I can't do that
Cynthia snarled out loud as she snapped at Cinder, Why not? They're my memories!
Our memories, Cinder corrected quietly, and I think he should tell you everything he has to say before I do.
Seriously Cinder? Cinder? Cynthia pulled a face.
"After seeing… oh Xiun," Leon ran a hand through his hair, "you really don't remember anything?"
"No," Cynthia snapped bitterly, "Cinder is blocking them all from me."
Leon stared at her in shock for a moment with a hanging jaw. Before he cleared his throat and spoke, "alright, then to put it bluntly…" he coughed, his ears turning a vivid red. It looked like he was too embarrassed to say the words.
"What?" When she got no response Cynthia threw her hands up in exasperation and slid off the bed, "you know what? Fine I don't want to know what happened! If you're unable to talk and Cinder doesn't care enough to answer me then I do not want to know." She headed toward the bathroom, muttering under her breath as she walked.
Leon let her, squeezing his eyes shut and bracing himself. She's going to freak out in five… four… three… two… one..
"CINDER!" Cynthia was hyperventilating as she looked in the mirror, twisting to catch sight of the intricate blue mark on the left side of her neck and shoulder, "oh my gosh… no… please no…" she whimpered as she leaned on the sink, "please tell me I'm dreaming and that I'm seeing things!"
You're not… Cinder murmured meekly.
Cinder! What the hell happened?! You either unblock my memories right this second or tell me what happened! Cynthia's fingers cracked the marble of the sink beneath her hands and she reeled, stumbling backward and staring at her hands. "Tell me why the hell I've been marked, I don't remember anything, and why I'm breaking things!"
"I'm afraid that first one… is my fault," Leon tentatively approached the YouTuber and froze as she turned her head towards him. blue eyes crackling with anger, hurt, and confusion.
A blue torrent of emotions even as she promptly tackled him, grasping two handfuls of his hoodie before slamming his head and shoulders down, the floor cracking under her strength. Where she then stared at him, tears welling in her blue eyes. "What happened to me?" She asked, her voice breaking on the English words as she repeated her earlier action, "what did you do to me Leon?"
Leon didn't dare move beneath her, letting her slam his head and shoulders into the floor and feeling terrible at the tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry," he whispered when she stopped and just sat there above him, tears trickling down her face, "I didn't know you wouldn't remember anything…"
"Just tell me what happened," Cynthia asked and sniffled, "what happened to me?"
"You jumped me during the convention," Leon explained in a quiet tone, not touching her and staying on the floor. "You fought briefly with your manager and escaped your booth before your super speed activated and you tackled me clean through another booth before..."
"Before what?" Cynthia asked with a sniffle, looking confused and torn apart by not having any memories of what happened to make her end up marked with her childhood best friend.
"Before you kissed me," Leon told her quietly, "and your manager hauled you off of me and ushered you through the crowds till you left the building. That's how you got back here. I don't know what you did till I was brought here by your bodyguard, but you were pacing back and forth, hissing in pain and touching your sternum. Your manager told me to just talk to you, ask what was going on, and I did. I talked to you for about a minute before you whined something about needing my affection and pounced on me again, clinging to me like a koala bear and giggling into my neck." His eybrows furrowed miserably, "you looked so happy then, I had no idea you wouldn't remember any of it."
"I know where this is going," Cynthia said in a choked voice, having squeezed her eyes shut as Leon talked. "But tell me the end result anyway."
"We don't have to be close if you don't want to-" Leon tried to tell her that it was okay, that he didn't have to actually be her mate if she didn't want him to. He felt horrible knowing that she had no idea what she had done yesterday and how life changing it was.
"No," Cynthia snapped, "Leon," she opened her eyes, those blue eyes, still a torrent of mixed emotions. "Tell me."
Leon wet his lips and nodded, before telling her. Speaking in a language that would emphasize his words. "Yiu nuo kusioni. Yuo mojuo nuo Cynthia." [I'm your mate. I marked you Cynthia.]
At the words Cynthia's expression crumpled completely and the seventeen-year-old broke down, toppling off of Leon and onto the bathroom tile, crying.
Leon sat up, watching her as she leaned back on one arm and held the other near her face like a child would and just bawled. Lion… I… I made a mistake.
No Leo, Lion spoke quietly, WE made a mistake.
She didn't know this would happen… Leon felt a lump growing in his throat and self-anger bubbling in his stomach. I marked her and she doesn't even remember asking me to stay with her, as her mate. Leon brought up his legs and buried his head in between them, hiding his head and trembling. I ruined her. Lion I ruined her life.
No, this can be fixed, Lion snapped, if we leave her alone-
She'll be in pain, Leon snapped back, tangling his hands into his blonde hair and tugging hard in a stressed manner. And even if we stayed our bond would never recover. I screwed this up for her big time.
Leon… A quiet and female voice spoke telepathically to Leon, and Leon recognized it as Cynthia's animal familiar, Cinder. It's not your fault, I should've stopped her before she kissed you. I should've taken over and stopped her.
No, Leon shook his head, that's unkind to her. I should've been stronger, and I should have known she was in heat! Why else would someone like her ever take notice of me?! Why else would anyone be that interested in me?
Leon…
Leo…
Both animal familiars murmured his name, but Leon ignored them and spoke in muffled English. "I'm sorry for what I did to you Cynthia, I'll find a way to safely dissolve the bond." His heart wrenched at the idea and both animal familiars squawked indignantly and in confusion, but he ignored them both. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean for you to not have known about this. I was stupid," tears stung at his eyes, "and I'm sorry."
The sound of cloth sliding on tile then Leon felt delicate fingers wrap around his, carefully untangling his hands from his hair and taking them in theirs. "Don't be," Cynthia's voice was thick with her emotions and she hiccuped from her tears, "it's my fault."
"No it's not," Leon retorted and tugged at his hands, but Cynthia's grip was like iron, refusing to release his hands. "I did this to you, I marked you, I screwed up your chance of a proper bond," his voice broke, "I screwed up everything."
"Not everything," Cynthia's voice was timid, a little frightened and nervous at what she was saying. "You didn't reject me when you saw that I saw scared."
"If I did you'd get sick," Leon spoke bitterly, "and your fans would hate me if I got you sick."
"See I don't think that's why you did it."
Leon lifted his head at her words, looking up at the YouTuber. Who's blue eyes were red rimmed and held more tears threatening to escape, her face was flushed pink from crying and breaking down, and yet Leon didn't think he could remember when she looked more beautiful.
Cynthia's eyes showed how scared she was, how deathly terrified the female wild was at that very moment, and how she was a little hopeful. She nervously licked her lips and spoke, giving Leon a tiny tear-filled smile. "I think you're in love with me."
Leon's eyes widened and he stared at her, how? How did she know?
Cynthia's smile widened just a little at his reaction, "I think you loved me enough to refuse over and over again despite how much I wanted it."
B-but she doesn't remember anything?!
I unblocked what memories she has, Cinder murmured quietly, she's putting it all together herself from the scattered snippets of her memory.
"I think you knew on some level that my mind wasn't all there, that while I wanted it really badly, you couldn't let me have it." Cynthia murmured, "I think you only gave in after I said that I wanted to fall in love with you, that I was tired of being admired and not truly loved like my mate should love me. I wanted to feel. I wanted to feel the love for me in you right here," her fingers brushed gently over his shirt, right over where his heart was. "Which you did by the away," she cracked a rather goofy smile, "you showed me what it's like to be loved truly to its fullest."
She shuffled a little closer to him, blue eyes searching his amber ones. "I know we're practically doomed from the start with a permanent bond defect and that I'm not in love with you yet, but…" she took a deep breath, "would you try it with me? I want this to work, no, I need this to work. Because…" she looked at him, "I'm falling in love with you too," she breathed, just a hair above a whisper, "and I can't risk losing you till I do."