Four Elements Book 2 - Fight and Feel

Part 13

It was as fun as Andie had hoped. The music kept the mood upbeat, and the food probably helped quite a bit, as well.

"Where did you get these sausage rolls, Bane, they're to die for!" Emily asked, biting one hungrily.

Bane laughed.

"Actually, Andie helped me make them. She did the cake, too. She's a much better cook than I am."

"You just need to learn," Andie assured.

And fortunately, Eric, after her chastising, behaved. And Bane seemed not to mind his presence anymore. Or maybe he was just pretending he wasn't there, Andie wasn't sure. But she could only smile at the glow on Bane's face as he listened to Jessica telling a funny story, his fingers laced through Andie's. She rested her head on his shoulder, feeling comfortable with him near her, and her friends, even if Eric's occasional glances her way made her a little uneasy. She couldn't quite decipher his expression, and she wasn't sure she liked that. She had always been so used to knowing him by heart, and now it was like she didn't even know a thing about him. But tonight wasn't about him. It wasn't about her, either. It was about Bane and his nineteenth birthday. That was what she had to focus on, not on herself and her past friendship with Eric. Eventually, they turned to Bane's other presents. Emily's was a framed picture of them, fortunately not one where they were using there powers, since they would have had a hard time explaining that to Eric. They could have blamed Photoshop, Andie supposed, but it was just so much easier not having to do that. Jessica had given Bane a book on how to woo the woman you liked.

"It's just a joke, of course," Jessica grinned when she saw his expression, one that was trying to look pleased, but really looking a little confused. "You don't need any of it."

As for Isabelle, she had given him a copy of her favorite science book.

"It'll make me feel less lonely if you enjoy science fiction too," she explained with a smile.

"I'll give it a try," he promised.

Andie smiled and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, oh, time for the cake!" Jessica said. "I'll go get it!"

"No!" Andie and Emily cried, laughing.

"What?"

"I love you Jess, but if you go, we'll be eating it off the floor!" Andie grinned. "I'll go."

And she slipped into the kitchen, leaving a disgruntled Jess in the living room while the others laughed.

Andie shook her head with a smile as she left the room. The kitchen was smaller than the one in her house, but it was clean and operational. She pulled out the cake from the fridge then fished the candles from the drawer.

"Am I interrupting?"

"No," she said. "I'll be out in a second, is something wrong?"

Bane averted his gaze, hesitating.

"... I'm sorry about earlier," he said. "I shouldn't have reacted the way I did."

Andie didn't need him to elaborate on what he was referring to.

"It's okay... I should apologize, too... I shouldn't have been all over you about it. It's just... you're both people I care about and I hate that you don't like each other..."

"Oh, we'll manage to coexist," he shrugged. "We'll try, anyway. We owe you that much."

She gave him a grateful smile.