Last First Kiss

Chapter 36

~Destinee~

"Really?" I asked him, slightly surprised.

"Yeah," he stated casually while giving me half a smile and sat down beside me. I didn't even have to look at his face to know that his smile had grown.

"Okay..." I held out the book for him, which he gladly took and started flipping through the pages.

"Damn. This thing is in horrible condition. Who used to own this?" He asked me, still flipping through the pages.

"I don't know." I shrugged.

"Do you want me to teach you how to read it? You're going to be lost if I don't," he added and chuckled, which sent a shiver down my spine.

"Sure," I told him and noticed his stiff posture. He wasn't breathing. Was it really that painful for him to even sit next to me? I looked down at my hands folded on my lap. I don't even know why, but the thought that I'm still causing him pain makes me sad. "Can I ask you something?"

"You already did," he cheekily remarked.

I rolled my eyes and shoved him playfully, which really had no effect. "I'm serious."

"Really? I thought you were Destinee?" He teased.

"Shut up. I'm being serious," I whined.

"Okay, okay. Go ahead," he said with a smile.

I hesitated for a moment. "Why are you holding your breath?"

He didn't seem fazed by my question. "Oh, I'm just being cautious."

I raised an eyebrow at him. "About?"

"I don't think I can resist your blood fully, or enough to not want to drain you, and I don't want to drink anymore because I've already drained a lot from you. Look, you're still pale. I just don't want to risk your safety."

I processed what he said. "Oh..."

"Yeah... So let's start reading."

He laid down on the other side of my bed and patted the space next to him. I laid down beside him and without looking at me, he slid his hand under my back and lifted me up, pulling me into a sitting position next to him. He placed an arm around my shoulders and guided me back down so that I was lying with my head on his shoulder, his arm around me, and held me close to his side. I kept my eyes on the book. He already emphasized the fact that he didn't want me to see his face, so I wasn't about to risk glancing at it.

"You don't mind if I do this, do you?" He asked, referring to our position. "You can hit me if you do, I won't mind," he added with a smirk on his lips.

"No, it's okay. I wouldn't hit you even if I did mind."

"Really?" He chuckled. "Okay, I'll read the guy parts and you read the girl parts. Is that alright? I'll be Romeo and you'll be Juliet."

I took a deep breath. "Okay."

He started reading the guy parts and then this other male character appeared and he stopped talking.

"Why'd you stop? That's a guy," I told him confused.

He chuckled. "No, that's actually a girl. You have to read now."

"What? Are you blind? That's clearly a guy," I argued.

"No, it isn't," he laughed. "I think I would know. I have read this nearly a hundred times. So, read."

I laughed and started reading and soon enough, it was his turn once again. We kept going, back and forth. As I kept listening to his voice, I slowly started to drift off and was almost asleep on his shoulder with my hand on his chest. I heard his voice for a few more minutes, but then I felt his lips on my forehead and then they pressed against my lips. He pulled away and wrapped both his arms around me and I welcomed it. He was so cold even though he still had this sweater on. I buried my face in his chest.