Chapter 35: Chapter Seventeen - Part One

Charlie

I stomp my way over to my suitcase and throw any loose articles in before I harshly zip it up. Great one, Charlie, try not to be a complete bitch and still get scorned. I mean, who would look twice at me with Stella in the room? She has similarities to mine, but they look better on her. She’s skinnier, taller, more mature looking, and the best attribute she has is that she’s already dead. I deserve this, I tell myself.

Sitting on the corner of the bed, I allow my head to fall into my hands. I can feel fresh, warm blood seep through my bandages and smear on my face, mixing with my tears. In the middle of arguing with myself, the pounding starts again. I didn’t bother listening to Maxwell’s speech. Part of me doesn’t want to hear his apologetic words as that same part of me believes what he says to be more lies.

I laugh to myself as I hear him threaten to break down the door. But he’s completely serious because seconds later he crashes through the door. Splinters of wood scatter across the floor and fly in air from the sheer force.

“What. The. Fuck,” I say as an afterthought. My body is still glued to the bed.

“You wanted me to break down the door.”

“No, I didn’t,” I interrupt.

“Yes, you did. You said you can try. Well, guess what, love, I don’t have to try. I can and I did. Do not ever do that to me again. Do you hear me? I won’t let anyone or anything come between us, including a damn door. Understood?” Maxwell bickers as he walks into the room and begins pacing.

“I didn’t mean it literally. It was a figure of speech. Calm down.”

“I don’t think you understand, Charlie. You drive me crazy and it takes a whole lot of self-control to not be who I was. Do you want that side of me, Charlie? I’m not proud of what I did in the past, what I did with Stella, but I try to change every day. Try to impress you every day and when you keep pushing me away it drives me mad. It turns me into this.”

His features go from hard to soft in the matter of seconds when he sees how much he’s scaring me. His hand stretches out to me, expecting me to take it as he speaks in a nurturing tone. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

With the refusal of me moving my hand into his, he grabs it himself. I shuffle my feet all the way to the bathroom. My body goes rigid as he picks me up and sits me on the countertop. His head shakes from side to side as he wets a washcloth. I refuse to look him in the eye when he grasps my chin firmly to lift my head up. Roughly, he wipes at my left cheek and forehead.

“You got blood all over yourself,” he mutters. Once he’s done, he grabs some clean bandages and re-wraps my left hand. “Are you going to say anything, even if it is to yell at me?”

“Did you love her? Do you still have feelings for her?” Once I speak the words, I instantly regret it.

“Do I really need to answer that? I never loved Stella. She and I only…how can I say this without making things worse…I’m not proud of the person I was in the past. Stella was just as cruel as I was and we added fuel to each other’s hateful fire. I’m not that person anymore and her behavior, her attitude hasn’t changed after all these years.”

I can feel myself start to forgive him. He’s trying awfully hard to convince me and no matter how hard I try to fight it, I find it sweet. “When can we go home?” Part of me wants to fix the tension between us, but a bigger part of me wants to go home. This place has been nothing but a disaster.

“We can leave tomorrow afternoon.”

“Really? That easy?”

“It’s only a day earlier than I planned, but I did bring you here a day earlier than I first said. Now, please go eat before your food gets cold.”

“Fine.” I start to slide down off the countertop, but he catches me and helps me the rest of the way to the floor. My body slides down his. “I get it, Maxwell. You don’t love or even like Stella anymore. And I’m going to ignore the fact that it eats at me that you two were together. And that bothers me to no end that it bothers me.” I walk out of the bathroom, through the bedroom and sit down at the table without so much a glance back at Maxwell.

I mean, did I expect Maxwell to have never looked at another woman in his life? Did I really expect that he wouldn’t have had intimate relations within his three hundred or so years on this planet? Maxwell sits across from me, his eyes boring into me. The last thing I need is for him to start his speech about how his past is in the past. Or even worse, bring up the fact that I admitted to having feelings for him.

I see the corners of his mouth lift as he’s about to speak, so I force words to flow out of my mouth to stop whatever it is that he’s planning on saying. “What are you looking at? Are you hungry?” My eyes widen as I realize what I just said.

“If you’re offering, I could have a bite to eat.” He winks at me.

“I didn’t mean it that way. It’s just that I’m eating and you’re staring at me. It felt wrong not to offer but since you don’t eat food it’s a useless comment.” My eyes go back to my plate and I take a few more bites before my stomach turns into knots. What an awful attempt at dodging an unwanted conversation.

“Do you want to watch some TV or go down to the bar later this evening?” Maxwell asks when he sees me push the tray away. He’s willing to do whatever I want, but all I want to do is lie down.

“Would it be awful of me to say I just want to take a nap?” I reply.

“Not at all.”

I have to walk past him in order to reach the bedroom. As I get closer his arms twitch at his side. I glance over my shoulder as I speak to him, but don’t make eye contact. “And I guess I’ll be leaving the door open.”

I strip off my jeans and T-shirt and slide into bed in just my bra and underwear, completely careless of the possibility of having spying eyes on me. I sigh as my head falls onto the soft pillow, only to toss and turn several times before finding the perfect spot. Inhaling deeply, I unwind in the fresh scent. What I didn’t realize is that my head lies upon Maxwell’s pillow.

My eyes slowly open as I feel a cold nudge. I just groan and move over, relaxing in the coldness that lingers under the blanket. I don’t know how much time passed or if it’s morning yet, but Maxwell’s voice wakes me up. My cheeks flush as I realize I’m draped over him once again.

“Holy shit. I didn’t know...I didn’t mean to.” I can’t finish my apology or even piece my words together properly as I stare at the sticky blood that puddles on the bed sheet and Maxwell’s chest. My still bleeding hand sticks to his abdomen.

“Charlie, it’s okay. It’s just some blood. We can put more bandages on it and change the sheets. Just let me take a shower first.” He’s being overly calm. I bet inside he’s going crazy.

“But…you’re covered in blood.” My voice gets shakier with each word I try to speak.

“It’s not the end of the world. This isn’t the first time I’ve woken up covered in blood.”

My eyes go wide imagining the massacre he caused and his body lying in the middle of it, gloating with glory.

He quickly starts the conversation back up to take my mind away from the awful scene that plants itself in my brain. “Probably shouldn’t have said that. Relax, it’s not what you are most likely thinking. Allow me to shower and then I’ll change the sheets. You can re-bandage your hand, preferably with more layers.”

He jumps up from the bed and within seconds the bathroom door closes. I slide my way out of bed, holding my bleeding hand against my chest. Aimlessly, I walk around the room in circles, leaving a trail of droplets behind me that soak into the carpet. My bandages are in the bathroom where Maxwell happens to be. I can completely understand why he would want to shower as soon as possible. He’s thirsty and having my blood taunt him must be crushingly painful, but I can’t stand here and bleed all over the place. With one deep breath, I make my way to the bathroom door. The sound of the shower head comes from behind the closed door. If anything the shower curtain should conceal him.

I knock anyways. The knocks are good and strong even though he has his super hearing. Patiently, I wait and knock again only to wait again. There’s a small puddle of blood at my feet that’s growing in size the longer I stand out here. With no other choice, I brace myself and walk right in. Steam fills the room, making it hard to see. Wafting my hand from side to side, I begin to make out a body standing in front of me.

My jaw drops at the sight. Abruptly, I turn to run out of the room only to smack into the doorframe on the way out. The sting from the brunt force to my shoulder makes me stumble, but I catch my footing and lean over the bed.

My eyes squint shut, trying to get the image of a naked Maxwell out of my head. Right about now I wish the image of him lying in the middle of bloody bodies would come back. No matter how hard I try or how many times I tell myself to forget, the image won’t go away.

The image of Maxwell staring right at me not bothering to cover up any part of his completely naked body begins to taunt me. The details are crisp and fresh in my mind as I replay the scene over and over again. His slick, wet body, and his shocked yet cocky expression on his face as I entered the room unexpectedly.

“Charlie, I didn’t know you were going to come in or I would have had a towel. Are you okay? It sounded like you hit your shoulder pretty hard,” Maxwell asks, his voice full of concern.

Slowly, I turn around with my eyes closed, afraid that he rushed out of the bathroom without bothering to cover himself up.

“You can open your eyes. I have a towel on.”

“I didn’t mean to walk in on you like…that.” I wave my hands at him to specify his nakedness. My hands unwillingly hover over the lower half of his body, which is now covered up by a white towel that he wrapped around his waist. I wanted him to understand that I didn’t mean to see his ‘business’. I have a hard time looking him in the eyes and my cheek burn with a vibrant flush.

A small laugh from Maxwell catches my attention.

“What?” My tone is demanding and shaky at the same time.

“So innocent. Let me bandage your hand.”

What the hell is that supposed to mean? Innocent. He thought I was innocent because I freaked out at the sight of his naked body. It was shock not innocence. It’s not like I’m a virgin. I’ve seen naked men before.

Layer after layer of soft fluffy white gauze covers the nasty painful wound while I bicker with myself. It’s beyond me why they would slice a human’s hand from wrist to fingertip. Whenever my hand bends just the slightest you can feel the splitting of the skin. It isn’t deep, but it still makes daily functions irritating.

“I can imagine how uncomfortable it is. If there was anything I could do to help ease the pain, I would,” Maxwell offers. His tall frame towers over me as he stands in front of me. Water drips from his wet hair and body.

“I’m going to dry myself off and then change the sheets, so just sit tight for a minute.”

It doesn’t take him long to emerge from the bathroom completely dry and in some pajama bottoms. I’ve never witnessed his abilities first hand, but as he moves with ease at an insane pace I finally get to. His movement is swift yet flowing as he appears by the bed then disappears from the room with sheets in his hands seconds later, only to have the fresh crisp linens on the bed before I blink twice.

A giggle escapes my mouth as he bends with a wave of his arm as he gestures for me to lie back down. I slap my hand over my mouth at my girlish behavior.

“Your chariot awaits, my lady,” he says in the most cunning, deep voice.

I crawl into bed with a smile spread across my mouth. I stifle groans of pain when I put pressure on my wounded hand as I make my way to my pillow. Maxwell places his hand on my back to comfort me. The expectation of a chill doesn’t come. Only comfort and relief wash through me. An idea pops into my head about how he can help with the throbbing pain of the cut. “Maxwell, can I ask something of you?”

“Anything,” he quickly replies as he pulls the blankets over me. His words seem a little too anxious.

“Can I…” I can’t believe I’m going to ask him this, but if I want to be able to go back to sleep, it needs to be done. “Can I rest my hand on your chest-shoulder, your shoulder?” I quickly correct myself. My head nods and shakes every which way as I grow more and more embarrassed. “I mean, your shoulder is fine. The coolness of your skin makes it feel better. Unless you want to go get me some ice.”

He slips under the covers. “Well, from what I’m informed of by you, I myself am like ice. Really, Charlie, you don’t need to ask.” His fingers lightly pick up my injured hand and place it on his chest. Right over his heart. His hand gently lays on top mine, pinning it in place. The soft thump of his heart beating doesn’t come. His emptiness starts to make me feel empty too.

“Maxwell?”

“Yes, love?” he replies back. His eyes are closed, but I know I have his complete attention.

Curiosity is getting the best of me. “Couldn’t you just give me some of your blood to heal me?”

“I wish it were that easy. I could and it would, but you would start the transition of becoming a vampire.”

“Oh.” A puff of air rushes out from between my lips in defeat.

“It’ll heal. It’ll take time, but it’ll heal. Turning into a vampire to get rid of an annoyance won’t go away so easily. Get some rest.”

The cold that emits off his body numbs my tender hand and for once I abide by his words more than willingly and get some rest.