Even yet still another IC post...

[littlegoth]

I lay in bed replaying the whole situation with Alex, trying to figure out what else could have been going on, and how he could have followed me home without me seeing him, but the long night and stress had other plans before me. I was woken up about five hours later by Mom knocking on my door. She sounded worried and when I called for her to come in the door opened and I could see her expression was more than just worried.
“Honey, Chaz told us about your fight,” she started, but when she noticed that I was in bed she walked over and sat beside me and began to untangle my hair with her fingers.
“Mom, nothing happened,” I told her. I closed my eyes and shifted so my head was on her lap. I loved the feeling of her playing with my hair. “I went out and forgot my phone. I went to the park and sat on the swings. I was having a pity party for one.”
“What was wrong sweety,” she asked, and part of me really wanted to tell her, but I guessed that Chaz or Joanie put her up to it.
“Honestly? I was just in a bad mood and needed to get out and away.”
“That’s all,” she asked, and she sounded a little surprised. I knew that Chaz and Joanie were behind the questions now.
“Yeah, that’s all Mom. You know how it is,” I told her, keeping my eyes closed. I knew if I opened them she’d know there was more, but I buried my face in her lap and let her work the snarls out.

We sat like that in silence for a long time, then she tapped my shoulder and I opened my eyes to look at her.
“Let me braid it, and then we can meet everyone for lunch,” she said quietly. I looked into her eyes that were so like mine and nodded. For a moment I think I could see that she was as tired as I was, but she’s the queen of wrapping things away and that was gone. I sat up and she got a comb from the bathroom and some hair ties. She braided my hair as if it was time to go dancing and when she was done she smiled at me.
“Get dressed in something nice honey, I’ll be waiting downstairs,” she told me as she headed back to the door. She closed it behind her and for a few heartbeats I felt guilty for not telling her everything, but I pushed that all away before I changed my clothes and headed out to find her waiting by the door. She was on her cell and she was talking quietly. I could tell she was annoyed about something but when I got close she held up her finger to tell me to wait.
“Fine, you can tell her when we meet you for lunch,” she said and snapped her phone shut.
“Tell me what,” I asked.
“The pack thinks you need a keeper,” she said with a frown. She opened the door and waved her hands so that I’d move out the door. When we had made it through she closed the door and locked it. She pressed the button on her keys and we got into the car.
“I think it’s stupid,” I told her after we were buckled and she was pulling out of the driveway.
“I told Chaz that,” she said. I stared at my mom for a minute with my mouth open. This was the first time she ever stood up to him since the change and it caught me by surprise. “He argued that you were too young and since you’re just a normal human you’re more fragile. He said that you needed to be protected from everything else. I told him that I love you just as much as he does, but if we were to do that to you, you’d just run off and leave your keeper behind and possibly get into more trouble. I also told him that there’s nothing wrong with being a human.”
I still didn’t have any words for my mom and I stared at her. When she pulled up to a stoplight she turned and looked at me and smiled.
“I think that’s the reason you went out. I saw Chaz’s computer and I know that all three of them leave you behind or hide you. I also know that all your normal friends have been busy and you never had that many you hung out with anyway. I figured it out, and I’m hoping that Chaz, Joanie, and Micah figure it out too.”
“You’re right Mom,” I said quietly. “I am tired of being the odd man out. Each one of them is so special and here I am, the china doll that they lock in the cabinet. Only taking me out to show me occasionally, but never letting me do anything.”
“Oh honey,” Mom exclaimed as the car in front of her took off and she started moving as well. “It’s not that… It is that bad, isn’t it. Dad and I have been so worried about you after we’ve seen Chaz come home all beaten up, Joanie off in college or busy with other things, and with Micah being a model we expected it to be rough, but I thought we were doing the right thing by protecting you.”
“I guess in some ways you are, but that doesn’t mean I’m not tired of it,” I replied. I could hear the sulkiness in my voice and I hated myself for it. “Listen, just drop it. I don’t need Chaz getting upset with you as well as me. I appreciate your listening.”
“Anytime honey, that’s what I’m here for,” she told me while reaching out and stroking one of the braids in my hair.

A few quiet minutes later we pulled up outside the restaurant and Chaz and Joanie were waiting by the door. We joined them and made small talk for a few minutes before Dad pulled up. Dad bounced up to us talking about something at work and we all listened, most of us were smiling and laughing when Micah’s driver pulled up. He opened his door and his agent was yelling at him from the back seat as he got out and closed the door in the man’s face. Micah smiled apologetically and wrapped his arm around me and we headed in to eat.

There was tension, but mostly it was like a large family getting together and having a fun meal. It almost felt like everything was normal. Only a few times did something slip, but it was quickly glossed over and the light chit-chat and disagreements on the merits of a show or book was in full swing.

Dad looked at his watch and sighed. Made a few excuses and stood up to leave. Chaz walked him to his car and Mom became serious. She looked at Joanie who was watching Chaz and Dad in the parking lot and said something about coming to the bathroom with her and they got up and headed to the back of the restaurant leaving Micah and me alone.
“Well then,” I said with a laugh, and when he turned and looked at me, I knew I was going to be lectured again. I began to scowl and shook my head. “Don’t start. We had a good meal and it was pleasant. Don’t destroy that.”

“I was going to tell you I liked your hair like that,” he said.

“Liar,” I replied. “Haven’t you gotten it that I can see through your lies?”

“Ouch, you strike me to the core,” he exclaimed quietly, putting his hand over his heart. “Ok, honestly? Last night scared me, really, REALLY scared me. Chaz, Joanie, and the pack think you need a keeper. I don’t know what to think.”

I just shook my head and continued frowning at him.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, dropping his gaze to the mostly eaten plate of food sitting in front of him. “I don’t know what would happen to me if something happened to you.”

“I’m not a doll to be taken out when you all have time to play with me,” I said quietly. “I’m a person, and I should be allowed to live.”

“No one ever said you’re not going to be allowed to live,” Micah said looking back up at me.

“Micah, I’ve been on the receiving end of a keeper before. As much as I like Manny, or any of the others in the pack, it’s not fun. They’re can be more ass-tight than your agent.”

“Ouch,” Micah replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, Ouch,” I said shaking my head. “All of you need to understand that I’m just a normal person...”

“That’s the problem,” Micah interrupted.

“What the heck do you think is going to happen to me Micah,” I asked, anger leeching into my voice.

“That you’ll be taken like I was, or that one of the monsters your brother tells me about will find you and take you and twist you up,” he replied quietly, moving the food around with his fork.

I instantly felt sorry for being so angry, but when I turned my head to say something to him when Chaz came back in and sat down. He seemed to sense the mood and didn’t say anything but instead shoveled a few more bites of food into his mouth. Joanie came back with Mom shortly after that and Mom looked rattled.

“How about you give me a ride back to the house Mrs. Borean,” Micah said, breaking the tense silence at the table. “I think that Luna mentioned some school work she needed to finish and when she’s done we can play some videogames.”

I looked up and saw Chaz smiling at Micah, but when he saw my expression he looked at Joanie and placed his hand over hers. “Joanie has more work to do as well and I should get back to work. Since you made breakfast, how about I make dinner, huh Luna?”

“Whatever,” I replied.

“Mom, I’ll text you the ingredients I need and you can let me know what I need to pick up on the way home,” said Chaz as he got up and pushed his chair in.

“Ok,” she said. “I’ll take care of the check. I’ll see you in the car Luna, Micah. I’ll see you soon Chaz. Are you going to join us for dinner Joanie?”

“Sure, Mrs. Borean,” Joanie replied, standing up and following Chaz out the door.

Micah and I were left sitting at the table alone again and he reached out and took my hand.
“Come on, let’s go. We can cuddle or play a game after your homework is done.”

The next few weeks were exhausting, boring, and frustrating for all of us. Those few pack members who were stuck watching me, Joanie, Micah, and my parents were all sick of each other. Chaz finally gave up and told them that I wasn’t going to be any more trouble. That was after him barging into my room at two in the morning soaked in sweat and blood, small lines healing all over his skin.

“You’re not going to go running off without your phone again,” he hissed in my face.

“What the hell Chaz,” I mumbled woken from a deep sleep. My head was spinning and I felt like I was going to throw up. “I didn’t mean to forget it the first time, but I promise to check my pockets before I go out.”

“You don’t get it,” he said sitting on the edge of my bed and shaking me awake. “You don’t know what is out there.”

“Good lord Chaz, I’ve seen your injuries and I’ve heard your tales. I’ve even heard Joanie’s, Micah’s, Manny’s, and Bane’s. I made a mistake and forgot my phone. Heck, the guy even asked if he could walk me home to protect me.”

“You didn’t tell me that,” he growled.

“I told Micah, I’m surprised he didn’t tell you. Maybe he didn’t think it was important,” I reply stifling a yawn. “Listen, I don’t know what else to say or do Chaz. You’re not going to trust me from my words, so why are you in here making my night miserable?”

“Because,” he growled, and I could hear the annoyance in the growl. “Because you’re my baby sister and I love you.” He grabbed me then and hugged me close. The smell of his sweat and blood made me gag but I hugged him back. When he let me go the tension in his expression wasn’t gone, but it was reduced. “Promise me you’ll remember your phone and try to be in as close to dark as possible. If you’re out later you’ll let someone know where you are. Promise me.”

I stared at him for a moment and then, seeing that he was serious I nodded. “I promise Chaz. I promise that I’ll keep my phone with me and let you all know where I am if I’m out late.”

“That’s a good little sister,” he rumbled, stroking my hair back and standing to leave the room. He made it about ten steps before he fell asleep, leaving me to wake up and half drag his heavy self into his room and toss him on his bed. The next morning when he woke up he barged into my room without knocking and stood staring at my bed. He seemed confused when he saw the bloodstains on my coverlet and nightshirt.

“What now,” I grumbled.

“I came in here last night,” he asked me, looking totally confused.

“You did, woke me up and told me you loved me and hugged me and made a mess. You didn’t even make it to your own damned room before passing out.”

“What?! You’re kidding me, right,” he said, his voice rising.

“I wish,” I replied, yawning. “You passed out right there,” I told him while pointing to another small bloody streak on my floor. “You also told me if I promised to keep my phone on me you’d call off the babysitters. I made my promise, you need to keep yours.”

He growled at me and stomped out of the room, I heard the shower start up and decided to get up for the day. By the time he was downstairs for breakfast, I was getting ready to head out the door. He stopped me and turned me to face him. “I remembered while I was in the shower. I’ll make the calls today.”

“Thanks Chaz,” I said. “I need to head to school, ok?”

“Let me give you a ride.”

“Fine,” I said, moving back to the table and waiting while he threw together a PB&J for his breakfast. He ate the whole thing in less than three bites and put his jacket on and ushered me out the door.

In the car he didn’t say much, but kept looking over at me as if he was trying to figure something out.

“What,” I snapped.

“You said the guy asked if he could walk you home,” he said.

“Yeah, he said the night was dangerous and asked if he could walk me home to protect me. I told him no and waited until he was gone before I left,” I replied. I was curious as to why he was asking, but I waited. If Chaz was going to tell me, it wouldn’t have been because I pestered him.

“You said… You said you talked about hunting,” he mumbled.

“Yeah, I told him he looked like a predator, he told me as people we were all predators. He asked if I ate meat and if I ever tried to get a boyfriend. He said something like ‘have you ever looked for a boy you like?’ or something. He told me that those were predatory traits,” I told Chaz with a shrug. “He was right too, I just had never thought of it like that I guess.”

“Yeah,” Chaz said, staring at the road for a good minute in silence. We were pulling up in front of the school when he turned to look at me. Someone must have waved at him because he bared his teeth and waved his hand, but his eyes never left mine. “Why did he say he was there?”

“Uhhh,” I stared at Chaz and tried to remember. Then that part of the conversation came back to me, I could hear his soft voice. “Something about needing to be around someplace happy, that there weren’t enough happy places in the city, also that he was lonely, and… uhh… that he was tired of talking to people with motives. Something like that. Why?” I couldn’t stand the questions anymore; I had to know what was going through Chaz’s brain.

“I’m just trying to understand why another OTHER would have talked to you, what the motivation was.”

“I tend to believe him when he said he was lonely,” I replied. “He looked lonely. Yeah, he was a bit creepy, but Raoul is creepy too.”

“Blackfang isn’t creepy,” Chaz replied quickly, but after he saw my expression he stopped. “Ok, maybe he’s a little intense, but not… Yeah, I can see how you’d think he was creepy.”

I started laughing, and he did too. It felt good to have him on my side again, and when I got out of the car he called after me that he’d pick me up and we could go get some custard or something. I waved at him and headed into school.

Classes were uneventful, Micah’s fan club accosted me again, pulling the whole ‘You’re not good enough for him,’ crap that they always pull. The few friends I had that were normal were either out sick or just mentally absent. The only bonus is that the teachers all seemed to decide that it was a slacker day and no one assigned any real homework. Lots of reading, a few questions to answer, even my calc class only had 5 problems that were pretty easy. When the last bell of the day rang, I was in fairly high spirits and when I went outside looking for Chaz, I was greeted with something that made my heart sink. Joanie was in the car with him and both of them looked grim. I kept my smile on my face and walked to the car. I could tell they were arguing and I didn’t like it, but when I got closer they both shut up and put on fake smiles.

“Heya,” I said while climbing into the back seat. “We still going for custard Chaz? I was thinking of trying the new Blueberry Cheesecake flavor that people have been talking about. I bet Joanie is going to get Cinnamon again.”

“We’re not going for custard,” Chaz said quietly, the smile melted from his face and the car started moving before I could get buckled.

“What’s up then guys,” I asked, looking at Joanie more than Chaz.

“I think I know who your… friend was Luna. If so, you’re in real danger,” she said seriously.

“Can we drop this now,” I breathed. I was so sick of this, just one mistake and it felt like I was going to have to spend the rest of my life in a safe house.

“There’s this mage who’s been asking about you Luna. He knows about the rest of us and his eyes have been on you. He thinks that maybe you should be schooled in the arts, that we should try and drag you over. His name is Alexi Midromov and he’s dangerous. He’s broken more than a few people trying to force an awakening, and when I say broken I mean it. A few have killed themselves, at least one is in a permanent vegetative state, and quite a few others are in mental wards screaming themselves hoarse about the nightmares they’ve seen,” Joanie says quietly. I can hear the fear and revulsion in her voice and I understand why they’ve been so scared.

“Listen, keeping the babysitting squad on me isn’t going to keep him away. Neither is depriving ourselves custard,” I say with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood in the car. “Let’s get a few burgers and some custard and we can eat it at home and try and figure out a game for keeping me safe and contained.”

“Luna,” Joanie begins, obviously unmoved by my desire for custard and my attempt at making them smile, but Chaz interrupts. “Sounds like a plan. I was looking forward to Custard, and if we pick up enough then Mom and Dad won’t have to worry about dinner tonight and maybe we can get Micah to drop his ‘after shoot’ party and come over and join us. Between the four of us we should be able to figure something out.”

Joanie scowls at Chaz, but he’s already adjusted his destination and we’re in the drive through line. He orders and orders food, and I can tell the person who’s taking the order is a little confused, but he tells us the total and when Chaz pulls around to pay the kid handing over the food looks a little shocked at the quantity compared to the number of people present. Joanie grumbles when multiple bags are set in her lap but she sticks her hand in and fishes out a few fries, passing one back to me and sticks one in Chaz’s mouth while he’s getting his change. She blows on her fry for a bit before taking a bite and I can tell by the way she’s eating that she’s thinking of what she’s going to say next.

When we get home, Mom is gone and a note is on the fridge telling us that she and Dad have some party tonight, and will probably take the rest of the weekend to visit friends who have flown in from Paris. Chaz seems vexed, but since he was 16 and had his license and a part time job they were doing things like that. Joanie looks worried, and after the two of them pass Chaz’s phone back and forth like mad for about 15 minutes while shoveling food in their mouths like they’ve not eaten for weeks there’s a knock at the door and Micah walks in. He seems harried and he sits heavily at the table, pulling a burger and fries over and unwrapping things.

“My agent would freak if he knew the crap I ate while I was with you,” he said as he lifted the burger to his mouth and took a big bite. Chaz and I laughed a little and Joanie scowled at the whole lot of us.

“This isn’t funny Micah, I’m serious when I say I think it might have been Alexi,” she snaps, setting her burger down and leaning over the table. “Alexi is dangerous and tricky.”

“I know he is,” Micah replies quietly. “I’ve asked around and his name is known even in my circles. However, we need to be calm about it, and my agent would indeed freak out if he saw what I was eating.”

“Joanie,” I say while leaning over to look at her. “I take this seriously, but sometimes we need a laugh. It eases the tensions and makes talking about the situation easier. Finish your burger and then tell us what you can, ok?”

She nods and picks her burger back up, fishing out a pickle and letting it fall to the paper in front of her. She takes a few bites and looks around the table at all of us and shakes her head. She finishes her food, including a few scoops of custard, before we do and proceeds to stalk around the kitchen while she waits for the rest of us. When everyone is done we clean up and head to the living room to talk. Joanie can’t seem to stay sitting, and by the time she starts talking she’s infected us all with her nervous energy.

“Alexi was considered a genius for a while,” she says, but then she pauses and sighs. “He’s still a genius, but he’s slipped from revered to feared. He lived here in Chicago for a while, moved away for some reason and only came back last year. When he got back, he started talking about the things he had learned while traveling. He told anyone who listened that he discovered a way to awaken anyone. There was a good bit of argument about it. Some were anxious to get him to help them awaken loved ones, others wanted to learn so they could awaken all the sleepers, but a few thought it sounded too good to be true.
“He had people bringing normal people to him night and day, and he then started to offer week long getaways for those who wanted someone changed. He told people it was easier to do it slowly and if people thought they were on vacation they’d relax and make the process even more easy. So he scheduled the vacations and had them in an older building on the north side of town. Mages would drop off people and then come back a week later to find that only one in twenty actually made it through the process intact. At that point it was too late. He wrote letters explaining that the reason people weren’t making it was because they weren’t educated enough about what they were becoming. He had excuses galore, and people bought them, after he had about 60 unsuccessful attempts under his belt the leaders took him aside and told him he had to stop with the vacations and the mass attempts. I heard that they told him to stop completely, but others heard that he was still allowed to work on individuals that met some exacting standards,” she says with a sigh and she sits down. She looks around at all of us and throws her hands up dramatically. “Luna, he’s been looking at you for a while now,” she shouts. “According to the rumors he feels like you’d be the perfect one to change to show he was right.”

I look at Chaz, who shrugs at me and nods to Joanie. I turn and look at Micah who looks as if he’s about to turn green.

“You mentioned that they end up in the hospital or dead,” I say quietly. “But do some just walk away as if it never happened?”

“Only about ten were able to recover completely that we know of,” Joanie replies. “Only about four actually were completely awakened. The rest were partially awakened and went mad from it. Some killed themselves in their madness.”

We all sat silently for a while, letting her words soak in. Micah pulled me close and Chaz became the one who paced around. Finally I couldn’t stand the silence anymore.

“What are we going to do about it then,” I asked.

“I’ve put in a request for a hold on his activities and if he makes any overt moves, I’ll petition for some kind of sanctions,” Joanie replied calmly. “There are certain procedures that need to be followed.”

Chaz growled and stopped his pacing. “I’m going for a walk,” he said before storming out of the house. Joanie watched him sadly and shook her head.

“Keep her home Micah, and keep her safe. I’ll see what I can do about Chaz,” Joanie called as she headed out the door.

The weekend was long, I was left in the house to stew and wait while everyone else came in and out. Micah lamented that he couldn’t stay the whole weekend with me, or take me somewhere else because he had auditions for a few commercials and his agent was pressing him into an underwear promo. I picked on him and told him that his fan club would really enjoy him being in underwear ad. He blushed at the comment and asked what they were up to. When I explained it to him he vowed to talk to them and get them to lay off of me. I let him know that his interference would only make things worse and he agreed to let things go. I remembered the look on his Agent’s face when he walked out the front door with me and kissed me. It was one of those kisses that make you weak in the knees and his Agent, Mr. Ackles, looked as if he was going to blow a gasket.

When Monday rolled around, Joanie hadn’t made any headway on the subject with the rest of the mages and Chaz needed to get back to his schoolwork. I was accosted in the hallway by the Micah fan club and when I told them he was going to probably be in an underwear ad they all freaked out. One of them told me I was a delusional liar for spreading such things about him, but I just kept on walking. The teachers were back to their normal selves, assigning insane amounts of homework and reading. My other friends apparently had decided to go camping without me over the weekend, and one friend named Ruby had apparently gone to some fancy resort for the next week or so. June and Meg complained loudly at lunch about how jealous they were that Ruby got to get out of school and go swimming and be waited on by handsome men for 10 days. The Micah fan club heard this and came over and began bickering about something, and no one noticed when I slipped out of the now growing chorus of griping teen girls.

I knew I had to walk home from school, so when I headed out, the last thing I expected was two of the newer members of Micah’s fan club to follow me out. I was even more surprised when one of them called out to me after we were about two blocks from the school. She asked me shockingly stupid and personal questions about my boyfriend, and when his driver pulled up and he hopped out and grabbed my backpack and told me to get in the car she almost fainted. The other one who had stayed silent shouted a question about him actually modeling underwear, and when he said it was true she almost passed out too. He wrapped his arms around my waist and smiled at me mischievously and then he bent down and kissed me in front of them. He mumbled something that I knew was loud enough for them to hear before he loaded me into his car and the driver took off.

“You just had to do that,” I said while laughing.

“Yeah, I did,” he replied, looking very smug and superior.

“Well, I hope it doesn’t cause even more trouble for me at school,” I told him while shaking my head. “Today has been one of those days. Drama, drama, drama! Apparently Meg and June are pissed that Ruby is at some super exclusive resort or something.”

Micah stared at me for a long moment then he leaned in and whispered, “How long is she gone for?”

I was perplexed. “I think they said 10 days,” I replied quietly. “Why?”

“We need to tell Joanie, text her and tell her about it,” he whispered in my ear. I shivered from the feeling of his hot breath and began texting. He leaned forward and whispered something to his driver and by the time I was done explaining things to Joanie we were pulling into the parking lot of a swanky hotel in downtown Chicago.

“I have a photo shoot here this afternoon, you can sit in. It’s the underwear shoot, and I’ll feel more comfortable if you’re where I can see you,” he said to me in hushed undertones. The driver smiled into the rearview mirror as Micah kissed my neck and muttered something about ‘Young love’ as he got out to open the door for us.

We strolled into the hotel, he decided he needed to carry my backpack and he was holding my hand. His agent was there and looking furious, but when Micah walked up, I could tell the charm was flowing. He explained that he thought he should look sexy, and how better to achieve that mindset than to have the thing he most enjoyed looking sexy for sitting just out of reach. Everyone agreed and I had a hard time keeping myself from laughing too much.

We went upstairs and he got cleaned up and changed while I worked on my homework. He and I had a good laugh as he picked on himself in the various underwear he was to model and he picked a pair and put the robe on. I grabbed my books and followed him into one of the smaller conference rooms where they had the studio set up. A few perky makeup artists trotted over and began fixing the makeup he had applied in the room, smoothing things out. One of them tutted at the poor job I had done and suggested that I should be fired for my lack of skill and offered her services as his personal makeup artist in the same sentence before he had the chance to tell her I was his girlfriend and he did the makeup himself. The other one complimented him on it and told him he was getting better at it as the first one made a poor impression of a fish. I could feel the electricity in the room change as he turned his powers on. He did it as he slid the robe off his shoulders. Even the men in the room turned their heads and stared as he walked to the shooting area. He stared out to the general area where I stood holding his robe and watching him and he began to pose. Everything felt fuzzy, and I knew it was the way he makes people feel so I tried watching him seriously and the things they were saying and the way he was standing made me laugh. He heard my laughter and he smirked, knowing that he was amusing me and that just made him more appealing to the cameras. We did this back and forth for a few hours. We would go changed, sneak a few moments kissing in his room, then move to the big room where he’d drive everyone in there crazy, to leave the room and go back to change and start over. Chaz called to check on me and I had to step out of the room to take the call. He said that Joanie was running into blocks over getting Alexi watched so that I would be safer. Then he told me not to worry and to have fun. When I got back in the photographers had turned on the large industrial fan and put a button up shirt on him and he was doing the whole wind-blown thing. After a few moments of that they called the shoot and told Micah that he had done well. He put the robe back on and wrapped his arms around me and took me back to his room. He didn’t turn off the power that ramps up desire and I had a hard time making it back to the room. He laughed as I kissed him and he shut it down.

“I can’t have them thinking I’m less attractive when I’m with you,” he said with a smile. “Otherwise they’ll try and make me keep you away. So forgive me ramping it up when I wrapped my arms around you.”

“I forgive you,” I whispered in his ear and I felt his cool hands on my sides.

We lost ourselves in each other and the moment for a short period of time, but when we surfaced Micah put street clothes back on and washed his face. He left my backpack and his jacket in the room and we went to the restaurant in the hotel. He ordered us dinner and we ate. I told him what Chaz told me and he frowned.

“No school for you tomorrow. I’ll call Chaz and have him talk to your parents,” he said pushing the plate away from him. “Come on, let’s go to our room.” He pushed away from the table and walked out of the restaurant, but when he got to the lobby his agent cornered him and sat him down to talk. I didn’t have the key, and I knew better than to interrupt Mr. Ackles so instead I went and sat on the edge of the fountain in the lobby. I dunked my fingers in the water and smiled at how nice and cool it was. When I looked up to see what Micah was doing, he was gone. I began to panic and I stood up to look for him when I heard Alex’s quiet voice behind me.

“He’s over there, near the elevators,” Alex said.

“Get away from me,” I snapped, backing away, trying to see the elevators and Micah.

“What are you afraid of,” he asked curiously, his gentle voice still quiet.

“You. I know who you are. Alexi Midromov. Come any closer and I’ll scream,” I told him.

“I am not Alexi Midromov,” he said with a laugh. “Alexi is a tall hooknosed man, son of a Russian immigrant, and in his late 60’s.”

“Liar,” I snapped, but for some reason I didn’t think he was lying.

“You know I’m not,” he said with a small smile. “I’m here on business, and I’m surprised that you’re here as well. I thought I would say hello when I noticed you were walking away from the young man who is now heading this way. When you looked up from the fountian I saw the panic and I figured I’d tell you where he was.”

“Thanks,” I said, looking over to see Micah walking toward me, his face dark like a thundercloud. When I looked back Alex was gone. “Micah, did you see the young guy I was talking to,” I asked when he got to me.

“No? You weren’t talking to anyone. You were playing in the fountain, and when I came over you stood up and stepped closer.”

“No, I was talking to a young guy. About your age or a little older, it was the same Alex from the park,” I told him, looking around the lobby to see if I could see him, but he wasn’t anywhere. “I swear I just saw him.”

“Stress is getting to you, come on, let’s get you to the room,” he said as he wrapped his arm around my waist.

“What are you upset about,” I asked him, he still looked angry, and I wasn’t getting any pleasant feelings from him.
“Ackles,” he snarled. “Said that you were too distracting on the site today and that the other workers couldn’t concentrate with you around. I told him he was full of shit. We argued back and forth, and I told him if he didn’t back off I’d go to another agency. He backed off, but I don’t think it’s over.”

“Micah,” I said as he led me to the elevators. “Don’t jeopardize your job for me.” He took me into the elevator and pressed me against the back wall, kissing me. The doors closed and I could feel him coming on strong. “Not like this,” I whimpered as he kissed me again. The doors opened and an older couple with a little dog got in. They saw us kissing and the woman giggled slightly and the man asked us what floor we needed. Micah held up his fingers and I heard a button being pressed. Micah stayed close, his lips moved to my neck and his usual aura seemed to kick up a notch and it felt like my knees would give out. When the chime rang and the doors opened, he pulled me out of the elevator and I saw the older couple holding hands. As the doors closed, the man leaned down and kissed the woman and she giggled more. I could hear a couple arguing in the room a few down from ours, but as we passed the door, the argument stopped.
“Micah, please,” I begged him. “Please not like this.” Speaking to him took the last tiny bit of my self control as he ushered me into the room and I threw him onto the bed. I could feel my brain going to a deliriously wonderful fogginess and I kissed him. After the span of a few dozen heartbeats, the fog began to fade. By the time I was breathless from the intense kissing, the fog was pretty much gone. Micah pushed me off of him and turned away from me.

“You could hold me off for longer than I expected,” he said. His words were almost too quiet to hear.

“I don’t think I could tell anyone no for any reason right now,’ I answered weakly. I didn’t even have the strength to move. I reached up and placed my hand on his lower back and slid my fingers underneath his shirt so I was touching his skin. “Even with that gone, I still want to be with you.”

“Do you,” he snapped, half turning his head to look at me. “Hell, you somehow manage to not want me when it’s going strong.”

“Micah,” I whispered. “I don’t want you like that. I want you when you’re just you. You don’t need to use your powers to make me want you more. Come close and keep it turned off. You’ll be able to tell.”

“Why do you fight it so much then,” he asked, looking back at the wall.

“I fight it because I want you to want me for me, not because it’s filling, or convenient. When I kiss you, I want you to know that I’m kissing you because I want to kiss you, not because you’re making me kiss you.”

He turned around and looked at me. I could feel my clothes sitting on my skin wrong, my hair was all messed up and I was lying like a discarded doll on the bed. I couldn’t bring myself to bother fixing my appearance; all I could do is stare into his eyes. He smiled then, and it felt like the sun started shining on a cold and cloudy day. My heart was warm and I smiled back at him. He leaned over then and kissed me gently on the lips. Not the starving kisses of before, but gentle and loving. It felt like the world was fading away leaving nothing but him and me. I reached up to wrap one arm around his neck and tried to pull him closer.
“You do want me,” he said, pulling his lips away from mine for a moment. His expression amused me, he looked like he was in awe and also shocked.

“Duh,” was all I could say before I pulled him back down.

We spent the rest of the evening kissing and cuddling, and I could feel him probing me with whatever he caused desire with, but the instant I began to cave, he withdrew it. It felt like ages, but before long I was sleeping, the last thing I heard was him getting up to check the door.