Nothing Less than Extraordinary

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As a means to escape the tension and utter disaster of dinner, I caught the ride home with drunken Cheshire and a helpful Anthony. Anthony did all the heavy lifting and I really didn't say much to Cheshire outside of convincing him to go home. When Cheshire had briefly passed out in the cab, Anthony thanked me for respecting his and his brother's wishes about the cure but didn't say anything else. We got to Sumer's mansion before the others as expected, but instead of helping Anthony like I had when coxing a confused Cheshire into the Uber, I went to the back yard and laid down flat onto the ground trying to calm down and process everything.

"So...is no one gonna tell me what happened tonight?" I suddenly heard a voice ask. I looked over to see Cheshire sitting on the steps trying to light something that looked like but didn't smell like a cigarette. I guess Anthony was no match for him like Andres usually was.

I rolled up and sat by him. He offered the cigarette and I shook my head before he shrugged, twisted it in his fingers, and revealed it to be a joint that he instantly took a hit of before leaning back onto the higher steps. He blew the smoke into a ring into the night sky.

"Where've you been?" I asked him calmly.

"Here...there...nowhere...everywhere," he sighed. I rolled my eyes. "Why is it that we both asked a question but only yours got answered?"

"Because you're drunk as a skunk and high as a kite," I began. "...and you've been missing for three days. Where the hell were you?"

He snapped his head up and looked at me with an unreadable expression.

"You did not just say 'drunk as a skunk.' Sweetheart, we're seventeen, not toddlers," he laughed and I only rolled my eyes and began to get up before he grabbed my forearm to pull me back down. "Sorry, sorry."

"You're the least apologetic person I know."

"While that might be true, I am a sorry person," he admitted with an unconvincing look that caused him to frown. "Or at least that's what Alice has been telling me. I'm not quite sure if it's sunk in yet."

He took another hit before leaning back again.

"So you've been with Alice," I assumed. Their downfall was yet another tragedy of this whole situation.

"With Alice but not with Alice...but also with Alice," he responded as confusing as his namesake from the fairytale. I suddenly yanked the joint out of his hand and threw it into the pool. "Hey!"

"Stop dicking around."

"Alice also said something along those lines to me," he laughed. I scoffed once more as he was amused with himself. "She told me I didn't take anything serious," he kept laughing even though I knew he was hurting. "Me, Cheshire...not taking things seriously. Ridiculous, right? Especially considering she was the thing I took most serious other than fighting the cure and the unit and you—"

"Stop," I pleaded when he mentioned me. "You shouldn't be taking me seriously."

The smirk fell from his face instantly. It was time to stop acting like nothing was between us—like he admitted to in Vegas. I couldn't forget all the little moments he had with me nor his reasoning for breaking up with Alice. I had to stop it right now because it had obviously become destructive to him.

"So we're gonna do this now?" he assumed completely sober. I only glared at him. I couldn't be more disappointed in his regression since he's been in DC.

"I heard what you told Alice," I began. He looked down and somehow managed to let out a breathy laugh.

"You know, at this point, I don't even care what part you heard," he revealed. He looked over at me and even though I was constantly reminding myself that this boy could be persuasive enough to push thoughts and feelings into my head, I couldn't look away from his deepening blue eyes. There was no trace of purple swirls. "I meant everything that I said. To her. To you...about you. I meant it."