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Chapter Seven

I didn’t go to work the next day. Or the day after that. It wasn’t because I couldn’t go outside; Arthur just wouldn’t let me. He was still searching for the answer, he said. It was too dangerous for me to out, he said.

So I ended up calling in sick both days. I felt even stranger those two days, because there was absolutely nothing for me to do at home or at Arthur’s. I didn’t have hobbies or anything, meaning that I just sat on the couch watching TV.

I stayed in my apartment, too. Arthur came to visit me sometimes, but between his job and reading those ancient books, he didn’t really have time to check up on me. He sent me lots of texts. It was kind of cute how worried he was about me. He was a really nice guy. The angel part of him was shining through, that much was for sure.

According to him, he hadn’t found anything out about why my wounds had healed. Banshees weren’t known for their superhuman regeneration or anything other than their scream, really.

I played the scar on my stomach as I flicked through channels on the TV, tracing around the edges were scar tissue met with my smooth skin. The bruises on my neck were gone, same for the injury on my chin; the only thing that was left was this. I didn’t think the scar was ever going to go away.

I wanted to go outside, breathe some fresh air. The thought of the outdoors was still scary, but that didn’t the fact that I needed a scene change. Sitting on the couch was making me depressed. Even more depressed than I originally was. I felt as if I was trapped within these four walls and needed to get out. Not even to work or anything, just to stretch my legs or something.

I let out a groan of annoyance, tilting my head back and staring up at the popcorn ceiling. I was going to have to convince Arthur that it was okay for me to go outside. And that was definitely going to be a struggle. Since the demons knew where we lived and who I was, the chances of me being attacked if I went outside were pretty high.

Resolve wavering, I picked up my phone and dialed Arthur’s number (I figured it’d be easier than a face-to-face conversation).

He answered, “Hello.”

“Hi,” I greeted, heart racing a little. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” he responded suspiciously. “Is something wrong?”

“Nope.”

I heard the sound of people in the background. Was he at work? I decided vocalize my question.

“Yes,” Arthur told me. “Just about to get off.”

I glanced at the time, surprised that it was almost six. “Um...”

“Did you want something?” Arthur inquired after a long pause.

“Yeah, actually!” I exclaimed, twirling a lock of hair around my finger nervously. “Could I, uh, go out today? Do... something.”

He didn’t answer for a good twenty seconds before slowly saying, “Why?”

“I’m tired of being cooped up.”

Another pause. “You could die,” he reminded me tightly.

“I know… that’s why you should come with me!”

“Oh,” he sounded surprised, “that’s actually not a bad idea.”

“I know,” I repeated, feeling kind of smug. “So?”

I could picture him contemplating his answer. His eyebrows would push together and he would frown slightly, nose wrinkling. It was another cute thing about him. “All right.”

I jumped up, excitement pulsing in my veins. “Really?”

“Yes, I’ll be home in twenty or so minutes. Give me time to get changed and we can go out somewhere.”

I grinned. “Awesome. See you then.”

“Yep, see you.”

He hung up first.

Arthur took us to the local strip mall. I had been there a few times before-- never with anyone else, though. I rarely went shopping for anything. Anyway, with him by my side, I didn’t feel the gazes that I had felt a few days previously nor was I overcome with anxiety. Which was definitely a plus.

Like he had done before, Arthur came over to my side of the car and opened the door for me. “My lady,” he said lightly, gesturing with his arms for me to step out of the car.

I snorted and got out, shoving my hands into the pouch of my sweat jacket. “Do you need something from here?”

He shook his head. “You said that you wanted to get out of the house.”

“Yeah,” I answered. I just... Okay, I didn’t know what I had been expecting. Maybe a soulful walk around the neighborhood, a quiet dinner at some restaurant. But going to a strip mall just felt so plain and mundane. Like we weren’t being hunted down. And there were so many people around, making me wonder how many demons or other non-humans had blended into the crowd. That had never been something that I actually thought about until now. It hadn’t mattered until now, rather.

I stuck close to Arthur as we walked through the plaza, ears fading out the pop music that blasted over the PA system and focusing in on the sound of his footsteps. “Where to first?” I questioned, sneakily putting my arm through his and putting our bodies together more snugly.

He either didn’t care or notice my touch (probably the former--actually, he probably thought I was cold and let me) because Arthur answered my question without saying anything about our proximity, “Oh, anywhere you want to go. Just let me know.”

I looked around at every story as we passed them, pursing my lips in thought. “Hmm.” I didn’t need anything, really. Maybe some more clothes, seeing that I didn’t have anything... nice. Everything I wore either was stained, too big, or holey. It was kind of awkward to be next to Arthur, who was always so well put together every single day. Even dressed down, he looked like he was ready to go to some photo shoot.

“There,” I said, pointing to the first clothing store that I saw. It wasn’t a regular department store either; it was one of those fancy and pointlessly expensive places. I thought about my card and wondered if I had any money on it.

We walked through the store. It was playing some smooth jazz and the dead-eyed but bright smiled associates attempted to help us. I turned them down, though, finding their voices to be irritating.

I picked up pieces of clothing and quickly put them back upon seeing the price tag. Everything was nice but... over seventy dollars for jeans with holes in them? Why?

“I’ll pay for it,” Arthur said suddenly, as if he had read my mind. For a second, I seriously thought that he did since the timing was perfect.

“What?” I dropped the edge of this sheer shirt I was holding and stared at him, agape.

He leaned down (which was pretty far for him) and whispered into my ear, “I’m an old rich guy, remember?” Arthur patted me on the shoulder and leaned up

I chuckled a little, a crooked smile of my own forming. If the man wanted to pay, I wasn’t going to stop him. That was something that I had learned throughout my years. “I forgot.”

“Pick out whatever you like,” he told me, eyes running over the clothing in the shop. Then he finally turned his gaze back to me. “I’m sure anything you get will look great on you.”

Was he flirting? Or was he just being nice? It was kind of hard to tell with Arthur; he was that type of person. I was really hoping that it was the first option though. So I allowed myself to have some hope, and decided that he was.

By the time we finished shopping (we hit up a couple more stores and Arthur bought some stuff for himself), it was nearing ten. I had gotten a good amount of clothes from the store--not a lot, since Arthur was paying, but enough to make me feel slightly more confident about my wardrobe.

We walked back to Arthur’s SUV; we were one of the few remaining cars in the lot. It had been a good night. The fresh air, spending time with Arthur, almost forgetting that my life was in peril...

“You know,” I said as we got into the car. “I wasn’t expecting that one of the worst days of my life would lead me to meeting such a great guy.” I specifically avoided the usage of the word friend.

Arthur turned to me, laughing a little as he buckled his seat. “You flatter me.”

“No, seriously. You didn’t have to say anything, do anything, but you did.”

The playfulness in his gaze faded. “Can I be honest?”

“Yeah,” I answered cheerfully, partially wondering what was wrong.

He dropped the first bomb of the night, “When I first saw you, I honestly didn’t care if you killed yourself or not. I wouldn’t have let you, but it didn’t matter to me what your feelings were.”

“Oh.” My eyes fell down to the floor, staring at the busted laces on my shoes.

Arthur hurriedly said, “But the more you talked, the more I was able to see the true strength that you had. I realized how much you had been through, how much suffering... I knew that you tried your hardest. And I knew that I couldn’t let someone so admirable fall to their death.”

“Admirable?” I echoed. He thought that I was honorable? Worthful of his praise? That was, well, weird. Odd. Unheard of.

“Like, super cool.”

“Yeah?” My heart swelled. I started to actually feel proud of myself.

“Yeah.” Arthur smiled down at me, his eyes shining.

I didn’t know what came over me; it all happened so quickly. My eyes landed on his lips, immediately causing me to wonder if they were as soft as they looked. Then I found myself thinking about how I really wanted to kiss him.

So I did.

My hands shot out and grabbed his face, pulling him towards me and pushing our lips together. I felt electricity crackle and life flood through my body, my hair standing up and skin tingling. It was probably the most amazing experience I had ever had. So perfect, so real.

Then it was gone. Arthur realized what was happening and quickly pulled away from me, wiping his lips with the back of his hand (it made my heart cramp painfully).

“What are you doing?” He glared at me, gaze harsher than I had ever seen it before.

“I--” My cheeks were burning with shame. “That’s... I mean, I-I just thought--”

“Yeah, you thought,” he responded brusquely.

Great. I was going to cry again. He didn’t have to be so mean about it. But I held the tears back because I didn’t want to cry in front of him. “I’m sorry,” I nearly whimpered. “I really just thought that...” I couldn’t speak, the words were getting hard for form. “I’m sorry.”

“You--” His eyes softened, albeit slightly. Arthur straightened out, eyes dropping from mine. “Nevermind. Let’s go.”

The ride home was quiet and painful. Arthur focused on driving the entire time, not even bothering to look at me. Was he mad? I bet that he was mad. I’d probably be furious if I was him. But instead, I was just embarrassed. We arrived at the apartment complex, still not a word spoken since from when we had left the strip mall.

Arthur got out, I was prepared for him to slam the door, but he didn’t. Instead, he quickly walked towards the building without stopping to wait for me.

He didn’t open the car door for me this time.