Be Careful Who You Trust Chapter 13

Chapter 13

I rolled my eyes when Nathan started pacing around the kitchen as soon as Zander left. He was muttering to himself about what just went down and absolutely refused to answer my questions.
I stomped my foot and looked behind me to James helping Mrs. Borden get on her feet. I ignored the urge to scream at the two boys to answer me and got to the other side of her. Hooking my arm under her armpit, I pulled upward with all my strength and was super grateful that I had James helping me. The woman may have appeared to be petite but man! was she ever heavy!
The two of us brought her to the sit at the kitchen table. Nathan still on a rampage about "my safety, Zander, asshole" and didn't even notice his Mom.
"You know Nathan, for being so caring towards me, you really are a dick to your Mom." I said, my voice betraying just how angry I felt, "My Dad always told me to look at how a man treats his Mom before deciding what to think about him. You just helped me decide."
"Decide? Decide what exactly, Katie!?" Nathan shot back, still not even looking Mrs. Borden's way. I could feel my face start heating up with how much anger I felt. How dare he just ignore her like that?
"YOU KNOW WHAT YOU BASTARD!" I finally screamed at him. I left all my good manners behind and just screamed. I was sick of being left emotionally unstable and having people challenge how strong I was and just mess with my mind in general!
I stomped out of the room, no longer able to keep the tears at bay...again. I let them stream down my face with no shame and just collapsed on the couch, unable to quiet the raw sobs that escaped my throat. I could faintly hear James walk in and talk to me but didn't I didn't really hear him. It wasn't until I felt his arm gently carress my back that I was fully aware of his presence.
Sick of being the drama queen, I cried harder as I pulled myself into him. He stroked my hair gently and shushed me as he pulled me closer to his chest. When did my life fall apart? My parents were dead and all I could do about it was cry.
Wait! She was just in the other room! Maybe someone would give me answers after all! I stood up abruptly, startling James, and stomped my way upstairs. That blonde bitch would give me answers or I would force her to. The boys I couldn't hurt for the life of me, even if I wanted to but this chick? I might even enjoy it.
I didn't even stop to think of how quickly I switched from being overwhelmed to unbelievably furious.
As if finally realizing my intention, I heard James jump to his feet and shuffle after me.
His hand grabbed my arm and he whipped me to face him, "Katie, don't even think about it! You're better than that."
"Think about what, wolf boy, huh? Oh right, you probably have wolf senses that can magically tell that I am severely pissed off right now, right!? Is it not obvious enough?" I said. I had intended to say it civilly but I lost it again and just screamed. It's the thought that counts, right?
"That's absurd! I may be a wolf but don't mistake me for a fairy tale, Katie. You act like you're the only one being affected by this. You don't think I haven't had enough of acting like I'm something I'm not! I have hidden this for my whole frickin' life from you and everyone else I know. Don't act like you know what I've been through or like you're the only victim here." He said, starting calmly but eventually his voice raised to match my own.
I stopped for a second, half startled by getting yelled at by him; half by the fact that his eyes were glowing a deep blue and his teeth had begun to point. He closed his eyes and I could almost feel the shudder that racked his body. When he opened his eyes again, they were his normal eyes.
My fear must have been all over my face because James simply sighed and said, suddenly sounding sad, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I'm just sick of people always looking inside themselves and never looking out to see who else needs a hand. Or who else is going through shit."
Subconsciously, I let my gaze fall to the ground, feeling thoroughly ashamed for my outburst, "I'm sorry, James. You're right. I've only been thinkng about myself."
He smiled, "It's okay. I really shouldn't be taking this out on you. You've been more than selfless ever since I've known you. It's only these past couple days you've been acting like Jen."
He laughes and I joined him. It wasn't often someone had the balls to say something like that about Jennifer.
I stopped laughing and asked, realizing Jen hadn't come home from school, "Uhh, James? Where is Jen?"
He shook his head, rolling his eyes slightly, "She's gone to Austin's house. I honestly couldn't belive that. You're sitting here with-sorry for bringing it up-a funeral to plan and she's sitting over there, probably completely mauling that jackass."
I laughed. This boy had the guts to say something about her not once, but twice! I was suddenly so thankful that I had James through all this, wolf or not. What I had forgotten during the past days was that even though I had learned so much about the "other" world and how most of my friends are tangled up in it, they are still my friends that I grew up with.
"To think that I liked that jackass at one point." I scoffed and walked back to the couch, careful to avoid contact with the other jackass (and his mom) that decided to enter the room.
Nathan raised an eyebrow and looked like he was going to say something but James cut him off, his voice a sqeak, "You what!? I had no idea! How long ago?"
I almost hit the ground laughing. His voice though! It was full of so much surprise.
"What are you guys talking about?" Nathan asked, his eyes narrow with suspicion.
I put my hands on my hips and looked him dead in the eye as I spoke, still thoroughly pissed of at him, "Nothing that concerns you, thank you."
He rolled his eyes and apparently, decided to bypass an argument by saying, "Fine. I'm going to check on that chick that has somehow been forgotten and left alone for the past twenty minutes." He scoffed, which really made me close to blowing it again.
"Tell me when she wakes up." I said simply, not wanting to say one unnecassary word to him. He rolled his eyes in reply.
I breathed deeply as James made fun of me by doing the motions with me. I chuckled a couple times but kept doing it until Nathan was out of sight. I plunked myself down on the couch and literally growled. Not really sure why but I did.
James looked at me and snorted, "What was that!?"
I glared at him but obviously the grin on my face betrayed that I was joking, "I don't know! I'm just moody."
He shook his head and made his way to the couch to sit beside me. He looked me straight in the eye and I had to force myself to keep my heart from jumping outside of my chest. I was so scared. I couldn't! I was in love with Nathan...wasn't I?
Finally, he said something, "You didn't think I'd let it go, would you?" My heart sped faster, if even possible...he was so talking about falling asleep on him. Oh my gosh..."So, how long did you like Austin? I mean, come on, the deets please."
I quietly exhaled and took a breath again. James grinned as he caressed my hand with his thumb and it was then I realized that he knew exactly what he was doing to me! Although it some convincing on my own part, I scooched just out of his reach.
"You don't need to touch me for me to talk to you..." I said, flicking my hair as if to taunt him. I didn't mean to but oh well, I wasn't called sassy for nothing.
"You're right," he said, scooching back himself until a wicked gleam flickered in his beautiful, blue eyes, "but that doesn't mean I don't want to."
Instinctively, I threw those "walls" up in my mind, hoping it was enough to keep Zander from seeing this. He would go nuts! He would probably march back here and murder James!
My heart felt like it was going to burst. He pulled himself closer to me until he was partly on top of me. I was forced to lay back and despite my wishes, I squeaked at his force. His body was warm against mine and the air filled my lungs with shallow breaths. It felt so hard to breathe. So many fantasies were right there. So many...I sucked my breath in as his lips lingered close to my ear. He wasn't touching me with his lips but the heat they were giving off was enough to make my toes curl.
I was fighting so hard not to do anything to advance his attention. I stayed so still and held my breath, hoping he'd stop but hoping he wouldn't. Damn, why was it so complicated?
He pulled away from me and sat back down. My heart broke as he stuttered, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have. You're not yourself and I don't want to take advantage of you when you're like this."
A flush crept up on my cheeks as I realized what just happened and what he was thnking about it. I felt amazing and he felt bad about it! Well, confused but amazng nonetheless.
"It's okay, James. It's not like I haven't thought about it before." I said, forcing myself to meet his eyes. He needed to know that he did nothing against me that couldn't be classified as "willing." His concern and consideration was more than endearing and I smiled.
He smiled back at me and said, "Still, I'm not gonna do anything that I want to right now. Rain check?" He asked, a gleam in his eyes.
I tilted my head to the side, acting as if I had to think about - which I most definitely had to think about later - and replied, "If you say so."
"Ok cool." He said, obviously kicking himself for putting us in that sort of a situation.
"James, seriously, don't worry about it." I assured him, putting my hand over his gently.
"Yeah, we'll see about that." He chuckled lightly. There you go. He was a little bit more lke himself. "Anyway, I better get back home before I take that rain check now." He fidgeted in his seat and it took be by surprise. He was really holding himself back that much?
"Uh, okay. Thank you for looking out for me." I said, unsure of what to do. I still wanted to ask him what was going on between him and Nathan but decided I would interrogate Nathan by himself.
He smiled warmly as he stood, "Good night, Katie."
"Good night, James." I said, standing up with him. He walked out of the room and I though better than to follow him. I wanted to but I didn't want to make him have to fight himself for any longer than necessary.
How did it go from him asking me about Austin to that?
I sat back down, in a kind of daze. What just happened? What was going on? No man has ever looked my way and now in the past week, I've had my childhood crush, my current crush and some random, creepy stalker vampire profess their feelings for me! They must have all gone insane. The only normal thing in my life right now is the fact that I should be going to get Jennifer home but at the same time felt like she deserved to get pregnant. Make sense?
I decided to lay down to try catch some shut-eye before Jennifer got home, before the blonde chick woke up, and before my long interrogation with Nathan. And before my brain forced me to stop and think about who I actually wanted.
I didn't feel like getting into it with myself. I knew the perfect remedy for that. I pulled out my phone out of my pocket and threw my headphones in. Nothing but a good ol' NF playlist would get me through tonight. I pressed shuffle until I finally got the song I wanted..."Why!"