He left my room and began carrying me down the long flight of stairs. And to my surprise, he was not breaking sweat over it. He looked very fine to me, no running out of breath or slowing down in steps due to tiredness. But I still was not comfortable with any of it, he should not be stressing himself this much over me.
"So you're not going to put me down?" I tried one more time to see if he'll put me down.
"You're still on that?" He did not even spare me a single glance.
"Yes I still am."
His gaze came upon my face, I locked eyes with him too. "Too bad you're not going to get what you want."
I eye rolled. "It was worth a try though."
"So that was what that was? You were trying to see if you could actually talk me out of carrying you?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Glad you failed."
"I did not fail."
"Really?" Amusement danced in his eyes.
"You're just too stubborn to put me down." I eyed him in slight annoyance.
But he pretended not to see it, and chuckled softly. "That makes two of us then." Then he winked at me.
And for some reason, I flushed a bit.
"Are you blushing?" I heard the tease in his voice.
"Oh shut up." I said but it was without heat or maliciousness.
He chortled. "Tell me what kind of blushing is that?"
"You're insane."
"Is it one of embarrassment or that you fine me handsome?" He wriggled his brows.
I hit him on the chest but he only ended up laughing. Unable to pretend anymore, I joined in too. "You're crazy, you know that?"
"I'm not crazy. You're the crazy one." He shot back.
"Who is carrying an adult who is perfectly fine all the way down a long flight of stairs?" I threw at him, then went ahead to reply. "A crazy person, that's who."
"Nope, you got it all wrong. I am carrying an adult who is supposed to be perfectly fine, but is not due to some injury at school. I don't think that makes me a crazy person. If anything, I'm a good person."
"You lied. I wanted to tell her the truth but you insisted on this lie, so don't tell me I am supposed to be perfectly fine. There's no 'supposed to' here. I am perfectly fine."
"No, you're not." He insisted. "Aside the injury, you're not perfectly. Your mental and emotional state of health is not fine at the moment. Now I want to watch you deny that." He concluded smugly.
I wanted to wipe that smug off of his face and tell him he was lying, but he wasn't. Not at all. I was down. This whole stealing episode had taken a big grip of my health. I had no sprained ankles, and I would not have had fresh claw marks on my back if my mom had not insisted on seeing my back. I'd have been physically in good shape but inside was a totally different story.
And now that he mentioned it, it took my mind back to school. I sighed, holding tightly onto him and wondering if there was a way I could make the students forget what had happened until I had found the culprit at least. I had accusations. If it had been the usual bullying, I'd have not been this bothered. But this was another form of bullying. This was on a different, higher level of bullying. The whispers as I walked across corridors, the mockery and wariness to be near me. No one would ever want to trust me enough to be near me or leave their things in class or anywhere I was present so I would not 'steal' them. Stealing ruins one's reputation and it took a long time to go away or probably never. Especially if the thief was not found.
I wish I could turn back the hands of time. I wish I could just let myself be as invisible as I'd initially wanted to be. I wish I had not let Katelyn become friends with me or let the Salvatore boys pull me into their weird yet welcoming fold. I wished it was someone else mom had found as a mate. A good man who had less fame so nobody would know me. I suddenly felt guilty for wishing another mate for my mother. She deserved the best, she deserved everything life could offer. This was my life, I needed to find a way to fix it. Anyhow I could.
"Hey, if I touched a chord, I'm sorry. It was not the intention." He apologized and I saw sincerity in his eyes.
"No, it's okay. You're just trying to help and I truly appreciate you."
He saw my face and let his relax. Then his expression morphed again. Oh dear! The guy was not done teasing me. "Well, you should appreciate me."
It was easy to go along for the ride. "Maybe I should take back my words. You're too arrogant for your own good, Baron."
"What's to be expected from an Alpha's son possessing an Alpha wolf. A strong, fierce one at that."
"Now you're being a show-off."
"The world deserves to see what potential I have. And they are a lot actually." He winked at me again.
My lips stretched into a smile, shaking my head at his craziness. I guess all the Salvatore boys were a rare, weird breed. How did David cope with all of them when they were younger? It must have been a lot for the Alpha. "You're blowing your own horn, and it's getting too loud, you know."
"I can blow harder."
"I think I've had enough. Else this girl with a sprained ankle will challenge you to a duel and beat that Alpha wolf out of you."
His laugh was big and loud. I joined him too.
"Aww. Isn't that a wonderful sight this morning, David? See how they get along together and he's helping her too."
My laughter died down immediately and I turned to see we had reached the family breakfast table. And the boys were there, all with different expressions on their faces.
But one stood out. Aaron's.
His expression spread chills along my spine.