Jess had been acting suspiciously since morning.
That was a conclusion Alisaie arrived at pretty quickly. Really, her friend was making it easy to figure out that something was up.
First of all, Jess wasn't late at their usual meet-up spot, waiting for her when Alisaie left Sherrif's house almost ten minutes earlier than usual. Not that she planned it, but already seeing her friend in her goth get up at the crossing had Alisaie's white eyebrows up and instantly made her suspicious about the brunette's behavior.
She also quickly noticed a light scarf – black-purple – wrapped around Jess's throat. That wasn't so telling since it was getting colder as the weather was tilting toward the chill – and Thancred pointedly warned her that winters tended to arrive here quite early and be on a rather harsh side. (Alisaie was actually looking toward that, to be honest, imagining high, fluffy piles of snow). And though Jess's scarf matched her coat and clothes under it, when she didn't leave it in her locker after they arrived at school, it made Alisaie even more suspicious.
…so did the almost dreamy, distracted look in Jessica's eyes whenever they weren't talking.
Finally, she picked to attack at lunch, when after picking up trays, they settled down by their usual table after exchanging a 'hellos' with girls from the twins' class.
"Okay… spill," she said, raising her eyebrows pointedly after they finished eating, and she wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. The coffee offered in this school's cafeteria was really surprisingly good – especially compared to her previous high school.
"No idea what you are talking about," Jess replied if her gaze carefully staying on the surface of the flavored tea in her own cup. "By the way, my parents would like you to come over for dinner this weekend, Ali. Saturday, if you want to meet my brother."
"Oh…" she blinked, then narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "That's nice, and I would surely like to do that… but are you attempting to change the subject, Jess? What's up with the scarf? And overall… with you today? The looks, sighing, and all that jazz…"
More than ever, she regretted her friend's penance to hide behind her heavy makeup because when Jess finally looked up and met her gaze, she could swear that without it, she would probably be red as a tomato. At the same time, her hand drifted up toward the material wrapped around her throat and set nearly artistically over the collar of her shirt. And as suspicions clarified in her head, Alisaie gasped as her mouth fell open.
"Are you hiding a hickey?!" she lowered her voice, leaning over the table between them.
"Shut up!" Jess hissed, tossing quick looks sideways to ensure no one heard that over the usual noise filling the cafeteria.
"Oh my God, you are?" she bit her lips not to laugh at the utterly mortified expression on her friend's face before Jess dropped her gaze toward her cup again and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Holy fuck, miss Jessica Denson getting all flustered over a freaking…" she trailed off to a chuckle when Jess sent her murderous glare. "Okay, okay… but how?"
"Shouldn't you be asking 'who'?" her friend tossed her a suspicious look, and Alisaie's face nearly split with her grin as she shrugged and leaned back in her seat with a roll of her blue eyes.
"Please… I think only you didn't notice that Gabriel never takes his eyes off you whenever you're in one area," she stated hauntingly. She snickered when Jess gasped, and her dark-lined eyes shot impossibly wide with a funnily shocked expression. She literally froze like a deer in headlights, and Alisaie's grin only grew. "I've been honestly wondering how long it's going to take him to make a move on you since he doesn't strike me as a patient type," she added with another shrug and watched the brunette open her as dark-lined lips move them while no sound escaped and close them with a snap, lowering her eyes to the surface of the table between them. "And you've been a tad too… defensive around him, too."
"I mean…" Jessica cleared her throat awkwardly without looking up. "Ah… um… last night I couldn't focus, and I went out on a patio to watch the stars… and all. Then he showed up out of nowhere… Did you know they can fly…? I mean…" she trailed off and sighed with a glare toward her when Alisaie snickered at her fluster. "Not funny, Ali. I don't know… I mean, it was…"
She decided to take mercy on her and stretched her hand across the table, patting her hand soothingly.
"There, there… Gabriel's an extremely attractive man, Jess. And I'm definitely not going to judge, you know?" she shrugged, leaning back again as her face heated up.
Jess frowned suddenly, and her eyes narrowed suspiciously as her hand moved to that scarf again.
"Wait… you know what he is, so why did you immediately assume that it's a h-hickey and not…?" she looked around and made a quiet, chomping sound that made her snort.
"I might have had a little chat with him," she admitted, then sighed and shook her head when Jess looked completely confused. "In the lair the other day. You know, when Themis pulled you aside to show you those pictographs as we were leaving…?" she grinned when Jessica's mouth dropped open. "Yeah… not a coincidence. I asked him to distract you so I can grill the Pyre about his… staring."
"You didn't!" Jess hissed indignantly, and she grinned even wider in turn.
"Of course I did," she replied softly but with power behind it, leaning forward again. "You're my friend, Jess. Actually, my first best friend, and like you said: considering what he is, I had to make sure what type of a hunger he has for you, yeah?" she smirked when Jess's eyes looked ready to pop out from her head at that. "And you can relax… apparently, they don't eat humans. Themis, I grilled about that later, said that Gabriel's kind take substance only from each other, so his interest in you is obviously only… you know," she wiggled her eyebrows meaningfully and snickered when her friend's makeup lost the battle with the following blush. "And how he looked at you when you weren't looking…? Themis told me to pass to you – if the topic comes up, that is – to pay attention to his… Gabriel's, I mean… eyes, whatever that means," and by the way Jess's eyes widened, she had suspicions that she knew better what that meant than she did. "Ah… he said – I quote – that if they 'shift' you should start considering prospective immortality… It's something about how Pyre finds their match… or so I understand. You know, like with Allag and dreams?"
"Oh…" By this point, Jess's eyes were wide as saucers, and Alisaie bit back a smirk, knowing she hit the jackpot.
Sadly, the bell announcing the end of the lunch break cut that conversation before she could get more details out of Jess, but as they headed to put their trays away on the designed spot, Alisaie made a mental note to grill her about it after classes. All the potential teasing aside, she didn't want anyone 'unwanted' to overhear the topic and somehow spook her friend into deciding to set whatever happened between her and Gabriel into the mistake category. When she had that chat with him, he seemed like a genuinely great guy and definitely interested… plus, she had pretty selfish reasons, too.
Themis told her all that last night, inside the dreamscape, as he explained how the Soul-Bond worked… and the prospective immortality it came in a packet with. So, yeah, she was pretty invested in Jess giving Gabriel a good chance to 'woo' her… or something. Especially as with each passing night – and dream – she was increasingly growing to… like Themis and the idea of accepting his 'claim' – as he called it.
Perhaps… even impatient, as other than that first dream when she didn't exactly understand it wasn't really a dream – he was a perfect gentleman, letting her pick a pace and offering nothing more than his company, lessons about his kind and adorably enamored looks that made her completely… flustered.
It was actually very… interesting, the way he treated her. More than that… as his openness about wanting her was very flattering. Other than most guys she ever knew – or seen acting around girls they were interested in – he was a really fascinating contrast. Perhaps stemming from the fact that both Miqo'te and Allag apparently had no concept of shame – especially when it came down to the ideas concerning their patron Goddess. And the way she saw Raha – and Damon – act around their respective hybrid boyfriends seemed to very much confirm that conclusion. There, in pretty much every look and gesture, was a level of intimacy and affection between them that she was pretty certain she had never witnessed human couples to display – especially in company. And yet… it felt natural and not like something that should be shocking or embarrassing.
The rest of the classes went pretty normal. Jess seemed to relax considerably after that talk, and by the end of the day, they were joking and snickering about the 'guys' in their life and their pros – something that very much felt normal despite the weirdness of what those guys actually were.
The only quite new development was the venom which Gina seemed bent to deliver whenever possible – tossing toward them snide comments and remarks that she barely managed to pretend weren't actually directed at her ever-present adoring besties. The four of them in total sat at the opposite side of the classroom to her and Jess, but whenever they used the teacher's absence to talk, the blonde's voice would carry over with increasingly homophobic bullshit – ironically enough – and Alisaie would snap right back something not very subtly suggesting the real reason why Gina apparently tried to spike up the gossip from three years ago.
The bitch was so obviously jealous it was embarrassing to watch – and by the increasingly uncomfortable looks of their classmates that visibly tried to keep out of the whole thing… Well, she could tell that they were at least starting to get a better idea of what exactly happened there. Which – if she was being honest – was exactly her point in brazenly refuting her remarks.
Since – after thinking about it at length after hearing the whole story and watching Gina's behavior carefully afterward – it was clear that the bitch was still sore. And maybe Alisaie would be tempted to feel sorry for her if the blonde wouldn't act like a total douche toward her friend. If attempting to guess, she would be tempted to say that it looked like, despite the time that passed and the status of a victim that the bitch was apparently using to make herself feel better, the viciousness with which she tended to look toward Jess said enough.
Despite how fucked up it was, apparently, Gina felt like a victim – maybe really believing that somehow Jess had no right to refuse her. Which for her was fucking weird, but she decided that considering the dedication the blonde seemed to exhume in her behavior, if provoked enough, Alisaie was betting she could get her to actually snap and – preferably with enough witnesses – admit what actually went down between them. She knew that Jess long ago gave up trying to clear up the situation, but she hated the unfairness of it.
Perhaps that's why when she left the school ahead of Jess, who headed to the bathroom, her face split into a blinding grin at the sight of a familiar figure leaning against one side of the gate leading to the building. Causing quite a commotion among the girls leaving ahead of her and stopping in not a very well concealed attempt to gape and gush at the tall, handsome Pyre – especially when in this town, seeing an unknown man wasn't exactly that common – Gabriel seemed wholly unconcerned of. Though he definitely wasn't as painfully beautiful as Senri and Ares in their humanoid form, he was still quite a stunner with that longish blonde hair and dark green eyes. Her grin widened, seeing his obvious attempt to appear younger – attire-vise at least – though overall, he was distinctively young-looking. Or at least she wouldn't give him more than twenty years if she hadn't seen him before in his more formal mode.
Now, however, in jeans, black hoodie, running shoes, and smoking with just a tad too bored expression… Alisaie would be ready to say he seemed uncharacteristically nervous – and tried to cover it.
Which – if she was guessing the reason behind his impromptu visit correctly – was really fucking cute!
…and gave her a downright evil idea when she spotted Gina and their other classmates near the gate on the inside plaza in front of the school, like everyone else, gawking at Gabriel when one of her cronies – a brunette cheerleader named Bianca, who was always far, far too sure of herself – swaggered away from their group, clearly intending to introduce herself and hit on the Pyre… and just out of curiosity, Alisaie stayed back, interested in what's going to happen as the idea in her head slowly took shape…
It's fucking stupid, Gabriel hissed internally, barely keeping back a grimace when a playful giggle rang through his head.
Trust me, little brother, Roxy replied, taking far, far too much amusement in his circumstances. I watched enough of teen drama to know how to get you points with your little lady. Be your charming self and offer to walk her home.
He rolled his eyes and swore under his breath, now really regretting asking her for advice last night. He took a last drag of his cigarette, tossed it down, and stomped it with his boot a little too hard, then popped bought on the way cinnamon gum in his mouth and shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans. After last night it was probably his new favorite flavor…
He almost groaned out loud when with the thought of it, his mind promptly dived into a gutter, not that it needed any extra incentive for it a whole fucking day long.
He definitely didn't plan any of it. Not really. Last night he felt fucking restless, not to mention that while all the shapeshifters and their charges settled down for the night, for him, it was his time of the day, pushing his energy levels and instincts into overdrive. Still without any news or new orders from Raphael, he had no distractions from the insistent thoughts about his goth spitfire and the suspicious hunger her proximity made burn in his veins.
That eventually made him climb to float under the stars and cave, asking his sister for advice. While he spent most of his time traveling after Roxanne and her mate settled down, she had far more experience with watching the members of their House find their fated match – and how exactly that worked. And considering what he learned… it was almost worth the very obvious amusement and excitement Roxanne didn't even think to hide at the idea he – perhaps – found his… match.
Well, nothing 'perhaps' about that now, considering what happened… but it didn't change the fact that he felt really fucking nervous and… didn't really deal well with that.
The hunger and the burn are pretty self-explanatory, Gabe, his sister supplied last night in a very matter-of-fact tone, he was quite honestly thankful for while he was sure she would tease him about that mercilessly – especially after he never missed a chance to make fun of the way she sometimes acted around her husband. To put it bluntly, your 'system' is preparing itself for the blood exchange necessary to turn her. How does that work, I don't think I need to explain, yeah?
Indulge me, he replied wryly, mostly to have a clear image of what to expect.
Alright, he could hear her eyes rolling, but thankfully she kept a serious tone. Hunger, as you know, is the real indicator of the… match. Now that we know a tad more about it, I suppose you can say that Nox based that on the pheromones – making us especially sensitive to Her pick. The burn, like I said, is your body readying itself for the mating – regardless of your or your match's readiness – so in case wooing her might take a while, depending on circumstances, you might experience extreme temperature spikes whenever in her proximity. The… lust would also get quite intense, especially as time passes without consuming the bond, so that's something to keep in mind. Also, the fact that anywhere near her, your body would literally pump the air around with pheromones to work as a lure – and you can't really do anything to combat that… quirk. Nox definitely didn't intend to be subtle when designing that, she added wryly, and he couldn't help but grin. Ah, and keeping up your human front might be challenging. And I mean the whole packet, Gabe, both eyes and the fangs. And, again, the lust is REALLY intense – I'm not exaggerating in the slightest, but when faced with her – or his – arousal and corresponding pheromones, it gets… so much worse. It feels like you're starving for her... and both to turn an fuck her.
Oh, my, sister, the language of love you're spewing is so romantic, he couldn't help but snark in turn.
Don't be a smartass, Gabe, she laughed. YOU wanted an explanation, and you know I hate beating around the bush. Anyway, if your lady love decides she would like to be your eternal girlfriend – as I believe they call it these days – you give her a good portion of your blood. When she develops a set of fangs to match soon after, you exchange blood until she has none of the human's left in her system, which triggers the full turn into a Pyre. The Bond snaps in place at that point, letting you share each other's blood and minds. Questions, brother?
Nah, not really, he replied then, his gut tightening unpleasantly with the reminder of what happened to humans if you fucked up any of those steps. A failed experiment in that was what led them to meet Raphael and his older sister to turn into Pyre.
…all because Roxy always had an uncanny knack for sensing trouble – while he had one to find them.
Then, it seemed like fate – suspiciously – that somehow during that chat, he didn't notice drifting over the human town, and when he registered his surroundings and attempted to course correct before anyone could spot him hovering in the air under the bright round plate of the moon… spotting Jess sitting at the patio behind one of the houses shouldn't really surprise him.
Like Roxy said: Nox definitely wasn't very subtle about Her designs when this particular part of their nature was involved. After once asking Raphael about it after witnessing a particularly obvious set of circumstances leading to one member of their House meeting her match, the original Pyre laughed and stated that Nox bestowed that task – leading them to their intended Bond-Mates – to Her daughter, Ker, the Primordial Goddess of Destiny, who apparently had a very little patience in it. Gabriel remembered watching once the old human movie called 'Final Destination', and though that flick was meant to be a horror, he was quite laughing himself sick throughout it, thinking that those who invented it accidentally got a quite accurate guess on Ker's take on Her tasks.
And though he landed with nothing more on his mind than to tease Jess about her apparently nocturnal habits… Well, it escalated quickly, as humans say.
…and left him only craving more – actually almost thankful that Jess's father appeared when he did, because if he wouldn't…
He used to think he knew what desire felt like, especially since he was hardly inexperienced. He was over three hundred years old, for fucks sake! Not that it appeared to matter any, as one taste of her turned him into a fucking mess.
And those pheromones were really not a joke either.
In all of their previous encounters, Jess apparently wore some kind of perfume that worked to cover her own scent – or at least that was the only logical explanation his stupefied brain arrived at when he sat on those stairs next to her, and the first real whiff of it – her unmasked scent or perhaps the aroma of blood rushing through her veins as her heartbeat spiked instantly – felt like a punch in the gut. It tasted sweet like a caramel, setting off that burn inside him to a wholly new, uncharted level, and suddenly he couldn't think of anything but finding if she tasted like that too.
And, Nox, but she tasted better… Caramel tinged with the cinnamon flavor of the tea she was drinking. He was always a sucker for sweet, he knew that, but that combination was definitely a swift road into addiction. Not to mention that after the initial surprise and despite the obvious inexperience… she was a fire in his hands and more.
The mix of innocence and brazen teasing, how she responded to him… all of her drove him completely out of his mind.
So, yeah, he was almost thankful her father showed up because if she was a virgin – as he was pretty sure she was – he definitely didn't want her first time to take place on a patio behind her house, but considering how he reacted to her… he wasn't sure if he could help himself.
When earlier she appeared only irritable and guarded around him, last night Jess was so fucking soft and sweet in his arms that it went straight to his head… and his dick. All the other 'symptoms' were there, no doubt about it, if he was still more than a tad blown away when she didn't freak out at the sight of his fangs – instead going all 'dizzy-looking' at the sight of his eyes.
That, more than anything else, sealed the deal for him – the fact his 'starry' eyes made the appearance. They never did – even when he had to feed on rare occasions. Only the 'original' Pyre had the eyes out at all times, making their blending in with humanity a tad difficult. Human-turned-Pyre had them only for the first week after they had been turned, and then their eyes reverted back to their human appearance. From the Bonded members of their House, he heard that their eyes were prone to 'shift' during sex with their destined mates, but for obvious reasons, he never experienced that himself… until last night, apparently when the self-control that he was actually quite proud of went right out of the window with the way Jess's body downright sang for him. Her scent, sounds, and taste were pure aphrodisiac – and the flushed look of the mix of surprise and pleasure on her face when she came…
Fuck, but it's getting hot, he groaned internally, narrowing his eyes on his boots as he fought to get his thoughts – and body's reaction – under control as his temperature spiked and breath sped up. That wasn't as much of an issue as the way his incisors itched, threatening that his fangs were about to elongate. Running his tongue over them, he was quite honestly startled at the sudden, slightly squeaky voice beside him.
"Hey, handsome," said a girl with dark-brown hair when his surprised gaze swiveled toward her, and catching his stare, she fluttered her long, fake-looking lashes at him with a smile she likely considered attractive. For him, it looked fucking awkward and as fake as her lashes… but hey, he quite literally was spoiled with seeing quite a considerable amount of extremely beautiful men and women in his long, long life. Both human and Other – so he thought himself quite immune, especially with the time he spent around both Raphael and Ares and their unnatural perfection. He personally didn't really have a preference between male and female lovers… well, until last night, too. Now apparently, he was one hundred percent Jess-sexual, but since this kid made him quite amused with her idea of flirting, he let his lips curve into a smirk, not to snort at her expense. "Never saw you in our town before."
"I'm visiting friends," he replied quite honestly, watching all the obvious signs of her interest. It was almost like watching a live version of whatever tutorial she had read or seen about 'how to use your charms to attract a male's gaze.' Hair twirling, pushing her breasts forward with her pose, biting her lips… it was all freaking funny to watch overall if, at some level, he was also wondering if guys her age were falling for that. Probably? He scarcely remembered being a human teenager anymore, not to mention that times were different, and he – in particular – was a very, very different person then than most teens were these days.
Looking at her made him feel quite old, to be honest. Or, to be more precise – looking at her generation in general. They scarcely knew how good they had it most of the time, busy with their… teen drama, as Roxy called it when he was quite a bit younger than this girl as he learned the painful lesson of how brutal humanity was to those less privileged.
Growing up poor on the streets of London wasn't for the meek – and you either learned to survive or it chewed you out. He was what? Thirteen when they met Raphael, and by then, he stole and lied with the best of them. Killed, too, at least two assholes by that point?
"Friends?" the girl chirped, and suddenly her squeaky intonation rubbed his nerves the wrong way, making his smirk turn into a sneer.
"Sorry, love, not interested," he said in a bored tone, looking toward the big building behind her.
"Ah… you're British?" she giggled, and his expression fell completely as he narrowed his eyes back at her after spotting a familiar, white-haired figure among the teenagers leaving the school and pushed away from the pillar of the gate. He didn't realize his accent slipped, which only aggravated him more. "My name is Bianca, and if you would like a tour…"
"Which part of 'I'm not interested' you're not getting, kid?" he sighed and shook his head, then walked around the brunette and, freeing his hands from the pockets, headed toward Alisaie, scanning the crowd around her for his spitfire. Not seeing her, he frowned at the sight of amusement in the girl's blue eyes when he stopped in front of her and tilted his head. "Hey, Levellieur. Did you happen to misplace someone?" he drawled, because, yeah… like Roxy, he wasn't fond of beating around the bush. And now that he did notice how everyone around them seemed to gape at him instead of dispersing toward their homes? Feeling like some sort of an exotic animal wasn't exactly sitting well with his aggravation.
…thinking about his human life did tend to spike his temper, and interacting with humans did tend to cause it.
"Nah, Jess should be right behind me," Alisaie replied, then raised her eyebrows and smirked. "In a lovely scarf, I might add, she refused to part with the whole day. And, it's nice to see you, Gabriel, if a tad… surprising."
The scarf…? Ah… That cheered him up instantly, and he looked toward the door of the building over her head impatiently. He wouldn't admit to Jess that these 'hickeys' were a… distraction from the nearly painful urge to bite her instead… but he definitely didn't mind how they looked on her pale skin. That also let him finally understand the Miqo'te's tendency to visibly mark their mates… And she was covering it? Well, something to remedy, and quickly.
"I've been told that it would be… appreciated to offer my company to walk her home," he admitted, smiling sheepishly toward the girl and looking over her head again.
"Gabriel…?" Alisaie suddenly moved closer to him and lowered her voice. When he frowned and looked at her suddenly serious expression, she raised her hand, curled her fingers in the material of his hoodie, and pulled meaningfully until he lowered his head to let her whisper against his ear. She, similarly to Jess, was quite a bit shorter than him, if taller than his intended mate by perhaps an inch or two. "Listen…Do you want to earn real points with Jess?"
"Duh," he chuckled, keeping his eyes on the open door, and grinned, seeing the girl he was waiting for exit them, then adorably startle with an owlish look on her face as she spotted him and her friend. "There she comes…"
"Ah… no time to explain, but do you mind acting extra lovey-dovey with her?" Alisaie whispered rapidly, then pulled back and grinned, winking at him. "Trust me, okay?"
Well… Jess did really strike him as one to be that much into a PDA. Still, the glint in Alisaie's blue eyes before she turned and waved her friend, who for a moment looked ready to bolt in the opposite direction, suggested that there was some kind of a story behind that suggestion…
"Hey… Um…" That owlish look was still there when Jess stepped off the short staircase and joined them, looking at him very much as if not for that heavy makeup… he would bet she was blushing as fierce as last night without it. Especially when her green eyes darted toward his mouth as he straightened to his full height, then grinned something wicked and moved toward her around Alisaie. "Gabriel… what are you…?"
"Missed me, darling?" he caught her chin in two fingers and tilted her head, leaning in to brush his lips against hers, which dropped open as her eyes grew wide as saucers and her hands shot up to take a grip in his hoodie. And that look of surprise and pleasure in her eyes, with a deep breath of her caramel scent… "I certainly did," he growled softly as his hand drifted to the back of her neck, tangling into the black-purple strands and keeping her in place as he dove in for another taste, as intoxicating as last night.
And when she whimpered under his lips, opening up for him and wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer… made him barely register the hand slapping against his shoulder.
"Think that enough," Alisaie snickered, and he pulled back with effort, tossing her – as the crowd around them a displeased glare – even as he wrapped his arms around his mate… ekhem, intended mate, and pulled her closer, a tad using her body to cover the effect she had on his.
"God…" Jess muttered but didn't move away, hiding her face against his chest… which was too fucking cute for words. He chuckled, running his fingers through her hair as he tossed a grinning Alisaie quizzical look.
"Some been thinking that we're dating," she shrugged, then rested her hand on her hips and looked pointedly toward a group of girls their age near the gate. He frowned, following her gaze, seeing not only that that brunette that annoyed him was there, but one of the others, a tall blonde, glared back at him.
"Huh?" he hummed with confusion, looking between the weird girl and Alisaie's smirk. "And that's why that blonde seems ready to tear my head off…?"
"Nah," Alisaie's grin widened as she raised her voice and tossed a glare right back at the blonde. "That bitch just likes to pretend to be a victim by claiming that Jess long ago tried to kiss her… when it was the other way around. And, as you see, she can't get a clue," the outrage in her voice sounded as real as how her grin turned into a snarl.
"Alisaie, enough…" Jess sighed, pulling back from him and staring at her friend with a resigned smile when the people around them started to mutter between their groups. Then she tossed him a killer shy look from under her lashes and bit her lower lip. "Sorry… That has nothing to do with you, Gabriel, and I don't want to get you involved in that whole… mess."
"Darling, everything that involves you has to do with me," he chuckled, running his thumb over her lip as his heart apparently decided to lose its rhythm with how true those words were. He used to tease his Pyre peers about how fucking smitten they acted around their mates, and, yeah – karma was a bitch, as they say. Because when Jess smiled that sweet, shy way at him, then buried her face against his chest again… He felt like a fool sending a stupidly triumphant grin across the plaza toward that blonde – that seemed to piss her off even more – but, hey, as his sister always said: love makes the fools of us all.
And he was learning – quickly – that he didn't mind looking foolish if that put a smile on his mate's face.
