A/N: Okay, show of hands from those of you who thinks it's Chase!... Well, it is... grin Fluff ahead!!! Don't hate me...!

CHAPTER 7:

The Orphaned Merman

Chase took a long drag from his cigarette, his face half hidden in curling smoke as he looked at her. "I have to say, I admire what you did back there." He blew out, causing her to squint. "Not everyone has the balls to stick up for themselves." He swiped the red tip of the cigarette against the brick wall, killing it. "You should be proud." He grinned.

Sheila smiled up at him because in her own secret way, she was proud. She felt her anger slowly being ebbed away by the stranger's charming smile and went to get up. Her movement faltered when her punching hand came in contact with the tiled floor.

He saw her struggles and moved to help her. He offered her his hand. "Here." She obliged and he pulled her swiftly to her feet with little effort.

She straightened her clothes. "Thanks." She muttered, looking at his face full on for the first time. Green eyes greeted hers, twinkling, and she quickly averted her gaze to assess the rest of his face. Curly brunette hair, amazing eyes, strong jaw line, and those lips... She inwardly grinned. 'Cute...' He was a good 7 inches taller than she was and as he took a step toward her, she involuntarily took one back.

Another step forward, another step back. Another and another. They did for about 4 or 5 steps before he stopped altogether, sighing.

He pulled something small from his jacket pocket. "Look, I just came out here to smoke, okay?" He shook the cigarette pack. "No harm."

"You can't smoke in the hallway..."

He shrugged. "What can I say?" He took another step towards her. "I'm a rebel..." She threw up her hands, almost threateningly, as she took another step back. He laughed. "Don't be afraid. I'm harmless, I promise." She just stared at him, hands still raised. He pocketed his cigs. "Look, I've seen what happens to be on the receiving end of that-" He points at her right fist. "-and quite honestly,-" He chuckled. "-I'm a little scared of you right now..."

Sheila smirked at his playful chiding, relaxing a bit, her eyes flashing for a second. "You should be..." She raised her right fist and shook it at him, then winced. "Ow!" She brought the fist to her stomach, her other arm automatically covering it.

Chase stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking at her from under his lashes. Silent permission. She held out her hand to him, grimacing. He sandwiched it gently between both of his and examined it, clucking his tongue every so often. He looked at her, but did not release her hand.

Lightning sliced the sky behind her and it lit his eyes for a moment. '...even more gorgeous in person...this might not be as easy as I previously thought...' She retracted her hand, hastily, her eyebrows furrowing, and this time when his eyes flashed, there was no lightning.

He knew what she had heard. Chase smiled, nonetheless. "You should put that on ice. It'll help the swelling."

Sheila seemed to have recovered from hearing his thoughts because she firmly shook her head and pointed at the metal cafeteria door, laughing. "I'm not going back in there..."

"You don't have to..." He grabbed her uninjured hand tightly. His voice dropped down to a whisper as he held a finger to his full lips. "Come with me..." He gave her hand a small tug as he started down the empty hallway, his footsteps echoing all around her.

She glanced back at the cafeteria doors, biting her bottom lip. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but she knew something was off (good or bad) about this guy. She felt her feet obliviously following the stranger. Sheila looked at the back of his head, then at their joined hands. Her steps did not falter as she felt that spark again.

Subconsciously, she knew she wanted this because it was the same spark she had felt in the forest that day... With that boy...

Sheila bit her lip again, almost ashamed.

Ashamed because she wanted to explore that feeling...

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He had taken them to his dorm room. She was not surprised, nor was she afraid...

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Sheila entered the dimly lit room, eyes darting back and forth, taking in her new surroundings. Two twin beds occupied most of the space, matching bedside tables sitting in front of a large window. A closet to the left, the bathroom to the right. Computer desks and built-in bookshelves stood on either side of the door. Nothing different from her and Kate's room.

Except it smelled of man in here. Old Spice and leftover pizza still sitting in its cardboard box prison, waiting to be devoured the next day for breakfast, cold or not. There were piles of clothes on the floor, school notebooks strewn unconcerned on the desks. Someone's computer was on, the screen saver was a topless Hula dancing girl that blew kisses at them every few seconds.

Sheila smiled. 'Boys...'

"Sorry about the mess." Chase was taking off his jacket and she could see the muscles underneath his T-shirt straining. He threw it unceremoniously onto the back of a computer chair. "My roommate's kind of a slob." She nodded. He gestured toward the bed in front of him. "Feel free to make yourself comfortable." He bent down to open a black, mini fridge that she hadn't noticed before. He pulled out a Ziploc bag that contained a blue square. "This should only take a sec."

She nodded, unbuttoning her sweater and placed it over his jacket. Sheila leaned over the chair, her pants sliding a little on her hips, her shirt exposing the natural dimples in the small of her back. Chase gawked, doing nothing to hide his admiration of her body. She was a beautiful girl, no doubt about that.

Sheila stood, hands on her hips, raptly scanning the photographs that were tacked haphazardly to the back board of his desk. She reached out and tapped one. "Your parents?" She didn't turn for his answer.

"Yeah." She heard the crinkle of the Ziploc bag as he opened it. "My sixteenth birthday."

She looked closer at the picture. It was of him, beaming, an older man to his right, a lady to his left, and a brand new, white SUV (complete with oversized, red ribbon) shining behind him. She let out a 'Hmph.' and he turned inquiring eyes on her. "All I got was a beat-up '67 Mustang..."

He chuckled. "Yeah?" She looked at him, nodding. "I'll trade you. I've always wanted a muscle car."

She gave him a coy smile. "Maybe I can take you riding sometime..."

He grinned, nodding. "Sure. Consider it repayment for my hospitality."

"I didn't ask you to bring me here and take care of me..." She said, frowning.

He shrugged, palms up, the clear baggy hanging between his forefinger and thumb. "And I didn't ask you to punch that girl-" Lightning flashed. "-and yet here we are..."

A corner of her mouth twitched and she turned back to his desk with a shake of her head. "I'll still take you riding, if you'd like..."

A beat of silence passed. "They felt the SUV would be safer than just a car..." He said, picking up the conversation again.

She glanced at the picture again. "That was very thoughtful of them..."

"Yeah." He sighed, shaking the blue packet from the Ziploc. "They were wonderful people..."

She squinted at the picture. "Were?"

He paused in his actions. "I lost them to a car accident over the summer..." His eyes flashed black and Sheila flinched, her body going rigid.

It felt as if someone just burst a water balloon over her head. An invisible trickle was slowly making its way from the top of her head down, reaching into her skull. She felt a light pressure on her head and she brought her shaking fingertips to her temple, massaging. Chase's eyes flashed again. She gasped, segments of a scene flashing in her mind.

It was her, on a road, crying, shaking, scared.

Another flash.

A white SUV swerving around her, hitting a tree.

Another flash.

Dead faces, a man and a woman, looking back at her.

Sheila squeezed her eyes shut, blowing out an unsteady breath of air. Chase's eyes switched back to normal and he put on a concerned face. "You okay over there?"

She opened her eyes, the pressure on her head floating away, anxiety no longer gripped her chest. "Yeah, just tired, that's all..." She wiped sweat from her brow.'What was that...?'

"All right, I'm almost done."

She nodded, but didn't turn to face him. Instead she focused her attention on the bookshelf beside her head. 'Good... a distraction...' Her fingers traced the spines of several books. She paused, tilting her head to read a particular title, and pulled it off the shelf, laughing.

It was 'A Brave New World'. Her favorite...

"This is an early edition." She turned the book over carefully in her hands and ran a palm across the letters of the title. "This is very rare..."

Chase looked up, seeing the book in her hand. "A Brave New World. My favorite." He smiled. "I nicked it from my dad's collection..."

She hesitated, tapping the spine of the book thoughtfully on her palm. "I understand your pain..." She averted her eyes, not meeting his quizzical look. "I mean about your parents... And I'm not just saying that because I feel sorry for you..." She bit her bottom lip and Chase swore under his breath. He had never seen a more erotic sight before in his life. "I lost my father over the summer, too..."

"What about your mom?"

"What about her?" Sheila spat, the question coming out more angry than she expected. She shrugged. "I really don't know." Her features softened and she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Chase bristled, resisting the sudden urge to reach out and run his hands through her soft hair. He wrapped a fist around the ice pack instead, his fingernails digging crescent shapes into his palm. "She left when I was thirteen..."

"We're just a couple of little orphan Annies, huh?"

Without her noticing, he had moved across the room to stand beside her. She jumped at the sound of his voice, laughing nervously to hide her embarrassment. "I guess..." She slid the book back into its place on the shelf. She winced, her hand stinging as her knuckles brushed a neighboring hardback.

He brought the blue package forward. "Here." He gently reached for her injured hand, stretching her curling fingers out. "This should help with the swelling." She looked at their joined hands, her eyes growing wide with surprise. 'There's that spark again...' She thought as she felt the heat rising slowly, torturous, up her arm. She didn't flinch or try to pull her hand away from their warm contact.

"What is that?" She asked, pointing at the blue square in his hands.

"Sports ice pack." She let out an 'Oh'. "I'm a swimmer, so I use them all the time for my shoulders."

She quirked an eyebrow, smiling. 'A swimmer... That explains the body...' Chase heard her thought and he accidentally squeezed her hand... hard. She jerked it from his grasp with a low hiss.

"I thought you were trying to help the swelling!"

"I'm sorry." His voice was sincere. He reached for her again and she did not stop him. "Momentary spasm..." He mentally slapped himself for losing concentration. She winced again when he placed the ice pack on her knuckles. He grabbed her other hand and put in on top of the pack. "Hold it right here, okay?"

Sheila nodded. Thunder rumbled in the distance and she turned her face towards the window, watching as rain started falling. She looked down at their still clasped hands, shifting the pack. The heat of the spark coursed through her body. Her mind was whirring and for a moment, she felt as if she were having an outer body experience.

A very titillating outer body experience... Lightning sliced the sky and in that split second, she decided to go with that feeling...

"So, where's your roommate...?" She paused to look up at him, startled to find him staring intently at her.

She licked her lips and this time Chase didn't restrain himself, the spark weaving its magic throughout his veins as well. He smirked. 'It would be rude of me to try and resist...' He reached out, fingers fluttering over her blushing cheek, snaking around to the back of her neck. She moved into his touch with a sigh, her tongue flicking out again. He inwardly groaned, running his thumb across her bottom lip. He swallowed.

"Out..." A simple answer and she nodded, her eyes closing as he ran his hands through her hair. He made a fist on the back of her head and she tilted it back, exposing more of her long neck. This time, he licked his lips and traced a beating vein with his finger. Sheila gasped. Down, down his finger went, where it came to rest between her heaving breasts. Her breath came in short spurts and her eyelids fluttered open to look at him, rain pounding the dorm room's window pane.

An ominous sign of a coming storm...

Her eyes flashed briefly. Her voice came out in a throaty whisper. "Will he be gone a while...?"

A/N: sigh What can I say? I am so bad... Review please!