Yay! I can finally update!

I hope you enjoy this chapter and forgive me for taking me this long to do it :B

Sadly, I have no soundtrack for this chapter. I've decided to leave it for the next one :)

Disclaimer: Everything you recognize I do not own-sadly.

UPDATE: I know I said I didn't have any soundtrack for this chapter, but I'm going to post something for you to listen :) My boyfriend really likes music -and his a drummer- and he had just started using the youtube account with his band. There for, I invite you to listen to one of his songs called "Strangers" :) So Go to youtube and search for : Aftermath - Strangers (The picture that appears is the sky filled with little clouds and the video was uploaded about a month ago) and Listen to it! :)

Hope you like it and happy reading! :D

CHAPTER 9

MISSED

"I'm really sorry if…" He wasn't sure why he was trying to apologize. He ran his fingers through his messy dark hair trying to find the words to apologize to a clearly awkward girl. "I'd like to say that I hope this wasn't awkward for you, but it's obvious it is."

Tabatha's big and nervous amber eyes were staring at him with amusement. Tabatha had just turned eighteen and, stepping up for her name, she was really tiny and skinny and her height didn't exceed sixty-five feet. Still, what caught James' eye was how strong she was and how hard she worked out running by the shore every day before even having breakfast and go to classes.

A few months ago he had woken up wanting to see the sunrise. Trying hard to not wake Miles up, he grabbed a jacket from his side of the closet and put on some jeans and his sneakers; quietly he walked to the school's yard and kept on moving slowly until he reached the big old stone stair that lead to the beach. He didn't even noticed her walking down the stairs, but as he got close to the shoreline his eyes sat on her brown hair and the golden flashes that came out from it due to sunlight.

Yet, it was the way her amber eyes shone as she turned to face him that had no comparison on earth.

"I don't care, James." Tabatha moved indifferently her right hand as she approached the window. She leaned her hand on the window frame and pushed her back against the wall. Once again, his eyes found hers. "What? Were you expecting a jealous scene worthy of an Academy Award or something from me?" she said upset.

James moved uneasily to edge of his bed, following Tabatha's look and the way her eyes sat on the redheaded girl walking away.

*Flash Back*

He was what he could describe as really nervous. Tabatha hadn't accepted a single one of his invites to go to his room, and she had said no every time he insisted on walking her to hers, so despite the fact he felt satisfied with himself because the young girl actually trusted him more now, he truly didn't know what to expect.

"Are your hands always this sweaty when you're nervous?" He turned to face the mocking smile that appeared on Tabatha's lips as they walked to his room.

He looked down to the door knob and tried to ignore her and her insistent gaze.

"Maybe…" he said, stepping aside so she could get in. The soft smile Tabatha gave him as she walked by passed him managed to calm him down a bit.

Calmness that lasted no more than the time it took him to close the door behind him. His eyes found the window and he'd swear that he had closed it before heading to class and Miles never left the window open, either.

"Miles really loves the Dodgers." Said Tabatha and she walked around the room with her eyes on Miles' side of the room. She reached up to grab a picture of Miles resting on his night table, but she stopped when she heard the sound of things falling.

Shit. James stepped forward and peered through the corner finding a very anxious Izzy leaned against his closet holding a piece of paper on her hand. His eyes moved to the floor and found a pencil lying there. Izzy let go of her breath and they're eyes met for what seemed a very long time. Izzy stared at him clearly scared and he saw recognition hitting her. It didn't thought about introducing Tabatha and Izzy, but he sure didn't want it to go that way.

Izzy's eyes turned to look next to him and James felt his heart racing. He actually was in trouble and he knew it. Which girl would truly want to be with a guy whose exes appear by surprise inside his room? Really, something like that didn't happen that often, especially since they'd broken up. Izzy always use to tell him when she was stopping by. So, what was she actually doing there without letting him know first?

"Izzy," Izzy took a step forward and offered a very shivery hand to Tabatha. "Izzy Grigori."

"I know," James turned and saw the way Tabatha's gaze freeze and he knew she regretted saying that. Her cheeks quickly started flushing and Tabatha bite her lower lip, anxious. "Tabatha… Kourti," Tabatha shook Izzy's hand.

"Cute." Izzy gave her a rough smile before turning to face him. "I—"

"Is everything ok?" He cursed for himself. The question just slipped from his mouth. He closed his eyes hardly and took a deep breath.

Tabatha took one step back.

"I… eh, I'll leave you two… alone." The word 'alone' managed to somehow bounce against the walls and made it all even more awkward.

"No!" Izzy's voice sounded desperate and she looked at him uneasily. "You don't have to."

Tabatha didn't seem convinced, but the fact that he actually did something and hold her hand managed to calm both down, this time. Izzy's grey gaze traveled to their hands for a tiny second, yet, no matter how much she tried to hide it, he notice she was uncomfortable.

"I just came here to… to leave you a note." Izzy raised the post-it she held in her hand. "But, it's better now that I've found you… both of you, you two. This is better." With one fast movement, Izzy bent down to pick up the pencil lying on the floor and left it on James' bed along with the post-it. "Roland is having a party tonight, at dusk. I came here to invite you, so it's great now that I've found both of you and I can invite you both to it." A tiny smile peered on her face.

"Roland?" Tabatha once again seemed suspicious. Izzy nodded strongly.

"Great…" His voice sounded deeper thanks to the dryness he felt on his throat. He hadn't even noticed he was holding his breath. "Thanks. But, Tabatha and I—"

"Oh…" Izzy's eyes showed him how disappointed she was. What did she want? "Sure, I should've expected you to have plans already. Well, that was all I wanted to say…" She pointed at the window with her thumb and a slight nervous smile crossed her face again.

"You know…?" Tabatha turned to face him for the first time since both entered the room and gave him a mischievous smile. Izzy stopped and the edge of the window and looked back at them. "Those are plans we can move to some other day, a party in the beach doesn't happen that often for us to say no to."

"Are you sure you want to—?"

"Sure." She cut him off without taking her big amber eyes away from his.

Izzy nodded twice and inhaled loudly.

"Super. Then, I'll see you later."

It was his time to nod, and he saw Izzy jumping from the ledge towards the big old oak-tree in front.

*End of Flash back*

"To be completely honest—"

"You know you can always be honest." Stated Tabatha and she crossed her arm around her chest.

James smiled shyly.

"I didn't know this would happen, so I can't say what I was expecting when you guys met." He lay down putting his arms behind his head and with one move he told Tabatha to imitate him. Tabatha locked eyes with him, suspiciousness making its way through her look and he saw she was upset no matter if she tried to hide it from him. "I don't bite." He said grinning and Tabatha allowed herself to laugh a bit, laughter he was truly into. Her eyes stared at him once more from the window before she bent down at the corner of his bed and clime up from it to rest next to him, sitting.

"She… usually..?"

"No." His hand looked for hers and he hold it tightly. "She doesn't really show up here, especially without telling me. I too didn't know she was in the school." He added without breaking the eye contact with Tabatha who was staring down at their hands.

"I don't want to…" Tabatha smiled nervous and her cheeks slightly flushed. "I don't want to be the annoying girlfriend that asks explanations all the time, you know? That's not really my style." Tabatha's smile showed him how embarrassed she felt. "It's just that… Well, she's kind of—she is an angel. She's, I don't know, a thousand times more beautiful than any girl like me and besides she clearly came here to see you. Though, I don't think she wants to get back together with you or anything like that, but this still is—"

He didn't mean to, but he simply couldn't keep himself from start laughing. Tabatha's face transformed from calm to absolutely and no doubt about jealous as she kept on talking to him.

"I hope you have some kind of mental illness if you're actually laughing at me right now." She spit at him trying to hide a tiny smile behind a mask of displeasure.

James incorporated himself on the bed and sat down closer to her.

"It's just that I've never seen you jealous before."

"Yes, so…?" Tabatha settled and leaned her back against the wall. "There you go: your movie scene—" James lips made her shut up when he pressed them on hers. It was the sweetest kiss he'd given her at the time and it made her smile very reluctantly. James moved back, allowing their lips to part but he leaned his forehead on hers. "You don't know how much I hate you."

James grinned at her.

"I couldn't hate you even if I tried to, I like you too much." Tabatha's eyes gave him a look filled with tenderness before she leaned a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll let this go, this time." She said while she stood up. James gave her a confused look and moved himself closer to the edge of the bed. "Well, if we're going to a party on the beach you won't pretend I spend all afternoon here and show up there without changing my clothes first." She continued, placing her hands on her hips.

"That wouldn't suck at all."

"There's no way I'm showing up with wearing my uniform, James." Tabatha gave him a severe look and he smiled at her amused. "That smile won't work twice." She told him and bent down to kiss him quickly on the lips.

"Don't take too long." He asked her holding her hand.

Tabatha looked down at him and thought about it.

"I'll try…" she said and a tiny smiled appear on her face before she turned away to live the room.

He sighed before he leaned on his bed, crossing his arms behind his head. He knew he had been too close to seeing a scene and he was partially upset with Izzy for stepping into his room, regardless of the fact that she had gone only to leave him a note. Although he had to acknowledge his anger would soon fade away and that deep down her intentions were good. Izzy had always wanted what's best for him and she seemed truly happy to know he was dating a girl, even that day on the cemetery when she was obviously hurt and he told her she was seeing Tabatha again.

However, he had never said her name. To Izzy, she was "a seventeen-year-old school girl that liked to run". It had never even crossed his mind to introduce them in the two months he had been dating Tabatha and he felt really surprised when they did that afternoon.

It still seemed odd that Izzy was at the school, even more in Roland's company. Were they staying there? If that was the case, then something was definitely up.

Recognition hit him right on the face. Lucinda. He had seen her in some of Izzy's drawings and he was finally able to put a name to the intriguing beautiful face that tried to hide under her dark hair while walking the halls of the school along a girl named Shelby he'd seen a couple times.

oOoOoOoOo

She was already feeling sick due to the amount of guys and girls that walked right passed her whispering at each others in the ear or that simply stopped one meter away from her to stare right at her as if she were some kind of statue or if she belongs in a museum. She couldn't understand why Roland dealt with that so easily. She grabbed her plastic glass and turned to see two Nefilim girls fighting for a minute of Roland's time. One of them both caught her eye 'cause she could truly be Luce's double: short dark hair, hazelnut eyes and pale skin. The other girl, had really good bronze skin and her thick long black hair ended at her striking cleavage.

She took a sip from her glass and held the one resting on the table to bring it to Roland. Making her way through the crowd to get to him, she stumbled with a couple of kids that did nothing but stare at her.

Both girls moved a bit to the side as they saw she was walking there.

"Here," She offered Roland, extending her forearm to him so he could grab the glass.

"Thanks." Roland smiled and pointed at the two girls standing next to him. "These are Dawn and Jasmine."

Both girls smiled at her with nervousness.

"Izzy." She answered before having another sip of her drink and leaned against a rock.

"We know!" Dawn look at her with huge puppy eyes and gave her a big smile. "Actually, how could we not know?—"

"I get it." Izzy shut her up, rolling her eyes and looking the other way.

Roland poked her with his elbow.

"Easy, Iz." Roland turned to face Dawn. "Forgive her. Sometimes she forgets her manners."

"Forgetting your manners, is talking about people you don't know as if you actually do." Izzy turned to face Dawn's and Jasmine's scared looks.

"And you forget that your boyfriend was just like a lot of people I see around here."

"He's no longer my—"

"I can't believe it!" Dawn's face somehow managed to skew at the comment, offering her a bigger smile and tightening her hands at her chest. "Besides Cam?"

"Are you serious?" Jasmine's dark and shinning eyes irritated her even more.

Roland let go a loud laugh and she turned to strike him with her gaze, but that only made him laugh harder.

"He sure kept that for himself very well."

"Easy, Ro."

"Ro!" Both girls shouted excited and laughed at the same time.

"You gotta be kidding me…" She said to herself. Roland stroked her with his gaze this time before she could look away and ignore those girls way to excited expressions. But looking away wasn't nice at all. There were kids actually pointing at her as they spoke with their friends. Usually she use to hide and avoid walking around places like Shoreline for that same reason and she surprised herself feeling jealous of Roland feeling so comfortable there.

Her anxious grey eyes set on the newcomer couple. Her heart skipped a beat and all of the sudden her drink didn't taste as good. They seemed calm, but, were things ok? Maybe James would rather not talk to her after her little intromission. She knew they hadn't seen her yet, but it wasn't going to take them too long to do so if Dawn and Jasmine kept on laughing so loud.

She bit her lower lip nervous and turned to talk to Roland.

"Please, excuse us." She said looking directly at both girls before grabbing Roland by his arm and pulling him away.

"You really can't stand them? They're not that bad, for real. They're a bit goofy and that's different from what I've seen the last years in that reformatory—"

"It's not them." She hissed and leaned her head towards the couple.

Roland looked at them for a minute before bursting into laughter, again.

"Are you afraid of her?"

"Not her, per se." Izzy shivered. "I don't want to ruin their relationship because of my recklessness or whatever you want to call it…"

"Craziness; and what happen wasn't really that terrible." Roland leaned one hand on her left shoulder and gave her a smile. "Don't make that big of a deal about yourself, uh? Go easy on that."

Izzy poked him in the ribs and suppressed the tiny smile that peered on her face.

"I hate you." She said to him, amused. "I should be angry at you for pulling all this off."

"Then, thank God you're not, 'cause your friends are coming here and you don't want them to see you angry. They might get a bad impression of you."

She couldn't help but to hold her breath for a second before turning back and look at James and Tabatha walking towards them. Instinctively she moved closer to Roland and he smiled for her one more time. Knowing that both of them were walking to talk to her and Roland only managed to increase the nervousness she'd deal with all afternoon.

"Hi." James stopped a couple of steps from them with Tabatha by his side. James had one arm around Tabatha's waist and Izzy recognized the old sweatshirt she was wearing. "Roland, long time no seeing you. Nice party." James extended his hand to shake Roland's.

"Thanks. You know me." Roland drank from his glass and then pointed Tabatha with it. "You must be Tabatha."

She smiled shyly at him before reaching for his hand and shook it.

"Nice to meet you," Said Tabatha, and then turned to face her. "Hi, Izzy."

"Hi." Her voice sounded weak and she hated herself for it. Izzy forced a smile. "How does it feel to make it in one of Roland's famous parties?"

To her surprise, Tabatha laughed lightly and hid her face on James' chest.

"Sorry, it's just—"

"She was just talking about how cool it was to finally get a just to party with you." James couldn't hide the smile that appeared on his face.

"Careful what you wish for, I believe the saying goes." Roland finished his glass with one final sip.

"James knows pretty well how cool is to party with Roland." It just slipped from her lips and she could feel the way her cheeks were flushing. Tabatha's eyes were two big coins now and avoid making eye contact with her. James tightened up his fingers around Tabatha's waist and stared back at her, visibly annoyed.

"Are you out of filter?" He spit at her, roughly.

"I—" She started to apologize, but Roland got ahead of her.

"Tabatha, what do you think if we go and get ourselves something to drink?" He asked politely, but clearly stating what his truth intention was: giving her and James a minute alone. "I hate having my glass empty."

Tabatha nodded slowly and let go of James' arm.

"Sure, why not?" She answered, without looking at her. "Do you want anything?" She gently asked James and he smiled for her.

"Just a beer," He said and Tabatha started walking towards the cooler followed by Roland. "What's wrong with you?"

Izzy felt her cheeks burning. Truth was, she didn't want to make Tabatha uncomfortable, but it was the second time she had done it already.

"I…" She started, but once again she shut up. She what, exactly? "I'd be lying to you if I told you that I know what my problem is."

"Well, it'd be kind of great if you could say something smart for a second." James stared suspiciously at her.

She instinctively took one step closer to him, challenging him.

"Excuse me?"

"It's just that I don't understand what bite you." James crossed his arms and shrugged. "What were you truly thinking of when you walk into my bedroom like that?"

A sly grin appeared on her thin mouth and she couldn't help the bitterness that came out as she spoke.

"Well, excuse me if I interrupted your afternoon quickie with your new girlfriend, but believe when I say I wasn't trying anything special when I went into your dorm."

James laughed and shook his head no.

"You're unbelievable." She had to admit that phrase was quite upsetting and she knew very well from whom he had learned it from. "What are you doing here anyway?" Contempt was clear on his voice and that hurt her a bit.

"It's not of your business." Her voice shivered, but she wasn't backing out. "I only wanted to invite you to the party. Have fun."

Willing to leave, Izzy turned away and tried to find Roland in the crowd, but James stopped her. He grabbed her by the elbow strongly, forcing her to turn back and look at him. James' pretty brown eyes were filled with anger and she suddenly felt guilty.

"What's going on?" His eyes looked directly at hers. "And don't you dare lying to me."

She stared at him confused.

"What are you talking about?"

James snorted before answering her.

"I know you and I know enough for me to realize that the girl walking there," he said and with his head he pointed someone behind her. Izzy turned and got to see Luce –with her new blond hair- walking towards the party with some Nefilims. "She's the reason why you are here."

"If you happen to know so much, I don't see why you'd ask." She moved trying to loosen up from James' handgrip, but he didn't let go.

"What is going on?" James' voice sounded less snippy this time and she saw he was nervous.

"There's nothing bad going on, James."

"What are you keeping her away from?" James whispered, so no one else could listen to him.

She didn't really know what to answer back. Their eyes locked long enough for her to see him letting his guard down.

"If you don't talk to me, how will I know if you're ok?"

A sad smile crossed her face.

"James…" Izzy walked closer to him and hold James's hand softly within hers. "Listen to me." She looked into his eyes and waited until he nodded. "I'm going to be fine. I've said before and, quite frankly, you don't have anything to worry about."

James let go of her hands and gave her an anxious look.

"That I've got nothing to worry about?" James raised his voice, but nobody around them seemed to be paying attention to what they were saying. "Are you kidding me?"

"No—"

"Of course I worry about you!" James stood right in front of her. "I care about you. And I'm going to continue caring about you. Not because I want you to be my girlfriend, but because you are and you've been one the most important people for me. You know me well enough to know that. I care about our friendship, Izzy. I care about you being ok. As much as I care about whether you like my girlfriend or not, you have a better intuition for that kind of stuff. She means a lot to me and I want you to see that."

"All right," Izzy leaned her hands on James' chest to shush him up. "I'm sorry."

"Don't. Don't just say it—"

"I'm not just saying it," she cut him off. "I'm truly sorry. I know she means a lot to you and I missed behave. It's just that… I don't think I know how to behave."

"You've seen me with other girls before."

She giggled.

"Yes, but you said it yourself: she's important." James flushed and tried to hide it messing his dark hair up. "I did only go to your room to invite you over for the party. I don't want to be in your way on a good relationship with Tabatha."

"Then be my friend." James shrugged. "Be the Izzy I know, the one that likes partying with Roland. She's very nice."

She couldn't help but to laugh and James smiled.

"Well…" Her eyes traveled in the crowd and met a couple of amber and uneasy eyes standing a few meters away. "You make a cute couple, James. Go be with her, you deserve it."

James' dark eyes sat on her for a minute.

"You deserve that too…"

"Don't start with that," She had already had what she deserve. And it didn't bring her anything but trouble. "Go."

"See you around, Iz."

James smiled at her one last time and turn away. He started walking fast towards Tabatha, but her eyes weren't looking at him, they were staring at her. Once more she didn't know what to do, so she smiled at her. To her surprise, Tabatha smiled back at her before looking at James and gave him his beer.

"See? I told you this party was going to work." Roland surrounded her before stopping next to her. She shook her head no, amused and grinned. "Smiling so much, Iz. You won't like to spend them all in one night."

"Don't be a fool." She hit him on the shoulder and he held her with one arm around hers. Both turned when they saw a tiny silver flash somewhere between the rocks. "Ro…"

"James is not the only one who deserves to be with his girlfriend tonight, Izzy."

The knowing look he gave her worked as enough argument.

oOoOoOoOo

His eyes set on the road and grabbing strongly the wheel, Cam drove with Luce sat on the copilot seat. He could feel his blood circulating a thousand miles an hour and his legs still shivered due to the adrenalin and the rush. He couldn't even think about what might've happened if he hadn't got the in time. He couldn't even begin to understand why Luce had left Shoreline without anyone noticing and going all the way down to the pier. Wasn't that the reason why Roland and Izzy were staying at that school? Where the hell were they when Luce got away?

He looked out of the corner of his eye at Luce. Cam had to admit he couldn't figure out why he had done that to her hair. She used to be way more constant, predictable. Still, he knew things were changing this time.

Especially now; that Izzy decided to leave. He hadn't seen her in the last couple of days and –as weird as it was—that had ended up bringing back the same emptiness he'd felt when she left, who better than him for hiding all of that from the rest. He had seen Gabbe at the distance, which also happen with Molly. He hadn't received any signs from Izzy or Roland, neither from Arriane. He was starting to feel lonely. If it wasn't for the fact that he had kept himself busy having Daniel around, yet never too close.

They'd kill him as soon as any of them sees him around Luce. It was his job to stay away from her in order to protect her and he had done very well until then. He felt quite surprised when he caught her on the beach. She seemed to be waiting for someone and he'd bet everything for saying it was Daniel, but he also knew him good enough to know he wouldn't force her to leave the school ground. Daniel was always more paranoid than the rest, but who could blame him? Luce died every time she glimpsed something about her past lives and about Daniel, now that she seemed ready to deal with all of that, Daniel was truly afraid. They were all aware of how dangerous it was if Luce died and all the consequences that might come out of it.

He parked the jeep under Luce's dorm and got out of the car to help her.

"Daniel and I, we are the two sides of the same coin." He said as he reached up for her hand to help her out. The displeasure look on Luce's face showed him how badly she disliked his company. "It must hurt to hear that."

Luce didn't answer back and he was about to add something when he overheard a fast and noisy footsteps walking towards them.

"What the fuck have you done?!" Izzy spit at him as soon as she stood close enough for nobody else but them to hear her.

Hearing her caused him a weird ache on his chest. He truly felt the annoyance flowing from her body as he felt the emptiness starting to fade.

"Your job. You're welcome, by the way."

"My job?" Izzy's look was filled with anger. "My job? Is it my job to expose Luce to an accelerated and imminent death?"

Luce had stopped paying attention to him to focus on Izzy. The displeasure so clear on her face before had now been replaced by suspiciousness and fear.

"It wasn't me who sent for her and told her to run away from the school. This is your fault. Yours and Roland, 'cause it's your job to have your eyes set on her." He pointed at Luce with his index finger making her jump and stepped back avoiding being hit by him.

"Who was it?" Izzy turned to face Luce and glanced seriously at her. He noticed how Luce little by little shrank under Izzy's look. He knew Luce well and she usually was more perceptive about things. "So?"

"Leave her alone. Thanks to your neglect she had a close encounter with death."

Luce's eyes found his and he read fear written all over her face.

"I—" Luce looked away at the ground and then towards her dorm. The light inside reminded him of Luce's roommate. Shelby, if his memory didn't fail him.

"Spit it out." Izzy spoke loud and rough, making Luce even more awkward.

Cam took one step forward, standing between them and facing Izzy.

"That's enough." Luce walked away from him a bit, almost touching the wall and hide under the shadows. "Luce, go." He told her.

She held the air on her lungs for a second before walking to the building and her room. Both remain silent until they saw Luce disappear at the doorway.

"Why did you tell her to leave?" Izzy crossed her arms without taking her cold grey look away from him. "Or could it possibly be that you want her close and that's why you send the lure?"

"I didn't send any lure." His voice sounded deeper. Luce had gone all the way down to hate him, be afraid of him and don't trust him, and that had really affected him so he had tried all that time to remain ease and calm, hiding his feelings, but he couldn't keep on doing so anymore. "You seriously think I'm that dumb?"

"I think you tend you have her closer than you should."

The bitterness was clear in Izzy's voice. She wasn't just worried about Luce slinking right under her nose, she was jealous. He couldn't help the smile that peered on his face, despite of Izzy's disapproving glance.

"I knew you weren't just talking about Luce almost getting killed today. That exactly why nobody wanted you to stay here—"

"That is not true!"

Cam took one step towards her and bent to stand a few centimeters away from her face. His eyes examined carefully the angry expression on Izzy's face followed by the sort of apprehension that peered on her eyes.

"You. Can't. Lie. To. Me." He grinned once more and he emphasized every word.

Izzy pushed him back with both of her arms to set them apart again.

"Stay away from me!"

"Why?" He sounded deep and captivating, the way he used to talk to her when he tried to get something from her. Izzy's grey eyes shone with recognition and Cam noticed the way she slowly let her guard down. "Why is it so hard for you to have me around?"

Izzy's eyes looked away and she turned willing to leave. Cam got ahead of her and held her tight by her elbow, forcing her to turn back and face him. Izzy shook trying to get rid of his hands, but he managed to hold her more strongly. Izzy let go of a tiny whimper before trying to get away.

"Let go of me, Cam."

He didn't, no matter how much Izzy's eyes begged him. He took one second to examine the angel's pale face: her skin was still as soft and white as he remembered so many times. Her upturned and pretty nose; her lips, thin and so pink; and her eyes were just the same. Especially her unease and stunning grey eyes, which he had only glanced a bit of the blue they had once, a couple of times.

Izzy's eyes looked at him with recognition. He followed her glance as she lowered it at his chest height before closing them. Izzy shivered as her breath quickened.

"Let me go."

"No." His voice sounded determined. The emptiness he had felt the last few days on his chest had finally stopped. "Don't try to lie to me, I know you."

"You knew me."

"I know you better than you think." He let go a bit of Izzy's arm. "I know you well enough to know that you need me."

Izzy's face showed him he took her by surprise. Cam heard the way her breathing accelerated making her chest go up and down fast. Izzy closed her eyes strongly with her head down.

"Don't try to deny it, Iz." He asked. Cam reached one hand to hold Izzy's. The soft and electric touch that Izzy's warm skin made him feel caught him off guard.

"Don't." She got rid of his touch way too soon. "That's enough."

Cam set his intense green eyes on the girl standing in front of him.

"What's holding you back?"

Izzy glanced up at him and took a step back. He knew he had given her something to hold on from the wall she had built against him with that question.

"What is holding me back? Are you for real?"

"I've never wanted to hurt you."

"I'm not giving you medal for the effort, Cam." Anger went up Izzy's voice again. "And this just proves how much you can't stay away from her.

"Do you think it's easy for me to stay away from you?" He frowned showing how confused he felt. "Do you think it's been easy being all this time away from you?"

"I don't care if it's bearable or not for you to not be with me, what I do care is the fact that you've always worried way too much about having Luce around!" Izzy's voice was louder than she wanted it to be. She didn't mean for any student to see them arguing and definitely she didn't want Francesca or Steven there, neither. She didn't want them to make her leave.

His heart started beating really hard against his chest. He started feeling very confused. What were they doing? Izzy had been gone for several years now, letting him quite clear that she was over him. However, he knew, he could see, feel, even listen how much it affect her having him around. That had to mean something. Something beyond what she was telling him. Since the minute she get back they hadn't stop arguing, and it always was about Luce. Was everything always about Luce? He knew well Izzy hadn't forgive him, and that she wasn't even close to do so, but he had been very surprised to see how stubborn she was and how hard she tried to avoid him, especially when all he wanted was to hold her close. He wanted her, not Luce. And everything he did to prove it to her seemed to be destined to fail.

Cam ran both hands through his hair and crossed them behind his nape.

"Why we keep doing this?"

"Because it is our job," Izzy's voice allowed him to see she was trying to contain her anger.

"Not that," He said lowering his voice. Cam sighed and looked up at the bright moon that shone above them. "Us."

Izzy spoke has if she couldn't figure him out yet:

"Us?"

"I can't understand you, Iz." He raised his hands up in the air and shrugged clearly complicated. "You give to then take away everything. Ever since you get back you've been playing tug-of-war with me."

"Excuse me?"

Cam took one step towards her breaking the distance that had established between them. This time, Izzy didn't try to avoid him, so he took another step and stood just a few centimeters away from her.

"This," he said roughly. "Just a moment ago you were pushing me away from you and know you let me move closer." Izzy looked away, but she still didn't move back. "I know you want me, why can't you let me show you—?"

"I can't," He barely heard Izzy's voice. When she glanced up at him, he saw her pretty grey eyes fighting to stop the rebel tears that peered on them.

Just a second ago his heart was beating so hard he was afraid it could leak from his chest, now it was shrinking with the thought of not having her back, ever. The pain that set on his chest made him noticed how much he had wanted to have her back. And it truly hurt to had her dying because of the pain both shared and the fact that he couldn't break the wall she had built between them.

"Forgive me," Izzy seemed shocked –he had even shocked himself up-. "I need you to forgive me."

"Do you want me to forgive you for just hurting me or for hurting everyone around us?" Izzy sounded skeptical. "Do you want me to forgive you choosing a fantasy over hurting my feelings?"

"I never meant you hurt you—"

Izzy glanced at him, her face filled with indignation, allowing a few tears to run.

"But you did!"

"And that's precisely why I'm asking you to forgive me!" He raised his voice so much that probably Luce could've over heard them from her dorm.

Izzy was breathing hard. Her eyes revealed that she was truly giving his words a second thought. Both remain silent once more, without taking their eyes off each other and that gave him hope and made him believe Izzy's could forgive him. After all those years of avoiding and all of the arguing, she was finally going to trust him and his word. Another tear slipped away from Izzy's hurt eyes, sliding all the way from her nose to her lips that fight trying to not talk, trying to say yes. All he needed was for her to say yes. Nobody could ever take care of her the way he could, neither seeing her so easily, and he wasn't going to let anyone else to do it.

The thought of Izzy hugging the Nefilim that they on the cemetery, crossed his mind. Jump. Only a few could do it. And he realized that somewhere around the campus he had to be there, sleeping or getting ready for bed. Someone else that had probably done the things he couldn't do with Izzy for a while. Suddenly, both of his hands were in a fist and his muscles were tight. Nothing good was going to come from fighting with the kid and he knew it well. The kid had just taking over an opportunity that he had let it ran from his fingers.

Cam needed another chance. He knew it wasn't his second, neither his third; but the only thing that mattered to him was that he was willing to make this his last. He reached his hand, a bit sacred of Izzy's reaction. He got really surprised when he reached it. How could she try so hard to kept him apart, when for him it felt like leaving a part of himself aside?

"No." She told him loud and clear and let go of his hand, taking one step back and restoring the distance between them.

Her next two words hurt him, badly.

"No, Cam."

oOoOoOoOo

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

2006.

He stumbled with someone as he walked out from the alley.

"Desculpe," He said a bit disorientated, but one of his friends grabbed him and pulled him so they could keep on walking.

"Hurry up, James." Ben looked at him uneasy. "We are not supposed to be wandering around the streets of Brazil; it'd be way too easy for them to find us."

"Anyone could easily find us." Matt talked to them, but his eyes were staring directly at a couple of girls with chocolate skin and ass to die for that walked right passed them. "Take a look at us; we stand out no matter what.

"You wish," He replied, but he had to admit Matt was right. They always stand out. Despite the fact they were all foreigners and they look like foreigners, something about their 'angelic heritage' that made them stand out. Of course they would never be like them, and only Nefilims with direct heritage could maybe look alike, yet one way or another they never went unnoticed.

"This one looks… interesting." Vince stopped in front of a club that did look interesting for him and he could listen to the music from the street. The line went all the way down the street, so he thought that the club was either new or it was good enough to attract that amount of people.

Matt reached up for him and poked him.

"Come on, James." A wolfish grin peered on his friend's face. "Make your magic work."

They all hid in a dark corner and he grabbed his three friends by their forearms. In the blink of an eye they were inside the club. Music was so loud they had to yell each other on the ear to listen to each other. The strobe lights flashed in different colors and around the bar there were UV lights, so everything was relatively dark. The dance floor was full and every few minute's fog came out from each corner of the place. The club was filled with people like them: foreigners. They were probably on vacations and weren't getting away from school a Friday night to go partying. And, thanks to his 'magic', they were able to crash a lot of good parties lately.

"Excellent!" Yelled Matt and he clap loudly once before he started walking towards the bar. James hadn't realized until then that they had appeared on a dark hall leading to the bathroom, so they were very well hidden. He smiled as he noticed he was improving in his jumping.

"He's the reason why we always call the attention," Spit Ben and he couldn't help laughing.

The four of them walked directly to one of the club's bars, making their way through the crowd. Black Eyed Peas sounded and the music bounced against the wall and he couldn't truly listen to his friends, but it didn't care. He also doubted any of his friends cared as well.

"Quatro caipirinhas, por favor." Asked for Vince as soon as they made it to the bar, they had changed a few dollars before going to the club, enough money to buy several drinks. If there was something they liked about a lot of places in Brazil was the fact they never asked them for their ID's.

James leaned against the bar, staring at the dance floor. Saying it was full didn't begin to cover the amount of people there was there. He had to acknowledge Vince had talent for finding great places to party at: there were girls dancing all around the dance floor. He knew it sounded trivial and immature, but he was seventeen and he had realized that not because he was a Nefilim he had to stop doing the things every seventeen-year-old guy did: have fun and messed around.

Now, that he could actually jump from place to place managed to be quite useful in his plan.

"Obrigado," Ben received the caipirinha glasses and paid the bartender.

James reached up for his glass and as soon as he put his fingers on it, Matt shook him and he scattered most of his drink on the bar.

"Shit!" He cursed and grabbed a few napkins to clean the caipirinha. "What's wrong with you?"

"You gotta see this!" yelled Matt and pointed at the other side of the bar with his glass.

He and his two friends followed Matt eyes and he felt his stomach aching and the lack of air in his lungs. Ben leaned back on his seat and looked at him with his eyes wide open.

"This has to be a joke." Vince turned to face them.

The wolfish smile appeared again on Matt's face.

"I hope this isn't a joke, 'cause man…" Matt frowned and clucked in approval.

"If she sees us, we're done," said Ben taking a sip of his drink.

"Come on!" Matt lift up his arms exasperated and hit Vince's glass. "Sorry, man."

Vince shook his arm trying to get rid of the caipirinha that had felt on his forearm.

"Sorry my ass."

"Whatever. Ben, what the fuck are you thinking? She's right here partying! There's no way in hell she's going to rat us out." He had to admit Matt had a point. Still, that wasn't what worried him at all. Matt had also been right about something else: she was spectacular. It had to do with the whole 'standing out' thing, because he would've lay eyes on her despite of his classes on Shoreline and the fact that they had talked about her. He would've seen her anyway.

"Did the cat bite your tongue or what, James?" Vince moved closer to the bar and grabbed a napkin.

"It's just that—"

"What are you waiting for?" Matt grabbed him by his forearm and raised him up from his chair. "Go ahead and try your luck!"

"Don't even think about it," said Ben while finishing his caipirinha.

"Why not? Are you going after her?" He challenged him, amused with the idea of Ben trying.

Ben rolled his eyes at them.

"I could if I wanted to, but I don't." They must've stared at him as if a second head just grew out from his neck because Ben rolled once more his eyes at them before gave them a severe look. "I don't have a problem with flirting and make out with some girl, but her? She's a freaking angel!"

"That's just one more reason to do it! You'd be legendary for making out with an angel, especially that angel." Matt turned to check her out once more and bit his lip. "Man, you have a serious problem if you don't even consider doing it."

"Hey, but let's give James a chance!" Vince turned and asked the bartender for another drink before facing him. "You'd be legendary. And, to be honest…" Vince craned his neck and grinned. "If it isn't you, it'll be either Matt or me, 'cause trust me when I say I'd totally hit that."

James looked up and recognized the pretty red and long hair of the girl sitting at the end of the bar.

"Ben's right, she's an angel." Matt started laughing, but he shut him up raising his hands. "But, but… I'd really be stupid if I let her go just like that."

"Well said!" Matt petted his shoulder and pushed him forward. "Now go and give it your best shot, because even that won't be good enough to make her listen to you for more than a minute."

James punched him back before he started moving across the bar to get to her. She was standing by the bar and those black short pants she was wearing were killing him. He notice she was tall, maybe as tall as Francesca –who happen to be the only angel he'd met in his life-, her waist was tiny and he had to admit he'd gladly lost himself in between those legs. He shook his head roughly trying to get rid of that thought and let go of his breath.

What could he probably say to her? A girl like her that'd lived between humans for so long must have heard it all. But he had forgotten that she had recently became the solitary angel people say she was now, 'cause everyone knew she'd suffered for love.

He reached up for her by her side and leaned on the cold bar table.

"Has anybody ever told you, you look like an angel?" he asked, raising his voice and his courage from only God knows where.

The angel looked up at him and he felt like if someone had just punched him strongly on the stomach… several times. Her big grey eyes scrutinized him before they went back to stare at her drink. Even so, he didn't miss the tiny grin that peered on her face.

"What are you doing outside your school, Nefilim?" She said to him and then took a sip off whatever she had on her glass before laying her eyes on him. Her skin was pale white and anyone could tell it must feel as soft as feathers and her lips were glowing because of the drink. She raised an eyebrow and gave him an amused look. "So no more 'brave flirtatious Nefilim', uh?"

"You're not going to rat us out, right?" He felt like a jerk the moment those words came out off his mouth.

She laughed loudly and took a look over his shoulder.

"No." She answered with a sarcastic grin on her face. "I'm not going to rat you, or your little friends that are staring at us as if we're putting out some kind of play."

"Excuse them." He asked her, leaning his elbow on the bar to turn and face her.

"So, what was it?" She asked as she raised one hand and called the bartender. "Some kind of bet?"

"Some kind of bet?" He repeated confused.

"Yeah, you know…" She had the last drop of the drink in her glass and pulled out some money from her bra. "Why are you talking to me?"

The bartender grabbed her glass and she left the money on the bar, to then turn to face him with an upset look on her face.

"It wasn't a bet—"

"Listen. You seem like a nice kid, you little Nefilim, but truth is: you all think the same thing." She stood up right in front of him. "Everyone thinks I'm just some bad girl with her heart all broken, coward enough to not face her problems and keep on running from them, because that's why they tell you about me in that school of yours. So, you let yourself out of my way and I'll really appreciate it, deal?"

She flipped her long carroty hair over her shoulder and gave him one last look before turned away from him. And all of that courage he had before jumped out to surface. He reached out and grabbed her by her arm strongly and pulled her closer to him.

"Listen: I don't believe in anything they say. I don't know you." He spit at her roughly. He saw he was going to moved and free herself from his grip, but she stood there next to him instead. "I didn't win or lose any bet, either. If you're not capable of taking some guy reaching after you and talk to you as a compliment, then maybe you should reconsider how much you run away from things." James let go of her hand and felt truly surprised when his eyes found hers staring directly at him.

"Impressive." A smile, an actual smile, appeared on her face showing her perfectly white teeth hiding behind it. She had smiled at him—at him.

"Let me get you something." He jumped before shame made its way through him and stopped him from talking.

She denied shaking her head.

"I already had something." She was challenging him and he'd had to come up with something that she couldn't say not to. His eyes sat on the dancing floor.

"Let's dance, then."

She pursed her lips, as if she were truly considering his offer. But, just like that, he held her hand and as soon as he thought of it they both appeared back standing right in the middle of the dance floor surrounded by people dancing, shouting and sweating near them. She let go of his hand and looked at him shocked for a second.

"You jump."

He nodded and gave her a pleased smile.

"Now that's impressive." She said and started moving to the rhythm. He couldn't help to stare at her nice belly peering from under her shirt. "Hey!" James looked up and met the fun look she had on her face. "I thought you asked me to dance because you too were going to."

He thanked God for the fact that it was dark enough so she couldn't tell he was flushing and he started dancing with her. Their eyes locked for a second there and all of the sudden, her hand was on his neck and she leaned forward to talk to him on the ear, freezing him on his spot.

"I'm Izzy." She said to him and her voice sounded even musical against his ear. He knew well her name, but the fact that she allowed him to call her by her nickname felt as if he had truly made a move on her. Izzy leaned back a little to see his face and smiled.

With his hand shivering, he grabbed an inch of her hair and tucked it behind her ear so he could talk to her, too.

"I'm James."

And that's it :D

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