Chapter 11

The midnight wind danced over Skaii's skin, causing her to shiver. Her lips were dry and the tip of her fingers numb.

Her eyes slowly open when she heard someone coming towards her. She pushed herself up on her right elbow. But the throbbing wound on her shoulder caused her to fall back down.

No.

She began to panic. Her breathing quickened as the footsteps grew louder.

She refused to believe that after years of waiting, Matthew would be the one to steal her virtue. She couldn't bear the thought.

She squeezed her eyes shut, so hard it hurt, her cheeks wet with her tears.

"Skaii," a voice called out. She was sure that it was Matthew, she began screaming and grasping the grass she was laying next to.

"Skaii, hey, hey." He held onto her hand and kneeled over her.

"No leave me alone, I hate you, I hate you!" She screamed, and began kicking whoever it was in front of her.

A hand covered her mouth, muffling her screams. Her eyes snapped open as she held onto the person's hand in protest.

Nicholas was standing over her.

"Skaii are you okay, what happened?" Nicholas asked while he removed his hand from her mouth. "Let me get you inside." He said while he picked her up and held her in his arms and started to walk towards her house.

"No, no, please, your house." She whimpered. Nicholas furrowed his brows, confused at what Skaii requested but when he looked into her eyes, he could tell that she was scared. He nodded to her and walked up to his porch and through his front door.

As he laid her on a couch, she felt an unfathomable comfort.

"What happened?" He asked while he shrugged his coat off and covered her chest.

She sniffed and slowly pushed her body in a sitting position. "Can I have a glass of water, please?"

He sighed and stood and disappeared from the room.

What do I tell him?

Tell him the truth, idiot. Her inner voice snapped.

She sighed, even if she dared telling Nicholas about Matthew or her mother, he would never believe her. The Shaws have a way to make themselves look like the victims, no one ever thought they were heartless animals. Everyone saw them as ridiculously rich and shrewd. Why would Nicholas be any different?

Nicholas appeared in the living room, carrying a glass of water in his hand.

"Here." He handed it to Skaii. She attempted to take it from his hand. But her hands never reached his. Her shoulder was still hurting, she winced.

"Open your mouth." He ordered. She did what she was told and Nicholas began feeding her. Her cheeks blushed scarlet.

What is it with her blushing?

When she was finished, he put the glass on the coffee table.

"Are you still cold?" Nicholas asked her.

"Yeah," he lifted her into a cradle again and began to walk down the hall. He turned in to a room. It was dark, but he didn't bother to switch on the light. He placed her down on the floor and went in search for matches. When he found one, he walked to the front of the room.

He lit a match and dropped it, suddenly the room was engulfed in a dim light from the fire place.

He joined Skaii on the floor.

"I know what you're thinking." She whispered.

He turned his head in her direction. "You have no idea what I'm thinking."

"It's not," a stray tear fell from her eye and she wiped it away.

"Look, Skaii, I can't pretend that I don't want to know what happened tonight, but if you don't want to talk about it, I won't pry." He said truthfully.

"I don't want to talk about it." She said dryly. "When's your dad going to be back?"

"In the morning, why?" He asked confusedly.

"Do you mind me spending the night here?" She hopefully asked.

"Won't your mother be worried?" He inquired.

Skaii almost snorted.

"I will leave in the morning, I just need to clear my head." She said.

He was silent for a while, until he replied, "Um, sure."

They grew silent after that.

Nicholas kept on thinking of the different reasons why she ended up outside in the cold or how she got hurt.

His instinct told him that something wasn't right. He started to stare at her. The soft glow of the flames caressed her skin, giving it a copper appearance. Her face was framed by her cocoa brown hair and her eyelashes, long and thick, were almost sweeping her cheeks.

Her nose was perfectly straight and lips were small and stained pink. And beyond that cast, he remembered, she had a beautiful neck. He had to stop himself from looking further.

Nicholas wondered what kind of person would want to hurt a woman so beautiful.

A real stupid one. He thought.

"Where did you move from?"

Skaii said out of the blue.

"LA." He replied in monotone.

"Why San Fransisco? You could've moved to Fresno or San Diego." Skaii waited for him to reply, as she stared at the imperfect shape of the flames.

"My mom past away, dad was living here, so I guess it's convenient." His voice was strained as he spoke.

"I'm sorry to hear that." She was about to ask how but she stopped herself, before she stirred up any emotions.

He remained silent after that, showing that he didn't liked talking about it.

"So why were you snooping around the yard at twelve am?" She said changing the subject.

"Ah, I just came off a date. Turns out that the only thing that that girl and I got in common was the fact that we go to the same school. It was horrible." He explained with a frown.

"Opposites attract you know." Skaii pointed out.

"Cliché. Did I mention that she has a fetish for tits. Just like you. I can hook you up too if you want." He threw back his head in laughter. And so did Skaii. She couldn't help but laugh at the thought of her stealing his date from him.

That would be so messed up.

Slowly, their laughter died down and Skaii sighed, "Why don't we talk like this?" She asked while turning to face him.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" His rose his eyebrows and he smiled.

"No," Skaii replied quickly. "Never mind, you're right. That would just ruin the moment." Unconsciously, her lips arched upwards in a smile.

"You know, you are even more beautiful when you smile Skaii. You should do it more often. And not one of your infamous 'I don't give a shit about anything' smiles."

She didn't reply but her smile widened. She then turned back to face the fireplace and leaned onto his shoulder. And absentmindedly, he began to stroke her hair.

She didn't know what had changed between them, but right now, there was no place in the world that she'd rather be.