House of Roses and Glass

Day 4: "What the Hel is wrong with you?!"

A knock at my dorm room door sends me opening the door, brushing my golden-brown hair behind an ear. I'm dressed in a grey sweater and a pair of mildly ripped jeans, the epitome of comfort in my book.

I open the door to be greeted by blond hair and green eyes.

"Hey, Tamlin," I greet, propping my hip against the doorframe. "What are you doing here so early?"

He flashes me a smile. "Feyre, I wanted to walk you to class."

I smile tightly and nod. Glancing at the clock behind me, I see we still have fifteen minutes before class. Far too long for small talk. "Sure, I'll get my stuff."

I grab my backpack and rush back to the front door where he still stands patiently waiting for me.

"Ok, let's go. What do you have first?" I smile at him even if it doesn't reach my eyes and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

"I have economics with you."

I let out a half-hearted laugh and cringe inside. How could I forget that? "Right, yeah, I knew that."

To his credit, he doesn't notice my unease and just chuckles. Some of my nerves fall away. They are back, though, full blast when he puts an arm around my shoulders and pulls me close to his body.

"Hey, look I'm sorry for what happened on Saturday," he says not looking at me.

I roll my eyes subtly. "It's ok, right? We got out of there safe and sound."

"Yeah, but you shouldn't have had to deal with that."

Well, he's not wrong.

"We can't change the past so you can forget about it."

He stops, staring into my blue grey eyes. "But I can't forget about it, Feyre. You could have been hurt."

I hold back my eye roll. I handled myself just fine, it was him that was just going to hand over my money. The money that my family had worked hard to earn.

I give Tamlin a soft smile, willing my eyes to crinkle. "Tamlin, I'm fine. You don't have to worry about me anymore. It happened which sucked, but it's over." I take his hand in mine. "We're fine. I'm fine."

He nods once, seeing something in my face, and continues walking back to our class.

We went on one date and he thinks he owns me. What the Hel did I get myself into?

. . .

"What the Hel is wrong with you?!" I yell, storming over to Rowan, the silver-haired buzzard sitting at our lab table with a smirk on his lips. A smik that walls with my accusation.

He raises an eyebrow. "Good morning to you, too, Aelin."

I shove a piece of paper in his face. It reads "Fire Breathing Bitch Queen" on it with fiery letters.

His brow furrows. "I have no idea what this is."

"Well, I found it on my locker along with a bunch of other nicknames like Heir of Fire!"

He chuckles, "That doesn't sound so bad."

I grit my teeth. "I know you did this."

"I still have no idea what you are talking about."

I lean in and whisper, "You know about me almost setting you on fire last class."

He lets out a loud laugh. "You do know that there are other people in this class right? And that any one of them could have seen you do that, not just me."