BATTERIES 02
"Cause I'm a mess and you that I can't help it,
The drive home never seemed this long before.
We're killing time just a little bit faster
And I swear we'll make it."
He sees me. He laughs, though I don't hear it. He's walking over. I look behind me to check, to look for one last shred of hope that he's not walking over to me. There's nobody there. I turn back around. My heart is beating too fast. I can hear it. It wants to whirlwind out of my chest, away from here, away from everyone, especially from him. I cast my eyes down to my bag, my orange book still rests in there, I am tempted to pull it out in hope that it might protect me.
Tyler is looking at me, staring wide-eyed, wondering what could have possibly frightened me so much. I wonder too; what is it about this boy that petrifies me, that sends chills up my spine?
I steal a glance at his table, the redhead and blonde are still there, the black haired girl must've left. For some reason a shudder of relief washes through me. The couple are gazing into each other's eyes with expressions of nothing more than total and unconditional love. A pang of jealously stabs me in the stomach.
He is almost here now. He passes a waitress, she flashes him a smile, but he ignores it. Her skirt is far too short; her top is far too low. I feel the urge to slap her silly. But I can't. I can't move. It's as if I am glued to the chair.
"Do you want to go?" Tyler asks me. But I say nothing in return. My eyes are locked on the boy advancing towards us, though I know I am not looking at him like the redhead and the blonde were, I am looking at him which an expression filled with fear; which I cannot mask.
He is here now. I avert my eyes to the table. I focus on the wavering flame of the small candle sat in the middle of the table.
"You're the new girl, Lesley right?" I shudder at the sound of my name woven on his soft lips. I do not need to look up to know whose voice it was; though I do anyway in hope that it isn't him. But it is him. He's ditched the band tee for a lilac V-necked tee that exposes his the blades of his shoulders. I can't help but notice that the lilac hue of it blends too much into his pale skin. I look over to Tyler, he is sat back as far as he can go in his chair, arms folded glaring at the boy.
Not taking his eyes from the boy, not even blinking, he snaps, "What do you want?"
"I just wanted to apologise, Eric was being an ass today." Simon says gesturing to Eric in the corner, making out with some girl who I presume to be his girlfriend. At least, I hope she's his girlfriend. I glance back at Simon; his face masked with an innocence I know is false.
Tyler looks at me for a brief moment, and something flashes across his face as our eyes connect. "Well, you're obviously bothering Lesley. I've never see her tense up like that." The glare returns to his features as his gaze shifts from me to boy. "Something you want to tell me?"
Simon looks taken aback, eyes wide with shock that I know is real this time. "I didn't do anything!" He turns to me, I want to tell him that I'm sorry, that this all just a big misunderstanding, to tell him – and Tyler - that I just overreacted and to forget the whole thing. "I guess I just frightened her." But I can't, the fear overwhelms me. He just wanted to help. "I am sorry Lesley; I didn't mean to scare you. I tend to do that a lot nowadays…"
He trails off. I look him the eyes, for real this time. And I see not pain in his eyes, but complete and utter agony.
"You better hope that all you did was scare her or I'll ram a stake through your heart," Tyler snaps, and in one swift movement stations himself between me and Simon, shielding him from my view as if he were a part in a horror film Tyler didn't want me to see.
"Tyler, just forget it." I murmur, finally having plucked up the courage to say something, but it's so fragile and cracked that I doubt he'll hear it. I exhale, relieved that I was still able to speak.
By some miracle he does. When he turns around the mask of disgust has been wiped of his face and I see not possessiveness, but genuine worry for me, worry so great that it leaves me breathless. But what does he have to worry about? Sure, there was something off about Simon that terrified me to my very heart, but he wouldn't hurt me, would he? I peer around Tyler and see that Simon's gloriously inky black eyes aren't on me – or Tyler – but are gazing downwards, at the stone floor, his hands are shoved deep into the pockets of his jeans.
"I just worry about you, Les." Tyler says, his icy blue eyes staring into my own before shifting to Simon, "I don't want you hurt." The last sentence is clearly aimed at Simon and was said so harshly that even I shrunk away from Tyler.
I notice Simon recoil away from him, too. He's still not looking up and his hands are still buried into his pockets but I see that the blue veins covered only by his sheet white skin are shaking. I gasp, Simon was trembling.
Before I even have a chance to comprehend what I was doing, I stand up. I couldn't stand back and just ignore what I saw in his eyes; nobody deserves to suffer like that. No one.
I swallow my fear and force my feet to move, I force them to carry me past Tyler who's attempting to shove me behind him with great strength. My feet feel as if they're anchors, weighing me down, preventing me from getting any closer to him, but he's in touching distance now. I reach out; I can only just reach his arm-
I jerk back, my body slamming against Tyler who instantly catches me; my nails dig into his skin, as if to steady me. A shiver passes through me. His skin was cold. Ice cold.
Simon's head snaps up rapidly, almost too fast. His friends are watching us; I can feel their eyes glowering in mine and Tyler's backs. I can feel their alarm. I know my mouth is hanging open in agape and I don't bother to shut it, it's too late, he's already caught my expression and his is an exact replica of mine.
He doesn't say anything, he just gazes at me, and for the first time I've seen him, he looks fragile and wild-eyed.
"I'm sorry," I whisper, rubbing my palms together even though I'm not cold. I pause for a moment to enjoy the sensation of burning in my palms. "I overreacted."
The boy breaks our gaze and reaches up to rub his forehead, revealing the corner of what looks like a black mark underneath his mass of hair which almost completely covers his forehead. His eyes focus on the floor as he shoves his hands into his pockets.
He doesn't look at me as he says, "It's fine Lesley, you did nothing wrong. I don't blame you for acting the way you did, it's understandable considering that I am-" He breaks off, his large eyes flickering above me to Tyler who still had his arms protectively around me. I know that it is not fine, that it is not okay. I find myself reaching over to touch him.
"Lesley, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Tyler thunders, shaking with rage and jerking me back. My hand hits our table and pain shoots up it. "Stay away from it."
I try to fight my way out Tyler's arms, but before I have a chance to, Simon's already hurrying out the cafe door, still not looking up. The bell of the cafe door rings.
I don't move as the redheaded girl pushes past me and Tyler viciously, running after the boy. I look over to the blonde-haired boy, to see if he's going too, but he doesn't. The bell rings again.
Like a flicker of a light, black tattoos appear on his skins, millions of lines, lacing in and out of each other. I know I am not imagining this. I can't be. I blink again, just to be sure. The tattoos still remain and I could swear to God that they weren't there before. I have to be imagining this. I have to. But something deep down is telling that this is very, very real. It can't be. I wish I was imagining this, I really do.
"Lesley!" He shouts, there is a cocky, almost arrogant edge to his voice, as if he expects me not to hear him. How does he know my name?
"What?" I whisper, turning my head to face him. My heart is beating rapidly.
The cocky grin is whipped off his face in a second. His eyes are wide with shock, as if I wasn't supposed to hear what he said. But why would that be? He said my name, after all. Tyler mutters an array of curses and something too low for me to hear.
And then the blonde haired boy rushes out the door, disappearing into the night, leaving me standing there, bewildered. The bell rings again.
Without a second thought, I fight my way out of Tyler's arms, catching him by surprise and darting out of the cafe, just like the boy had. I hear the bell for the final time.
Author's Note.
Another quick update for you guys, now I know these first few chapters may seem rather similar to the originals but I just want to get through these parts in order to get to the super exciting stuff. Sadly, I don''t own the Mortal Instruments but I do own the plot, Leslie, Tyler and Emily. Aha,
please review and let me know what you think!