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Chapter Twenty Five - Neil *

"And then when they left, he called me 'Auntie Esther'! Can you believe it, Neil? I can't believe that!"

We were cooking dinner together and she was telling me about how the rest of their visit went.

"—his life! Oh! And Neil," she said bumping into me enthusiastically, "I am so proud of you."

"For what?" I laughed looking down at her with a knife in her hands, cutting vegetables for a salad.

My stomach wrestled with itself for a second.

"For not leaving and for being involved. I saw the look on your face, and... well, I was scared."

"Not as scared as I am right now."

She shot me a glare, "What do you have to be scared of?" Esther asked as she put one fist on her cocked hip and pointed at me with the very sharp, very... knify looking knife.

'She's gonna fucking kill you.'

Laughing.

I froze and wouldn't take my eyes off of it, she picked up on the mood she was unknowingly setting.

"Oh... you're scared because of this?" She questioned in a lower tone, somewhat... playful?

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I turned to face her fully, then started to back up slowly. I made it seem like I wanted to carry on conversation with her but I really just wanted to get away.

"Oh come on! This doesn't make you nervous, does it? I barely even know how to use this thing!" Esther said while matching her advance to my tortoise-paced retreat.

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?"

She stopped dead in her tracks and set the knife down on the counter with a clank, "Look, see? I'm no threat to you."

After the whole stabbing incident with Reaghan and the history Esther has with knives, I would probably say that I am petrified of other people using them.

"Neil, honey... that was poor timing with my joke, I apologize."

"Poor timing? Forget what happened to me, did you forget that you've killed a man with one of those?"

Esther stiffened but quickly relaxed, going back to snapping the carrots instead of chopping them.

"I'd like to, yeah."

Sadness threaded itself into her few words, and that I felt sympathy for.

What I did may have been planned and on purpose, but she did it to protect herself.

What was a good segue out of this?

There isn't one.

'Fuck her.'

Listening to the perfectly timed advice, I shrugged and went with it although they probably meant 'fuck her' and not 'fuck her'.

I wrapped my arms around her waist and nestled into her neck, sucking on the thin skin where her neck and shoulder meet.

"I think I know what would cheer you up."

She paused slightly and turned her head my way a little, "What makes you think I'm not over the moon already?"

I chuckled at her sarcasm and ran my hands down her hips and to the front of her thighs until my fingertips brushed over the fabric covering her intimate area.

"Neil?"

"Yessum..." I responded right next to her ear, and I felt the way her legs clenched together, reacting beautifully to me.