Chapter Six
Victoria took a deep breath of the cold night air. "Oh my god," she said more to herself than Reid.
He came to a stop beside her as they stood behind Tyler's Hummer. She met his eyes, his expression was conflicted, "You ok?"
Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Ok about what?! Being the first female witch in a couple of centuries? Having magic for the first time? Or finding out my emotionally abusive mother isn't actually my mother?"
Reid shook his head, putting his hands in his pockets, he shrugged, "I dunno Vic, all of it, I guess?"
Victoria blinked, Reid wasn't good with this kind of stuff. He hated emotional confrontation, he liked things to be fun or exciting. This wasn't really either of those. But then a thought crossed Victoria's mind, there was one exciting thing...
She looked at her hand. The thumb ring she wore on her thumb magically slipped itself from her thumb and hovered over her palm in mid air. "I can't explain how I feel," she said slowly but Reid looked from the ring to her face, and without taking her eyes off the ring, Victoria could see in her perfect peripheral vision Reid looking at her black eyes as magic coursed through her body. "It's like being everything and nothing. Like I am alive for the first time." The ring stretched and wrapped in on itself. "I understand now," Suddenly Victoria looked at Reid and the warped piece of metal simply dropped into her hand. Reid met her eyes, "Why you used," she explained.
Reid shook his head, "Naw, we've talked about this, Vic," Reid reached out and put a hand behind her neck and pulled her closer to him, so they were forehead to forehead. "I'm not like the other guys, that's why I can't use like them." Reid wasn't the same as Caleb or Pogue, he seemed to feel the power more deeply, get dragged under the surface by it faster. A scary discovery they made a couple of months ago.
Victoria shook her head against his, "No, I mean, I understand what you gave up for me." Reid looked down and Victoria as already looking at him, "And I love you Reid, no matter what happens from here on out, ok? I love you."
Reid looked at her, he didn't like the tone in her voice but was afraid to ask. He didn't want to upset her more than she already was, "I love you too."
But the moment was lost when the front door slammed shut. Pogue and Tyler came around the side of the Hummer to find Reid and Victoria. Pogue hesitated by the hood of the truck but Tyler came right over to them. "Oh my god you guys! Vicky, are you ok?!"
Victoria smiled and shook her head, "I'm fine, people keep asking me that." Her eyes glanced at Pogue, he was watching her with his hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. "What's going on in there?"
"Caleb and your-" Pogue stopped and held Victoria's eye, "Evelyn are going at it. He's pissed."
"Yeah, well he can get in line." Snapped Reid.
Victoria looked at Reid but looked back at Pogue when he scoffed, "Oh yeah, Reid, you so pissed? How in the hell does this piss you off?"
Reid blinked, caught off guard, and glared at Pogue, his expression going dark, "What the hell did you just say to me?" He snapped.
"Guys," Tyler said gently putting a hand up between the two of them. But both of them ignored him, as soon as the words were spoken Pogue took a few threatening steps towards Reid and Reid reciprocated.
"Oh you heard me," Pogue snapped, glaring at his friend, shaking his head. "Everything always is about you, how this would effect you, how pissed you are. You never change."
"Who the fuck are you to speak to me like that! This is Victoria we are talking about!" Reid yelled back.
"Enough!" She yelled, from behind them. Pogue looked over Reid's shoulder at her, as if snapping out of a trance but Reid stayed focused on Pogue. "My god, what is it with you guys, calm down!" Victoria advanced between them. She glared at Pogue but focused on Reid, "Look, I feel too damn good to waste tonight on being pissed off at each other. I just wanna get outta here and away from her as fast as humanly possible."
Reid took a deep breath straightening up, before looking at Victoria, "Humanly?" He asked giving her a half smile. Victoria rolled her eyes.
Still entranced in the tense, recently defused situation they all jumped when the Simm's front door slammed again.
"Victoria!" Victoria turned at her brother's voice and as she did he was already by her, wrapping her in a big bear hug. Victoria wrapped her arms around her brother's big form.
"Hey," She said weakly, her chin stretched to rest on his shoulder.
Caleb pulled back and held her at arms length. Victoria could see a concerned looking Sarah behind him, she offered Victoria a sympathetic smile. "Are you ok?"
Victoria smiled, "Yeah, honestly I feel fine, great in fact."
"All the stuff mom said," He shook his head, he looked so lost, "I had no idea, I-"
Victoria nodded cutting her brother off, "I know, I know you didn't know. It wasn't your fault Caleb."
"Look, Victoria, it will be fine. We will just have to-"
"Look Caleb," Victoria interrupted her brother again, reaching up and taking out the few pins that were valiantly trying to keep her hair in a french twist, letting the loose curls drop around her shoulders. "I know you really just wanna wrap me up in a security blanket and make a whole whack of plans but, I am not in the mood, actually I am feeling really keyed up right now,"
Tyler chuckled, Reid wrapped an arm around her shoulder and Pogue looked at the ground, before speaking, "It's the ascension," Victoria looked over at him, he glanced up at her from the ground, "That is why you feel so keyed up." Victoria offered him an olive branch of a smile, although she didn't forget how he had gone at Reid a few moments before.
"Ok, well, anyway, I don't wanna waste tonight. I feel like this the first free night of my life." Her eyes sparkled at her big brother who shook his head but smiled all the same.
"Well, if you're sure you're all right," He said.
Sarah stepped beside him putting a hand in his, "She seems fine Caleb, and you better listen to the woman!" Sarah smiled at Victoria.
Caleb glanced at his sister, half-sister now, "So, what do you wanna do?"
Victoria smiled, "Well, we are all dressed up, we actually do have somewhere to go, so I wanna go to prom."