Well, hi again peeps! Good news, exams are finally OVER so here's hoping I will update some more.

This chapter was actually going to be longer and involve a few more things but it's 5am, my cat's walking all over me, and I'd quite like to go to bed. Goblet of Fire has officially finished! Yay!

Thank you so, so, SO much to all the follows/favourites, and most importantly, the reviews. I love a good review. Hint hint. Special thanks to Id65 for being an amazingly cool PM pal who will be suggesting new chapter titles because mine suck (they are always the last thing I do and I think of them quickly to get the newest chapter out to you asap).

Enjoy the fluff! And don't forget to check out my one-shots and other multific Mending Broken Souls.

31. Love and Evil are Everywhere

Soot from the fireplace flew up my nose and down my throat, my coughs feeble in their attempt to clear the particles. When it subsided and I caught my breath back I looked over the warm living room, smiling at the familiarity of it all.

From upstairs came a creak from the floorboards, and I froze, my mind jumping to the worst.

Footsteps making their way down the stairs spurred me into action. Quickly surveying my surroundings, I grabbed an ornament from the nearest shelf – a large snow globe encasing the miniature Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe – and hurried to hide beside the archway. I held in my breath, listening as the person got closer and closer. I shut my eyes momentarily, and both the physical and emotional pain I had suffered through from Yaxley ran through my head, firing my blood and energising my nerves. The person was off the stairs now. My hand tightened, and with the icy stabs from the Cruciatus Curse invading my senses, I spun around with my hand held high.

"What the fu –"

The girl jumped back, arms over her face and muttering unintelligible things. It was only when she lowered her arms did I realise who it was.

"Zoe!" I said, the snow globe dropping from my hand.

"Ella?" she stood up back to her full height and lunged. "You're home!"

"I almost hit you," I professed, stunned.

"Everyone's been waiting for you to come home, no one knew when exactly, which we should really solve. Surely they have email where you go. Oh God, you're back."

I hugged her back, squeezing her as if it would reacquaint the feel of her body. Her hair still smelled of the same coconut shampoo.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

She groaned. "Kiwi's been gone for a few days again and I thought I'd check here. God knows how she keeps getting in, but she ran out as soon as I came in, then I popped into the loo for a wee and now you're here!"

"I missed you," I whispered into her hair.

"You silly cow, you shouldn't have left then," she chuckled. "I missed you too."

We separated and laughed at our soppiness. It wasn't long before she had me seated on the sofa and updating her on my life in Scotland. She reciprocated by informing me of every new – and old – development over the months. Hours, it seemed, were spent with us catching up over a Chinese from the new takeaway just doors down, but it seemed like minutes.

She had finally finished her exams, as well as Nate, concluding their academic years in Ottery, and they had been maintaining the shop along with a few others in their spare time, and I could not have been more thankful. Mrs Brimble had spent the most time there when her kids were in school and college, working on the finances and stock as well as special holiday products and decorations. My heart soared for my aunt, for that was what I considered her. I couldn't wait to see her.

The conversation swiftly turned to new friends, Zoe asking me about George and his evil twin (I had yet to inform her of our new rapport). The chopsticks in my hand held a noodle over my open mouth which promptly fell when Zoe shrieked.

There, sprawled on her lap, was none other than Fred Weasley.

"Whoops. Sorry," Fred said, jumping off of Zoe and grinning sheepishly. "Wrong target."

His weight then fell on me. "That's more like it! Alright, Elle?"

Zoe was breathing heavily, her eyes wide and confused. "What? How did you get in here? You just appeared on my lap! Ella, he just fell on my lap – from nowhere!"

"Bit excited that one, isn't she?" Fred whispered, leaning back away from her and further into me.

I was utterly speechless but managed to push him off me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed.

"I told you I'll come and see you in a couple of hours. I think four hours is a decent enough gap of time of you not seeing this sexy face. You got the bed ready yet? Phwar, I'm famished. Where's the cake?" He asked, rubbing his hands together. "What?"

Zoe was still trembling, eyes fixed on Fred. I rubbed her shoulders, murmuring into her ear, although it seemed that anything I said fell on deaf ears.

"How could you just apparate in here? Did you not think I could have muggles around?" I questioned, enraged at his carelessness.

"Not really," he shrugged.

"Fred! This is serious, you could get into big trouble for this – we both could."

"I'll just obliviate her then," he said, pulling out his wand. This only caused Zoe to jump back as a strangled groan left her lips.

"You will do no such thing."

"Then what – you're just going to tell her?"

I ran my hand through my hair. "I'm going to have to."

He made to argue against it but was silenced with a glare. I moved from behind Zoe to crouching down in front of her.

"Zoe, you need to listen to me very carefully," I said. She averted her eyes from the idiotic ginger and met my gaze. "Now, what you just saw, you can't tell anyone, okay? Yes, he did come out of nowhere, but that's because he used magic."

It took a few moments for the information to process in her mind, and her lips quirked, and she laughed shakily.

"Oh, you!" she chuckled, shoving me lightly on the shoulder. "That's a good one. A nice new joke to play on me after all this time. So what, you do illusions?"

Her question was directed at Fred who looked at her as if she was crazy. Her disbelief had me hoping we would get through this with her thinking this was a prank. Illusions! How brilliant. Yes, we could definitely play on that. And this way there would be no worry of her knowing about real magic, no fear of any officials finding out and probing us on why and how she knew.

"Uh – no. Ella just said I did magic. Here, I'll do it again."

I could have slapped him. She had given him a key to escape from the cage imprisoning him (and me) only for him to ignore her and apparate, appearing behind her with a, "Boo!"

She yelled again, only this time she fell on the floor and shuffled back on her hands until she hit the opposite wall.

"Oh, I could kill you right now," I muttered through gritted teeth.

"Ella! What the hell?" Zoe screamed.

My hands flew up to rub my temples.

"Zo, just calm down. It's alright, he won't hurt you," I attempted to placate her over Fred's laughter. I knelt on the ground and held her hands. "He's a wizard, an honest to God real wizard. There are loads of them, all over the world. Bill – he was a wizard, that's why he kept disappearing for ages, because he had to go and do magicky, wizarding stuff. And Bill was alright, wasn't he? Perfectly normal."

"Except for the fact that he apparently could pull an actual bunny out of a cap without a fucking costume," she retorted, returning her gaze to Fred, still roaring with maniacal laughter. "What's up with him?"

"He's a dick, ignore him. How are you now?"

She sighed. Her trembling had ceased and she smiled. "I'm alright. Whoa. Magic! Why didn't you tell me before?"

"It's not allowed. It could be very dangerous if muggles – non-magical folk – knew. And not all wizards and witches are good. Just like us."

Zoe nodded, staring at the carpet thoughtfully, but then her head snapped up. "Us? You mean you can't use magic?"

I shook my head and opened my mouth to reply but it was Fred's voice that spoke next.

"There are all sorts of types of magical folk. There are the purebloods, like me whose entire family have been able to do magic. Then there are the half-bloods, those who have one magical parent and one muggle, and the muggleborns, magical people whose parents were muggles," he said, listing them off on his fingers.

"So what are you then?" Zoe asked, her face portraying wariness of Fred. I couldn't blame her.

"I'm none of the above. Sometimes magical couples have children who can't do magic – at all." I held my arms out to the sides and smiled. "That's me. Ella the squib."

"Squib?"

"Squib."

"Quite appropriate – I always thought you were a walking satire of corruption and vanity because of your bloody sarcasm," she chuckled. "Your rants about Maggie Thatcher were always brilliant."

"Wicked witch who's not actually a witch?" Fred called from the sofa. We both nodded and laughed.

"If you're real parents can do magic and you can't –"

"Is that why I was kicked out?" I finished for her. "Yeah."

She huffed. "What arseholes."

"Tell me about it, girl," Fred concurred.

"So, wizard, huh?" Zoe said. He grinned in response. "Well, tell me all about it then!"

"Be nice, Fred, I'm sitting right here and won't tolerate any lies about how manly and butch you were as an eleven year old by getting into Hogwarts through battling a giant," I warned, rolling my eyes. I couldn't believe I had almost fallen for that.

He pouted as if I had just rejected him an ice cream cone from the local Mr Whippy van.

"Fred!" Zoe yelled, her finger pointed at Fred's face. "You're Fred?"

He eyed her and nodded slowly. He was awarded with a cushion to the face.

"You're such a shit."

I couldn't help but laugh.

"Oi! That's a bit harsh, chicken shit," he countered.

The instantaneous result of nostrils flaring and teeth grinding had me fearful even though I was not on the receiving end of it. It appeared Fred understood the signs. He gulped. He was in for it now.

It was near midnight when Zoe had left. I sighed and collapsed back onto the sofa.

Scared, dubious, bewildered, excited. Zoe had managed to cover the entire spectrum of emotions in the space of an hour, and then proceeded to probe into wizarding life for the next few. She was identical to an animated child in a zoo, and just like the child her questions were never ending and pinched my mind as fatigue threatened to take over, prevented only from her enquiries.

Hands worked the tense muscles of my calves propped up on the coffee table. More air blew out of my mouth, but this time from blissful relief. Fingers and thumbs pressed into my skin and massaged thoroughly. I felt it travel from my ankles and up to my knees and thighs where they stopped. Fred leaned beside me and kissed my cheek.

"What's there to eat?" he whispered between kisses.

I turned to stare at him to which he grinned toothily until his eyes squeezed shut. "There's Chinese in the kitchen, help yourself."

With a final kiss he jumped up and sorted himself a plate, returning quickly. The sight of chopsticks in his hands held my sleepiness at bay.

Fred attempting to eat with chopsticks was the funniest thing I had ever seen. The sticks separated easily enough, but he couldn't hold them together in one hand without one falling.

"Do you need help?" I asked, although it was less of a sincere offer to help than mockery.

He noticed and squinted his eyes at me. "No, I've got this."

He fumbled with the chopsticks a while longer, my amusement growing. I snatched them out of his hand and used them to pick up a chunk of chicken, all the while detecting his eyes on the arrangement of my fingers around the wooden sticks. After popping the chicken in my mouth I handed him back the chopsticks, but even with my show of using them, he could not successfully hold them together.

Eventually, he stabbed a piece of meat with the end and ate it.

"Stupid sticks," he muttered through his chewing. "How the hell do you do that?"

"Nanny Anne taught me how. It took me weeks to learn to do it properly though," I said, using my fingers to place his own accurately. "Bill had given up and refused to use them, always made sure he had a fork ready before the food came."

Fred's fingers securely holding them, he slowly picked up a noodle and lifted it to his mouth. But the movement was too slow for his liking, and he opted for a fork instead.

"You know, you shouldn't have been so careless with using magic in front of Zoe and then brushing it off," I said when Fred had cleared half of his plate.

"It was only Zoe, and she's your best friend. You trust her, I trust her. If it wasn't her then I wouldn't have been so negligent," he said. "At least now you don't have to hide it from her. And it seems I passed the best friend test…finally."

I smiled. The thought of Zoe knowing about the secret I had hidden from her from the moment I met her lifted the burden on my shoulders. She knew all about the wizarding world now, or what we managed to tell in the few hours we spent with her. She had promised not to tell anyone, including Nate. Would I be able to tell him as well one day? I wasn't sure. Even now I was expecting a Ministry official to pop into the room at any moment.

"How's your family?" I asked, reclining back on the sofa once more with my knees curled up.

"They're fine, as batty as ever. Why?"

"Can I not ask? You went home and I was just wondering how they were is all."

Fred smiled. "It's not a bad thing. I just never expected them to be important enough to be on your mind. It's not like many others girls care."

"I'm not like many other girls, am I? And I love your family. They're wonderful. Sod all your other exes."

He licked the remnants of sauce and crumbs from the plate before placing it down on the coffee table.

"I don't care if you've never had a Chinese before, you are such an animal," I chuckled, feeling Fred wrap his arms around me and his head rest on my shoulder.

"I've never actually had any exes meet my family, if you could call them that. I never liked them much anyway, but mum always found out somehow and hounded me about it when I got home and was single and free."

"Single and free? What are you now – detained?"

His lips pressed against the skin of my neck. "Of course, only I have yet to see any handcuffs."

I pushed him off me and sat up, grinning.

"Well then, I'm afraid to disappoint you but there is no such kinkiness in this house," I said solemnly.

"Shame, I was hoping for the whole prisoner experience. Do I at least get a tour of the famous Wood residence?" he asked, wiping away a non-existent tear.

"Really? I'm tired and need to sleeeeeeep!"

"Come on, woman, it won't take a tick, I need to know the area in which I'll be locked up," he urged, pulling me up by my hands.

It had taken far longer than a tick. The first room we ventured into was the kitchen, where Fred insisted on looking through the fridge and helped himself to some coca cola. I hurried through the rest of the rooms, not that there were many, until we reached mine.

As soon as I opened the door Fred made a show of looking around at everything before jumping on the bed facedown.

"Oh, Merlin, this is a good bed," came his voice, garbled from the obstruction of the pillow under his mouth.

"Yes, it is. Now move," I ordered, swatting his leg.

He rolled over and leaned up on his arms. With a raised eyebrow and a smirk, he said: "Or else what?"

"Seriously, Fred, it's late, you should be going home now."

He fell back, extending his arms out. "You know what would make this bed even better? You in it with me."

"You are so annoying."

"It's one of my better qualities."

"Alright, well, I'm off to have a shower and when I'm out I expect you to be gone," I said, grabbing my pyjamas out of my bag and a towel. A chaste kiss was lengthened when his hand held my face to his.

As I reached the door Fred called out. "Hey, what Abi said back in Hogwarts, about your dad, you'll be okay here, won't you?"

"Of course I will be," I assured, although doubt niggled at the back of my mind. I honestly had no idea.

"You want to tell me anything?"

I thought about it for a moment before deciding I was too tired to have this conversation. I shook my head. "Not now. I'll see you tomorrow."

The knobs were quite stiff when I entered the shower from months of disuse, and the water took a while to heat up, but I was able to have a satisfying shower that I spent much of just standing under the spray of water until my hands shrivelled. Leaving my hair wet, I dressed in my pyjamas and stumbled back into my bedroom, making sure to turn all the lights off.

I shut the door and turned on my bedside lamp. Fred was still spread out on my bed, snoring lightly. He looked so peaceful, his red hair tousled and his face clear of any mischief and flirtation. I smiled down at him and softly pushed his hair back. I didn't want to have to wake him but surely his mother would be worried.

"Fred," I whispered into his ear, shaking him lightly. "Fred, wake up."

He shuffled in his sleep, but his eyes remained closed. "Tha you, luff?"

"Fred, your mum's going to be worried, you should apparate home."

He mumbled some more, his face scrunched up and pressing into the pillow. Without looking he lifted his arm and grabbed my hand, pulling me down onto the bed and wrapping himself around me.

"Shleep."

I giggled softly. He was warm and soft and incredibly comfortable, and I was tired. Mrs Weasley would be fine knowing Fred was with me for the night. I would go see her tomorrow and tell her myself. Yes, I'll go to the Burrow and immerse myself into the home life of the Weasleys.

It was stuffy when I woke up in my room, in my home in Ottery, cocooned in an unbearable heat under the thick blanket. It felt like waking up from an afternoon nap in an alien world with no sense of time. My hair tickled my nose, arousing involuntarily twitches. I shoved it away from my face.

The blanket was heavy and stayed put over my fumbling arms and legs, too tangled to push it away orderly.

"Mmmnnn."

I sighed, stalling my movements for a moment. The sheets ruffled and a leg rubbed against mine gently before hooking over it. I tried moving the covers back again.

"Mmmfff, shtop."

The groan made me smile. "Hm?"

"Shleep."

An arm weighed down on top of the blanket and pulled me into the body behind.

"Your hair's in my face," I said, blinking harshly as a few strands fell over it.

He groaned again and nuzzled his face further against the back of my head, his hair still ghosting the skin of my cheek. I sighed louder and shut my eyes, falling back into the body behind. Sounds of morning commuters and shoppers entered through the single glazed windows, accompanied by the singing birds and cars.

"Fred," I said, "I need to get up."

"No you don't," he murmured behind my ear. "Stay."

"I need to pee."

"Later," he pulled me closer.

"How long have we been asleep for? I don't know what time it is and you need to tell your mum where you've been all night."

"Don't care."

I chuckled in spite of myself and felt the uncomfortable tension in my bladder again. "I reeaaallllyyyy need to pee!"

He did not say anything and I could almost feel him smile behind me.

"Fred! Please, I'm desperate."

"Go on then," he said.

"I can't! Let go."

During my fidgeting I must have kicked him, but I didn't dwell on where as he removed his arms and I ran out of bed and to the bathroom.

"I've got a lot to do today, Fred so you had better get a move on. Actually, will I be able to get to see your family sometime today?" I called as I made my way down the stairs and to the kitchen, my stomach growling.

"Or his family can come to you!"

I jumped at George's voice, and only then did I register the smell of eggs and toast. George was seated at the small dining table, a cheeky grin on his face, and standing by the stove was Mrs Weasley.

"Ella, dear!" Mrs Weasley greeted, leaving her post for a moment to give me a hug. "It's so good to see you. I'm sorry to turn up announced so early but when Fred didn't come down for breakfast George told me where to find him. You were still asleep so I thought I'd whip you up something to eat."

"Oh, thank you. You didn't need to," I said, sitting down at the table, trying to ignore George's suggestive winks. "I tried to get Fred to go home last night but he ended up falling asleep and I couldn't move him, I'm sorry."

"Don't you worry, I'll have words with him," she assured, placing a plate of food in front of me. "You just enjoy your breakfast. I'm sure you have lots to do now that you're back home."

I nodded and ate my food quietly, only pausing to kick George in the shin when he made a particularly loud groaning noise. Fred stumbled in not long after, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and stopped as soon as he saw his mother and twin, his eyes widening as big as tennis balls.

"Mum! What are you doing here?"

Instead of the sweet smile she gave to me, she set a glare on Fred, her hands on her hips.

"What am I doing here? The question is, young man, what are you doing here? I expected you to leave yesterday, not sneak out, but to spend all night here without telling me? How irresponsible of you! Especially after what has just occurred in Hogwarts, or did you forget?"

Everyone was silent, as if the thought of Cedric dying by Voldemort was old news and had not happened weeks before. I tilted my head down, recalling the screams, the cries, his pale, lifeless body and empty eyes. How could we forget? And in that statement the full extent to Mrs Weasley's worry showed, the bags under her eyes heavy in the morning light shining through the windows.

"I'm sorry, mum. It won't happen again," Fred apologised, holding his arms out and engulfing his mother in a hug. She patted his back a few times before shoving him away.

"You better be sure it doesn't. Now go and eat. I didn't come over to take you home on an empty stomach."

George whistled as Fred sat down, and the two shared a smirk. I rolled my eyes.

"Mrs Weasley? I was going to visit everyone today and was wondering whether you would you care to accompany me to the bakery today?" I asked.

"Oh, of course! Good thing I brought some of that muggle money Arthur has lying around the house. Perhaps we could visit some of the other stores as well?"

The twins groaned simultaneously and informed their mother they would be going home after breakfast.

The walk to Imogen's Bakery was filled with greetings from the residents of Ottery who I was well acquainted to. It was a lovely morning, the sun bright and sharing it's delicious warmth. Mrs Weasley and I chatted idly about anything that came to mind, her humour refreshing and naivety on all things muggle amusing.

"It's Arthur who goes all gaga over muggle equipment and technology. You know, he's still trying to uncover the purpose of those yellow rubber duck things, has been doing so for years. Just out of curiosity, what are they for?"

She was rightfully disappointed when I told her it was simply an object of entertainment whilst having a bath. She didn't understand it, and neither did I.

"Well, I'm sure Arthur will pick your brain for everything muggle, I hope you won't be too put off by his queries."

The image of Arthur Weasley I had constructed in my mind was all positive and cuddly, and I'm sure his curiosity would only add to that, not detract.

The bakery emitted its usual nostalgic smells of fresh bread and cakes, and just as it used to before my mouth salivated in spite of the hefty breakfast Mrs Weasley had ensured I ate.

There were a couple of customers in the shop, all who went ignored when Imogen saw me.

"Ella!" she squealed, running around the counter to engulf me in a hug. "Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you."

"Hi, Immy," I said. "How have you been?"

"It's always dead boring around here, as usual. Oh, come up to the counter, I need to finish serving. Here, I've got a new cake for you to try."

Mrs Weasley and I ate the slices of cake as Imogen finished serving her customers and then sat down with us. Mrs Weasley offered some suggestions which Imogen scribbled down in her notepad gratefully. The two women chatted on, and soon after Imogen's husband walked in with little Carley swinging in his arms.

"Oh, look at how big she's gotten!" I cooed, tickling her under the chin.

"We're throwing a birthday party for her in a couple of days. You should come – and you too, Molly. It's fancy dress," Imogen said, taking her daughter in her arms and bouncing her on her knee.

"I don't think I'll be able to attend," Mrs Weasley declined. "But I'm sure Ella and my sons, Fred and George, would love to go."

"George! That little rascal. He's your son?"

"Unfortunately," Mrs Weasley nodded, and the two women laughed, falling into tales of the young boy and his devious exploits. Imogen was surprised to hear of him having a twin.

We didn't linger for much longer, soon departing with a goody bag.

Life in Ottery was so simple. All the muggles with their ordinary, daily routines, their worries rarely falling into sinister territory, stress only for exams, bills and deadlines. They were utterly oblivious to an entire other world right beside theirs, a world bordering on the rise of…what? I didn't even know, but the return of Voldemort had my skin crawling and anticipating nothing good.

Instead of joining Mrs Weasley to the Burrow I decided to visit the Brimble's, and hopefully get to visit Nate and the shop.

Returning to work in the shop was as easy as riding a bike after years of desertion, not that I ever could ride a bike, something that always made me embarrassed to admit. Nate had a similar although somewhat diluted reaction to Zoe upon seeing me, and it was just like old times again.

It was the morning of Carley's fancy dress birthday party, and I had only just opened the shop. The streets were rather quiet, still in their opening stages of awakening, so I decided to use this time to clean up and restock.

There was a slight chill in the air that my thin jumper did nothing to protect me from. I shivered, lifting a box of biscuits from the backroom and organising them on the shelf. The bell signalling a customer tinkled, bringing with it an icy breeze.

"Good morning," I called, hurrying my stocking, my back to them. "Typical British weather, eh? Warm one day, cold the next."

"I'm more than happy to help you warm up," the customer said into my ear, so close his breath fanned over the side of my face.

The voice of Stephen Casey.

I turned around, his hands on either side of me, locking me between him and the shelves. His eyes were the same steel grey, hard and intimidating. I gulped, willing a retaliation, but the fear he instilled made my mind jumble and tongue dry.

A smirk played on his lips, and he lifted one hand, moving a strand of hair off my face and behind my ear, his fingers light and rough as it strayed unbearably slowly along my skin.

"Nice to see you again," he whispered, intensifying the surrounding silence. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Why do you care?" I demanded before I even realised my thoughts calming from their frenzy.

Stephen chuckled. "I missed you, my little spitfire."

"I'm not yours."

"Are you not?" he quirked an eyebrow and his hands squeezed my hips. "Whose are you then?"

The look in his eye, the swirling grey around the black pupil like a tornado, glinted knowingly, and I was stumped as to what he was insinuating. Had he seen me and Fred?

"You looked quite wonderful before Christmas, although I couldn't help but feel hurt that you didn't visit and wish me a Merry Christmas," he crooned. "Guess I was on Santa's naughty list seeing as I didn't get my present. Don't you want to know what I wanted?"

No, no I didn't. Whatever it was I knew it was not going to be appealing. My skin prickled at his close proximity and heart thumped harder. I hadn't seen him during my brief stay in the Christmas holidays, but he had obviously seen me. Had it been when I was alone, or when I was with Zoe or Nate?

He answered anyway, leaning in even closer until his lips grazed the skin of my ear. I shuddered. "You, on my kitchen table, wearing a shiny bow. Now that I would have loved to unwrap."

He chuckled at himself and his clever perversion. Bile gurgled from my stomach and up my throat, burning my insides. I was beginning to sweat from fear, or perhaps nerves, maybe both. Stephen wasn't the boogeyman under children's beds, but the psychotic everyday man walking the streets with women. This only made him more dangerous.

"What do you think about my present then? Will I get it?"

"Not even in my worst nightmare," I spat, but my voice came out shaky.

He tilted his head and smiled. "Now, come on, sweetheart, that's not very nice."

I slapped his hand away as it touched my face. "Don't you dare. I'm not afraid of you, you pig."

I was afraid, very afraid, but I didn't want to let on to him just how afraid I was. My face was grabbed tightly in his hand as he brought his own down, so close our noses touched, and just as he had done on our previous encounter, he inhaled sharply.

"God I've missed that. How could you leave without even a goodbye, Ella?" he said, and then to my utter disgust his lips touched mine. "I'll see you around. We've got a lot of catching up to do."

Those steel grey eyes raked over my body as he took steps back, lingering longer on my breasts, he winked. And then he was gone, the tinkle of the bell singing its praises for his departure.