Black as Night | P. Parker

Chapter Sixteen

There was a crick in her neck and a bright ray of sunshine in her eye when Onyx woke up the following morning. Her pillow had a hard lump in it and oddly enough, she felt like she hadn't changed into her pajamas. The sounds of the main screen of the video game she had gotten Peter was playing loudly in the background which made her wonder how loud they had turned up the volume if she could hear it from her bedroom...

Onyx cracked open one eye, bringing up a hand to block the ray of sunshine in her eye. She looked up to see the tv screen in front of her, the main screen of the video game playing on a loop. Confused, Onyx looked to her right, and saw Peter.

They were still in the living room.

They hadn't made it to their bedrooms.

Onyx had fallen asleep against Peter.

"Well, good morning, Onyx," said a voice from her other side. Onyx sat up and turned towards it, seeing May standing there with a smirk on her face.

"Good morning," Onyx replied, pushing herself up.

"Sleep well?"

"Yes." Onyx looked around, trying to find a clock that would tell her the time. "What time is it?" she asked.

"About six thirty," May told her.

Onyx nodded, and rolled her neck around, trying to work out the crick from having slept oddly on it. May didn't say anything more, just moved into the kitchen to prepare her breakfast. Onyx looked at the coffee table, seeing that the pizza box was empty and the pop bottle had barely one drink left inside of it. The dirty dishes were still exactly where they'd left them.

Absent-mindedly, Onyx thought that they would have to clean that up later.

The girl fell back to the opposite side of the couch, leaning her head against the arm and closing her eyes, wishing she could go back to sleep. Just forget that any of that had happened and never have to talk about it again.

But then she remembered the night before. Peter hadn't stopped smiling for the entire night and for the first time in a really long time, Onyx felt something that she could only equate to happiness. There had been a genuine, effortless smile on her face and she'd enjoyed herself, she'd enjoyed playing the video game with Peter. She had enjoyed something other than killing.

That was a first.

But what did this mean? What did it mean that spending time with Peter and playing a video game had made her feel almost-happiness and given her a genuine smile? What was happening to her? Why was this happening to her?

She had been perfectly content before. Her life may not have been great, but it was a life that she was comfortable in. Killing people for money and living with Hannah. It had been her life.

And now... Ever since she had begun living with May and Peter, things had been changing. Not only had she been having nightmares - and last night was the first night in a very long time that she had slept without one - but she had also begun to experience... emotion again.

The biggest question on her mind was: why?

Onyx knew that there was only one answer as she turned to look at Peter's sleeping form.

As her mind slowly drifted back to the events of the night prior, a small smile grew on her face. She opened her eyes and looked to Peter, remembering how happy he'd been last night. His face when he had come in the door to see her with pizza, pop and his favourite video game had been... well, it was hard for her to explain. But he had been so happy. He had been beaming.

Over the course of the night, his elation only seemed to grow as they played. He enjoyed himself as he played the game, and he even seemed to enjoy watching her figuring out how to play the game. They'd devoured the pizza and guzzled the pop.

Time passed as Onyx lay there, and she found that she couldn't look away from Peter's sleeping form. He looked so at peace, so calm and gentle. She thought that he looked remarkably young. He was only sixteen, but that didn't mean that he looked older than he was.

You don't live with your aunt because your parents are healthy and living down the street. No, Onyx knew that there were horrors in Peter's passed, and they had aged him. It didn't show often, but she had been able to see him when no one else could. And he was troubled by something, even though she didn't know what.

But as Peter slept on the couch and she watched him, she could see that he looked like all of that tragedy had been washed away. He looked young like he was supposed to, and Onyx thought that that was almost as good as when he was smiling.

Her mind drifted, but her eyes didn't. And a little while later, Peter woke up and looked around, seeing the living room instead of his bedroom and then remembering what had happened, similar to how Onyx had woken up.

As Peter's eyes swept the room, they landed on Onyx. Their eyes locked and the boy realized that she had been watching him. Her green eyes quickly flicked away, and avoided his eyes. Something warm filled Peter's stomach and a soft smile grew on his face.

"Uh, I just wanted to say thank you. For last night."

Onyx's eyes turned back to his quickly, as if alarmed.

"You really made my day better, so I appreciate that," Peter continued.

"Don't mention it," Onyx told him. Her voice had been easy, or so it seemed. But Peter could hear the tense undertone.

For a while, there was silence between the two teenagers. Neither of them knew quite what to say to the other in the wake of the night before.

"Uh, do you want breakfast?" Peter asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Sure," Onyx replied.

"Great, great..." he muttered and stood, walking to the kitchen. "We don't have much, but we have some pancake mix, so I could make waffles... Or there's cereal..." Peter turned to look at the black-haired girl. "What do you want?"

"Waffles," she said without hesitation.

Peter smiled, and she looked away.