Drawn to Love

Chapter 8

It was two weeks later, and Hope and Landon were continuing to date happily. They hadn't really gone on a date exactly, but he continued hanging out at her house like he had the two weeks she had been talking to him.  Except now it included a good bit of kissing among the talking and movie watching and studying.

Hope spotted Landon outside at their usual spot (which was away from the other students) and sat across from him. "Hey" she said, looking at the guy she was falling hard for. She took his hand, cloaking them both.

"Hey" Landon smiled at her and took a bite of one of his fries.

"So, I saw the flyers going around about the dance, and I was wondering if you wanted to go with me. Usually I avoid anything with dumb jocks if I can but I've never gone to a highschool dance before, and I figured it could be fun if you're there" Hope said, showing him the tickets. "If you dont want them, its fine. We don't have to go"

"You already bought the tickets?" His gaze was on the tickets as he briefly wondered how much that cost.

"Yeah, there was a short line so I just made the stop since I was there" Hope shrugged lightly, not bothered.

"I want to go with you but I should pay you back for them" Landon said quickly even though it was a lot.

Hope shook her head. "I asked you. Its only fair. You can make it up by being a great date and maybe buying me a milkshake the day of." She said playfully.

Landon couldn't help the smile that stretched across his face as she took his hand, and he nodded a little. "Okay. A Peanut Butter Blast, whipped cream on the bottom it is" he said before leaning forward and kissing her for a moment, pulling away with a broad grin.

A grin spread across Hope's face as she looked at Landon. She set her tray to the side and pulled him closer to her before kissing him deeply, letting go of his hand before trailing it up to around his neck. He set his tray to the side and wrapped his arms around her, breathing in her scent. Hope found herself sliding on top of him, not wanting to distance herself from him. 

Landon pulled away just a little, a grin spread across his face. "Dating someone that is part witch definitely comes in handy so we can do things like this without being bothered"

"Mmm. Yeah, that is definitely a perk to me having magic" Hope agreed with a smile before colliding with him.

Soon enough the bell rang, and Hope pulled away from their kiss, blushing just slightly. "Its time to go" she groaned a bit.

"Yes, that unfortunate thing called class" Landon said. He was smart and did like learning, but this school was full of assholes, and Landon just wanted to spend time with Hope.

Hope nodded and moved away from him. "Do you have work today?"

"Yeah, I do." Landon said, standing up.

Hope nodded a bit as they collected their things. She removed the cloaking spell and walked with him to their next class, thinking about the tickets that were in her bag.

-----

It was a week later that was the date of the dance. Hope had hardly seen Landon outside of school besides hanging out at the Grill and looking at him sometimes. For the most part, however, she was at home, painting and practicing magic. She knew he had been taking extra shifts, but she hadn't let herself ask why. Especially when she had a good idea of an answer.

Hope sighed softly and set her paintbrush down, looking at the painting of herbs in front of her. It was detailed,  as most of her paintings tended to be. Thoughts started to flood her head as she cleaned the brush and walked over to the window, peering out into the woods. Her mind was on her parents as well as her father's enemies.