Chapter 6: Panic

I bite my lip as I pace back and forth. It's been hours since I left Ozzie downstairs, passed out. I don't know how to feel about this. It's like this pounding of my heart and the panic in my stomach are warring with each other. I feel a headache coming on. I rub my temples as I stop in the middle of the room. Madam will come for me when she sees the state of the kitchen. I know she will. She never leaves me totally unsupervised anymore. It's creepy and horribly uncomfortable.

I sink to the floor and cross my legs. All I can do is wait for her to come up and barate me. I think I can take it. I think I can keep myself from lashing out. I take deep breaths to calm the panic that's starting to spread from the pit of my stomach. I fold my hands in my lap and stare at the door. It's just a matter of time.

I don't know how long I've been sitting here, but nothing's happening. She hasn't yelled. She hasn't stomped her way up the stairs. She hasn't thrown open my door, and she certainly hasn't insulted me or abused me yet. I give up. If she isn't here by now, she won't be here tonight. I lay back on the cold, hard floor. Where the hell is she? This is ridiculous. This type of suspense is killing me, and I don't think that I can keep myself from going crazy just sitting here. I've kept myself busy for far too long to start being idle now. I don't know what to do.

There's a knock. I sit up quickly and look around. That's not wood. I turn around and see a bit of yellow outside of my window. Glynda! I rush to open it before she falls or Madam finds her. I swing the window open and pull her inside before I shut the window slowly and softly. "What are you doing here?"

She scoffs. "It's one of those times, my little flame. I had a feeling that you'd need me."

I raise my eyebrow. "How could you possibly know that?"

She smiles. "I saw Ozzie being taken to the hospital, with his mother following the ambulance."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh. What the hell happened?" She looks at me with bot hcuriosity and a hint of concern.

I shrug. I don't know what happened, really. "I don't know. One second there was a flash of light, and the next, Ozzie was on the other side of the room, knocked out cold." I shudder at the fear that had raced through me at that moment.

Glynda rubs her chin in thought. "Do you know what caused the light?"

I shake my head. "I had my eyes closed as soon as it showed up." I sag in defeat and turn from her. "If I knew, I could have prevented it. I could have saved Ozzie or at least minimized the damage."

Glynda places her hand on my shoulder. "There would have been nothing for you to do. There's no way to know how the light actually came about unless you had seen the source. Don't beat yourself up about it, little flame."

I sigh and turn towards her. She knows all the right things to say, doesn't she? I'm content in her presence, and it's a strange thing. Everything about her draws me to her. I just always have this feeling of both peace and a tingling excitement every time she sneaks in. I can't exactly pinpoint the exact thing about her that pulls me in, but it's there, and it scares me sometimes. There's those strange times that I just what to hold her or have her hold me, and what's even more strange is the times that I can't stop staring at her lips, like now. I can't stop looking at them. The stern line that she insists on keeping them in keeps my attention. Why does she only smile at me? Why not keep that beautiful smile on her face constantly?

"Why do you keep staring at me?" I shake my head and see her giving me a concerned look while biting her lip.

I blush. "Um, I didn't mean to. I was just lost in thought."

She raises an eyebrow. Shit. I know I can't lie to her. I mean, was I lying to her? Technically, I was lost in thought. She doesn't have to know that it was about her. "Right, well, i just wanted to make sure that she didn't kill you or anything. It's nice to know that you're relatively safe." She steps toward me and turns my face to see the new scratch. "What happened this time?" Her fingers travel the line gently.

I bite my lip. "She hit me with her ring hand." I close my eyes as a shiver goes down my spine from the continued contact.

Her voice is barely above a whisper now. "I can't understand why you stay, but I'll always be here for you." I feel something soft, definitely not her fingers, touch my cheek.

I slowly open my eyes to see Glynda leaning down a kissing my cheek gently. When she pulls away, her cheeks are red, and I can feel my heat, too. "I… What was that for?"

She worries her lip a bit before leveling her gaze at me. "I've wanted to do that for a while."

"Oh." Confusion grips me. "I don't understand."

She sighs heavily, her blush gone now. "You are too oblivious, aren't you?"

I furrow my brow, trying to figure out what is happening. When she starts to lean closer, it dawns on me. She's going to kiss me. She wants to kiss me, and I'm not adverse to it. Everything clicks into place, and it's such a startlying revelation. I like her, or maybe love her. I lean into her, and our lips connect. It's nothing like I would have imagined it to be. There's a small tingling, but there's no sensory blackout or anything. I did read a few romance novels last year, and the descriptions are ridiculous. It's nice, heaven really, but I expected fireworks. I'm slightly disappointed, but that's soon over shadowed by the pure electricity that courses through me when she pulls me closer to her. With our bodies flush against each other, I pull away for breath. "Oh." I pant a bit, trying to get as much oxygen as possible without looking stupid. "That."

She giggles. GIGGLES! It's so adorable. "Yeah, that. You really couldn't tell?"

"Uh… No?" I raise an eyebrow at that.

She boops my nose before outright laughing. "You are so oblivious." She leans her forehead against mine. "I've liked you for a while, my little flame. How did you never notice?"

I laugh lightly. "I think eveything clicked when you kissed me. I really am unobservant, aren't I?"

She rolls her eyes. "Obviously. So, do you like me, too?"

I scoff and try to make myself as sarcastic as possible. "No… I just kissed you back for no reason whatsoever."

She pulls away to flick my forehead. "Don't be an ass. Do you?"

"Yeah, I like you, and I think I have for a while now." The confession makes me blush again, but when I look into her eyes and see the utter happiness that that statement brought, I smile.

She smiles, too, and reaches into her pocket for something. "I wanted to give this to you for a long time, but I could never bring myself to just hand it to you. It had to mean something, you know? So, this is a good time." She pulls out a chain with little crystals on them. "It's an ankle bracelet. I saw it and thought of you." She holds my hand and places the chain on my palm before closing my fingers around it.

I hold it up to the light and see them gleam red and black. "Thank you. I don't know what to say."

She shakes her head. "Just, every time you wear it, think of me."

I nod. "I can do that. It's not like it's hard to think of you." She gave me this, but I don't have anything for her, or do I? I start to think of what I have. Madam took a lot of my more expensive things, but I was able to stash some of my mother's jewlery and father's favorite books. I smile even wider when it comes to me. I move away from her and rush to my little hiding spot. When I come back, I hold out a pair of emerald earrings. "These were my mother's. They're some of the last things that I have to remember her by. I want you to have them."

She stares at the jewelry intently before shaking her head. "I can't take them. That wouldn't be right."

I smile at her and brush my thumb across her cheek. "I want you to have them. Please."

She closes her eyes with a sigh. "It doesn't feel right."

I bite my lip. "I'd rather you have them and wear them so that the bitch won't take them from me. This way, you can think of me when you wear them, and I'll always have them kept safe."

She opens her eyes, and I know I have her. I have the most pleading look on my face that I can manage, and it seems to breaking her down. "Alright. I'll do it for you. Thank you."

I smile widely. "Now, we each have something to remind us of the other."

She hooks the earrings in her ears, sliding her simple diamond ones into her pocket. "It'll be like I'm carrying a part of you with me everywhere I go."

This is the beginning of love. I can feel every bit of it. It's like she'll always be there for me, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I jump when I hear the door slam, causing the moment between us to break. I panic. "She's back. You have to go. I don't want you to get hurt." I start to push her toward the window.

She lets me push her with little resistance. "Alright, just please tell me that you're going to be okay." She looks at me with so much caring and concern that I could just kiss her, so I do. It's short, but it tells her what I needed to.

"I'm always okay. I'm used to all of this by now, but you're not. Now, go." I open the window and motion for her to get going. I can hear Madam stomping up the stairs now. She's so close, and Glynda is still halfway in the room. "Hurry, she's almost here."

"Be careful. I love you." She descends the wall, leaving me in a panic, yet strangely dumbfounded at what she just said at what is happening. I close the window as soon as the door swings open. Something hits the back of my head, and I fall to the floor, clutching the point of impact.

I hear her voice right behind me. "Do you believe in destiny?" And then I black out.

A/N: Awww, and they're only fifteen. It's all so sweet! And then Cinder gets hit... Escalated quickly, right? Hmmm. I'm thinking about the next chapter, too, so yh.

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