Chapter 10 Commitment takes time “Oh Alejandro, why can’t you love me?” “My sister died… I don’t think I’ll be able to love again…” “Please Alejandro!!” “Go away, Gabrielle… I’m not right for you.” “You're the only one for me!!” Tears welled up in my eyes. “You tell him Gabrielle!” As the soap opera went on, I wiped my eyes and took another big bite of popcorn. I woke up early this morning, so I decided to continue watching my favorite soap opera, “The Way to Love is Hard”. A title that I can completely relate to. As Alejandro and Gabrielle were arguing, I heard footsteps emerging from the bathroom. Shadow walked in with a towel on his head, drying away all of the remaining water. Another towel was wrapped around his waist, exposing his chest completely. I stared in awe at his perfectly sharpened chest of a sculpture… his 6-pack shining under the light. My face flushed as I quickly looked back at the TV, my face completely red. I kept on glancing back at him. Once finished drying his head, he put the towel on his shoulder and looked at me in surprise. “Oh sorry, I didn’t know you were awake yet.” I flushed harder. “That's okay… just put some clothes on before Jade wakes up.” When Jade saw Shadow and me that night she just smirked evilly and walked to her room. It has been a couple days after that day and she still looks at us like that, not saying anything. What a demon. A few minutes later, he came back in some black jeans, a purple shirt, and yep, there it was, the flame-colored jacket I got for him back when we were first dating… I looked back at the TV as he sat down next to me. I cringed, but then relaxed as minutes passed by. Our fingers inches away from each other… “I think Gabrielle is overreacting.” I was surprised and caught out of my trance. “What?” I asked disbelievingly. “I honestly think Alejandro has a good reason for denying their love, even if he loves her. It's clear that he doesn’t want a relationship right now.” My eyebrows furrowed, looking straight at me. He met my eyes with an emotionless expression. Sharp eyes that were narrowed slightly to meet mine. “Gabrielle is a fan favorite, you should know that.” “-She seems a little annoying to be honest.” “You didn’t let me finish. You can’t just barge into the fandom and go ‘oh Gabrielle is wrong’ and all that. Alejandro has been such a crappy boyfriend to her, but she still tried to make a good relationship between her and him. But, Alejandro, being the crappy guy he is doesn’t tell her anything, and when his best friend AND his sister dies he literally just ghosts her for 5 years without even saying anything! You don’t understand the pain that Gabrielle went through.” I concluded, wanting to add the ‘pain I went through…’ By the end of my speech, Shadow was looking away, biting his lip. Then I realized. Whatever I just told him, it hit way too close at home. The soap opera was way too similar to our fight, the situation… the incident…
thumb by the awesome @Chesire_20 Did he truly feel bad…? No. If he felt bad, he would have come back without someone bargaining him. And paying him. No, it's good it hit too close to home. I examined his expression, but my eyes couldn’t peel away from the way he bit his lips… sharp teeth meeting clear flesh… little droplets of blood… Just like the way he… I didn’t make myself finish the sentence. I turned away to look back at the episode to see it had ended. Damn it. I thought. I took a couple deep breaths to make myself stop cursing to look back at Shadow. I had to readjust my vision to see that he was all the way up in front of my face. I flushed, looking away with my eyes. His emotionless expression changed a little. His cheeks reddened a little and his eyes widened, but he still kept that same look on his face. Determination. I scoffed, wanting to hit him with a snarky comeback… but nothing came to me. I realized I was just staring at him, admiring him. I could tell he was admiring me too. He flicked something off my forehead. I glanced upward to see what he was flicking, but I couldn’t tell. He moved away, but his eyes locked on mine. “Sorry. There was a bug. Small spider.” My expression widened. “Spider?!” I jumped out of my seat, my popcorn flying. “Where?” I heard laughter behind me. I turned around to see I was sitting right on him. I didn’t realize how close he sat next to me. Or how far I jumped away from my spot. I turned around to see him chuckling, all his sharp, lovely teeth visible to see. His complete smile was always mesmerizing… “Gone, gone, don’t worry.” He said after his laugh started to die down. I moved away from his lap, my face even redder than it was before. I sat down, unintentionally really close, and looked at my face. He laughed even harder, because of how red my face was. I cracked a smile, which then turned into a laugh. We laughed for a good while, until I stopped for a bit. He then finished his marvelous laugh. We both then sat in silence after that. Suddenly, I felt gentle fingers slide over mine. I glanced over my shoulder to see Shadow’s gloved hand on top of mine. Curiously, I slid my hand under my palm, and he immediately had a firm grip on my hand, twisting it so my palm faced upward, massaging circles into it. But… With the firm grip was gentleness in the way he massaged my palm. Letting me slide away if I felt uncomfortable. I didn’t. I HAVE NO REGRETS WHATSOEVER YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IM TALKING ABOUT-
