Burn (Virtues & Lies 1)

The silence we settle into is loaded with my thoughts of Leo and what might have happened if Laura hadn’t interrupted us. I wonder if he wanted to do more than just kiss and whether he will ever kiss me again.

Recalling what all his intensity and broodiness felt like solely focused on me is enough to make my mouth water and my body clench in places that have my insides filled with butterflies.

“Oh God, what the fuck is going on now? I thought you said things had been quiet around here?” Fleur says, as she gets up and out of the bath, loud voices filter in from the corridor outside my room as I follow her.

Rushing into the bedroom, I slip on one of my oversized T-shirts as she races to get her shorts and vest on.

Looking me up and down, Fleur stops by the bedroom door. “Jesus Christ, how do you do that? How do you manage to one, make that T-shirt look even remotely nice and two, look that good when you could barely put a foot in front of the other an hour ago?”

“It’s a talent.” I shrug, tugging at the hem of my T-shirt and as Fleur is about to say something, we both freeze at the sound of Christopher’s loud yell. “Stay the fuck here, Arabella!”

“NO!”

Opening my bedroom door without a second thought I find her in unstoppable, hiccupping tears.

Arabella and I are barely what you would call friends, but I go to her as she threatens to collapse on the hard wood floor.

“Get in the fucking bedroom and don’t fucking leave this house. Do you understand?”

The anger rolling off Christopher is palpable and staggering, and with how upset Arabella is it makes me want to yell at him to back off and lower his voice. But there’s this menacing, cold look in his eyes that makes me very wary of my actions.

“He’s my friend!” Pushing off the wall, she lunges at him with her fists hammering his chest relentlessly until he holds them still, flush to him.

“I know, Bells. I know, baby,” h

e murmurs into her ear. I think it’s meant to be only for her to hear, but he’s so flustered and breathless that his whispers are hoarse and not as silent as he intended them on being. “I need you to calm down, I can’t go and help Leo if you’re like this.”

Leo?

Sinking to the floor like a lead balloon, my heart threatens to cave in on itself as I fill to the brim with dread. Fleur, who was still standing in my doorway rushes over and although she doesn’t take my hand, she touches her side to mine.

“What’s happened?” My question is a desperate, breathy cry and by the time I register it, it’s too late for me to collect myself. “What’s going on, Christopher?”

Looking between the three of us like he’s unsure of what he can and can’t say, his face softens before he wraps Arabella in his arms. “He’s okay, Cass.”

A sob bursts out of Arabella and he curls in around her, like he’s protecting her from an attack or sheltering her from a storm.

“We need to go, helicopter’s here,” Dad says out of breath like he’s just ran up the four flights of stairs to get to our floor. The Victorian gothic architecture has never felt so eerie and cold as it does with the stoic look on his face.

Helicopter?

Nausea turns my stomach at the mention of the aircraft. It hasn’t been used in months, not since my grandfather’s fatal accident.

“Be careful, please, Christopher.” Arabella sobs into his chest. “I need you. We need you.”

“Never as much as I need you, Belles.” A liquid smile fleets across his face and then it grows serious and stoic again. “Stay here, okay? Don’t go anywhere, it doesn’t matter who calls or comes knocking. At the first sign of trouble, you know what to do?”

She nods and then says, “Shoot first, ask questions after.”

“Only to maim,” he smirks at her and then leans down to kiss her.

Her hands cup his face and his hold hers. I have to look away because the depth of their kiss is too much for me. It’s too intimate and too meaningful to be seen and felt by anyone barring the two of them.

“Are you okay?” Fleur asks as I start for the stairs where my father is turning to head back down and all I can do is look at her blankly as I try to sort through the unease roiling inside me.

Following him down in silence I am incapable of seeing anything straight. It’s all a blur and when we reach the bottom my body feels so heavy that my legs are like dead weights anchoring me to the last step.

Mum is already waiting, her hair up in a messy ponytail and her face bare. Her casual cigarette jeans and high-neck attire make her look ready for a trip to the tea room.