Paint You Wings

Twelve

"Belle, wake up."

I keep my eyes closed, but I smile. His scent is strong and addicting and his voice is music to my ears.

"Baaabbbyyy." He drags it out and nudges my arm. "Don't make me pull you out of this bed. We have plans."

My smile widens and I turn onto my other side.

Then I feel my blanket ripped off of me. I start to open my eyes and frown when a hand wraps around my ankle and tugs me down across the bed.

I fall on the floor and stare up at Aaron who has his arms crossed and a victorious smirk on his face.

Before he can protest, I wrap my legs around his and pull, causing him to lose balance and crash on top of me.

"That backfired a little bit." I gasp.

Aaron moans and pushes himself up on his arms, but doesn't get off me.

"Happy birthday, beautiful."

"Thanks, but you could've just started with that."

"Should've woken up when I told you to." He smirks before placing a tender kiss on my lips. He pulls away, leaving me wanting more. "Now, get dressed, we're going out."

He gets up and walks out the door, closing it on the way out.

I walk over to my closet and pull out my dark blue skinny jeans and a plain white tank top. I also grab my oversized black Of Mice & Men tank top and slip that over my white one.

Walking over to my dresser, I grab a pair of black ankle socks and sit on the floor to put them on when my dad walks in.

"Hey," he says.

I scowl. "You could've knocked. For all you know I was naked." I stand up and grab my hairbrush, running it through my long hair.

"Right, when you're done, come downstairs we have your birthday present."

My look softens. I know my dad is sorry about what he'd said, but I also know he's only sorry because of what Cleo said to him.

"Okay,"

He walks out and closes the door. I bite my lip until I taste blood.

I want to forgive him. I want my dad back, but I want my mom back more... and I guess I thought if I died, I'd see her again, but now I know that where she went and where I'm going are two totally different places.

I grab my liquid eyeliner and do a thin line with a "flicking thing" on the end. I then turn it into a sort of thick "wing" and fill it in.

Letting it dry, I wave my hands over my eyes.

Then I apply mascara, deodorant, and an awesome smelling body spray. Vanilla and caramel, what gets better than that?

After skipping down the stairs, I walk into the kitchen and find my dad and Aaron having an intense stare down.

I clear my throat awkwardly and his eyes snap to mine.

He smiles weakly and stands up.

"You look nice," he croaks.

"Is everything okay?" I ask, grabbing an apple from the basket on the counter.

"Yep, we were just having a talk. Do you want your birthday present now?"

"Sure," I say and take a bite of the green fruit.

My dad walks over to the side of the fridge and picks up a set of keys. He walks over to me and grabs my hand.