Dancing flames mesmerized the seconds I waited until James came to stand next to me. He didn’t offer to come down to my level, so I lifted my chin up to find him. My searching gaze only made it so far, pausing at the slight extension of his hand.
“Drink.”
The rim of a ceramic mug was clasped in his five strong fingers, swirls of steam looping out until they met the ceiling of his palm.
“The last time you made me a drink—”
“There’s nothing in it,” he chided tersely, teeth gripped together as if he hated that he had to say it.
Surprising probably both of us, I took his offering and drank like he said. Warm lemon spiced water slid back over my tongue, every hair on my body standing upright in content. I swallowed one gulp and then another, melting the chill that was left in my bones.
I was right in the middle of my third sip when James spoke again.
“I’ve also hidden every sharp object in the cabin.”
The tea in my mouth held for a few moments as his words digested like a slow, sad song in my head. Carefully, I lowered the mug from my mouth and swallowed the lemon tea down, resting my hands in my lap.
I didn’t need to tell him, but I figured why not at this point.
“If I wanted to go out that way, don’t you think I would have made it happen by now?”
I’d followed the guidelines of Johnny’s rule-obsessed religion strictly up to now. I wasn’t blowing it so close to the deadline.
Tomorrow after James dropped me off to my dad, I’d hightail it out of there and go play in some traffic until a car won and finally I lost once and for all.
James was silent above me for a really, really long time.
So long in fact, I actually thought about feeling bad for being so honest, but then I decided fuck that.
He brought it up. Not my problem he didn’t like my answer.
I didn’t ask him to care to whatever degree he did.
By this time tomorrow, I’d go my way and he’d go his, and by the time he heard about my death, it wouldn’t mean anything more than a bullshit second of consideration for a life lost to be ‘polite’, and then he’d go on with his day.
Just how the devil in my soul intended it.
“You’ll sleep on the couch out here tonight.” James went on as if I hadn’t spoken, seizing the half-drunk mug from my hands and walking away with a terse warning. “I’ll be awake on the floor next to you the whole night, so don’t think about trying anything.”
I followed the image of his stalking body over my shoulder, sighing as he dropped the cup into the sink, ceramic clanking against metal. The wide breadth of his arms steadied against the kitchen counter, his head dropping between the peaks of his shoulders.
Staring at him, I decided maybe it was best thattomorrow was our final day together.
Maybe this push and pull our demons were after was getting a little too messy for a clean break.
The last time James told me he wouldn’t fall asleep went about the same as this.
I set myself up on the couch, laying to face the fire, while James stretched his legs out in front of him on the floor and set his back to the part of the couch nearest my head.
To his credit, he stayed awake longer this time than he did in the woods, but around the time the fire started to dwindle to embers, James’ head slumped over.
Soft snoring permeated the room and pushed a smile to my face only a few moments later.
Only… the similarities from our night in the woods didn’t end there.
It started off small just like the first time, so small I barely made a note of it.
One of his broad shoulders jerked.