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He was glad to feel the tension between them ease. “Yeah, but you still look just the same,” he said, scanning her face. Kara was half black and half Mexican; the mix had resulted in stark, dramatic features and a graceful neck. Extremely short hair looked amazing on her; it always had.
She smiled, and pretended to preen. “Thanks – when you get to my age, you kind of like hearing that. ” Her face grew more serious again. She examined her nails; he saw the same expression in her eyes as when she’d made the mistake over the coffee. “So. . . do you still think about him as much as I do?”
Alex looked down at his plate; the words wouldn’t come. He felt Kara reach across and squeeze his wrist. “Sorry,” she said. “Stupid question. ”
“Every day,” he said finally. “I miss him every day. ”
They both straightened as Willow came back into the kitchen; he could tell that she’d picked up on the mood. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest, and attempted a smile. “Hey, I’m sorry to be boring, but I’m getting pretty tired,” she said. “I might just go on to bed. ”
“Me too,” said Alex, stretching. Then he remembered. “Kara, can we borrow some clothes from you guys? Some thieving jerk stole all our stuff, up in Chihuahua. ”
“Yeah, we can fix you up, no problem,” said Kara. She started clearing the plates away; Willow moved to help. “So, Willow, we’ve got an extra bed in the girls’ dorm that you’re welcome to. And Alex, you can take Juan’s old room if you want; it’s right by the guys’ dorm – it’s pretty small; it’s got a single bed in it—” She stopped, looking flustered as she glanced from Alex to Willow. “Oh, wait. I guess maybe you. . . ”
“We’ll both take Juan’s old room,” said Alex. He saw Kara start to say something and then stop, her lips tightening. “What?” he said sharply. “Everyone knows that Willow and I are together; I’m not going to start hiding it. ”
“No, it’s not that,” said Kara. She scraped the remains of the spaghetti into the trash. “It’s just. . . well, Juan thought it was better if people didn’t couple up too obviously. For the team, I mean. He sort of laid down some ground rules when we first got here, and that was one of them. But look, you’re in charge now; you do what you want. ”
He started to say Good, I will, and then hesitated as he remembered – his father had had that rule, too. It wasn’t that Martin had cared who was seeing who – illicit meetings in the broom closet had been fine as far as he was concerned – but he’d said it made the team feel like more of a unit if it was always team first, couples second. And when you were in a combat situation, that could be vital.
“Alex, it’s fine – I’ll go into the dorm,” said Willow, rinsing their forks and knives off without looking at him.
He could just imagine what it would be like for her in there, with the other girls hating her. Then he noticed the tension in her movements, and that she still wasn’t meeting his gaze. His eyebrows lowered in concern as a suspicion came to him. “Could you leave us alone for a second?” he asked Kara.
She put the rinsed-off dishes onto a drying rack. “Sure, I’ll just go and find some clothes for you both. Back in ten. ”
Alex leaned against the counter by the sink and gently pulled Willow to him, looping his arms around her waist. “You heard what Kara was saying before, didn’t you?”
She gave a reluctant nod. “Just the last part of it, as I was coming down the stairs, but. . . yeah, enough to get the idea,” she admitted.
“Okay, so you know it’s a complete fantasy, right? You do not cause angel burn. Not to me, or anybody else. ”
Glancing down, Willow fingered the crystal pendant he’d given her; it gleamed in the light. “Kara’s right, though, you don’t know that for sure. ” Her voice was unsteady. “How can you? No one really knows anything about half-angels. I mean, I don’t think I’ve ever hurt anyone, but you and I are so close, and maybe— ”
“Wil-low. Come on. Babe, please, listen to me—” He lifted her chin with his hand; her eyes were bright with tears. “Of course you’re not hurting me,” he said. “Do I look unhealthy to you? I’m fine. ”
“But just because someone looks healthy doesn’t always mean they are. And what about that headache you got in Chihuahua? The night before, we almost—” She stopped, flushing slightly. “I mean. . . we came so close, remember?”
With a sudden grin, he said, “Oh, hey, yeah. Now that you mention it, I do seem to recall that. ” He bent his head down and kissed her; felt her start to respond and then pull away.
“Alex, I’m serious! What if that had something to do with—”
“Shh,” he murmured, kissing her again. His hands were on her hips; gliding them upwards, he could feel the slim cello-dip of her waist. “Listen to me. You don’t have a halo. You don’t feed. The only way you could hurt me would be to stop touching me. That would hurt. A lot. This feels. . . really good, actually. ” The kiss deepened, their mouths moving together. He felt her give in to it, pressing close against him and twining her arms around his neck. He stroked his hands up her spine, relishing her warmth. The thought of sleeping separately from her was agonizing.
When they drew apart, Willow rested her head against his chest; he dropped his cheek onto her hair, caressing her back through the softness of the plaid shirt. “Promise me you’ll tell me if you ever even suspect I’m hurting you,” she said after a pause. “I mean, if you even have a cough that you don’t think you should have, you’ve got to tell me, all right?”
He started to make a joke and then Willow looked up; her expression was gravely serious. “I promise,” he said, touching her face. God, he could kill Kara for putting this idea in her head. “But, Willow, it’s not going to happen. You’re not hurting me. It was just a headache – everyone on the planet gets them sometimes. ”
She hesitated, her eyes searching his. “I really hope you’re right. ”
“I am,” he said. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. “I promise you. I’m completely fine. ”
Willow let out a breath. “Okay,” she said at last, nodding. “Maybe I overreacted a little. ” She reached up and covered his hand with hers. “I’ll believe you until I have a reason not to, how’s that?”
“Much better,” he said. He drew her back to him again. Lowering his head, he whispered in her hair, “So now that we’ve got that settled. . . maybe we should think about finishing what we started the other night. ”
She glanced quickly at him; her cheeks reddened a little, but she was smiling. “Oh, I’m definitely thinking about it – believe me. ” She traced a finger over his chest. “But next time, someone needs to be a little more prepared. ”
Alex nuzzled at her neck. “I bought some on the drive down today,” he murmured against her smooth skin.
“You did?”
“Mm-hmm. ” He nibbled at her ear; felt her shiver.
“Oh,” she said faintly. “That makes it. . . really, really suck that I’m going to sleep in the girls’ dorm while we’re here. ”
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