My my~ what's going to happen here? And thanks for all of the ideas guys it really helps out with my stories. So, if I miss thanking you, please accept the thanks now for all of you who submitted ideas for me to look over. Again, any for all of my stories are greatly appreciated. Thank you!
"Sick?" I critically ask as Gowland returns. I'm such a coward. For the past few days I've made Gowland go in my stead and now Julius goes and gets sick? I bit my lip, shuddering. I really don't want to go back. It really hurts; really bad. I never imagined that it would be this painful.
"Yeah. The first day I went over he had wet hair and I'll bet he didn't dry it." Gowland heavily sighs hanging his hands on his hips.
"So it's a cold?"
"Yeah." Gowland answers scratching his head. Great ... and there's no one to take care of him except for me. Gowland is busy working here, Boris would get bored, Vivaldi would behead him, Peter would shoot him, Grey isn't fond of him, the entire mafia estate just plain hate him and Ace would get lost going to the bathroom. I heavily sigh catching his attention.
"I'll do it...," I grumble. I still have the responsibility to take care of the stupid head. If I don't I'll let Alice down.
...Wait, why would I care? Every time that I've needed her she comes roughly half of the time and when she does come she talks smack about Blood. Hardly the kind of friendship I treasure.
"...If you're up for it."
"Yeah. I've been shirking lately. Thank you, Gowland." I look to the ground making sure he can't see my face. I didn't tell him what happened. Even after he took my blubbering self into my room and lent me a shoulder to cry on. I pathetically just kept saying, 'sorry, there's something in my eye' when I really should have been 'sorry for being so stupid as to make that slip of the tongue, landing me here on the bed ruining one of Gowland's nice shirts.
"Now, are you sure?" He asks a little more tautly, tilting my chin up to face him. I let the emotion drain from my eyes as the barriers about my heart tightened with chains and locks; something that not even Julius can pick.
"Yeah." I answer, lightly tapping his hand away. Without warning he wraps his arms around me, comfortingly patting my back. I remain stiff as a board before letting out a sigh, allowing my troubles to follow the heavy release of air.
"If anything happens just come back here and I'll take care of it." Gowland reassures with a faint flush. I smile and wrap my arms around his neck, startling him.
"Yeah; thanks Gowland." I unwillingly let go of his comforting embrace turning to leave towards the tower. Gowland is really nice. Is this ... what a father feels like? An older, more experienced man who takes care of things behind the screen and help guide me, without letting on that he probably knows what happened? Yeah ... it's nice having a reliable dad.
JULIUS'S POV
My joints painfully ache as I toss down the tool, frustrated by my own weakness. I haven't been able to fix even one clock since the incident with Jackie. And now, with this throbbing headache, I can hardly even think straight without a mind numbing pulse interrupting my thoughts. My hand cradles my aching head dancing over the overheated skin. Ah; I have a light fever too. My stomach growls, demanding food as I get up.
I should get food - ah. That's right. I haven't been out food shopping for a while. I don't have anything edible at the moment. I heavily sigh slumping back into the chair. I lean back staring at the empty ceiling. I wonder what Jackie is up to right now? Is she off crying in a corner or has she already gotten over me? I would sooner believe the latter if Gowland hadn't come over and announced what I had feared would happen.
Yet, somewhere deep down I was overjoyed. She wept over me. She cried over me. She anguished over me. Which means that she indeed does have a romantic view of me. Or, did, at the very least.
"Julius~ I've got some more clocks for you~!" one of the last voices I want to hear at the moment announces. I heavily sigh looking up at Ace with a bag full of clocks soaking in blood and his mask and cloak perfectly in place. Ah, he's in that silly costume again.
"Thank you, Ace." I announce, taking hold of the bag. His hand immediately latches onto my wrist keeping a strong hold of the limb as he yanks me forward. I jerk back, startled by his rough introduction. Ace?
"Hey, hey, Julius, why did Jackie run out crying yesterday?" My eyes widen before narrowing on the knight. He saw that?
"Release me, knight." I demand trying to pull back my arm. His grip gives for a moment before tightening to the point of breaking bones.
"Julius, what are you doing chasing her away like that? You're not going to get many chances and, when you do, she'll already have been swept up by someone else. Do you want that to happen again?" Ace asks with a cocky grin. My clock aches horribly as a remembrance of Alice flashes through my mind. No...that's not what's painful. Losing Alice ... is nothing compared to losing Jackie. Oh my grandmother's block.
I ... love Jackie. There is no way around it. This awful, familiar pounding ticks in my clock and the painful surges which course through my veins each time she is near bears truth of it.
"That is no business of yours." I snap, again trying to tear my hand free. He slams my open palm onto the table as his ungloved hand sweeps by me cheek.
"Huh? Is too! You two are going to be part of my threesome; how am I going to get that if you two are on bad terms?" Ace childishly pouts. I knew it; this man is just toying with me -!
"Ace -!" I growl as he yanks me forward coming right up to my ear.
"Don't you know, Julius? Everyone loves the foreigner. You, and even I, dearly want to get in her pants. It's just a matter of time at this point, Julius." Ace hums with a sinister grin. My eyes flash as I tear my hand free tightly clutching my wrench in hand. It shifts into a pistol as I raise the hardly fired weapon aiming just beside Ace's head.
"Don't. You. Dare." I hiss as my head painfully throbs. The air distorts slightly as I totter to the side, overcome by vertigo.
"Oh?" Ace says watching as my knees buckle. I slump to the ground, trigger smacking against my finger.
BANG
JACKIE'S POV
What was that? My heart freezes over as the breath caught in my throat. That was ... a gunshot. What's a gunshot doing in here? Julius -! I quietly dart up the stairs with my wrench in hand. Is someone shooting at him? My little heart condenses.
But there was only one shot.
I flit into the doorway catching my breath as I spy a bloodied masked and cloaked figure staring at Julius with a lazy smile. Horror stabs at my heart as I gaze over Julius's grimacing face, clearly in pain. I whipped my arm forward watching as my wrench flies towards the attackers head.
"DON'T YOU DARE HURT HIM!" I scream darting into the room. The masked figure glances back barely rising his sword in time to deflect the oncoming projectile. I jump up, kicking the stranger square in the face. My leg painfully recoils as he falls back, clutching his bleeding nose. The breath caught in my throat as I spied his face, his mask fallen to the ground.
"Wah -! Jackie, that hurt!" Ace wails loudly, cracking his nose back into place. A shudder runs down my spine as realization of what I've done comes over me.
"Ace?! W-What in the world is going on here?" I demand looking right back to Julius. Is he alright? I dip down by his side sliding my hand over his warm face. He's got a slight fever. Julius slightly convulses, clearing his throat. And a dry cough too. Ah, that's right. Julius has a cold.
"Well, I gave Julius some clocks and tried to convince him to have our threesome soon."
Ace muses with a hum wiping the last of the blood from his nose. Huh? It stopped bleeding already? Although, that nose is going to be swollen for a while. Wait a minute. I heavily sigh.
"Ace, we are not going to have a threesome, alright?"
"Boo~ I wanna threesome!" He loudly chants, throwing his hands into the air. I roll my eyes and kick his leg.
"Get out; I need to take care of Julius."
"Boo boo~!" He rejects, "I wanna threesome!"
"No, Ace."
"Yes!"
"Do you want another broken nose?" I gravely warn, rearing back as though to prepare another attack.
"...No...," Ace pouts with a frown.
"Then go away."
"Ok." Ace shrugs, getting up and left. Really, I swear that guy is so hard to read sometimes.
"Just make sure to save enough energy for both of us next time~,"
"Get lost!" I hiss. Yeah, as if he needs to be told that. I listen intently to him pouncing down the stairs, waiting until the heavy door shuts. Good; at least that's one annoyance down. I glance over to Julius as my gaze softens. Crap ... even though he hurt me so deeply I ...
I still care for him. It hurts to see him like this. It's painful to watch him suffer. And it's pure agony to have him so close to me and yet so far away. This sucks. I lean over him, gently cradling his head. I glare at my trembling fingers. Forget dragging him back to his room; I can hardly hold myself steady. I inch forward, delicately placing his head on my lap to give him at least a little bit of comfort. His breathing is uneven as he deafly breathes in and out. He tosses his head a little bit muttering something under his breath.
"I-It's alright, J-Julius." My voice shakily says. It will never happen; Julius will never see to my 'childish fantasy'. And yet, here he is, lying in my arms. A tiny tear slips pass my guard landing on his cheek. Why ... why are you so mean Julius? Ah crap, here comes the waterworks. I lean back on the side of his desk, keeping his head on my lap as I silently let the tears run. This hurts ... so much. My chest slightly heaves as I bit my lip struggling to control the wild sobs. Ow ...
A gentle hand reaches up, softly stroking my cheek. My eyes pop open as my mouth slightly parts, startled to see Julius with his eyes wide open, sadly gazing at my distraught face. His frown holds, clearly dissatisfied as he slowly breathes out, keeping my cheek in his hand. I hesitantly lean into his touch, closing my eyes as my heart snatches hold of any sort of comfort he is willing to dish out.
"I've made you cry quite a lot in the past few days, haven't I?" Julius asks critically analyzing the deep circles underneath my eyes. His finger gently sweeps beneath my eyes feeling the indent of sleepless and tearful nights.
"Yeah." I croak, hardly able to make it audible. I try to nonchalantly cough as Julius's eyes soften. He gets to his knees, softly caressing my jaws as he leans in.
"I love you, Jackie." He mutters, connecting our lips. My heart practically explodes from the sudden change in attitude, praising everything that led up to this one, single moment. My eyes widen as my lips tremble, wanting to devour him right then and there but my logic keeps that animal locked up tight. His warmth spread to my very fingertips as I grip his cloak, afraid that if I let go of this dream it will disappear forever.
"W-What?" I ask, feigning difficulty in hearing. Say it; say it again. The feeling that coursed through my body when he said that was nearly overwhelming. Again ... say it again so I know this is real.
"I'm so sorry, Jackie. Before, when you told me that you loved me ... I was so happy and ecstatic that I thought I could die right then and there and be satisfied. But then I realized ... that I'm a little more selfish than that." Julius sweetly returns kissing my cheek.
"B-B-But why did you s-say t-t-t-that?" I stutter between sobs. Why am I so pathetic? I should be doing a freaking little happy dance right now but my body just won't calm down. Why?
"I ... was frightened, really, by the prospect of loving you." He mutters, wrapping his arms around my waist as he picks me up. He almost immediately falls back in his work chair, sitting me comfortably on his lap and he tightly hugs me. Ah ... this is a really tight hug. Kind of hurts, actually. But ... I smile through my tears. It's a kind of nice, strong hug. I lean back as he places expert kisses along my jaw, the warm fuzzies tickling the tips of my toes.
"Julius ... it h-hurts. It really, really hurts." I complain through my tears struggling to bite back sobs. I'm so happy right now. So why am I still crying? Is this what they call tears of happiness? Or is my body just expressing my sad depression over the past few years of holding it in? My eyes pleasurably roll into the back of my head as he lightly traces my jaw line with his nose, basking the surrounding skin in a bath of heat. Ah ...
My spine slightly slacks as his magical dancing hands push and prod my sides and hips, making a new batch of warmth appear at each patch of skin he touched. Even through the clothes the mere pressure he exerts feels like a gentle masseuse working in his patient with practiced ease. He slowly exhales resting his burning forehead into the crook of my neck. I shiver each time he breathes, as with each breath my body suffers yet another vicious tear of the beast trying to claw her way to the surface.
"I've been thinking about doing this far more often than you would think." Julius hums with a pleased sigh, now content with merely holding me. I wrap my arms around his shoulders resting my forehead on top of his.
"Yeah?"
"Very much so. Are you feeling better?" Julius asks with a slight purr kissing the tip of my nose. My chest tightens, somehow unsatisfied with the treatment. What is there to not be happy about? I should be thrilled right now. And I am; but there's just a tiny part of me that still wants nothing to do with him. A tiny voice screaming 'get away, get away before he hurts you again'.
I remain silent looking away from his critical gaze. Why can't I answer him? He breathes out a soft smile as he lifts me up, setting me down on his desk. Huh? He leans forward, lying me over the sleek surface as he brushes to the side various clock parts.
Even in his careful hurrying he makes sure to group the pieces specifically, ensuring that each piece did not separate from their rightful clock. My heart thumps hard against my chest as I gaze into his deep violet blue eyes shimmering with a suppressed kindness. But, behind that gentle wall lies a strong surge of passion which dictates most of his pristine movements, each of which makes it feel like a live wire is wriggling about my skin. His hands travel up the length of my outstretched arms, folding his fingers between mine as he leans down. His hair drapes down creating an inescapable hold as I stare into his beautifully deadly snares.
"I've gone and broken your 'heart'. Now, will you allow me to mend it?"
‡
Aw, I thought that was sweet~ and no, they don't do it on the desk you dirty minded Chickadees! X0 However, what will be their reaction in the morning to all of this? Is this Julius acting on his own accord or do you think his illness has something to do with motivating his actions? Or maybe Gowland and Ace finally worked into him? Well then my little Chickadees~ 10 REVIEWS for the next chapter. I'm still deciding if I'll end it here or continue. Let me know! Ciao~ :3