I'm also still very obsessed with The Vampire Diaries, and want to read the books, so if any of you have them, let me know and I will gladly take them off your hands for a while.
Anyway, I'm sure you've all been itching to find out what Stitch does to Cam after last chapter, so here, have chapter twenty three. I must warn you, the beginning was rewritten so that it is the way you read it now. When I first wrote it, I was just getting home after getting my wisdom teeth taken out, and when I reread it after sobering up, I died. I swear I'd have to be on crack to write something so messed up. If I get enough people telling me they want to read it, I'll post it, but for now, just enjoy the sober version.
Chapter Twenty-three
My face turned three shades of red in an instant. I backed myself into the corner of the couch as far away from Cam as I could get. I wished for nothing more than to be able to melt into the couch and disappear to somewhere no one would find me.
“You sure recover quickly,” Stitch said, his voice was bitter, though a hint of amusement crept into it. He looked at Cam. “You could do so much better than him.”
Cam was off the couch in an instant, squaring his shoulders while he clenched his teeth together. “Jealous you didn't get to her first?” Cam asked, cocking his head to the side in an awkward twitching motion.
I stared at him in shock. Was I a plaything? Something to be “claimed” by the first guy who walked along? I stood up off the couch, marching up behind Cam and shoving him forward. He stumbled a few steps and then righted himself, turning to face me. He looked confused, staring down at me with those blue eyes, but something about them had changed. They weren't bright and sparkling anymore, they were dark as if they had changed shades completely and devoid of life. He glared at me, and my hand suddenly started to ache. I hadn't done anything for the swelling, and it was starting to catch up to me. Grimacing, I ignored the pain and kept looking at Cam, but the longer I looked at him, the more my hand hurt; it felt as if someone were applying pressure to it.
“I am not a plaything, Cam.” I said, giving him the crustiest look I could manage. Before going back up to the kitchen.
I pulled an ice pack out of the freezer and wrapped it in a towel. I looked at the clock. It was nearly nine thirty. I needed to call my mom. Moving slowly across the tile, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialed her number. She wasn't supposed to answer her phone while she was working, but she did.
“Laela, honey, are you okay?” she asked.
“Mom, you aren't supposed to be on your phone at work.” I reminded her. I didn't want her to lose her job. “I'm fine, I just found out some shocking news today, though I'm sure Rush has already filled you in on that.” She sighed, and I knew I was right. “Listen, when I punched Tony earlier, I think I might have broken my finger.”
“What does it look like?”
I pulled the ice off my finger. “The knuckle joint is bruised, and the middle joint is swollen. I can't move it without wanting to scream, and when I punched him I heard a crack and a rocket of pain shot up my arm. I've been asleep or I would have called sooner about it.”
“Sounds like it's broken. Why don't you come down here to the hospital and I'll fix it up. Bring your friends if you'd like.”
“I don't know where they are, but I'll invite them.” I sighed. “See you soon.”
“Love you, drive carefully.” She hung up.
I turned around, finding Stitch sitting at the bar, watching me.
“I'm sorry about what I said down there, it was uncalled for.” He apologized. “Forgive me?”
I sighed., I couldn't be mad at him, not when his apology was so sincere. “I forgive you. Hey, listen, my finger is broken and my mom wants me to come down to the hospital so she can fix it up, come with me?” I asked, speaking altogether too quickly for him to understand me. I took a deep breath and started again. “My finger is broken, my mom wants me to come get it fixed, come with me?”
A slow smile broke on his lips. “Sure,”
“Where is everyone else?”
“Bed, we played an exhausting game of chicken in the pool, and they haven't quite caught up to Florida time.” He chuckled. “How are we getting there?”
It was my turn to smile. “My pride and joy. You should feel privileged, Stitch. You'll be the first to see one of my favorite places.”
I lead him into the garage, where only my car sat under its tarp. I walked across the garage and pulled the tarp off the car and watched his jaw drop. He walked toward my car, his hands out in front of him, eyes wide.
“This is yours?” he asked in awe, gawking at the car. Gently he put his hand on the hood, trailing it slowly toward the window-shield with reverent respect. “Where did you get a hold of one of these? This is a 1969 Dodge Charger. These are so hard to come by!”
I smiled. He was so in awe of my car it was cute. A pang of sadness struck me again, realizing now that I could think that Stitch was cute without having to feel guilty about it. It was a relief, but an agonizing feeling none the less.
“Do you want to drive?” I offered, jingling the keys in front of me.
He smiled. “Can I?” The excitement was obvious in his voice.
I tossed the keys to him. “Just be careful with my baby.”
We slid into my car; sitting on the passenger side was an odd thing for me, but strangely comfortable with Stitch as the driver. The garage opened, and he turned the key, listening to the engine roar to life. The smile never left his face as we rolled out of the driveway and headed down the street. I directed him to the hospital, but that was the only speaking done in the car. Occasionally he would glance over and look at my hand, but never said anything. When we pulled into the parking lot, he was sure to park away from any other cars, which is exactly what I would have done. I went to open my door, and Stitch tutted at me, shaking his head and stepping out of his side and quickly coming around to mine, opening the door. I blushed as he offered his hand to me, helping me out of the car. I sent a quick text to my mom telling her we were here, and walked inside. The nurse at the desk looked up when we came in, waving at me, and paged my mom. We waited in the lobby until she came out the elevator, smiling tiredly.
“Come on back,” she said, “Thanks for coming, Stitch. I'm glad she hasn't shunned the world.”
I glared at her back as we walked.
“She hasn't shunned the world yet, just most of it.” Stitch said, winking at me when I turned to look at him. “She's coping well.”
“I'm right here, thank you.” I growled, raising my hand to hit Stitch, but he tutted at me, reminding me my hand was injured. Why had I punched Tony with my good hand? Right, because I wanted it to hurt.
My mom took us to a small room for an x-ray. I hadn't been back here since I had been in the accident at the beginning of my junior year. I ended up with a few broken ribs and a concussion, but those were the least of my problems. The accident was the day my mom found out about my addiction.
My finger was indeed broken, but there wasn't much that could be done about it. She gave me a finger cast, kissed me on the head and sent me away with Stitch. When we got back to my house, all the lights had been turned off; my dad must have turned them all off on his way through. I walked Stitch to the guest house. We lingered at the door, standing in awkward silence, just staring at each other. I shifted my weight from foot to foot, twisting my hair in my hand.
“I'm going to go to bed now,” I said, looking up at him. “Thanks for taking me tonight.”
He smiled, “You're welcome. Love” He suddenly embraced me, tucking me in against his chest, his arms locked around me. “Sweet dreams, Laela.”
He released me and stepped through the door. My face was on fire, and my head was spinning. I walked back to the house in a sort of daze, climbing up the stairs to my room. I wasn't tired, so I went to my drawer and pulled out my favorite black bikini. I looked out the window, the lights were off in the guest house, so I changed quickly and grabbed a towel and crept back downstairs. I disarmed the security system and slipped out the door. I turned on the lights in the hot tub and dropped my towel at the side of the steps. The water was hot, but it was comfortable. I sunk into the water, basking in the feeling of the warm water against my skin. Before I moved, coming out to the hot tub at night to clear my head was something I did quite often. It had been a long day, and I was ready to just forget about it and move on.
Tipping my head back I gazed up into the starry night sky—well, what should have been a starry night. Instead of seeing the blazing pinpoints of lights in the heavens I was forced to imagine them as I always had been. That was the downfall of living in a big city, with bigger cities surrounding you. You never really could see the stars. I closed my eyes, taking a deep breath and letting my imagination paint the sky for me. Millions of tiny stars dotted the inky black sky, swirling together to create a masterpiece worthy of the gods. I smiled to myself, giggling a little as I slid slowly under the water, imagining the stars. There was only one place I had ever been where I could see the stars without having to imagine them. And it wasn't like I could just hop in my car and go there. Not if I didn't want to drive for hours beforehand. Keltie had once taken me with her to her family's cabin in Virginia, which had been by far one of her favorite vacations because I was with them. I enjoyed it there. Being in the forest felt right, like I had grown up there, although I knew I hadn't. Keltie and I sat on the balcony outside her room one night and watched the stars, talking about if there was life on other planets, and if they watched the stars too. We hadn't really come to a decision since our conversation quickly turned from aliens to serial killers—even we didn't know how that had happened—and we stopped talking.
I wished she were here right now, sitting in the water with me. I wouldn't have to hide how hurt I was, how broken I felt. But I felt as if I owed it to the world to put on a strong face, to not be one of those girls who hulled themselves up in their rooms for ages because their significant other cheated on them, broke their heart in to pieces and stepped on it. I had the potential to be one of those girls, I knew as much, but I refused to let that happen to me. If I did, I don't think I would ever recover from the blow.
“Out for a midnight swim?” Asked a dark familiar voice.
My eyes snapped open so quickly my head started spinning. When I could finally see straight, I found Stitch standing above me at the edge of the hot tub. “Uhm... yes?” I said, sinking under the water, suddenly self conscious of my attire.
“Mind if I join you?” he waited for a moment before saying, “I couldn't sleep.”
I stared up at him. “Oh, um, sure.”
I moved across the small circle to the other side, staring at him. He took a deep breath and lifted his tight black t-shirt over his head. I shivered watching him step slowly into the water. He was smiling at me, but I turned away, staring back up at the sky. Daring a glance back at him, I noticed a splash of pale white across his tan chest. I didn't linger on the mark too long before looking back at the sky.
“Enjoying the stars?” he asked.
I laughed. “Of the few I can actually see, yes.” I replied. “I wish I could see more of them.”
I sighed; in time with my exhaling, the sky seemed to clear and the stars were shining brightly overhead. I gasped. What had just happened? Without remembering that Stitch was sitting across the pool from me, I stood up in the center, staring up at the sky. The stars were sparkling brightly above me unlike any other night before. Even up at the cabin the light didn't seem so bright.
I looked at him, and if looks could be breathless, mine was. “Did you see that?” I asked. He shook his head. “The stars, they were suddenly really bright! It was almost like—”
“Magic.” He finished, sounding breathless himself.
I was still watching him, and out of the corner of my eye I saw a bright star fall out of the heavens, but the light seemed to be amplified ten fold. Blinking, I noticed the light wasn't coming from the sky, it was coming from Stitch. The scar on his chest suddenly flared up, but in an instant it was gone just as fast as the star had fallen from the sky.
“What just happened?” I asked, staring at his chest, and not caring to hide it.
He fidgeted uncomfortably. “What do you mean?”
“That scar on your chest, it lit up with the star.”
He looked down at the scar that branched out like a snowflake, small wispy lines branching out from thicker stalks in the center of his chest. “No it didn't. I think you're imagining things Laela.”
I waded through the water, stopping when my knees touched his. I leaned forward and put my hand on the mark, feeling my fingertips tingle when they made contact. I felt him shiver under my touch and immediately drew my hand away, but he caught it, and put it back on his chest so my palm covered the scar entirely.
He breathed deeply for a time before he opened his eyes, and even in the dark his eyes sparkled like emeralds. “I know this is hardly the time to say this after everything that's happened to you today, but it needs to be said.” He whispered. “Laela, I'm falling for you, I have been since the first day I met you.”
I felt my heart begin to race in my chest, my cheeks flushed with blood and my whole body felt warm. Something inside of me screamed out in joy that those words had finally been said, and that there were no more questions about what he felt, those stares he gave me, the way he watched me. It was all for a reason now, and it seemed like an immense weight had been lifted off my chest though I didn't know why. He stood up, the two of us moving backward together into the center of the small pool, my hand still on his chest, our bodies only inches apart. He stared down at me with those beautiful eyes, as if he expected me to say something, but my thoughts were racing through my head at a million miles a minute I hardly had time to compose a complete thought before something new took its place. Then, just as I was about to give up on it entirely, instinct took over.
“Kiss me.” I whispered breathlessly, moving so our bodies touched, my skin against his.
He put his hand on my cheek, caressing it softly with his thumb, and leaned in. When his lips met mine it was as if a firework had gone off in my head, and my world went dark. The last thing I remember was his voice calling my name and the warm water engulfing my body.
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