Running for My Undead Life

Chapter 11: Time to Explain

Early the next morning, I heard Cassie and Spencer enter the house. I quietly got out of bed and made my way downstairs, not wanting to wake Lena up right away. I entered the kitchen to see them sitting at the island. "Cass!" I ran up and pulled her out of her chair, examining her closely for any wounds or anything out of place. "I'm okay," she smiled at me weakly. I hugged her tightly then; thankful she came out unharmed. She squeezed me back, lightly at first, and then with more emotion. "I'm so fucking sorry, Art," she pulled away and stared into my eyes seeking forgiveness. "Is Lena okay?" she questioned. I nodded my head, "She has a lot of questions, but surprisingly I think she'll be able to move past the whole being held at gun point thing." Cassie's frown grew slightly as she nodded back and rubbed her hands over her face. I had never seen Cassie look so disheveled. "Cass," I grabbed her shoulders to regain her attention, "we're okay. Just explain to me what happened."

Before she could respond, we heard movement upstairs. "Fuck," I whispered as I heard Lena walking downstairs. Cass and I shared a look that let her know this conversation wasn't over. Lena walked into the kitchen and surprise filled her face at seeing Cassie and Spencer. She hurried over and pulled Cassie in for a hug. Cassie looked at me over her shoulder with shock all over her face. "We were so worried about you," Lena said pulling away. Cassie gave her a weak smile, "I'm all good. Listen, I'm... I'm so sorry for putting you two in that situation. I had some business to take care of and figured I could do that real quick and then we could have some fun. I never expected to see those people there or we never would have gone." "What did they want?" Lena asked pulling a stool over and sitting down. I stood behind her, wondering the same thing. She knew Oasis was vampire central and it was totally reckless to take us there knowing she has beef with a rival family. Cassie looked at Spencer discreetly and then looked at me, silently asking for help. I stared at her blankly, not feeling in a particularly helpful mood this morning. "They're a rival company of the Monticello's, who I work for of course. I've taken business from them in the past and they wanted to teach me a lesson. The whole thing was just meant to scare us. Which it definitely did. When I saw that gun pointed at Artemis' head..." she looked at me with so much pain in her eyes. I felt my demeanor soften, not wanting to make her suffer more than she already has. "It's okay, Cass," I finally spoke, "it was scary, but we're all okay now." She nodded her head but looked away from me in shame. "You should go get some rest," Spencer said in Cassie's direction, "Art, you should take Lena home and then we can go speak with Dad. He'll want to know everything that's happened."

Lena and I walked out to my jeep a little bit later and started the drive to her place. "Are you sure you're okay with going home right now? My father can wait," I peeked at her side profile trying to see what she was thinking or feeling. "I'll be okay. You guys have to sort things out," she grabbed my free hand and held it between both of hers on the middle console. "I can't believe that whole thing was just to intimidate Cassie for messing with their business. What's gonna happen now?" I shook my head in response, "I don't know. Spencer and Logan have recently had more to do with the business, but I'm still in the dark about everything. My guess is my father will send them a message back. I can't imagine he would ever allow something like this to go unanswered. I honestly don't want to know what he'll do in return." I could feel her staring at me, so I looked at her quickly before looking back to the road. She seemed to be lost in thought. "Are you going to tell your parents what happened?" I asked her after a few minutes. She snorted, "Are you kidding? They would lose their crap. First, at the fact that we went to a club. Second, that we were held hostage at gun point. No, no way. I don't want to ruin their image of you, either." I thought about what she said for a second, "Maybe you should." My knuckles tightened on the steering wheel. "Should what?" She asked incredulously. "Tell them. Ruin their image of me," I responded stiffly. "What are you talking about, Art? Stop, please." She was holding onto my hand as tight as she could. "I don't deserve to have them think the world of me after I put their only daughter in a life-or-death situation. You should tell them the truth and let them decide what they think about me." We pulled up to her house and I put the jeep in park. She didn't get out of the car, but she also wasn't speaking. I finally looked at her and she stared back at me, angrily. "I've had enough, Artemis." Shit, I thought to myself as my eyes widened. I had never seen her like this before, at least not directed towards me. "You can choose to forgive yourself or not. Only you can decide that. But I've forgiven you and I'm not going to let you sabotage our relationship or your relationship with my family over things that were out of your control. I'm not saying anything to my parents, and neither will you. That's final. Now, you're going to kiss me, passionately, and tell me how much you love me. Then you're going to call me tonight when everything is over with and done. Got it?" I nodded my head vigorously. Terrified of this side of her, but also super attracted to it. I leaned in and captured her lips with mine, grabbing the back of her head and pulling her as close to me as the jeep would allow. I moaned against her lips at the way she was making me feel. She kissed me even more fiercely, making my body go wild. She pulled away before I was ready, panting heavily. She smiled happily at the look of longing on my face and gave me a quick peck before opening her door and hopping out of my jeep. "Wait!" I said before she shut it. "I love you more than life itself," I told her, following her directions from before. Her cheeks reddened as she smiled even bigger, "I love you, too." She shut the door and ran up to her house, giving me one last look and wave before going inside.