The Genetic Code

Chapter 31

Sterling

We watch the fireworks in silence.

Her eyes are trained on the glittering patterns overhead, mesmerized, and my eyes are trained on her. She's more radiant than any of the colors exploding in the sky.

If it wasn't for her, right now I would probably be battered and bleeding somewhere on the side of the street. Because if I had actually hit Marco, he would have unleashed all of his beasts on me (the pack that I used to be part of). I could fight off seven or eight, but in that basement alone, he had over thirty men — some disguised in the crowd, others lurking in the back — and I wouldn't have stood a chance.

It was senseless of me to let him get under my skin like that. I rarely ever let my emotions get moved by anything, but Marco knows exactly which buttons to push to send me over the edge. He knows me far better than I would like. Maybe not in terms of my background or real identity, but when it comes to my character and that volatile heart I always pretend doesn't exist, he's the puppeteer, and I'm just a helpless tool getting pulled by the strings, even when I'm aware of it. I would've probably gotten lured into his trap, if I had come alone, gotten beaten to my knees, and ultimately been swayed into rejoining the group as one of his mindless defense dogs.

However, this time, I had her.

She intoxicates me, but at the same time, keeps me awake. Sometimes I can't think straight when I'm around her, but everything feels heightened and in vivid detail. When she's around most of the time I can only see her, but she also opens my eyes to see things around me thoroughly clear.

I can't explain it... I'm not even able to decipher it for myself...

It's... weird. But, I like it.

She's still holding my white T-shirt, clutching tightly onto the fabric in her tiny hands. Her mouth forms a small 'O' as she watches the fireworks with immense focus, her eyebrows crinkling together like they do whenever she's concentrating on something.

How do I notice all these details of hers when I can't even remember my stepsister's birthday? Not like I would want to, anyway. Why would I want to commemorate the day when another of the devil's spawn landed on this earth? Especially when I have someone resembling an angel right beside me...

She likes to go on about me saving her all the time and her owing me, but what she doesn't realize is that she's the one saving me. Every moment that she's by my side, she's doing more for me than she can ever imagine. She makes this thing in my chest beat like it never did before; She makes me feel things that I thought I never could. It's because of her that I actually feel alive again — a feeling I haven't experienced in years.

If only she knew...

I-I can't tell her these things. Not now, maybe not ever. She would probably run in the other direction and never look back, just like everyone else I've ever cared about. Or, like in the case of Marco, collect my trust and vulnerabilities, sharpen them, then use them as a dagger to stab me in the back.

That's why I have to cherish moments like these. We may not even be talking, but she's by my side, and that's enough for me.

"Let's go home," I say after the fireworks end. She nods her head, a content smile resting on her soft features.

"Could I have my shirt back? Or do you want it as a souvenir?"

She looks to me in surprise, realizing that my white T-shirt is still tightly clutched in her hands, and blushes.

"O-Oh, sorry!"

I smile at her flustered state and take the shirt from her outstretched hands. I start to unzip my jacket, and as soon as she notices, she gasps in shock and slaps her palms over her eyes, turning her back against me.

"Are you shy all of a sudden? It's not like you've never seen them before. From what I remember you quite enjoy seeing them..." I tease her with a chuckle.

"We're on the open street in public!"

"Not like there's anyone looking..."

"There are. Like those girls across the street," she says stiffly.

I look up and spot a group of girls across the street staring at me and giggling. "Ah, what perverts. They're almost as bad as you."

She doesn't respond to my remark, and seems to have gone quiet. I expected some kind of snarky rebuttal from her — Why isn't it coming?

Instead, she starts to move closer to me, still with her back facing me, so that the group of girls are blocked from my view.

"What are you doing?" I ask curiously.

"Protecting your modesty."

I suppress my snort. "Oh, don't worry about those girls. It's you I have to be worried about when it comes to my modesty."

"Those girls don't even know you! At least I do."

"They can stare at my abs all they want right now, but they'll never see them again." I finish pulling my shirt on and place my hand on her shoulder, spinning her around to face me. She has her arms folded across her chest, eyebrows raised and mouth in a slight pout. I grin widely. "You've seen them three times—"

"Twice! I didn't look this time."

"Twice... That's more times than they're ever gonna see," I say through my laughter, which seems to irk her, "so no need to get jealous."

"Excuse me?" Her eyes double in size, and her mouth drops open. "Wh-Whose jealous?"

"You," I reply.

"What makes you think that I'm jealous? Why would I be jealous?"

"How're you so cute even when you're jealous?"

"I've told you, Stephan, that I'm not jealous, and I'm pretty sure I'm a more reliable source than you are, for obvious reasons." Her eyes flash at me with threat. "Also, don't call me cute. I hear it too much because I'm small."

I purse me lips together to hold in my laughter. I'm enjoying this way too much. "Okay, then, let's do an experiment... The girls are still across the street." I begin to lift my shirt up slowly, and she immediately lunges forward and tugs it back down from between my fingers.

"Mr Crawford, you are a gentleman, and gentlemen do not reveal their abdomens in in public for the opposite gender to see."

"Well, Miss Aldaine, you are a lady, and ladies do not lie to others, or themselves."

She scoffs and stares sulkily over my shoulder. My smile widens as I look at her.

In an instant I reach forward and jerk her towards me, leaning downward and hooking one arm tightly around her shoulders in a snug embrace. She stands, frozen, in a state of shock. When she finally comes to her senses she tries to push me away, but I hold her in place.

"What are you doing?" she asks breathlessly.

"Helping to cure you of your jealousy," I whisper lowly into her ear while using my free hand to wave at the girls across the street. They get my message and finally turn and leave sourly.

I loosen my hold on her and she manages to shove me away with her hands on my chest. "W-W-What?"

I nod towards the girls walking away down the street. "Look, it worked."

"That was your solution?"

"Yes. Effective, huh? I killed two birds with one stone: That whole flock is gone," I cock my head to the side, "and you're all flustered and blushing now."

"You're an asshole."

"Did you just notice?" I kink an eyebrow with a devious smirk.

Though it's brief, I catch one minuscule simper flit across her features as she looks down towards the ground coyly and chews on her bottom lip. Unknowingly, my heart rate picks up.

This girl will be the death of me, and she doesn't even need to try.