Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: A little bit more. :) I hope you guys are enjoying it! Do let me know, seriously any sort of comment is always welcome. Besides, I love hearing what you guys think!
Thanks for reading!
-S
Miss Imprint
Chapter 4: Reunion
The phone rang out, cutting through the stark silence. Dad had left for Seattle an hour ago for a meeting with his supervisors and claimed he'd be back in a day to two but that he'd be in touch. He was excited though, I hadn't seen such energy in him for a long time. It was nice.
"Seth?"
"Cassie?" His reply was mockingly quizzical.
"What's happenin', yo?" I threw in some of my best street talk.
"Seriously dude, you're white. You need to keep that shit on the inside."
"Oh come on, I spent ages getting the intonation right."
"I…I don't know what to say to that." He started laughing on the phone and I felt a grin start to stretch across my face.
"So when're you coming over, kiddo? I was going to paint tonight, I was wondering if you wanted to camp out tonight?"
It was a tradition and a very strictly monitored one that whenever I spent the night out to paint that I took Seth with me. Dad was immovable on this.
"Uh, Cassie, I'm not so sure that's a good idea…listen how about I come over we have a marathon instead, I'm kinda beat."
"Please, we do this every time I want to do something that doesn't involve a couch and you draped all over it."
"Hey I work very hard all day and I expect to be able to come home and sit down next to my woman and watch the fucking TV."
"Seth…I have no words."
"Okay, fine, I'll be ready to go in ten. Meet you outside?" His voice picked up, I could hear the exuberance.
"Sounds good, I'm on my way." I got up and started searching my desk for my keys.
"Nah I meant outside your house."
"What? How're you getting here?" His parents wouldn't let him drive Bruce at night, a very wise decision on their part. They'd tried to buy him a half way descent car but Seth had been set on the orange monster and that was that.
"Don't worry about it. Just meet me outside."
"Okay… I'll see you soon." We hung up and I grabbed my bag and head out, taking a flashlight from the counter and locking up. The moon was a waning gibbous tonight and its light illuminated the forest before me. The very tops of the trees were traced in silver and their vast branches extended in every direction, offering a false sense of security. Even now, so far from their labyrinth-like depths, I shuddered at their proximity.
But my paintbrush was my sword and I felt stronger when I was painting, it was my safety; nothing could touch me when I was creating. It had always been that way.
I set my easel down near the edge, the dark mahogany trunks of the trees cut softly in the twilight, their normally jagged edges mitigated by the crescent moon.
I pulled out my palate; the midnight blue I'd bought a few days ago was heaven to behold, it was so incredibly saturated and I was eager to try it out. Tonight I was going to paint my very own starry night.
"Hey!" I heard a yell from my right and I glanced out, and there he was. But I'd never seen him like this. He was barefoot, jeans cinched low around his waist with a dark belt, and he was shirtless. My mouth dropped open a little as I drew my eyes over the concrete stomach before me that had definitely not been there before. That boy had been working out without me, or majorly dousing himself in steroids.
The sky expanded out behind him, the woods rose up to cover his trails. His hair, ebony and silk in this light stood upright and tousled. And his eyes, their darkness, and vibrance were breathtaking. He was beautiful.
"Stop, can you stand still for a sec?" I called out, reaching behind me for my paintbrushes.
"Sure, I knew you wouldn't be able to resist the guns." He smirked up at me, flexing slightly, but the teenage girl in me that would've been amused and possible weak at the knees was tucked firmly behind the artist now.
I walked over angling his head, moving his arms and shoulders, until the light was glazing over his perfectly; he was shimmering.
"Stay."
"I'm not a dog." A secretive smile spread across his face like there was a joke I wasn't getting.
"I'll give you a treat."
"I'm all yours." Predictable as ever; I smirked myself and then started, and then world was silent for a good four minutes before Seth started talking again.
"Seth. I'm trying to paint you, and you keep moving your jaw."
"Well how the hell else am I supposed to talk."
"You could…not talk." I shot him a smile over the easel before hunching back and streaking a softened ash across the middle of the painting to lighten the path of the moonlight.
"Yeah, like that's going to happen." He muttered to himself.
"Okay, okay, what's been happening?" I asked distractedly, the cut of his clavicle was getting tricky, I'd have to switch to a darker shade I think-
"I've been…okay. Some stuff's been happening. I'm helping Sam out with some of the tribal stuff…" He trailed off at my question gaze.
"Sam? As in the one who left your sister? Seth, isn't that-"
"Majorly fucked up?"
"I was going to say a little insensitive but yes." I shook my head a little.
"Nah she's cool with it." He must have seen the disbelief on my face.
"Okay, she's not exactly thrilled but she's dealing. I don't exactly have a choice."
"What do you mean?" That got my attention off the curve of his jaw which I had just been shading with a deeper brown.
"Nothing, I didn't mean it like that." He looked uncomfortable, his had gripping at his waist, if he'd had a shirt it'd be cinched in his fist no question. I felt bad, he'd come to me in his own time, I knew that. I should back off.
"Anyway, how's your mom?" I hadn't seen Sue in ages, but she'd been talking to my dad right after Harry passed and they'd bonded over missing loved ones but she hadn't been over in a while.
"She's good; I think she's seeing someone but she hasn't said anything to us yet."
"Really? Who?" I was a bit disappointed, I'd always thought she and my dad had had a connection and I was hoping he'd have someone to share space with when Seth and I moved out. But I guess being related to Seth would be a bit strange. And it would be harder to explain away the butterflies that were currently ravaging my stomach.
And the fact that I was still checking him out. I snapped back to his face as he started to talk again but luckily his gaze was elsewhere.
"No clue, but Leah was mad as hell when we found out. Mom came out of her room all dressed up and Leah made a dumb crack at how she was trying too hard. There were tears. It was bad." He shook his head, laughing to himself acerbically.
I got up and went over and pressed my fingers to his cheek in sympathy and then before he could say anything, shifted his face a centimeter to the right. Ah, the lighting was perfect. He smiled.
"You almost done? Being this attractive is tiring. I wanna sit." I smacked lightly with the wood of my brush.
"Shut up, you should be honored."
"Please, you should be honored."
"Nice comeback."
"Cassie….I'm tired. Hurry up."
"Okay, okay, you're done, come sit." I patted the grass next to me affectionately before placed my paint brush on the easel and leaning back to admire my work. It was not bad.
"Are you serious? You made me stand for like four hours so you could draw my shoulder."
"You stood for like fifteen minutes and yes, you have wonderful shoulders." His cheeks went pink for a second but he laughed roughly.
"I knew you couldn't resist my charms." He nudged me with his shoulder and we fell back into the grass, staring up into the winking sky.
"Seth?"
"Yeah?"
I took a deep breath.
"My dad's gone."
I felt him shift around a little and grasp my hand his. The warm was startling. He was far too warm but as the wind sifted through the trees and brushed over me, I realized how cold it was. It must have been just the temperature difference.
"Where?"
"He got a job in Seattle, it's not so bad though, he'll be back on the weekends." I blinked quickly, the wind was making my eyes water.
"I'm sorry. You realize this means I'll become a permanent fixture on your couch now that your dad's not there to make me leave at midnight."
I laughed, squeezing his hand.
"Thanks." I could hear him sigh to himself, and then he started to speak when a wolf cut through the silence, howling a deep full bodied cry into the night. It was such a despairing sound; I could feel the loneliness of the sound trickle through me.
Seth stiffened next to me. He started to get up.
"Hey, I forgot I had to do something."
"Now? Seth it's like nine."
"Okay not all of go to bed at sun down, grandma." He shot me a smirk but his eyes were peering into the woods, distracted.
"Do you want me to come with?"
"Nah stay here, I'll be back soon, I think. You should go inside, okay, and lock the doors."
"Yes, mom."
"Cassie, I'm serious." He turned his dark eyes at me and they were persuasive.
"I'll be fine. You're the one gallivanting off late at night anyway." At this he smiled knowingly, before walking off in the direction of the woods. I thought about asking him if he wanted a ride, but the boy was plowing through the grass like nobody's business. I could barely see him. The woods groaned and I shuddered.
Yup, definitely time to go in.
I grabbed my easel and hurriedly put all my brushes away but I couldn't find my tapered one. I was certain it was in my satchel though. I headed inside and set everything down.
Twenty minutes later, while I was washing out my paintbrushes, I still couldn't find my favorite. It was bothering me and I ran through the contents of my bad at least three times but nothing. I'd shelled out quite the generous amount of cash for that one. I'd hate to have to replace it.
It was probably still out there, just where I was painting.
Getting up I looked out the window; the woods glared back menacingly and I shrunk back a little. But then I realized that I was being intimidated by a bunch of trees and I started to chuckle.
It wouldn't be that hard to find. I should just go out and get it now before I intimidated myself anymore.
Grabbing my flashlight, I shoved on rain boots and headed out in the night. I couldn't risk a bird or something picking up that damn brush.
Besides, there was nothing out there, right?
