Reaper's Lily

8

(small trigger warning for this chapter!)

Liliana's P.O.V:

As the night when on, I kept myself busy. Mentally, I was cussing out Liam for making me come in a slow night. It gave me an excuse to be on my phone, reading Dan and his bride-to-be's lecturing for this morning. When I glanced up from my phone, I saw Kaiden only watching me from the corner of his eyes. I put my phone away as a few drunk college guys came up to the bar, then made their drinks they were asking for. I kept my distance, wanting to stay far away from them, then they kept staring at me.

"Is there anything else I can get you guys?" I tried not to be a complete bitch in asking them.

They both snickered and I waited for their answer. They were both scrawny frat boys, but one of them had a bandage on his neck and looked a little more intoxicated than his friend. The less drunk friend had been eyeing Aimee as she kept bouncing around the floor taking drink orders. I only watched the one with the bandage on his neck keep staring at me intensely. Why did I feel so uneasy about this kid staring at me? Yes, I was usually uncomfortable with people staring at me for too long but this was something else. The feeling I was getting was almost out of nowhere and amplified by ten thousand.

The frat boy with the bandage on his neck leaned on the bar top, asking me, "So when do you get off?"

"After your curfew," I grunted, then walked to Aimee, who came to stand behind the bar with me.

Aimee was about to speak when the bandaged frat boy said to me, "Damn, you got a fine ass."

"Ignore him," I whispered to Aimee to stop her from shouting at the drunken idiot.

She and I ignored them when I glanced up to see Kaiden and the bodybuilder bouncer just watching the two frat boys. I felt the uneasy feeling hit me again, but this time it was mixed with a feeling of...tense and jealousy. What the hell was going on with me? I had snuck to the bathroom when Liam joined us behind the bar, then looked at myself in the mirror. I ran my left hand through my hair, trying to shake the tense feeling off. I washed my hands, drying them, then stepped out of the bathroom to find that frat guy with the bandage on his neck leaning against the wall next to the ladies' restroom.

He looked at me, getting off the wall, then said, "Ditch work and come have fun with me."

I didn't say anything, trying to walk around the frat boy, but he grabbed my wrist. I was spun to look at him then I ripped my wrist out of his grasp. I wanted to go scrub my skin raw, but I fought back the urge. It was an urge that was soon interrupted by the frat boy grabbing me by my upper arms and pushing me against the wall. I shoved him off me, holding onto my upper arms, and started to fight off the trembles. The guy tried to run up and kiss me, but I ducked out the way in time.

I ran away, with the guy keeping up, then he grabbed me by my left elbow as I got within eyesight of the bouncers and the bar. Kaiden was standing at the front entrance with the bodybuilder bouncer, talking about something random, and Aimee was trying to get their attention. The guy was trying to drag me back as I fighting against his grip, then kicked him in the gut. I ripped my elbow away in time for him to deck me in my jaw and it was hard enough to make me feel like I was getting punched by...him. The guy grabbed me again, this time by both elbows, and suddenly I felt so much rage. The guy was nearly ripped off me, getting flung to the ground as I fell back to land on my ass. I looked up, seeing Kaiden, then he looked down at me.

His eyes! They were flashing a different color, then he turned his head away from me. He moved in time to catch the drunk frat boy in a headlock, yanking him along, and I glanced up to see Liam staring in shock. I heard Aimee's voice in my ear, looking to my right to see her staring at me with so much concern. I nodded that I was okay, not being able to fight off the trembles as I stood up. I glanced up to see Liam motioning for me to head to the back, and I did as Aimee was careful not to touch me.

I couldn't stop thinking of Kaiden's eyes. How did he get to me so fast? Even Liam and Ian couldn't have ran that fast, and they both did track all throughout high school. I wanted to believe that I was just imagining things. It was just the lack of sleep hitting me, but the evidence was staring directly into my eyes. His eyes were a different color for the small amount of time he looked down at me, and before that he just magically appeared.

I was sitting down on Liam's desk in his office and Aimee brought me an ice pack that she just made using a Ziplock bag and some ice from the bartender area before heading back out to get back to her section. I placed the make shift ice pack on my jaw, thinking more about how hard I was hit and how Kaiden appeared when there was knocking at Liam's office door. I grunted an acknowledgement, the door opened, and Kaiden was standing in the doorway. Kaiden stepped in, closing the door, and walked to stand in front of me. He slowly peeled the ice pack I had nearly glued to my jaw, then barely ran his finger over the tender spot.

"Ow," I hissed when he tapped the spot a little too hard.

Kaiden slowly pulled his hand away from my face, and sound so upset as he said, "I'm sorry I didn't see you in time."

"It's fine," I pushed his hand down to his side, then I looked at him.

His eyes were the normal coal black gems I'd grown used to, then he said, "Why didn't you scream out for me? I would've heard you."

"Let me scream at the top of my lungs with loud house music playing," I rolled my eyes, looking away from him.

Kaiden only placed a hand on the side of my jaw that wasn't killing me, making me look at him, and he said, "I can hear more than you think."

"As if," I muttered, then pushed his hand off my face. I only looked away from him again, then said, "Thanks for helping me and now I have to go back out there."

Kaiden stopped me from leaving fully by catching my wrist when I walked passed him, then said, "Liam told me to tell you that he's going to let you take the rest of the night off and that I'm taking you home."

"Liam wouldn't have you take me home," I tried to pull my wrist away, but Kaiden only held on a little tighter.

I kept trying to pull away from him when Kaiden pulled me to him, and his hand was now around my waist. He held me close, making my heart do an Olympic hurdle track meet, then I almost ripped myself away from him when he started to stare into my eyes...lovingly?! I looked away from him, trying to regain my composure, and walked out the office with the door slamming behind me.

No, I wasn't going to fall for it again. Yes, Kaiden was incredibly hot, and everything in me was telling me that it was okay. My brain reminded me of the past too much, and it'd be unfair to him. He'd be facing not only my bullshit, but the parts of me that didn't believe in love.

As I've said before, love was a trap. A bittersweet bear trap of a painful experience. It was something that would trap a person's foot then make it so you'd have to either cut that foot off or rip it out yourself to survive. I wasn't about to go through that torment again...no matter how I'd be willing to if given the chance.