Nothing But Bad

Fourty Two

Arden
•••

We were about to leave. Ben had came in only a few minutes ago. Luckily, his father was a lord staying at the castle. Meaning he was staying here too.

We had him swore to secrecy. The king couldn't know I was gone, no one could. They also couldn't know about Skyler being here, it would be too dangerous if we had told the king what was going on. Too dangerous if he had know Skyler was here, we don't know what he would have done.

"Arden?" Levi says, earning my attention. I turn and smile. He grabs my wrist, holding it in his. I flinch at the sudden heat. He lets go, a sound of metal hits the floor.

I look up confused. He had taken the bracelet off. Energy flew throughout my body, I felt lighter. More like myself. "But why?" I ask.

"You need to be able to protect yourself."

I turn at look at Will, speaking and telling directions to Ben. "Is he going to be ok with this?"

"It was his idea." He smiles, "It should have never been put on you." I smile back, not showing the guilt I really felt.

No, it should have been put on me. It was smart of them. They still don't know what I came here to do. They don't know that I had planned to take them down next. Did I want that anymore? I should.

"Arden." Will's voice calls me. He nods his head to the bathroom. Signally he wanted to talk in private.

I nod, turning to Levi. He smiles. "Go."

"Thank you." I say before doing just that.

I follow Will in, closing the door behind me. He leans against the wall, staring at me again with those eyes. So intensely, I had to lean against the counter to hold myself up.

He breaks the silence, looking down at my now bare wrist. "I can no longer tell what you're feeling."

I smile, "You could always ask."

His eyes move up to mine, then down to my smile. I want to drop it as he stared at it. I knew already that it cracked from the nerves. "I'm too stubborn too."

Knowing that was the truth, I let down my walls. Letting my emotions flow to him. He takes a deep breath. Inhaling the air as if they were my emotions itself.

"What am I feeling?" I whisper. I wanted him to answer, because in all honestly I didn't even know.

His gaze floats back up to me. "Something you shouldn't. Something that's wasted on me."

My heart breaks a little. Did he still hate me? Would he hate me forever? "Oh."

He takes a few steps near me, close enough where I had to look up. Far enough that we weren't touching. "Not because I don't want it, but because I don't deserve it. Not after everything. Not after how I treated you."

"You treated me understandably." I say, my voice soft. "What I did to you was wrong, what I did..."

He cuts me off, "Was the same thing I did to you. Yet, you never treated me as I did you. And I'm sorry." He takes another step further. I stand up straighter, lifting myself from the counter.

"I am too."

"I don't want your forgiveness," he whispers. "Not yet. I want to earn it, I will earn it. I'll grovel until however long you want. I'll even get on my knees to do it, even though I swore to never again."

"You're ridiculous." I laugh. His eyes widen for a quick second before he quickly leans down and presses his lips to mine.

My eyes widen after he pulls away. "Sorry." He says breathlessly. "You laughed. God Arden, you have no idea what your laugh does to me."

I was confused, a little giddy but mostly confused. "I laughed, so you kissed me."

"I wanted to catch it. I wanted to catch it and claim it as mine."

"You wanted to catch it and claim it as yours?" I repeat.

"Yes, I want all your laughs to be mine." He's staring at me ever so intensely again. No smile on his face, no smirk. But something behind his eyes.

"What does this mean?" I ask, nervous for the answer.

"We will talk about it when you get back." There, there was his dimpled smile. The one that affected me. I lean up quickly, catching his lips with mine. I pull away quickly.

His smile drops, "What was that for?"

"I want to catch all your smiles and make them mine." I repeat his. His smile returns.

"When you come back." He states.

"If," I whisper.

His smile leaves his face again, "Please come home."

Come home, his words shock me. One's that parallel his from before. "You had once told me go home."

"I was once an idiot."

I laugh, "Once?" He kisses me again, this one filled with more passion then the ones before. He pulls away after a few seconds.

"Just come home." He whispers. "You can call me an idiot all you want then."

A knock sounds at the door. "It's time to go." Levi's voice calls. I turn and look at Will again, his eyes never leaving my face. A knock again, "Hello?"

I turn to go, but Will grabs my wrist stopping me. "Promise you'll try?"

I nod, "I'll try."
•••