by M. J. O'Shea
“Back to the woods.”
Chapter 12: Back Again
WE LEFT early the next morning, right after the sun rose enough to light our way. Silivasi and Lilya bid us farewell and offered their guard to escort us to the Forest’s entrance. Xan declined. Although I thought we could trust Silivasi, Xan’s memory of what a lycan had once done to the dryads must’ve run very deep. I was glad, nearly two hours later, when we got to an odd-looking rock formation, and Xan informed me that the rocks were the entrance to his part of the world. I took my pack off and slid through a place in the rock that on first glance I’d have sworn wasn’t there. After a brief but harrowing walk in the dark, we emerged into the lovely warmth of Xan’s forest.
The trees in the Forest were mainly bare, unlike the last time I’d been there, when they’d been decked out in autumn array. It was still warm and sunny, though. More like an Indian summer than winter.
“Doesn’t it ever rain here?” I asked him.
“Yes, but not extensively, and more in the summer. Our winters tend to be dry.” He led me to a path that bordered a small river that glowed golden in the morning sun.
“And how long will it take us to get back to where you live?”
“With you, probably a day and a half of decent walking. Might be a little longer than flying, but with layovers and everything….”
“I know you hate planes. Don’t worry about it.” I reached over and grabbed onto his fingers. He squeezed mine in return. “Are there any entrances into Central Park or something? I highly doubt I’ll be able to slip through New Haven without my mom’s proximity alarm going off.”
Xan chuckled. “Yeah, I haven’t been out that way in a long time, but I think I can still find it. I think that entrance is quite a bit closer than my village.”
“Really? It should be about the same, shouldn’t it?”
Xan pulled my hand up and kissed it in a sweet and unexpected gesture. “No. The Forest doesn’t work that way. Distances between things wouldn’t make sense if you tried to compare them to the human world. It’s farther from home to the entrance in the Poconos than it is to the one here in Romania.”
“What?” That was enough to make me stop and squint at the ground.
Xan laughed. “Don’t try to make sense of it, just accept that’s the way it is. I know acceptance isn’t your best skill, but try.”
I elbowed him in the waist. “Shut up.”
“Bite me.”
After everything that had happened, it was nice to know some things never changed.
By the time we stopped that night, the stars had been out for at least two hours. But it was like summer when walking around at night was perfect, not cold and dark and scary. I wasn’t even nervous at night in the trees. I supposed I probably should’ve been at least somewhat watchful, but Xan and his world both put me at ease.
We stopped in this pretty stand of birch trees—or trees that were somewhat like birches. I was setting out our blankets when I thought of something.
“Xan? What are we going to call ourselves if people ask?”
“Who’s going to ask?”
“Uh, anyone who sees me kiss you? Or what about the hand holding? Is that over when we get back?”
He pulled me into his arms. “No, not unless you want it to be.”
I leaned forward and gave him a long kiss. “Not in a million years. So what are we calling ourselves?”
He shrugged again. “Charlie and Xan?”
“You know what I mean.”
“I do, but I don’t know the answer. The word ‘boyfriend’ seems so small for us. I mean, we’ve been together our whole lives.”
I nodded. “You’re right. That doesn’t sound right—none of the usual words do.”
He smiled. “So Xan and Charlie?”
“Yeah, Xan and Charlie. Just like always, except for the kissing.” I kissed him to punctuate my sentence. It started as a short kiss but turned deep and slow and increasingly sexy as it went on.
“And the touching,” he added, running his hand up under my shirt to rub my spine.
I shivered and arched into his touch.
“No objections to touching,” I murmured before I slid my own hands under Xan’s shirt and brought his lips back to mine for another kiss. I wedged my thigh between his and brought him as close as I could so there wasn’t any air between us. I wanted to take my shirt off, to feel his skin. We’d slept in bed lots of times like that, but I knew it was different after the things we’d said and done. But then I felt Xan’s hands under my shirt, pushing it up, and I knew then that it was okay.
I lifted my arms and waited for Xan’s shirt to disappear as well before I sighed with relief and wrapped my arms around him. It was amazing. Nothing about after-school groping with the closeted jock had led me to expect something that felt so intimate and real. Our hands stayed on chests and backs, never straying beneath the waistband. Can’t say it wasn’t tempting.
“Xan,” I whispered when we separated momentarily. He moaned in response and reached his hands down to pull me closer. I’d never been so close to anyone, not physically, and for sure not emotionally.
“You feel so good. I can’t believe….” He brought a hand up to touch my face in wonder.
“It’s amazing, isn’t it?”
Xan nodded silently.
We wriggled under the light blankets and kissed for a few more minutes, our kisses growing soft and lazy as we tired from the long few days we’d had. Eventually kissing turned to snuggling, and that turned to sleeping under a balmy starry sky. I decided again that I should simply stay in the Forest with Xan. I never wanted to go home.
TWO DAYS later, Xan and I crawled out of a bush in the middle of Central Park. It was disorienting to be in the Forest, all warm and sunny, then step into the middle of a New York January. The snow was blustering all around us, and it was hard to see. I didn’t know the park very well to begin with. I had no idea how we were going to find our way out of it in the near-whiteout.
“Hey, it’s this way, I think. It looks like there’s a pathway over there.” Xan pointed to what did, in fact, look like a pathway about thirty yards away in the snow. We trekked across the whitewashed park lawn until we ran into it. From there, it wasn’t so easy but we managed to use signs to find our way out onto a main street.
We gratefully hailed a cab to the building that housed the lycan council. The traffic sucked. It was rush hour in blinding snow. If I wasn’t so damn freezing after having spent the last two days hiking through late summer, I would’ve suggested that we get out and walk. It might have been faster, and for damn sure it would’ve been cheaper. When we pulled up at the building, I tossed everything I had at the driver and hopped out of the cab, jogging for the lycan headquarters.
It was still inside the lycan’s building, and not warm enough by far to keep me from shivering. I noticed Xan looked a bit blue around the gills as well. We had to wait for a long time before someone came to the front desk and led us back into the chambers. The lycans were just getting into session. I was afraid Xan and I would be stuck there waiting while they went through all their day-to-day business. I was getting colder by the minute, and all I wanted was a warm bed and somewhere to hold Xan. The sooner I could get this lycan thing over with, the better.
I scrambled around in my pack until I found the treaty signed by Silivasi. They passed it around and muttered to each other. I could only guess they were discussing its authenticity. If they questioned me, I was glad I could fall back on the Bucharest council as witnesses. Couldn’t get any more reliable than that in a lycan’s eye. Finally, the woman I deemed in charge, a lovely girl with rust-colored waves, pushed an envelope my way. I opened it and nearly choked on my tongue when I saw what was inside. It was a check—a couple thousand. More money than I’d ever had in my hand at one time. I liked this hunting stuff. One or two more jobs like that and I’d be set. I shoved the envelope in my pack and after a brief farewell, I gestured for Xan to le
ad the way out into the night.
It was dark, and while not late, I really didn’t want to attempt a return to New Haven that night, not to mention the fact that I wasn’t quite ready to face the music with my family. I’d realized somewhere along the way that no matter what I had in my hand when I got there, what I’d done was never going to be okay. I might as well suck it up, put the check in my savings account, and apologize like hell.
For that night, I hoped I could get ahold of Noah. There was no way I was getting my asshat brother involved if I could help it in any way. I pulled my phone out for the first time in days and dialed Noah’s number. He picked up after the first ring.
“Hey, Noah,” I said timidly.
“Charlie?”
“I’m really sorry about that note. I just needed to prove myself to my family.” And Xan, and everyone else who thought I was a wimpy kid.
“Reckless stunts like that can get you killed. I learned my lesson the hard way.”
“Listen, Noah, I am really sorry. I’m in town just for the night and was hoping Xan and I could crash in your spare room. I hate to ask, but—”
“You’re scared to call Colin?” There was a definite smile in his voice that time.
“A little. Plus, I like you more.”
Noah chuckled out loud. “Sure, come on over. Do you remember the address?”
“Yeah. It shouldn’t take that long to get there from the lycan council building.”
“See you soon, Charlie. And I won’t tell Colin you’re here tonight, but you’re going to have to deal with the family, you know?”
I did know. And I was dreading it.
Chapter 13: Charlie Fitzgerald, You are Permanently Punished
WHEN I woke up the next morning in Noah and Zack’s small guest bedroom, my stomach felt like a rock. I knew what was coming and it was most likely going to be ugly, unless one or both of my parents had complete personality transplants over the past week. I had been so stupid to think that sneaking off on a (dangerous) job would make them respect me. It just made me look like the most impulsive asshole on the face of the planet.
I wondered how long I could pretend to be marooned in the city. A faint buzzing came from the table next to my face. My cell was flashing with new messages. Already. I sat up resignedly and glanced at the list. Five of them were from my mom, two from Colin, and one from… my grandfather? I didn’t even know he knew how to text, let alone had my cell number. The messages ranged from worried to irate, all with the “Get your butt home right now, Charlie Fitzgerald” theme. I didn’t reply to any of them.
“What time is it?” Xan asked with his husky just-woke-up voice. I used to giggle at that voice when we were younger, but now it had become unbearably hot. I wanted to get back into bed with Xan and show him just how hot I found him and his growly bed voice. Especially when he pressed a soft kiss on my lower back. Oh damn….
I turned and dropped my hand to his chest. “We’ve only been asleep six hours. My stupid phone was about to vibrate off the desk. It woke me up.”
We’d been up until sunrise with Noah and Zack, just hanging out and playing poker. I couldn’t believe how cool both my cousin and his partner were. Noah clearly hadn’t graduated from the same school of douche that my brother attended quite religiously.
“Can’t we pretend it didn’t and stay here just a little bit longer?” Xan obviously wasn’t ready for reality to intrude either.
I smiled. “Sure. I don’t feel like dealing with my family yet.” I silenced my phone and dropped it back onto the desk. Then I crawled under the comforter that Xan had lifted for me.
“Brrrr,” he said with a chuckle. “How long were you sitting there?”
I squirmed closer into his warmth. “Not long. These old apartments get drafty.”
“Guess so.”
Xan wrapped his whole body around me and gave me a long, serious sort of kiss. It felt so perfect. I slipped my hands around him and hauled him up against me, all the while still marveling at the fact that it was Xan I was kissing and holding and falling asleep next to. It had changed so fast that he almost was two people in my head—the old friend I’d known and loved forever, and the hot guy I was suddenly so attracted to.
“God, Charlie, when did you get so good at this?” he panted when we pulled apart.
“I’m probably not that good at it. I think it’s just us,” I told him. “We feel good together.”
Xan grinned at me sweetly and came back for another kiss. I shivered and returned the kiss, trailing my hands up and down his back. Xan made this hot little moaning sound that gave me goose bumps. My hands drifted down his back, slow and tenuous. I wanted more. We’d had days of kissing, hundreds of sweet touches, and hours and hours of cuddling and hand holding. It was amazing and wonderful, and I was falling for him more than I thought possible… but I wanted to touch him, damn it.
My fingers made their way underneath the waistband of his boxers, only to find smooth warm skin below. Xan shuddered and pushed closer to me.
“Charlie,” he moaned. I wasn’t getting even a second of protest from my innocent boyfriend. I never wanted to stop touching and—
“Hey guys, you want some… oh.” It was Zack, who just got himself quite the eyeful. He backed around the corner.
“Um, hi, Zack. We’ll be out in a minute.” Xan was hovering between laughter and horror. I knew that telltale lip quiver.
“It’s okay,” Zack said with wide eyes. “Just, um, whenever, you know. Noh and I are hanging out and we were wondering if you were… oh, never mind. See you in a few.”
And with that, Zack was gone. Xan and I stared at each other for a few moments before we burst into giggles.
“We’d better go out there,” I said.
“Yeah,” he answered with a snort. “Before Zack blows a blood vessel. Wonder if vampires have blood vessels?”
I punched him lightly. “C’mon, let’s get up, babe.”
“Babe?” Xan grinned at me, teasing.
“What? You want me to call you dork-wad like I used to?”
He wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. “You know, on second thought I think I like babe.”
ZACK AND my cousin were sitting on the couch when Xan and I got out to the living room.
“Um, morning, er, afternoon, guys,” Noah said, before he and Zack burst out laughing.
“What the hell? Are we in middle school, here?” I smiled along with them and took Xan’s hand. I wasn’t planning on hiding our relationship anyway. Might as well start by being together in front of the most annoyingly cute couple in the universe.
“So when did this happen?” Zack asked. He honestly did sound supportive and not like he was laughing. Much.
“It’s new,” Xan answered. “We both kind of figured out how we felt about each other a while back but didn’t get around to talking about it until a couple of days ago.”
“And now you’re kicking yourselves for not saying it earlier?” Noah asked with a smile. He curled his hand around Zack’s neck. I wondered if that was their story.
“No, I think it happened at the right time,” I answered. Xan and I smiled at each other and he ruffled my hair.
XAN AND I stayed with my cousin and his boyfriend for as long as possible before they escorted us down to the station to grab the bus back to Connecticut. They seemed genuinely happy for us and emphasized the benefits of falling for your best friend more than once. I hoped Xan and I could end up as happy as they were. It didn’t seem impossible. That was, if my parents didn’t flay me first.
“ARE YOU sure you don’t want me to stay with you for this?” Xan asked as we walked home in the freezing snow from the bus station. It occurred to me that I could’ve called my mom. Shocking that I didn’t want to. Besides, I didn’t mind that last little bit of time alone with Xan.
“No, I think it’s probably better that I face the wrath on my own. You don’t want to get caught in the crossfire.” I held onto his hand, unwilling to m
ove away quite yet. “Will you come back in a few hours? I’ll leave my window unlocked.”
Xan looked worried. “Are you sure that’s a good idea, what with your parents and stuff?”
I squeezed his hand where it was still twined with mine, snug inside his pocket. “It’ll be fine. And if it’s not, we can pull the protector card. I’d miss sleeping next to you. I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Me too.” He leaned over and brushed his lips across mine in a small kiss. “Here’s your street. I probably shouldn’t come all the way to the door. I’ll see you in a few hours?”
I nodded and reluctantly pulled my hand from his jacket pocket. “See you then, babe.”
Xan turned and headed the other way down my block, smiling. I swear I heard him whisper the word “babe” before he turned and waved. It seemed he was still having moments of tripping out over us like I was. Still made me smile, how different we’d become. I sighed, attempted to quit thinking about how much I wanted to make out with my best friend, and turned to face the firing squad. It was only ten o’ clock. I doubted my parents would be asleep.
Turned out not only were they not asleep, but Colin had made a rare trip from the city and was sitting up with them, waiting for me to come home so he could participate in the butt reaming. Fan-freaking-tastic.
“Hi, guys,” I said weakly when I walked in the door and saw them all sitting there, hands clenched, jaws clenched, and probably butt cheeks clenched too. Jesus, it’s not like I was out there in mortal peril. Well, not really. Most of the time. “I got the signature,” I added weakly. “Silivasi is really a pretty good guy….”
They all stared at me. I was done talking.
“I think it’s best if you go upstairs,” my father said quietly. Too quietly. He only got quiet when he was about to fly apart at the seams. “We’ll be able to talk more rationally in the morning.”
