SHE

FIFTEEN

I woke up alone, Edens scent lingering on the sheets.

"Babe?" I asked, hoping she was somewhere in the room.

When I got no answer, I looked around. Based on the sun that was still proudly shining, I assumed it had to be around 3 pm or so. Eden was probably downstairs doing something.

"Ru?" Eden whispered, opening the doors, probably trying to not wake me up in case I was still sleeping.

It was as if she could sense when I needed her there.

The corners of my mouth lifted at the sight of her. How can one be so beautiful, that every time you see them, your heart beats faster, and you seem to be out of breath?

"Did you sleep well?" she asked, climbing on top of the bed, sitting the opposite end of it.

"While you were next to me, yes," I smiled.

She probably thought I was just joking, but it was the truth. I had become so used to her, I would most likely struggle to fall asleep without her by my side. It was quite scary that it was how things were now, very different as to how it used to be before her. When she was next to me, it felt safe, like I was home. She was my home.

"Want a coffee or something?" she asked.

I smirked: "I do want something, but I'm not sure if you can give that to me."

Her eyebrow rose, she thought I was challenging her cooking skills, while it wasn't even about that: "well I can always try?"

"I'll give you a hint.." I said, watching her, "it's delicious, takes my breath away and makes me crave for it even more, when I get a small amount of it."

"M&M's? You love them," she guessed, completely unaware of what I was talking about.

I laughed: "it starts with E..."

She rolled her eyes, laughing, as she got up from the bed. "Time to get up, Gold," she shouted, already leaving the room.

I decided against going down in the comfy clothes Eden had prepared for me and rummaged through her closet. It was far more than obvious that most of the time, our styles were the complete opposites. I liked to show my curves, dressing more girly than her, whilst Eden totally could beat me in the curve department, she still had the boyish style, mostly everything darker shades. It ended up taking quite a while for me to find something.

Of course, I loved to me comfy more than anything, but I had the mood to look good today, besides someone had to show my girl what she was missing.

I was pleasingly surprised to find a burgundy red romper with long sleeves and a deep v neck. I smiled, knowing that it had to be Lucy who just put this in her closet, forcing her to wear it somewhere.

Once I put it on I realized it fit me perfectly, making my curves stand out more than ever, not to mention, the burgundy color made my golden hair and green eyes stand out as much as they possibly could.

I went downstairs, barefoot, walking in the kitchen as I saw her eyes quickly shift from the food to me as she heard the footsteps. Her eyes looked me up and down, desire flowing from her stare as I decided to make a mental note to wear these kinds of things more. Little temptation never hurt anybody.

"Like what you see, Harper?" I teased, smiling.

She licked her lips, smirking: "you know what you do to me, even without these kinds of clothes on."

"I don't, actually. Why don't you show me?" I challenged.

She was clearly considering it for a few seconds, weighing the options, but decided against it, as she switched her gaze back to the food.

"There has to be food for a dinner to be held," she smiled, cutting up the veggies.

My smile faded. She was still doing the same thing she had been doing since Blake visited last night - resisting me. In fact, she avoided getting too close to me. I wasn't dumb, no matter how blinded I was by my feelings for her, I could still tell when someone was hiding something from me.

"What was the argument about last night.. with your brother?" I asked, cautiously as I slowly approached her. She didn't react, even barely, making me acknowledge her acting skills yet again.

"What makes you think there was one?"

Because of the frown, you had on your face when I walked. Because of how distant you've been acting. Because of the way he whispered in your ear, hiding it the best one ever could. Because of the way you both looked at me and how you were when he talked to me.

"I just have a feeling," I shrugged, two could play the game.

"It was nothing important, just the usual sibling stuff."

"Alright," I walked closer, massaging her shoulders, she tensed but then quickly relaxed under my touch, "you know I'm here for you, you don't have to handle anything any longer on your own. You can talk to me."

"I know, babe," she turned her head, giving me a kiss, "thank you."

Why can't she just tell me? She knows she can trust me. I couldn't seem to figure it out, as if there was a huge piece of the puzzle missing.

We both heard the main door slamming against the wall.

"I'm so gonna whip your ass, love, so you better hide," a loud girls voice said, walking straight into the kitchen.

She stared at the both of us, specifically my hands on Eden's shoulders.

"You must be Ruby," she leaned against the doorway, winking at me.

I took my time looking her up and down. She looked like a mixture of me and Eden. Her colored white hair cut into a bob, that reached her shoulders, her eyes mixture of blue and green. She was a little shorter than me, but her body was still beautiful, wearing high waisted denim shorts with a black, torn up nirvana t-shirt and black leather heels. Her look and presence gave of confidence easily.

I smiled, already knowing she had to be a part of the Quietus.

"I knew you were thirsty for Ed, but, jeez, was that fast," a guy, about 2 years older than us walked in, laughing. He grinned, looking at me and Eden. Only for a split second did I see the panic in his eyes.

"It's a party!" he said, still laughing as he walked over to the shelves, grabbing a shot glass and a bottle of Jack.

I was pretty amused by the whole situation. It just so happened that the most dangerous gang lacked far more intelligence than I anticipated. This was slightly disappointing. It was rather obvious they had no clue I knew anything.

Walking over to the shelf, I grabbed a shot glass myself and placed it in front of the guy. He looked at me, brows raised, but still poured me the liquid.

"Ru? What are you doing?" Eden asked, her tone telling me to stop doing whatever I was doing. I winked at her in response, clinking my glass with the mystery man as I took the shot.

The liquid instantly sent tingles down my throat, making me wince. "I'm Ruby, and you are?" I held out my hand for him.

"Name's Luke, hun," his eyes ate me alive, as he planted a small kiss on my hand

You could tell this guy broke hearts in his spare time. His green eyes and dirty blonde hair, together with his athletic body, was enough to make any girl drop their panties if he as much as looked their way.

"You might want to let go of that hand, Lu," Eden warned, a fake smile on her lips.

"Whatever you say, Ed," Luke grinned at her, kissing her cheek and walked over to the table, sitting on it.

The girl that had walked in first, was standing there silently, watching the whole situation, observing silently. I still didn't know her name, but she seemed to already have her mind made up about me, not even bothering. She had a thing for Eden, that much was very clear.

Our eyes locked for a second, her soon averting her gaze to Eden.

"Hey, Ed, can we talk?" she asked, pointing her head in the living room direction, "..alone?"

I raised an eyebrow, looking at Edens reaction. She looked at me uneasily but quickly averted her gaze to the girl. Did she really think I would not find this suspicious?

"Sure, Angel, my room," she said. Angel? Was that her actual name?

"Angelica, that's her full name, just so you don't get any ideas," Luke filled in the gaps, pouring himself another shot.

"Good to know," I said, pouring myself one too.

I took the shot, knowing well that this wouldn't be the last one even though I had the dinner planned for tonight. Yet I had my priorities straight, Eden remaining at the top of my list.