Behind Your Walls

24 | demons that haunt

"So, you walked in on Jamie and Brandon having sex?" I ask Carter as he opens the door to the house and I follow him in.

He closes the door behind us and turns to me. He has been telling me about how he found out the gossip at Cherry's party the other day.

"Right during the climax."

He grins as we drop our bags on the floor and he takes hold of my hand, walking us towards the sitting room.

"No way!" I chuckle and he joins me while helping me take off my jacket.

He throws it over a single-seater before pulling me close to kiss me. I run my fingers through his soft hair as I return his kiss just as desperately.

"Melody isn't home," he murmurs between kisses as he walks back while pulling me with him towards the sofa. "What would you like for dinner?"

Half lost in his kisses and very aware of how I can feel myself suddenly sitting on his lap, I mumble something incoherent which makes him snicker. He pulls away and quirks an eyebrow at me.

"What?" I inquire and a corner of his lips lifts to a lopsided smile.

"You're blushing."

"I'm not!" I say with a frown even though I have an idea that he is very right.

His hand on my waist moves up, making me jolt when he yanks my body to his. He presses our foreheads together and caresses my cheek with his fingers.

"I'm scared of you, snippy." His voice is low and throaty, the kind that makes me shiver. "I lose what makes me happy and I don't want to lose you."

The vulnerability in his words is terrifying but I am not afraid. I wrap my arms around his neck and hide my face against his shoulder, inhaling his minty cologne which has become a scent very close to the feeling of being home. I hold him because I don't know what to say to him in response to that.

I know that the more I stay with him, the closer I push him towards the path of Panther because Panther is going to get me someday. Even if he can't harm me in someone else's house, he will have his chance because there is no way I would stay away from home forever.

If only I can manage to avoid him until high school is over then it will work out. I will be free to save myself and Mom.

I stay in the safety of Carter's arms but one thing lingers in my mind — if something were to indeed happen, I wouldn't want to lose him too.

***

Carter ends up ordering pizza for dinner while I take a shower and get changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. Since Melody won't be home, we have the house to ourselves for tonight and even if it feels selfish, I like the idea of Carter finally getting a break from all the stress he has been taking.

When the pizza arrives, he pays and we settle ourselves on the sofa to devour it along with two bottles of cold drinks.

He indulges me to tell him about my childhood while we eat and I am glad to have found a topic so I end up narrating some of the most memorable incidents. Halfway through the conversation, Carter bursts into laughter when I tell him the story of how I chased another woman at the mall when I was seven, thinking her to be Mom.

"You told the woman your Mom got lost?" he mocks me, making me throw a pizza crumb at him.

"It's not funny! She had to hold my hand but she forgot while shopping and that lady was wearing the same clothes," I defend myself but it only makes him snicker.

That carefree look on his face is back and even though I pretend to be offended by him, it relieves me to see him this way. The brooding silence that always surrounds him has taken a break to remind him what it is like to be just a boy instead of an old man with issues to handle. The thought makes me stare at him and I wonder what force keeps this boy hidden from the rest of the world.