Chapter 16 has arrived! I promise you guys, the training will start in the next chapter. :) Just so you know, there's a lot of romance, so if you're not the romantic kind of person, don't even bother to read this. Enjoy:)

Chapter 16: Thoughts and Feelings II

Arden, who had caught up with Ralph, started to think about what happened between him and Leila. He felt his body shake as he remembered her angry, glowing eyes looking right into his own. The teen put his hand on his paining chest, and when he took his hand back, Arden noticed something red on it. Blood.

The teen's eyes widened. He looked at his shirt and saw a hole, his blood making a stain on the white material.

What did she use, a knife? Arden thought, stretching his shirt.

Just then, he heard someone call, "Arden! Ralph! Leila! Where are you guys?!"

Nero-Amy and Phyllis came into view, and the wild-haired teen ran towards them. Phyllis patted his head and looked at Arden. "Where have you guys been?" Then she noticed his shirt. "And what the heck happened to you?"

"Long story," replied Arden, "But seriously, it's nothing to worry about. Come on, Max must be wondering where we are."

"You'll need to have that wound bandaged up," said Nero-Amy, "and maybe you can borrow a clean shirt from Max."

Before Arden could say anything, Nero-Amy took his arm and sped off with him. Phyllis looked Ralph and asked, "Do you know what happened?"

The wild-haired teen just shook his head.

It took a few moments for Leila to realize there were specks of blood on her hand. What happened between her and Arden flashed in her mind, and she looked at her hand again after wiping the blood away.

What have I done?

While Leila was thinking about this question, she didn't notice her eyes start to glow purple once more. The skin of her hand started to tingle, but the feeling went away quickly, much to Leila's relief. She knew what was going to happen.

"I got to control my temper," Leila said to herself, the glow in her eyes fading away.

The girl walked out the living room, making her ways towards the family room, when she noticed a blood-stain on the carpeted floor. Leila's eyes widened in shock.

I nearly killed him! Leila thought, clenching her fists. How could I have been so stupid?! Just then, she could hear voices talking, and one of them was going "ouch!" every few seconds.

"It's not that painful, you know."

"Ha! You should talk! Ouch! It's – ouch! - torture!"

"Relax, Arden. It's nearly over."

The dark-eyed girl followed the voices, which got louder and louder as she got closer. Leila could hear the voices coming from a room, the door opened a little. She slowly walked towards the door, which happened to be the bathroom door, and she peered inside the bathroom.

There was Arden, sitting on the edge of the bathtub with his shirt off. He was quite fit and muscular, if you looked closely without his shirt on. Leila rubbed her eyes before gazing back at him again. She so badly wanted to go in there, just to be with him. She watched as Grandpa bandaged up his wound.

"Ouch!" exclaimed Arden, "It stings!"

"I told you, it's nearly over," a girl's voice said, and there was Nero-Amy, standing next to him, holding his hand.

It was either anger or jealousy Leila felt at that moment, but whatever it was, she was full of it. She wanted to run in there and strangle Nero-Amy until she had no more breath left in her body. Her dark eyes began to glow again, though it seemed to glow brighter than before. Leila, unbeknownst to her, began to levitate off the ground, and the skin of both her hands slowly started to peel back, revealing familiar, black claws . . .

"I'll see if I can find a spare shirt somewhere," Leila heard Grandpa say to Arden. As quick as a flash, the girl was back on the ground, her eyes stopped glowing and her claws changed back to normal hands. The door opened, nearly hitting Leila in the face. The teen got out from behind the door and watched Grandpa and Nero-Amy walk towards one of the rooms ahead.

Leila waited for a few moments, took a deep breath and knocked on the open door.

Arden looked up as he heard someone knock on the door. Although he was with Grandpa and Nero-Amy, he felt a little embarrassed that he wasn't wearing a shirt. Before he could do anything about it, Leila appeared in the doorway, looking a little nervous. Arden's cheeks turned red. "Hi."

"Hi," she replied, "How are you feeling?" The girl went over to Arden and sat next to him.

"I'm fine," Arden replied, sitting up straight, but that only made the pain in his chest feel worse. He groaned, which made Leila feel guilty. Without even thinking about it, she took his hand into her own, causing them both to blush once more.

"I'm really sorry about what happened," the girl said, loosening the grip on his hand, but it seemed to her that Arden was holding onto her hand instead of the other way around.

The teen smiled at her. "It's alright. Besides, you already apologized before."

"Yeah, but I still feel kinda guilty," she said, lowering her head, locks of her hair falling in front of her eyes, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

Arden brushed away the locks from her eyes with his free hand, and he lifted her chin up so they could see each other eye-to-eye. And when they did, for a mad moment it looked like they were going to kiss. Well, for Leila, it did.

And also for the returning Grandpa Max and Nero-Amy.

They had an old shirt which had belonged to Carl, which they got from his childhood bedroom. The girl and the old man came back, expecting to see Arden whining about how sore he was, but to their immense surprise, they saw him and Leila, holding hands and looking into each other's hands like lovers.

"Max?" Nero-Amy whispered, looking a little bit more shocked than surprised, "It looks like they're going to . . . what do you humans call it?"

"The word is 'kiss'," Grandpa whispered back, smiling at the two teens, "They remind me of the time I nearly kissed Julianna-"

But he stopped as soon as he said the name, and he started to frown. Nero-Amy looked at him curiously. "Julianna?"

"Forget about what I said," said Grandpa very quickly, and he started to smile again. "Let's leave these two lovebirds alone for now. They can come when they're ready."

And the old man and the girl went on their way to the living room, leaving the shirt hanging on the doorknob.

Arden and Leila, out the corners of their eyes, saw the two leave, and they both looked at each other in confusion. Then the penny dropped. It was so obvious. The way they were looking into each other's eyes and holding hands (well, Arden was holding Leila's hand) made Grandpa and Nero-Amy believe they liked each other.

The teens were silent for a moment, and then Arden started to laugh. Even Leila was smiling for the first time in her life.

"They actually think we like each other!" said the laughing teen.

"They definintely got the wrong idea," said Leila. As soon as Arden stopped laughing, the girl released her hand from the boy's grip and got the shirt off the doorknob. She threw it to him, and he caught it without having to get up. After getting the shirt on, both Arden and Leila left the bathroom, talking to each other like nothing bad happened. Like they were just friends.

But deep in their hearts, they wanted more than friendship . . .

Jislaaik! Officially the longest chapter I have ever written (I think). :) This took hours yesterday for me to write! Like from noon until now! Including breaks and a visit from people my parents know. But I'm glad I wrote this anyway. :D

Reviews are welcome. :)

Til next time! ;)