The Heart's Ashes (31 page)

“
Oh, really?” I grinned. “What happened to your ‘he never
intended any harm’ speech, or whatever it was you said the other
day?”

“
That hasn’t changed,” David stated. “He didn’t
intend
any harm, and he
may have made peace with you, but, he still has
me
to answer to.”

“
Why? What did he do to
you
?”

“
Disrespect, mistreat and behave carelessly with a girl whom
he
knew
was
incredibly important to me.” He rested his arms behind his head.
“I’ve already planned what I’m going to do to him.”

“
Don’t.” I shuffled away, not in the mood for all this
macho-vampire-hierarchy stuff. “Just leave him alone.”

David leaned
on his elbow, his face in front of mine, his eyes shocking me with
their sparkle. “Ara. I’m not Mike. I’m not going to restrain from
ripping the gizzards out of a spineless little shit, just because
you tell me to.” He smiled, running his fingers over my jawline,
closing my mouth. “He disrespected you, put you in danger, forced
himself on you. He only has a limited time now before I get hold of
him and tear him apart.”

“
Oh, my brave, strong knight,” I said sarcastically, placing
my hand over my heart. “Where would I ever be without
you?”

“
Probably married to Mike.” He laughed
conclusively.

“
Yeah. With an empty soul and no clue what was
missing.”

David smiled
then, and rolled onto his back, taking my hand with him. “I love
the way you’re always so confused, Ara. It’s very sweet.”

“
What do you mean
confused
?”

“
You just said you’d be empty if you didn’t know I existed,
but you’re empty
because
I exist and can’t be with you, and when I could
be with you, you said it would be empty without Mike.”

“
Well, I’m only eighteen. Give me time. Confusion’s kind of a
part of growing up, right? It’s a teen thing.”

“
Try being an eternal nineteen-year-old.”

“
You don’t
seem
confused—about anything.”

“
Really?” he mused. “Well, you should take a walk inside my
head, then.”

“
What are you confused about?”

“
Many things, sweetheart.”

“
Let me guess—you can tell me, but not today.” I rolled my
eyes.

“
Maybe you’re more switched on than I thought you
were.”

“
Or maybe you just always say the same things.”

David took a
breath, looking at his watch. “So—lunch at your dad’s today,
huh?”

“
Oh my God.” I slapped my own head. “I totally
forgot.”

“
It’s okay, you still have an hour.” David pulled me back down
as I stood, his strong, almost cool arms heavily pinning me to his
chest. “Let’s enjoy this time before Emily and Mike come
home.”

“
I wonder where they are. It’s not like him to leave it so
long without contact, you know, a message or something.”

“
My love, they’ve been gone for one night.”

“
I know. I’m just worried.”

“
Well, we’ll text him after you’ve been to your dad’s
today.”

“
He’ll be happy to see you,” I noted in a soft voice. “My dad,
that is.”

“
Do you think that’s a good idea, Ara? I’m not staying. It
might raise questions if I go with you today.”

“
Then we won’t tell him you’re not staying.”

“
Ara.” He glared down at me. “Your dad will rip my arm off if
I don’t
promise
to stay with you.”

“
Then promise.” I shrugged.

“
Stop it.”

“
Why? Why won’t you just stay?”

“
You know why.”

“
I don’t care why.”

“
No. I know you don’t, which is why you always seem to be in
some kind of trouble, or conflicted by something,” David said, his
tone short, abrupt. “Start caring about cause and effect and you
might start to get some resolution.”

“
I don’t want it. Going over reasons, David, has only ever
caused me heartache. I just have to keep wishing for the
unattainable and trying to believe there’s magic in the
world.”

“
My Ara, so full of hopes and dreams.” He kissed my hand and
placed it back down on his chest. “It’s one of the other things I
really love about you.”

“
Well, I have to hope.” I pushed up from the bed and moved
away quickly. “If I don’t, I’ll die inside—stop feeling, stop
dreaming—like
you
.”

Parked at the
centre of the drive, wedged between the daisy-lined path to the
porch, and my dad’s old Buick, David shut the engine off and we
just sat there, silence filling the empty space around us. “What is
it, my love?”

“
It’s just...I haven’t been back here since I moved out,
David. I’ve been dreading this lunch for weeks, knowing I couldn’t
bear to look over there, at the school, and see that place—knowing
that you’re no longer there.”

“
I’m here for now.” He smiled, melting my tension.

“
I know. It’s just kind of bizarre—how it all turned out. I
mean, I wasn’t supposed to be here. I should be in Perth, at
school, married. Don’t get me wrong, I like this better.” I
grinned, touching his arm. “But I get sad thinking how good it
could’ve been if you were just a normal guy.”

“
Well, what would it have been like?” He took my hand, turning
in the chair to face me. “If I were just a guy, what would’ve
happened between us?”

“
Well.” I smiled widely, imagining everything in my head as I
spoke. “We would’ve spent every waking minute together; my dad and
Vicki would’ve started complaining, setting up scheduled
visitations so my grades wouldn’t drop. But we would’ve snuck out
to see each other, anyway. Then, one day, probably sooner than
later, we’d have got married. Maybe started a family and complained
about how we get no sleep, and how the mortgage is killing us. You
would’ve found a job working at a place you hate, and I would’ve
whinged about getting fat from having kids.” David squeezed my
hand; I took a deep breath. “Then, when we went to our high school
reunion, everyone would’ve made snide remarks about how old we look
and how we were once the couple of the century—the headline gossip,
and now, we’re nothing more than completely normal, old, and
nearing the end of our meagre existence.”

“
And you would have wanted that?”

“
Wouldn’t you?” I looked into his intense, emerald-green
eyes.

“
More than you know. I just—I never thought it’d be
something
you
dream about.”

“
It’s normal.” I pressed my cheek to my shoulder. “I always
liked normal.”

“
What if,” he started, shuffling a little closer, then leaned
in to lift my face, “what if the doors that never opened for us,
Ara, are hiding the paths we only
thought
we wanted? Maybe our destiny
is down the road of something more magnificent. Maybe we
will
get our happy
ending and realise that normal was never going to be enough for
us.”

“
Now who’s the dreamer?” I smiled through a teary
gaze.

“
Everyone has a dream, my love, it’s just whether or not we’re
willing to fight for that.”

“
You’re
not,” I said.

“
I am.” He squeezed my hand, making me look at him again.
“Sweetheart, I’m fighting for us every day. You just don’t know
it—you don’t know what I’m risking by being here.” He swallowed
hard. “I’m the worst
friend
in the world.”

“
Why…what are
you
risking?”

“
Your
life!”

“
Huh?”

“
Don’t you get it? Your life is at risk because I can’t stay
away from you, Ara. Do you understand how much you mean to me? That
I’m willing to risk
your
life to be with you.” He laughed then. “It’s the
stupidest thing I ever heard.”

“
No. It’s not.” I shook my head. “It’s the most
romantic.”

His lips
turned up on the corners. “Come on, let’s go see your family. I
can’t wait to get my arm ripped off by your dad.”

“
He’ll be happy to see you, David. He won’t rip off your
arm.”

He smiled his
secret smile, and opened the car door. “We’ll see.”

Hand in hand,
we walked the once creaky porch step and heard Vicki’s voice float
through the house before we even knocked. “Ara’s here.”

My nerves
increased. What if David was right about my dad ripping his arm
off?

David squeezed
my hand. “It’ll be okay.”

“
No, it won’t,” I said as the door unlocked. “You’ll be gone
soon.”

“
Ara.”

“
Hi, Dad.” I hugged him tight, standing on my toes to wrap my
arms around his neck.

“
Long time no see, honey.” He looked at David and extended his
hand. “David? Good to see you again.”

“
You too, Mr. Thompson.” David smiled politely.

“
Oh, come now.” He waved a hand. “We’re not in school,
anymore. I told you before, call me Greg.”

David smiled
at me and we walked inside behind my dad.

“
David?” Vicki squealed, almost running toward him. “What are
you doing back? I thought you left?”

“
I did.” David patted Vicki’s back as she hugged him. “I
uh—I’m here on holiday.”

“
Holiday?” Dad looked at David with a raised brow. “So, you’re
leaving again?”

“
Uh—” David rocked back on his heels, then looked at me, a
warm smile flashing across his face as he reached for my hand. “I
uh, I’m not so sure about that, now.”

Dad nodded,
his face full of thought, and sat down at the dining table. “You
broke my daughter’s heart, David, when you left.”

“
I know.” David swallowed and sat across from Dad in the seat
that used to be mine. I sat in his lap. “I’m not here to break her
heart, Greg. I only came back to make sure she was all
right.”

Dad looked at
me for a second. “Is she?”

“
No.” David squeezed me tighter.

Dad just
nodded.

“
David?” Sam cried from the doorway.

“
Hey, Sam.” David linked hands with Sam, giving a one-shoulder
hug.

“
What’re you doing here?” Sam sat next to David, leaning
eagerly forward.

“
Just visiting,” he said.

“
Ha!” Sam scoffed and leaned back. “You better not be. If you
break my sister’s heart again, David, I’ll hunt you
down.”

“
Sam!” Dad scolded.

“
No. It’s all right, Mr. Thompson.” David held up a flat palm,
smiling. “It’s fine. I get it, Sam. Okay? I won’t hurt her. I
promise you that.”

But he will.
When he leaves me again, I’ll die. Maybe I’ll have to make my
sudden death look like an accident so they don’t blame David.

“
Well,
I’m
glad you’re back.” Vicki placed a bowl of pasta on the table.
“Even if it is just for a while.”

“
Thank you, Vicki,” I said, glad someone could see the bright
side. “That’s exactly how I feel.”

She smiled.
Girls unite. “Anyway, I’m sure it will be long enough for our Ara
to convince you to stay.”

“
She’s already working her magic.” David grinned as I pushed
Sam over to take the chair beside him and flipped a napkin in my
lap.

Working my magic?
My closed lips
twitched with my thought, as if trying to speak the words.
Magic, like when we shared blood the other
night?

He kicked my
foot under the table.

Oh, I’m sorry,
is that not something you want to think about around my mum and
dad?

He reached
under the table, took my hand and squeezed it.

Should I tell them we can only share blood because you
won’t
have sex with
me?

Dad looked up,
his eyes narrowed in confusion, when David suddenly coughed. I
could actually feel the vampire’s mortification in the heat of his
hands. If he could blush, he would be bright red.

Oh boy,
old-fashioned guys are hilarious. I wish I’d had more of a sense of
humour when we were together before. I could’ve had so much more
fun torturing him with this.

My ears washed
back to the conversation when I heard my name. “Huh?” I looked over
at Sam.

“
You see?” He laughed, pointing at my face. “She still does
it.”

“
Does what?” I looked at David; he just smiled.

“
You still faze out,” David said. “We were just talking about
Mike and Emily being together now, and Sam asked how you felt about
it.”

“
Oh.” I sat taller and leaned on my hand. “Um. I think it’s
great.”
Not. I feel betrayed, unwanted,
rejected and second best—but that’s just the selfish, spoiled girl
inside me talking.