Chapter Forty-Three

Skylar's POV:

"Don't shout."

"What?" I whispered when I felt the strange grip loosening around my wrist. "Caden?"

I thought I had somehow been mistaken until he switched on the only light source in this small room, a dimly lit bulb on the ceiling. However, it was enough for me to make out his face.

"Do you enjoy scaring the living daylights out of me?" I asked him unbelievably. My heart was still hammering loudly in my chest, scared that it could’ve been anyone other than Caden.

Why couldn't he have acted in a normal way and not drag me inside the freaking janitor's closet?

A small smirk displayed on his lips. "I thought you might like the surprise."

He was back at school, after so many days.

"Are you back for good?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at him. Something about the look in his eyes, a very strange glint, made me feel a bit cautious.

And it took me by surprise when his hand, which was encircled around my wrist, went lower and took hold of my hand. I tried so hard to ignore the way my face was heating up.

"If I was back," He spoke up. "I wouldn't have pulled you in here."

I blinked twice, my eyes still fixated on his face. I felt a bit sad, I just didn't know why. "Did you find Alex?" I asked him. He had promised me that day, that he'd find out every reason behind Alex's actions. And I was holding onto his word.

His green eyes darkened up for one second. "No."

I pressed my back completely against the door behind me.

"He came by my house." It came out as a blank statement, and I felt Caden staring at me. "He came there before I could come back from school."

"And there wasn't anybody in your house?" He asked.

"My parents were there." I replied. "He just left a note, saying that he wanted to explain everything to me."

Caden was silent for a while. I swallowed when I saw his eyes raking across my face.

"Would you?" He asked. "Let him explain?"

I didn't know how to answer that question. Would his explanation even change the fact that he had lied to me? At least Alex seemed to think that it would-that's what he had written in that folded note.

"I guess not." I shrugged. "Unless he forced me to listen. I'd have to listen then."

We both fell silent after that, an uncomfortable silence. He was still holding onto my hand, and even though I could think of pulling away first, it still made me tense up a bit. I could hear few voices from the hallway outside; people leaving towards the cafeteria, the sound of their footsteps gradually growing faint.

"I saw you back there." He spoke up all of a sudden. I realized then that this room was actually very small and the distance between us was just too little.

"Where?"

"The library. With that redhead."

I couldn't help but smile at that. He sure had a way of changing the topic, and the mood too. "That redhead has a name. It's Brody."

"I prefer saying redhead." He said. "Looks like you gave him the wrong impression."

"About what?" My heart fluttered when I felt him caress my palm gently.

"He looked so much into you." A smile twitched on his lips. It felt a bit too hard to breathe now and I knew I would've looked away, but it wasn't that easy.

I managed to frown somehow, trying to control my erratic heartbeat. "He's just a new guy trying to make friends."

It was breathtaking, his eyes. And just like every single time, I found myself getting lost in them, the green and gold flecks. I couldn't help but wonder why he always had this kind of effect on me. It wasn't fair.

This wasn't fair to my heart.

"There are others if he's really so desperate to make friends." He said.

I rolled my eyes. "It'd be nice making new friends, Caden." I said. "It gets lonely here. There's no Alex. It's kind of a no-talk zone between Hanna and me. You're not there either."

As if him being here would make a difference.

I saw one corner of his lips curving upwards. "You can make female friends."

I had this sudden urge to laugh and I failed to control it when a small chuckle tumbled out of my lips. "Why?"

The small bulb flickered until it completely switched off, and everything went entirely black; there was only darkness left. Under different circumstances, I would've been scared shitless. But knowing that Caden was here with me, that made me feel a bit better.

"I don't want your social life to rise up so fast." He answered.

Since I couldn't exactly see him now, I held onto his hand this time, enjoying the little amount of warmth it gave. "You sound jealous."

I felt him lean closer and I froze just as quick.

"Or maybe, I just don't want you to blindly trust people." He was too close; I could feel his warm breath fanning across my cheek. And an involuntary shiver escaped me when the tip of his nose grazed along my cheekbone.

"I'm...not that bad with trust." It was beyond hard forming words. I couldn't even breathe. For some reason, my brain felt like mush, and it was just too hard to comprehend what the hell was happening.

His hand, which wasn't holding onto mine, slowly circled around my waist, making my breath hitch yet once again.

What was he doing?

"Really?" He asked in a quiet whisper. "I thought you were bad with everything."

I wanted to take offense to that, I really wanted to, but right then, I felt the softness of his lips trailing against my jawline. I had to grip his shoulder when my knees buckled themselves.

"T-That's...rude of you."

"Very much." His voice sounded like he was smiling. And when he placed a soft kiss below my ear, a small gasp escaped from my parted lips, and I was left confused and lost and wanting for more.

"Caden—"

"It feels real, Sky." He murmured. "Very much real."

I tried –I really did– but I couldn't have stopped myself, at least not when he was this close. It was so much harder than I thought it would be. Before I could pull myself apart from this trance, or maybe even pushed him away, I placed my hands on either side of his face and closed the distance between our lips.

I did the mistake of kissing him again.

One second I was leaning against him; kissing him, and the next, he was pushing me back against the door and kissing me. His lips were just like I remembered; soft and gentle as they moved against my own. And even though I knew we'd have to part for air, I just couldn't even think about pulling away anytime soon.

His hand cupping the side of my face and the one around my waist, both pressed me closer against him. I felt his teeth grazing my lower lip and another gasp escaped me, into the kiss.

When I was sure that I'd die out of no oxygen, I pulled away an inch and found myself feeling more breathless than before. It wasn't just me, though. I could hear his rapid heartbeat, his rushed breathing mingling with my own.

There was just silence.

"Fuck, Sky." He breathed out, his lips brushing against mine. Not innocently like a tease but hot, fiery, passionate and demanding. I wanted to pull away before I lost myself once again, but I couldn't. I could no longer think straight.

I felt his lips trailing lower, my eyelids fluttering shut when he began nuzzling my neck with delicate kisses. So faint, they were whispers. Soft wisps of his dark black hair swept past my ear, caressing the skin along my face, and my cheeks.

Too much. This was just too much.

My hands tangled themselves in his hair as his hand traveled lower down my waist, settling there. Warmth radiated from the spot where his lips touched my neck, slowly spreading through the rest of me.

He pulled away then, before he leaned his forehead against my own, both of us panting heavily.

"It was so hard, Sky." He whispered. I wished I could see his green eyes. I wished the bulb hadn't flickered off. "This was making me crazy."

His hold around my waist tightened a bit as I leaned against him. "Caden?" I whispered. He waited for me to go on. "Please don't say this was a mistake." A part of me was expecting him to say that. He always did that.

"It never was." He murmured.

I blinked in response, a bit surprised. Before I could say anything else, he placed his lips on mine all over again. This time, he kissed me longer.

The bell rang out of nowhere, a shrill sound filling up the silence. As if on cue, he stopped and pulled away.

"I don't think I want to go." I complained. God, I really didn't want to.

He placed a small kiss on my forehead and I nearly melted against him. I never knew this side of him existed, and I think I was falling head over heels for it. I didn't know how to stop it, the strange feeling overwhelming my heart, tugging at my heartstrings.

"I don't think I can let you go." He said.

My heart kept on racing and everything felt like a dream at this moment. Unreal. How could it be real?

"But if I kiss you any longer," He murmured slowly, emphasizing on every word. "I don't think I'd be able to stop."

My eyes widened a little and a small shudder went through me. I swallowed, shaking myself out of whatever this was; stupidly beautiful. He didn't even know the amount of effect he had on me. It was just unbelievable.

"Fair enough." I managed to say. "I should go." Calculus was the last class I wanted to be in right now, especially if I could be with him.

"Will we discuss this later?" I asked him. I wanted to hope for something—anything. He was silent for a while and it made me feel a bit too conscious. What if he was just realizing that he shouldn't have done this?

"Sure."

I blew out a shaky sigh and nodded, my hand reaching out behind me to open the door. Before I could, though, he held onto my wrist once again.

"Stay away from that redhead, will you?"

I couldn't have ignored the tingling sensation within me as I walked away.