CEM MIB ~Secrets & Lies

Windows & Mirrors

Avi was more than a bit baffled when he looked through the peephole in his door. He caught the anger in Rayne's movements long before he even opened the door to let her in. He knew when she left the lobby she was unhappy. He wasn't sure what that was about. She must have forgotten how expressive her face is and how unguarded she usually is with him. She forgot to put up her walls as she walked away from that exchange and her anger had shone through, at least he saw it. If you knew her, you would know just by the way she held her shoulders and the gait of her walk pretty much exactly how she was feeling. She could hide nothing from him, but he couldn't hide anything from her either. He sucked at surprising her. He'd always end up telling her. She was angry and he was hurt once he realized it. By then, it was too late for him to go to her. He could not have in that situation anyhow. He was stuck there, with Amanda, when all he wanted was to run away with Rayne for a few hours and listen to her heartbeat while they laughed. But she couldn't know that.

It was fun flirting with her like that. He loved the light in her eyes as she looked so deeply into his and loved the little exchange between them and the calm cool way she handled herself. He found the way she dismissed Amanda's claim as unimportant, saying that many people likely went to high school with him. He wished he could have come up with an excuse to hold on to her hand, to wander away with her, but he was stuck. He could not abandon his post.

She was angry, clearly angry standing outside his door with anger and pain in her sweet green eyes. He didn't like to see either emotion there. He never liked it when she was angry. Liked it even less when she was hurt. As a rule, he never knew what to do. They didn't have much time before dinner and though she was slow to anger, it always took forever for her to calm down. Well, it seemed that way to him anyhow.

"Hey." He smiled as she stepped in the door. She returned his hey with the same worried enthusiasm and moved to the bed. She set her guitar and bags down on the table across from the bed and sat down. Was he in trouble again? It was him. He hated that so much. Amanda seemed to be flirting with him a bit excessively and was way too touchy feely for him, almost to the point of entirely inappropriate and unacceptable, but he couldn't be rude she'd been his friend for a very long time. By the look on Rayne's face. Amanda's actions were unacceptable if that was the problem. He really had no idea. He had just returned from a tour of Europe and they hadn't made it home yet. He was ready to go home. He needed to be home where he was safe and he needed Rayne there with him.

"I didn't want to be rude." He ran his hand nervously through his hair and stood awkwardly in front of her with one foot slightly forward the other directly under him. His hips were slightly askew making him lean to one side. He looked down at her with a host of emotions filling his eyes. His face was generally full of sadness. He understood, he felt bad and he didn't know what to do. Behind those lovely eyes, which appeared more brown than green at that moment, there was hope and a burning mischief. She looked up at him, then over at the clock. A slow smile spread through her eyes. But she allowed herself to be distracted by her anger.

"How long?" She asked him quietly her eyes down and hands in her lap. She felt it, felt it deep in her soul. There was a connection between him and Amanda, an old one, but one that seemed to be important to him, as all his connections to others were to him. He would not be the man she loved if he were any other way. Still, it drove her crazy, just a little crazy to think that the chick honestly tried to move her and Mel along that way. Yet, it felt like Amanda was trying to cross the line between Friend and something more. She felt that too and she was angry, not that she should have been. Avi, despite not forcing the woman to stop touching him, was not seeking anything other than friendship. That much was clear in his eyes and his ability to become completely distracted by her. He looked at her sideways one side of his mouth reaching up and his nose scrunching down. She damn near started laughing. He was always just too adorkable, a smooth combination of dorky and cute as fuck.