Erm... This chapter will be with Noctis for the first part, and Lightning for the second.
The plot gets thicker!
Next possible update: Wednesday.
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-Chapter Four-
-Noctis-
She broke away from the embrace, and turned away. The light from the lanterns illuminated what I could see of her face. She was so beautiful.
"Please stop," she whispered to me as I reached forward to bring her back into my arms. For some reason I felt that she was so fragile and couldn't survive in the world alone. I felt that she needed to be in my arms to be safe. To be mine.
Her words brought me short. "I... Why?" I asked, confused. The way her face paled in the light made terror seize my heart. Was there something wrong with her?
"I just... I'm..." she shook her head in despair, her strawberry locks falling around her face naturally. I wanted to know: she what? She just what? Was she ill? She glanced up at me for a second before looking away again. "I'm sorry, I can't. I really... have to go." She started to back away. "Goodbye Noctis."
Her gentle, innocent voice saying my name made me jerk – the way she said it, for some reason, made me shocked and happy.
And then, she whirled around and left me.
For a few moments, I was too shocked to do anything, but my brain clicked suddenly and I raced after her. Who was she? I needed to know who she was! She made me feel... natural. Normal. Not the eye-changing boy who was shy and arrogant. A real boy.
By the time I caught sight of her ivory dress with its golden hems fluttering behind her, she was already at the entrance with Vanille and Lebreau.
At the last moment, she turned back.
I froze, my eyes darkening.
She was crying.
--
"Dude, what's wrong with you?"
I shook my head, dazed. "Sorry, what?"
I'd been playing back the scene from one week ago for the umpteenth time. Each time I felt the same terror, the curiosity, the feeling I had had around her... and the same fear and protectiveness I had felt when I saw a tear running down her face.
"You checked out on us for a minute there for the millionth time. Get your head in the game, would you, if you want to know who she is," my brother said impatiently. Bradley, next to him, frowned at a name. "Erm... she had reddish hair right?"
"Strawberry coloured," I said for the twenty-third time. "And ice blue eyes."
"So she's not Jessica then. Thank goodness for that. Remember when she tried to push Vanille into the swimming pool?"
"Yeah. That would be the..." Marcus frowned. "The fifty-seventh time you mentioned that."
Bradley huffed.
"Speaking of Vanille, I wonder why her sister didn't come yesterday," Marcus said thoughtfully. "You have a crush on her, don't you, Noct?" he chuckled. "I would date her if she wasn't so anti-social. I mean, you feel like you're repelled by her when you're actually entranced by her, don't you?"
I rolled my eyes and said nothing as I picked up another list of names. As Marcus and Bradley traded stories about me making a fool of myself around her (which I totally didn't), I stared blankly at the names, then turned to stare at the ring that was the only thing left of her. Beside my memories.
I sighed, and tossed down the list of names.
"It's no good. It's not any of them, and it's definitely not Vanille's sister. She wasn't there yesterday."
Bradley and Marcus exchanged looks, then frowned.
"What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Erm, Noctis? Don't you think she'll come back for the ring?" Bradley asked stupidly.
I sighed in annoyance. "She was crying yesterday. I highly doubt she'll come back for it."
"I mean, it's huge and all..." he trailed off at the look on my face.
Marcus sighed. "Do us all a favour, Bradley, and shut up."
"Okay."
I coughed to conceal laughter, but a snort escaped me before I could tame it.
Bradley glared at me.
I just grinned.
"But you have to admit, if that ring is really valuable, she will come back for it," Bradley said reasonably, and took a sip of his mocktail.
I shrugged. "Maybe."
"Are you sure it wasn't Vanille's sister though?" Marcus asked, frowning at the list he was looking at. "Because I can swear that she's the only one with ice blue eyes and strawberry-coloured hair." I sighed.
"I'm sure Vanille wouldn't lie," I told them.
Bradley chocked on his mocktail and had to be hit on the back to stop.
I tossed down another list and sighed. "This is hopeless. I might as well go around the school touching every girl until I feel what I felt one week ago." Marcus and Bradley exchanged glances again. "What?" I asked, annoyed.
"Erm, Noctis... you have noidea how wrong that sounded," Marcus said. Bradley murmured something I didn't catch under his breath and sipped his drink again.
I rolled my eyes. "Whatever."
Bradley checked his watch, then jumped up, downing his drink all in one go. "Ah, I gotta go. I'm gonna meet Vanny at her house. She's taking her sister shopping and apparently I'm a good pack-horse." He grimaced, and started off.
"Want me to come along?" I offered out of sympathy.
"If you want," he answered, and disappeared around the door.
I started after him, but Marcus stopped me. "Hey, actually look at the girl this time, okay?" he called. I rolled my eyes and grabbed my gloves before setting after Bradley.
--
-Lightning-
"NO! LET GO OF ME! ARGH!! GET OFF ME VANNY!! MOM!! HELP!!"
"Come on Lightning! It's just shopping!"
"LET GO OF ME! LET GO OF ME I SAY! HELP!!!"
"Drama Queen."
I stuck out my tongue at my little sister, and tightened my grip on the door. "I'm not going! NOTHING YOU SAY WILL MAKE ME GO!! NOTHING I SAY!! NOTHING!!!"
"Lightning! Come on! It'll be fine! I won't make you get anything you don't want!!"
"NEVER!! HELP MOM!! HELP!!"
"Vanille, let go of your sister. Lightning, stop screaming, you have visitors," my mom said with a sigh as she walked by, her eyes glued to her phone as her fingers dialed a number. "Hello? Yes, I'll like to..."
Moms. Jeez. Couldn't she have helped me? I shook my head and sighed as Vanille let me go and ran downstairs to meet Bradley. I stumbled forwards to my bed and yawned. Fighting with Vanille really sapped my strength, as it usually did.
A minute later, someone jumped on me. "Let's go!" Vanille sang in my ear, and started to drag me away when I caught sight of Noctis.
For the millionth time, what happened only one week before flashed in my brain, and I balked.
Yes, it was a week since we'd danced together and I'd left the party in a majorly hysterical fit. And evidently, Noctis was still looking for his 'mystery girl'. When the school's female population (and those outside it as well) heard about it, he had been plagued with all of them until Bradley and his brother had threatened to beat up the next batch of girls who dared to follow him. I guess they were sick of girls following them everywhere in crowds as well. Or they were just protective of their brother (Marcus) and friend (Bradley). Well, for Marcus, it was probably the second case, seeing as how he liked girls plaguing him everywhere...
"Vanille..."
"What, Light?" She sounded annoyed.
"I thought you told me he wasn't coming!" I hissed.
"Bradley invited him."
"Oh yeah, I'm sure."
"I'm not lying!" Now she was hurt. Oh damn.
I backpedaled. "I just mean... I'm not going with him. Not after..."
His dark eyes whipped around and met mine. I froze. Oh shit.
"You're coming with us, and that's that, Light. Besides, Mom's having her new boyfriend over – you don't want to see that do you?" she said meaningfully. Right. Mom had new boyfriends for every week of the month. They never lasted though.
I sighed. She was right.
Oh boy, do I hate it when she was right.
"Let's go," I muttered, and, avoiding his eyes, I allowed my sister to steer me out the door and into Noctis's car.
--
"Please, no more Vanny," I begged my sister four hours later. "No more. My feet can't stand it."
She rolled my eyes and muttered, "Chicken."
I scowled.
"Come on then, let's go meet the guys." I nodded in agreement, and she led me to the cafe where Noctis and Bradley had retired two exactly three hours and twenty minutes earlier. I envy men. They get to sit down.
"Hey babe," Bradley greeted Vanille and stood to peck her on the lips. I coughed to not-so-subtly hide the words, "Get a room." Vanille smacked me on the head. I winced, and my eyes automatically darted to Noctis.
He seemed to be playing with something in his hand. I frowned as I caught sight of something big and sparkly. "What's that?" I asked curiously. He jumped, and actually looked behind him as if to check that I wasn't speaking to someone else, then looked up at me, obviously confused. Cute. But then again, this was obviously the first time I've ever talked to him personally. Well, the dance didn't count, cause he didn't know it was me in the first place. Secondly... yeah, he didn't know it was me.
"Nothing."
But I thought that it was the ring I had been wearing.
Speaking of which, I hadn't given it a thought up till now.
Oh well.
I frowned slightly to myself, and sat down in the only available seat: next to Noctis. He looked uncomfortable, and just kept gazing down at his drink, his fingers playing with whatever it was in his hand.
Suddenly, there was a tiny sound on the floor. The sound of metal hitting something solid, and clattering to silence.
Plink, plink-plink.
I automatically ducked down and reached for the ring the same time Noctis did.
Our hands brushed together, and it was as if electricity had shocked us.
We both jumped back.
Only we forgot that we were under the table, and hit it. The drinks jumped, and we both scrambled out from under it and then stumbled away from each other so we were three feet apart. Actually, I was the one who stumbled away from him. Fortunately, the cafe was quite empty today; the only people who looked over at the sounds was the nosy waitress who flirted with Noctis every time he came here, and a teenage couple sitting in a booth opposite us.
Oh shit. I recognized Debbie Martin – the school's biggest gossip.
I am so screwed if this gets out. So's Noctis, but he's popular. He doesn't have to get verbally bullied by the jocks. With a sigh, I tore my gaze from her and turned to the boy whose gaze I could feel burning into my cheek.
Noctis was staring at me as though he wasn't quite sure who I was. Or... like he figured out who his mystery girl was.
He stepped towards me, and held out a hand.
In his hand was the ring that had belonged to Mom's mom. Namely, Grandma.
I panicked, and did the only thing that came coherently into my head.
Run.
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