[13] Ezra: 'How We Got Arrested.'-2

"Oh," Nyah looked speechless. "Yeah," I nod, grinning ruefully as I shove my hands into the pockets of my jeans, rocking back and forth a little, "But right at that moment you tripped me, and my immature little conscience grabbed onto that one thing like that was the biggest insult ever. Looking back, I realize I could've easily written us off as even and apologized to you and put an end to this whole thing, but no, I had to declare war and make things a hundred times worse." Nyah just blinks up at me with a blank expression, so I continue ahead in a tone filled with years of melancholy at having done something so despicable to someone who didn't deserve an ounce of it, "I just, I know that I started it all, but are you really gonna make me take all the blame here? I mean, if that's what you think, then fine, but-" "No." Nyah interrupts me in a soft voice, placing a hand on my arm that radiates warmth deep down to the centre of my soul, "I know you started it, and I know that I had no idea that you were about to apologize that day, but in all these years, I've said some pretty mean things and done a lot of shitty things, too. So no, you can't take the full blame for all those years of history," "Thank you," I grin, feeling like a weight was just lifted off my shoulders that made me a thousand pounds lighter, "I know I'm almost fully to blame, but the fact that I'm not the only one makes me a helluva lot happier than I was." Nyah's lips pull up in a slow smile, and she shakes her head in an amused manner, "You're welcome?" My grin turns a bit shy as I look down again, unable to control the back and forth rocking of my feet, "I know that no matter how sincerely I utter the word 'sorry', I can't take away the years of bad blood, and neither can I act like everything is completely alright even if you were ready to forget it all, so the whole reason why I wanted to talk to you this morning is," I pause, finally forcing myself to stop and look into her dark sepia eyes. "Is?" She prompts, gazing into my own blue ones with a strong emotion that's probably reflected in mine. "Is because we're Mates." I finish, sighing, "Do you think we could one day put this all behind us and maybe be happy?" Nyah's eyebrows shoot up in shock at the direct question, and then she furrows them in thought as she considers her answer for a few painstakingly slow seconds in complete seriousness. My heart just about bursts out of my chest in anticipation of what she might say, because if she says 'no', I would beat myself over asking such a big question too soon and ruining it before it even started, till the end of time. "Do you want me to be completely honest?" Nyah questions with an earnest look, biting her upper lip anxiously. Shit, that sounds ominous. Maybe I should've just kept my mouth shut. "Yeah, hit me with the truth." "Well . . ." My breath hitches in my chest as I await her answer, "I think if we really move on from all of it, wecouldbeveryhappy." She mumbles the last part in a hurry, but since my Wolf and I are listening with such rapt focus to every exhale out of her mouth, we have no trouble making out what she just said. It's just a little surreal to me that it really happened. "Really?" "Yes." "Thank Goddess!" I sigh as I look heavenward, fighting against every instinct in my body that's screaming at me to pick her up in my arms and spin her around in happiness, "For a second there, I was worried that you might suggest a rejection." "Goddess, no." Nyah looks completely appalled by that idea, and that makes me happier, "I could never reject my Mate." "I second that." I agree, smiling. "Good, there's something we agree on." She repeats her words from the day we met with a smirk, and I can't help but chuckle. "Now that we've talked it out, that day seems like forever ago." "I know, right." "So . . . yeah, do you think we could maybe start being civil to each other? Because at the rate we're going, this relationship will never go anywhere. I'm not asking for forgiveness or anything. Just don't assume that I have an ulterior motive for every single thing I do." "I can do civil," Nyah concurs with a smile, "And the same goes for you. I won't pull any mean pranks, anymore." "Ah, thank Goddess. I was a little worried, there. I mean teen-Nyah was a horror by herself, but adult-Nyah? There would've been no boundaries." Nyah chuckles at the memory, "Good to know that I was quite the terror. I aimed to horrify," She adds with a wink that makes my heart skip half a beat. Damn, she's adorable when she winks. 'Yeah, just pinch her cheek real quick.' My Wolf gives advice in a sagely manner and I shut him out. Not the time or place. "So . . . you followed me all the way here to ambush me with this?" Nyah's grin turns wider as she glances at me up and down with a knowing look. "No!" I deny with a vigorous shake of my head, even as my Wolf shamelessly tells me to agree, "I ran out of milk and was about to pull into the supermarket-" I gesture to said building, the parking lot of which we are standing on, "-when I spotted your GT-R in the distance. Nice choice of car, by the way." "Uh-huh," Nyah rolls her eyes at my bullshit story, "I'm sure you agree because it looks like you copied me," "Is it really copying if I bought it first? I can show you the documents to prove it if you want," I smirk, raising my eyebrows in challenge. She doesn't question how I knew that she bought it after me; considering that social media made things fairly public these days, and shakes her head reluctantly, "Fine, you win. You were out of 'milk', right?" She makes air-quotes for the word, making me hesitate a second before nodding in response. "So, let's go get that milk. I have a few things I need to buy, too." ~ We pushed a cart around different aisles as we randomly threw in little things like packets of chips and crackers and even a couple of soft drinks. Everything was perfectly normal; almost as if we were a couple shopping together. It was a nice feeling, let me tell you. That was until we reached the bags section. "Oooh, yes. I wanted to buy a new gym bag 'cause the one I have now is kinda old and so last year." Nyah exclaims as she surveys the huge array of bags lined up, rushing forward to run her fingers along a few of them as she checks her options out. "Um, okay." I hadn't pegged Nyah as someone who refused to use a gym bag because it was 'last year', but hey, what the hell, everyone has their own little obsessions. Seneca has boots and I have cars. Nyah moves a bit more down the row arranged by size-stepping around the group of humans checking out the deals available in a brand-grabbing a black bag that's about the dimensions of a big-sized duffel to twist it around and check the design. I'd originally decided to keep my mouth zipped, but I can't help but speak up at the sizes of the different bags she's picking up, "Uh, Nyah. Isn't that a bit too big?" "No, not at all! This is the size of an average gym bag, silly! You need to put in all the stuff you need," Her tone implies that I'm completely stupid for even asking her that. My brows crinkle together in confusion, "But all you'll need is an outfit, your iPod, and some toiletries," I gesture to an average-sized gym bag the other customers were looking at, "I think something that big would be more than enough. In fact, something smaller would be better," "Well, that maybe your case, but I need something bigger." Nyah shrugs and looks around. Her eyes then widen as she spots one at the far corner of the gym bags section and she hurries forward, snatching it and almost skipping her way back to where I'm standing bewilderedly, "This one seems perfect!" "Um," "Yeah! Oh wait, I bet I could fit myself in this. Check this out." With that, the absolutely batshit crazy woman starts to put the bag on the floor and unzip it, putting a foot in to actually try and get into it. "Uh, Nyah. What the hell are you doing?" I whisper-yell at her as I try to pull the cart and hide the other group's view of her crazy-ass antics and failing miserably. They point and stare at us in puzzlement, and I shoot them a strained smile, "Nyah, c'mon! Stop this bullshit!" I whisper once again, trying to get the woman to see some reason. "Haha, told ya." Nyah grins proudly once she folds herself in completely, ducking her head to fit perfectly. She turns her head to shoot me a creepy-ass grin, and the evil glint in her eyes is something I will remember till the day I die, "Zip it up, just for a minute." "What the hell?" "Just do it, Ezra Harland. Or are you that much of a pussy that you can't stand a couple of weird looks from people?" Nyah whisper-yells back, her voice circulating to a challenging tone that pushes all the right buttons and switches on my IDGAF attitude. She wants to do this? Fine, we'll do this. I roll my eyes at her bait, but give in anyway, letting go of the cart to bend down and pull the zipper shut. Just as I'm about to close it fully, Nyah shoves a hand through the opening and stops me, yelling in a loud voice, "But, James! I'm telling you, the body's way bigger! You won't be able to fit it in this bag! It's useless to check whether I fit or not!" My hands freeze as she pushes the zipper away all the way and pulls herself to a stand, slowly extricating the bag from around her feet and bending down to grab it with a smile, "Maybe you could check if you fit. The body's definitely smaller than you." My ears go red as a hush falls across this side of the room and an eerie silence surrounds the two of us. I close my eyes to try and ward off the utter embarrassment as I slowly turn around to retrieve the cart, only to feel every single pair of eyes burning into us with emotions ranging from horror to downright fright. Well played, my Mate. The prank war is now on. As I slowly push the cart around the other human group as silently as possible to try and escape before something happens, one of the female customers lets out an ear-piercing scream. It was like a switch that set things into motion because suddenly, all hell breaks loose and people rush to push their carts and get away from us as quickly as possible. "GUARD!" A man yells in panic as he rounds the corner leading to the front entrance, throwing a look of absolute terror as he exits the aisle. "Fuck," I curse under my breath, turning to glare at the Alpha, who does nothing but grin up at me with a smile so saccharine that it hurts my teeth, "What? I just said no mean pranks. Not no pranks ever," "Revenge will be served," I vow in a low tone, and before I can say anything more, a couple of beefy, uniformed humans are hurrying towards us, handcuffs in hand. And that's the story of how we got arrested in a supermarket