𝚂 𝙼 𝙸 𝙻 𝙴

chapter 21

There was an atmospheric sense of jealousy that surrounded the three teenagers—a sense of rivalry. The repulsive sight of this guy near Alina did not help with the situation, in fact, it made it all the more worse.

Although he would never admit it, Colton's heart felt heavy in his chest when he realized the two were not enemies as Alina had made it seem—they were close friends. He just did not know why she described him so half-heartedly and with anxiety in her throat. He was unsettled—the entire situation was unsettling. He thought he was the only one who could provide comfort to her, but when he saw how they looked at each other he knew it wasn't true anymore.

The sun has become colder, the winter began spring, and the flowers wilted.

He watched them, but the way her eyes had mixed emotions in them told no lie; she was happy to see him.

Worry.

The anxiety swelled up in his chest. His eyes moved from him to her to him and then back to her, flittering like butterfly wings and trying to make sense of what they felt for one another.

"Alina, my dear, may I come in?" Oliver spoke.

"Sure."

A shortened and direct response? Could he calm down now that she shut down any advancement of kindness?

"Do you have raspberry tea or Earl Grey?"

"No, I have normal tea, but I can put raspberries in it if you'd like."

"How delightful. Thank you."

Alina swung her arm out to gesture come on, promptly closing the door immediately after he had entered the house. She led them to the kitchen where a tea kettle was sitting on the back burner of the stove. "Colton, could you get the berries and tea bags out of the pantry, please?"

He nodded, handing her exactly what she asked for, as if he were saying ha! she asked me and not you!

Oliver noticed. He wasn't entirely oblivious, he just liked to ignore them. It was pointless to entertain stupidity.

"So," Oliver spoke. "Why did you move here? I mean, I saw the sunrise and it was beautiful, but you weren't much of a romantic."

She scoffed. "You didn't hear, did you? The old woman died."

"She died...? She was practically immortal—I swore she was a witch!"

Playfulness.

"How did she die?"

The question was followed with a period of silence. Alina put her hands on the edge of the counter, leaning on it. "I killed her."

Abrupt-fulness was always her strong suit, but it was the wrong time to be so straight forward.

"You... what? I don't understand... she was overpowering...? She beat you, didn't she? So how?"

"It's a long story. Moving on, are you here to stay or just temporarily visiting?"

"So modest."

"You know me so well."

Oliver sighed. "I don't know, if I get what I want, then maybe permanently."

That caught colton's attention; his head picked up like a dog when you hold a dog treat in front of it. He tilted his head at Alina.

"And what would that be?"

He paused. "Not what but a who."

Everyone in the room knew who he meant but were they willing to admit it?

No.

Colton's thoughts were running at speeds of a cheetah.

"I spend too much explaining myself, so I really hope I have time to fix that about me. You know how impatient I am, and you know exactly who I want."

The coldness in his tone was quickly masked with a warm expression as he placed his hand on Alina's cheek. The familiarity of it was comforting; the way his hands weren't big but also weren't small, the way they were cold to the touch against her warm skin, and the way she felt safe, it was all so ... comforting.

"I came back with one goal in mind. I don't care about anything or," his gaze traveled to colton, "anyone."

The hand pressed against her cheek suddenly moved its way to her shoulder and guided her to the living room.

but what they didn't know?

Colton can't handle rejection.