I know it seems silly, but Colten’s group of assholes have been getting progressively worse lately, and I don’t want them to take something amazing and tarnish it. I want it to be a wonderful memory I will always look back on.
That’s not too much to ask, right?
I do my best to make myself look presentable, but I am going to be real with you.
When I don’t get enough sleep, I end up looking like the living dead, and have a seriously bitchy attitude, but I will not let anything ruin this day. It’s going to be a good day.
I repeat this mantra in my head as I leave my room to meet Brian, and stop in my tracks.
He’s literally standing at my door looking like sin in tight black skinny jeans, and a black t-shirt that leaves little to the imagination. I can see the outline of his abs, that’s how tight it is.
How does he look more gorgeous every day? Seriously.
“Hey, beautiful.” His voice washes over me like a calm wave, and all of my doubts disappear.
Whatever comes from that kiss won’t change our relationship. We started as friends, and it will either stay that way, or will build naturally like it has since the day we met.
Taking a deep breath, I meet his eyes and can see my nerves reflected back at me. I’m not the only one wondering what’s next, and that gives me comfort. Everything will be okay.
I lean in toward him and lightly kiss the edge of his mouth, weaving my fingers through his. I don’t even think about it. It’s like I’m on autopilot and just acting on instinct.
“Hey, Bry.” As I pull my face back, I can see his face light up with a gigantic smile, and I love it.
It literally melts me from the inside out. Pretty sure I’m in serious danger of becoming a puddle right in front of him.
He lets out a sigh of relief and contentment, and squeezes my hand as we start heading toward the first class of the day.
“Is it cliché to say I missed you last night?” he asks in a shy voice.
“Not at all. I missed you too.” I lean into him, my shoulder resting on his arm as we head down the path.
A feeling of unease washes over me making me stop dead in my tracks.
I feel like I’m being watched. I look around us to find a tall guy by the doors of the building, looking at us and scowling like he’s disgusted with our display of affection.
“Harleigh, you okay?” Brian’s voice is filled with concern as I look over at him and give him a small smile.
“Yeah, sorry. Just got this weird feeling and it took me by surprise,” I tell him the truth. “Have you seen him before?” I nod toward the guy at the door. “He’s staring at us.”
Brian looks in that direction before shrugging his shoulders. “I’ve seen him around. He’s in my art class. You know, the one class you aren’t in with me.” He laughs and it’s enough to break my unease.
Damn, I love the sound of his laughter. It always brings me out of my thoughts and back to the present moment. “He’s probably not trying to stare, but you’re hard not to notice, beautiful. A guy would have to be blind to not get caught up looking at you,” he says as we continue walking to the school.
As we get closer, I grip onto his hand just a little tighter because he makes me feel safe. “You do realize you’re insane, right, Bry?” I say as I knock my shoulder into his arm so he knows I’m joking. “You’re the only guy that sees me like that, and I like it that way.”
“Oh, beautiful.” He looks down at me smiling. “You really don’t see what the rest of us do, do you?” He shakes his head and stops us to look into my eyes.
Before I can speak, he reaches a hand up to grasp my chin, and tilts my face up to look at him.
Leaning in, he kisses me softly, lighting a fire inside of me and setting those butterflies off again. “You are stunning and unique, and most definitely worth looking at,” he says, pulling back.
That’s it. I’m a complete goner. My thoughts are no longer anywhere but here in this moment. I never want to feel anything less than I do right now. At peace and deliriously happy.
If my entire day is like this, I’m going to be floating. “A girl could get used to this.” I sigh contently as we head into the building, the guy long gone.
Brian
I’m getting increasingly worried about Harleigh as the days go by. It’s easy to tell she knows nothing about who or what she is, and it won’t be long until others figure out that she’s clueless, which will put her life in danger.
When I called Dad to talk to him, things didn’t quite go as planned.
I figured he would be proud of me for starting to come into more angelic abilities and he was, but he was also concerned over Harleigh as a whole.
What was I doing with her? Was I sure I had gotten an angel command?
To say my father doesn’t trust my abilities or me, would be an understatement. My entire life, he assumed I would follow in his footsteps and be the good little soldier that he is, but that’s not who I am.
I’m half human, and I have human emotions.
I can’t, and won’t, ever be fully like him, and he is having a hard time coming to terms with that.
I wish I could say it doesn’t bother me, but it does. All any child wants is the love, support and acceptance of their parents, and my father has struggled with that since day one.
He doesn’t hate me, but you can tell he wants more for me than a meagre human life.
We yelled, talked, yelled some more, and then came up with a plan. He was going to talk to other angels and see if he could figure anything out. Until then, I am supposed to keep my mouth shut. Just be her friend and watch over her. I’m not supposed to say anything about our world to her until I hear back from him.
