My friend, Demise

Chapter 25

The water was actually pretty cold, but it didn't seem like either of us minded. I drug Demise into the deep end, making him tightly grab my shoulders. "Hey, I told you I can't swim well!"

"I know. I just like when you hold onto me like a kid."

"I'm serious! Deep water freaks me out."

"Should I calm you down then?"

"Not the time." He scoffed. In return, I pulled him under water and pressed my lips to his own. He kissed back with a desperation I wasn't expecting, hands clutching even tighter to my shoulders and sliding down to grab my upper arms.

We didn't stay underwater long but as soon as I pulled him back to the surface, he grabbed the edge of the pool and pushed my back against it. He kissed me again, this time sliding his tongue in my mouth and his hand in my hair.

I carefully pulled back and pushed the wet hair out of his face. "Demise, are you okay?"

"It's not easy for someone to make me feel like this." He rested his hand on my jaw, sliding his thumb back and forth over my cheek. "Run away with me."

"Disregarding how disgustingly cliche that sounded, Isn't Caine your best friend? Don't you want to stay close to him in case you get hurt again?"

"You're not hiding your jealousy well." He smiled. "But....it was Caine's idea to run away. He even gave me the money, said we looked happy and that staying here would ruin that."

"That sounds like a bad way of saying he likes you and finished a really shitty job of trying to move on."

"You said you wanted to come with me before."

"And you told me I could go if I was careful."

"I just wanna make sure you're really okay with leaving."

"I'm sure." His brown curls are now drenched in chlorine, which I expect is as terrible for his hair as it is for mine. I watched the water reflect against his eyes, staring at me as if I had the answers to calm his fear. "I just started living, I don't want to stop anytime soon."

His eyes left my own and trailed down my neck. "How comfortable are you with having sex here?"

"What?!"

By the time we dried off and got dressed again, Demise pulled me outside and over to a rather expensive looking car. "You brought Caine?"

"I texted him while we were getting dressed. He's driving us to the hotel. I plan on leaving the day after your birthday."

That's in two weeks.

"You know he hates me, right? I told you while you were drunk a few hours ago but-"

"I remember. He'll behave."

"You two look like you just had sex." Caine rolled the window down. "I won't wait here that long, get in."

"That's a lie, you'd wait for an hour if I asked.", Demise rolled his eyes.

"Just get in the car."

He sat in the front, which is good for me because the last thing I want is to sit by Caine. I could see his bruising face in the mirror, which made me feel a little guilty. "I'm sorry, Azriel." He noticed me staring. "I know I was rude but stop staring at me."

"I want you two to get along." Demise reach back to grab my hand, forcing it into Caine's. Caine looked down at our hands, absolutely disgusted. "So make up and make out or some shit."

"Gross!"

"I love him, Caine. So get used to him being around."

Caine sighed and squeezed my hand, pushing his fingers between mine. "Fine."

"Your hands smell like dog." I huffed, not expecting Caine to let out a laugh that made my heart stop for a second.

"As expected, right?"

"Never thought I'd hear you laugh."

"Never thought you'd make me."

Once at the hotel, Demise led me to our room and flopped down on the bed. "I'm glad you two made up."

"Do you like Caine?" I sat beside him, which made him sit up and peck my cheek.

"Not in the same way he likes me."

My heartbeat sped up, Caine's laugh playing in my head like a broken record. "What's not to like about him?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Do you like Caine, Azriel?"

"I like his laugh."

He covered his mouth to hide a laugh before grabbing my arm. "You're not even close to his type, so I have nothing to worry about. Caine's just... weirdly charming."

"I think he's a prick."

"A prick with pretty eyes."