~~~Katheren's P.O.V.~~~
"Ugh, I hate this!" Daren whined.
"Why? I am the one doing all of the work," I told him.
He scowled at me. "Because I have to watch you, you are tired, relax, and take a break, please."
I can't. "I am just fine. Another one please."
He sighed heavily and his face abruptly folded into sadness... and desperation. "Please?" He begged again.
I looked away from his heartbreaking expression so I wouldn't break and succumbed to his plead. "Why?"
"I know what it feels like to lose you, to think that you are dead. If you do too many spells at too quick of a succession when you aren't at that level yet, I could lose you again. I refuse to take that chance." He sat down onto his living room couch with a thump. "It's only Wednesday, you had about ten hours to learn spells ever and you already know eight spells, that's a lot. I know some witches who don't even know that many."
"But they are all defensive; I don't know any offensive spells."
"Why would we want to know that? Are you preparing for a fight?" he teased half-heartedly.
Yes. "If someone attacks me, I might not be strong enough to defend them. So if I fight back, it might buy me some time to get away, to get to safety."
"One offensive spell, then we are done for today."
"Two-" I started but he interrupted me.
"No one, that or I don't teach you anything more today at all."
Dammit. "Okay," I grumbled. "What does this one do?"
"Starts fires," he smiled, seeming to drop his bad mood. "It's quite interesting actually."
* * *
"Thanks," I said and kissed him on the cheek.
"I would say, 'my pleasure', but that would be a massive lie. So I am going to say, 'I only did it for you'."
I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Such a gentleman," I murmured as his arms snaked around my waist.
"Always," he said then kissed me.
~~~Daren's P.O.V.~~~
She was hiding something from me.
I could tell from her hesitations, her carefully worded answers, and her expressions. I had the strangest sense of impeding doom, a horrid twisting in my gut when she lied to me. I didn't like it.
~~~Katheren's P.O.V.~~~
Thursday consisted of school, homework, then going over form Daren's of witch training.
His parents came back from their trip on Friday night and spent the night out with their son.
"That's good for tonight," Daren said just before the front door opened.
"Daren? We're home," I heard a female voice drift in from the hall. "Are you home?"
I looked at Daren confused. He gave me a sympathetic smile, then looked over his shoulder to call, "Yeah, in here ma."
Oh, it was his parents, I realized, but the fact didn't calm me. A taller women with the same blonde hair and blue eyes as Daren came into the room. She dropped her bags onto the floor and ran over to crush her son in her arms. When she broke away, she finally saw me. "Well, hello, you must be Katheren, Lyn's niece, I have heard a lot about you, from both your aunt and Daren. They didn't give you justice though, they said you were pretty, you are more like breath taking." She walked over to give me a hug also.
I was surprised. Daren talked about me? We weren't even going out when they left... My cheeks burned at the thought that he liked me when we had just met. That wasn't the only reason I was surprised, the two people that had hugged me since my parent's had died were my aunt and Daren. I hadn't felt so welcome in a long time.
"Thanks," I murmured at her compliment when she let me breathe.
She laughed. "I am only stating the facts dear. Do you think that we could steal Daren from you from the rest of the night?"
Daren gave me a pleading look that said, 'please say no, I beg you', but I gave him the same sympathetic smile he had given to me before and said, "No problem, I have some homework I want to get done anyway."
Daren drove me home after that and I gave him a longer goodbye kiss than normally to say sorry. He was quick to forgive me.
"How was your dinner with your parents?" I asked Daren as he picked me up at my house Saturday morning.
"It was very... interesting. They seem to like you." He paused for a second before continuing. "On that note, I just want a full day just to be with you," he told me intensely, "no spells, no warlock attacks, no anything, just us, are you okay with that?"
More than okay actually.... I frowned and pretended to think about it. "I am not sure..."
He laughed at how transparent my act was. "Am I really that boring?"
"I am not going to comment on that, I have a feeling my answer would get me in trouble," I teased him.
His blue eyes took on a mischievous glint. "I'll have to change that now won't I?" he murmured as he parked. I looked out the window and saw that we were in the same park that I had told him about how my parents died.
"Why-" I started to ask why we were here, but he interrupted me.
"Close your eyes and I will show you." When I didn't do what he said, he smirked at me. "Remember, you asked for it." He said something in French that I didn't catch and then everything went black.
