Chapter Forty-Five

Skylar's POV:

Once Mom and Dad had left for the wedding, I spent the entire day watching movies with Chicken. And I kept on watching them until midnight.

It was way past midnight by now; hours since my parents had left.

Cole had been one of my childhood friends, back when we lived at our old house. His parents and my parents, they were like great friends—along with them being our neighbors too. The only problem was that I had a huge crush on him. And he considered me as his sister.

It sucked, I know.

Sitting on this couch, in my pajamas, was way more comfortable than seeing my old crush getting married. To my cousin, may I add.

I could believe that mostly. How come my freaking cousin ended up with him when it was Cole and I who were really good friends? How in the hell is that even possible?

I looked over at the TV screen, at the black and white movie playing on it which was absolutely making no sense to me. I buried my face in my hands and let out a small, muffled groan.

I couldn't have helped it. You couldn't just wave off a crush you kept within yourself for years. I still remember how I used to go at every party just so I could be near Cole. He was the guy every girl dreamed of. Looks, personality and every other thing.

How was I not supposed to like him?

And now he was getting married to my cousin. But it wasn't like I could held a grudge against her. The last time I had seen Cole was so long ago, we weren't even friends now.

It took me by surprise when I heard the doorbell ringing. For a whole minute, I remained seated on the couch, looking over at my front door. Chicken didn't jump down from the couch either, almost as if she knew the dreadful thought going on in my head.

What if it's Alex?

If he came around my house once, he could probably come by again. I didn't move until Chicken let out a loud meow, hopping down from the couch.

I'd have to face him one way or another.

Pausing the movie on the television, I stood up and headed for the front door, cautiously opening it. Only to find Caden standing in front of me.

"Hey." I trailed off in confusion. "What are you doing here?"

He was once again dressed in a complete black attire. Except there was no leather jacket this time; he was wearing a dark black sweater that went perfectly well with his disheveled black hair. Just looking at his face made me have this sudden urge to yawn.

Right from my peripheral vision, I saw Jenna standing at her bedroom window, seemingly talking on her phone. She was staring at me at the same time.

And Caden too.

I was so not in a good mood right now, also a lot exhausted. The guy who had kissed me few days back was standing right in front of me, and Jenna was about to start glamours.

Caden opened his mouth to say something, probably answer my question, when I cut him off. "Come inside, all right?" I told him, stepping out of his way. "I don't want to smash her fucking skull."

He stared back at me for few seconds before stepping inside, and I closed the door just as quick.

"Whose fucking skull?" He asked.

"Jenna." I said, making sure to close the curtains as well. She might just peek inside from my windows and I won't even know. Like really, that girl had no manners.

"I know why Alex joined his gang. B lake's gang." He said. When I turned around towards him, I noticed how close he was. Not too close but enough to make my lungs stop functioning.

"Why?" I asked him, arching my brows.

"An outcome of losing a bet."

I couldn't help but frown at that. "He lost a bet?" I asked him. "He lost a bet and decided to go betray my trust?" No, that didn't sound right.

Caden just let out a shrug, his eyes trailing across my lounge. "I don't know. It could be much more than that. Blake would've probably manipulated him or something."

How could Blake do that?

"I also know where he's staying." He added, running a hand through his hair, pushing them back from his forehead.

"Not at his house?" Not like I didn't already know that. I had gone up to his house one day after school. Not actually going inside, but pacing across his front porch and weighing my options. And it turned out that Alex was staying over at a friend's —his mother told me that.

"No."

"Well, where then?"

His brows furrowed together. "You need to promise me first that you won't do anything stupid."

I looked at him in disbelief, forgetting how close he was. Turning around, I went over towards the couch and sat down. "Why are you even telling me then?"

Once I was sprawled on one side of the couch, I realized how tired I actually felt at that moment. Mom and Dad weren't to come back home until tomorrow night, with all the wedding party and other stuff.

"I thought you hated when people didn't tell you stuff." He spoke up, and even though I wasn't looking at him, I knew he was rolling his eyes.

I was kind of touched by that. He wasn't hiding things from me, at least there was someone who was telling me stuff willingly. I faced him as he sat down beside me.

"All right. I can't promise, but I'll try." I said, clearly knowing that I won't even try a single bit. "So where's Alex?"

He leaned his head back against the couch. "Crashing at B lake's house."

"You mean, the Matthews?" I asked him in disbelief. He just nodded in response. "He's still with Blake? Even after all of this?" I couldn't believe it.

Caden glanced at me and I saw his green eyes sweeping across my face. However, he didn't say anything.

"That's just fucked up." I murmured under my breath. Chicken trailed around the foot of the couch and I felt something twisting inside me. Some small part inside me still wished that this wasn't real. I wanted to believe that maybe I had mistaken this somehow.

Alex wouldn't hurt me just out of fun. There must be something more to this, he wouldn't just—

But this was real. Alex was still in the East Gang.

"Where are your parents?" Caden asked me, breaking me out of my miserable thoughts. I looked over at him, my eyes trailing down from his hair to his eyes that were looking at nothing in particular, and to his hands.

"To a wedding." I mumbled before starting the movie once again. We both fell into silence even though I'm sure none of us was into that movie.

"Why are you here then?" He asked after a short while.

I knew he was staring at me but I didn't return his gaze. Instead, I kept my eyes on the screen.

"Well." I started, but decided that it would be better if I didn't say anything more. Because if I started, there was a chance that I might just not stop.

"Well?"

I slumped back against the couch.

"It's my friend's wedding." I stopped. And when I saw Caden about to say something, I interrupted, "And I had this very huge crush on him back when I was...ten, I guess. Or maybe since I was born."

I could still feel him looking at me. And my cheeks were slowly starting to heat up.

God, confessing about your childhood crush was so embarrassing. One of those situations where you just wanted to dig a hole and bury yourself alive.

"But I had a crush on him. And seeing him getting married to a girl, who's not me, is weird." I said. "Very weird."

He didn't say anything, listening to me intently. Maybe because he knew that I may just cut him off again.

"Not like I still like him." I added in quickly. "But back then, I liked him and there's still a part inside me that likes him. Or well, liked him." I didn't even know what I was saying at this point.

I was talking shit.

Blowing out a huge sigh, I leaned my head back against the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

"How awkward it would've been if I had gone to his wedding. He would've probably ruffled my hair like he used to do when we were kids." I finally looked at Caden and his expression was something I couldn't really pinpoint. "He used to always think of me like his sister. Like what kind of guy does that?"

I looked back at the ceiling.

"My poor heart feels broken." I murmured. "It feels like I had a celebrity crush and he died."

I stopped talking after that, mainly because I was expecting him to say something nice after that. Seconds passed by in silence, when he finally decided to speak up, "Well, he must not like you a bit if it's that harsh."

I eyed him in disbelief. "I'm not even going to point out how comforting that was."

His lips quirked up at the corners. "You just did."

I did my best to ignore him, but it was actually really hard.

"What you would've done was tell me how sorry you were for me. Or how he didn't deserve me. Or..." I pointed at the TV screen where the guy was holding the girl as she cried in his arms. "...you could’ve done that and told me how everything will be fine!"

He looked over where I was pointing and kept on smirking.

"God, Cole was such a Prince Charming."

"So you also have a thing for Prince Charming?" He asked. "And vampires."

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms. "They both are better than you." I didn't actually mean it.

"What about bad boys?" He asked, leaning extra close towards me. "You have a thing for them too?"

I turned my head towards him, my eyes widening a little when I noticed that his face was just mere inches away from my own.

"Of course not."

I had this sudden desire to kiss him, and my eyes fleeted down to his lips.

"Really?" He asked, and I looked back up in his eyes—the same green eyes which were glinting a bit dangerously now. "I thought you liked them."

I blinked twice, ready to back off, but I really didn't want to. Right then, I saw his hand reaching out before he leaned closer, snaking his arm around my waist and pulling me closer.

"What are you doing?" I asked him in surprise.

"I'm trying to be a Prince Charming and copy the guy in that movie." He smirked.

Heat Creed up my neck. "You are bad at this." I whispered, even though I could hear my heart beating a bit too wildly in my chest.

"I know." He whispered back, a small smile gracing his lips before he leaned even closer, and placed his lips on mine.

And even if I had kissed him so many times before, it still felt like I was kissing him for the first time. It was just him and his soft lips that I could think about at that moment. His hand trailed down my waist and he pulled me even closer. I wrapped my arms around his neck, letting him deepen the kiss. My whole body felt like it was on fire.

This was so not normal.

When I pulled away to fill up my lungs with oxygen, a small, content smile formed on his face. He leaned closer and placed a soft kiss at one corner of my lips, then on the tip of my nose, and my cheek. All in all, I was left a giddy mess. So much so, that I'm pretty sure I forgot who Cole was even.

He slowly pulled away and I saw his bright green eyes fixing me with a stare. I was left breathless. "You do know this won't be easy, right?" He asked.

"What do you mean?" I asked him, my voice coming out in a whisper.

"This. The way you make me feel."

"Why...isn't this easy?" I asked him, a small frown forming on my face.

His hand remained where it was; around my waist, and I didn't pull away from him either. Not even when I saw frustration clouding over his features.

"Don't you—"

"I really like you, Sky. So damn much." He interrupted.

My eyes widened a little at that, but at the same time, I knew there was a but.

"But doing this might only hurt you." I've never heard him sound like that, so unsure, as if conflicted between his own thoughts. I've always seen him so sure of himself, but right now, he looked the opposite. It worried me a bit.

"So we shouldn't?" I asked him.

He was quiet for a while. "I don't think I can do that."

It was when I felt the relief that I realized I wanted this; I wanted to be this close to him, always. I wanted to be able to kiss him like this and not stop. I liked him, a bit more than I would've.

"There are some reasons," He started. "Which I can't tell you yet. But for those same reasons, we need to keep this private."

I tried hiding my surprise, even if I wanted to know what reasons he was talking about. His green eyes softened a bit as he looked at me. "Trust me, Sky. I'm just doing this to protect you."

"How?" My voice came out in just a whisper.

I felt him tense a bit against me. "It could get worse than just break-ins. You'd be in risk." He said, and the look in his eyes told me that he wasn't just saying that to scare me.

His voice fell down to a whisper, almost as if he had meant to say it to himself only, "That's the only risk I don't want to take."

My eyes widened yet once again, and I felt a warm feeling spreading throughout me. "Okay."

His shoulders relaxed the moment I said it, almost as if he hadn't expected me to agree to it so easily. "Okay." He repeated, and in one fast move, he pulled me back and kissed me again.

Kissing him then made me realia that nothing could actually go wrong. It made me realize how much I actually trusted him. He liked me, and he wouldn't hurt me. And even if it saddened me that he didn't want to tell everyone about this, I was fine with it. Because kisses like such were worth everything for me. I had never felt like this before.

And it made me so happy.

"So, are you staying?" I asked him once he pulled away, and I had managed to catch my breath. Looking over at the clock, I realized that it was two after midnight already. "This may be the longest I haven't slept."

"Why didn't you?" He asked me, his hand still lingering around my waist as his lips grazed along my ear. "I thought you adored your sleep."

I rolled my eyes at the hint of tease in his voice. This guy may like me, but no way in hell was he ever going to keep out his rude comments, especially when my sleep was concerned.

"Talking about sleep, when was the last time you slept?" I splayed my hand across his chest, pushing him back a little so that he'd actually look at me.

"A very long time ago." He simply replied.

I couldn't help but frown at the casual way he said that. Where was he even staying for this long? "Where were you—"

"You know what?" He cut me off and stood up, pulling me along with him. "I'll stay."

That alone made me happy. This house felt extremely lonely once Mom and Dad left. "You will?"

"Yeah. On one condition." His eyes gazed into mine.

I'm sure I knew what that condition was. He was going to tell me not to ask about his whereabouts again, which I'm sure still wouldn't get me to stop thinking about it.

"I get to sleep with you."

Oh, well.