Hauntingly Beautiful

Hauntingly Beautiful Ch. 22

A/N: *waves* I'll keep this short. Here you go. Enjoy.

Jk. That's not all. There's another note at the end of the chapter. For now though, I hope you enjoy reading. xx

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"Well?" Luke leaned in, blocking my line of sight. "Do you like it?"

"Of course, she does. When did she ever not like anything I bought her?" Gabriel sounded confident, but his actions said otherwise.

He had been pacing back and forth in front of us, after he handed me a box. It contained a pair of custom, pink glitter roller blades.

I swiped a hand over a part he had painted on, and written on it was 'Trouble'.

"Princess, please do us a favor and put Gabe out of his misery, before he snatches the shoes back and re-decorate it," Victor said, winking when our eyes had met.

"You'll take it back?" I asked Gabriel, pouting when he began marching forward, as if to retrieve the box back. "But I love it."

Gabriel stopped on his tracks and puffed out a breath. He had a hand resting on his hip as another was scratching the side of his head. "You sure? I didn't have enough time to get the layers right, but I can-"

"It's beautiful," I said. His eyes searched mine, as if to make sure I didn't tell a lie. I stared right back at him, letting it sink in.

A couple of seconds had passed and he wouldn't look away still. Then, my face started to feel warm, remembering his gaze and everything else that had happened between us yesterday.

"Aaaand it also has wings which you can clip on. See?" I was thankful when Victor had spoken up. He lifted up the said wings and showed me how to attach it on both sides of the skates.

Gabriel then cut in, telling me to try it on.

"But where are yours? Can I see what they look like? Does everybody get to have one?"

Luke brought a few pairs to the living room and opened them all. "They're just regular roller blades. Nothing to see, really."

True to his words, they looked normal, unlike mine. All three pairs were white in color.

"Can't we customize them? I mean, they're okay but maybe a pop of color here and there?" I asked nobody in particular, but looked at the three boys anyway.

Victor was the first to speak up. "I'm good with a plain white one, Princess," he said, as he flashed me a small smile, not quite meeting my gaze.

"Oh. Of course. I just thought... Ah, silly me." I said, embarrassed. It was like suggesting to ruin a perfectly pair of skates.

"No, no, no, no. You're a genius, cupcake!" Luke exclaimed, a devilish grin on his face as he approached me. He squatted a bit, then with arms encircling my thighs, he lifted me off the floor as he twirled us around.

As I grabbed on to Luke's shoulder, I could see Gabriel talking to Victor animatedly. I couldn't hear what was being said over the sound of Luke's cheers. The boy's face radiated with so much glee and mischief, I was afraid I might have had unleashed something wicked within him.

"North will f*cking kill you, if you mess with his skates and I will not be held responsible for it!" Gabriel suddenly stormed out of the house and the joyous atmosphere dropped quickly.

The three of us stared at the front door, surprised at Gabriel's outburst. However, as we all stood frozen, with the exception of myself, half my body almost dangling from Luke's shoulder, Gabriel had stepped back into the house, carrying a box with him. "Well, what are you waiting for? Grab a pen and start planning!"