Seems Like Forever

I said goodbye to Victor as Marie and I headed back in for the rest of school. He seemed really nice, and he was extremely cute. I looked over my shoulder one more time to see him wave goodbye to me.

"He likes you," Marie announced a little more loudly than I would have liked.

"Yeah…but I mean I don't even know him," I said as we headed to chemistry.

"So get to know him. It couldn't hurt," Marie said as we took our seats. I bit my tongue. I knew how much it could hurt. It seemed like he'd been watching me for a while. For all I knew he could be a warlock trying to steal my powers and kill me. But I couldn't think like that. That was my mother's mentality.

I managed to make it through the rest of the day and soon found myself heading towards the student lot with Marie. We were halfway to her car when I hear someone calling out my name. We both stopped and I spun around. Victor was walking towards us.

"Hi," I greeted, smiling shyly.

"Hey Patty. I was wondering if I could walk you home. If that's ok with you," he asked. I shot Marie a look. She shook her head a little.

"Um…maybe a little ways," I replied. He seemed to accept that answer. Thankfully Marie lived just up the block from me so she would be following us.

"I'm sorry if I scared you earlier," he said as we began to walk. Marie followed at a safe distance.

"Don't worry. You didn't," I told him. I was still a little edgy. Ever since Dad died, I knew I had to be careful about who I trusted.

"So…you live on Prescott Street huh?" he commented as we reached a crosswalk.

"Yeah. My family has lived there for a few generations now. Since my grandparents at least," I answered.

"That's cool," he murmured. I got the sense he was nervous.

"Is everything ok?" I finally asked, stopping after we'd crossed the street.

"Yeah, everything is fine. I just…not sure what to ask you. I feel like I've known you for years. It sounds crazy, I know," Victor rambled. I laughed a little. Ok now he was starting to creep me out a little.

"That came out wrong," he apologized.

"I've just been trying to find a way to talk to you for a while that's all," he rephrased.

"Oh," I said, spotting a bench on the sidewalk. I sad down and he joined me.

"Maybe we should start over?" I suggested and he nodded. He extended his hand to me and I shook it. In that moment I really wished I had the power of premonition.

"I'm Victor. I'm one of three kids. I'm the oldest," he said politely.

"Brothers or sisters?" I asked with a smile.

"One of each," he answered.

"I'm an only child. Sometimes I wish my parents would have had more kids," I sighed. But I knew that Mom had her reasons. She'd been a real hippy back in the day.

'Don't. You probably have lots of privacy and your own space," Victor interrupted me. I tried to stifle a laugh. The demon attacks weren't exactly privacy inducing.

"You could say that. But I bet with brothers and sister, you had people to play with when you were little," I countered.

"You do have a point," he said with a nod.

"So I guess we both have some perks," I giggled.

"Yeah…so what do your parents do?" he asked. I paled. I couldn't really tell him that my mom was a demon kicking witch.

"Uh…well my mom works from home and my Dad…died a few months ago," I admitted.

"I'm so sorry," he said, pulling me into a very unexpected hug. I didn't pull always. Warlocks didn't show compassion. Besides, if he was a warlock he would have probably tried to kill me already.

"Yeah…it was kind of sudden," I sniffled. I knew I couldn't tell him that a warlock had murdered my father.

"Well if you ever want to talk, I'm here," he whispered. I knew in that moment that he was definitely not a warlock or demon. He was just a mortal and a really nice guy.

"Thanks," I said, and slowly pulled away.

"It's hard sometimes but we're making it ok. We try to remember the happy times," I added.

"Yeah…that's usually the best way to grieve," he agreed with a nod.

"Come on, it's starting to get late. I don't want your mom to get mad at you for being late," he said and we stood up. Marie must have seen us talking and headed home because I didn't see her car anywhere.

We started in the direction of the Manor again. We walked in silence but it wasn't a bad silence. It was one of those silences where you don't have to say anything because you know what the other person was thinking. Of course it wasn't really true because I don't have the power of telepathy and he didn't know I was a witch. But it shouldn't matter. Dad was a mortal too. We got to the last cross street before the Manor and we stopped.

"I think I can make it from here," I said with a sheepish grin. I was a bit scared of Mom seeing me with a guy; given her recent distaste for them.

"You sure?" he asked and I nodded. We were about to part ways when he stopped me.

"Do you have a pen and piece of paper?" he questioned abruptly. I eyed him curiously but pulled the desired items from my bag, handing them over.

He looked around him and finally settled for the low wall running along the front edge of the property next to us. He scribbled something on the paper and handed it to me.

"My phone number and address. In case you want to talk or come over some time," he explained.

'Well you know my address. But here's my phone number," I said, tearing off a small part of the paper and writing my number down.

"Don't call too late though. My Mom is really anal about stuff like that," I said as I gave it to him.

"Yeah…I don't want to get your Mom mad," he agreed. I looked down at the ground. It seemed so strange to have already exchanged phone numbers with a guy I had just met. But I could tell there was something special about Victor Bennett.

"Well I'll call you sometime," I said, starting to walk the final distance to the Manor.

"I'll be waiting," he called after me.

I got to the front steps and turned to see him walking in the opposite direction. I looked down at my watch and realized I was really late coming home. Mom probably thought I'd been kidnapped by a demon. I took the steps two at a time but stopped short when I got to the door. I knew she would be mad about me being late but would she be mad about me meeting a guy too? Maybe I could sneak upstairs before she noticed I was home. She didn't have the power of premonition either. Slowly I pushed the door open as silently as I could and shut it quickly behind me.

I tried not to breathe as I moved towards the stairs. I managed to get halfway up before I stepped on a really noisy step. I tried to hurry up the rest of them but Mom was there in about two seconds flat.

"Patricia Halliwell. You get down here right now," she ordered. I winced. She was pissed.

"I'm sorry I'm so late, Mom. I just got caught up talking to someone," I lied. Well ok it wasn't a complete lie. I had been talking to someone.

"I thought a demon had gotten you," she said firmly.

"I'm sorry Mom. No demons came after me. I swear," I said, coming down to the bottom of the steps.

"I just worry about you, Patty," she said.

"I know you do, Mom," I replied.

"So who were you talking to?" she inquired. I knew that was coming. I looked away. How I wished I could freeze her for just a minute so I could gather my thoughts. But good witches don't freeze.

"Patricia," she said sternly. I hated it when she called me that. It always made me feel like I was a little kid again, hand caught in the cookie jar as it were.

"No one in particular really. Just a friend," I said in a roundabout fashion. It shouldn't be this hard to tell her I'd met a guy.

"Do I know this friend?" she demanded. She knew something was up.

"It was a guy, ok. I met this guy," I said. I waited for her to speak. I could see the unhappiness welling up behind her eyes.