Marked (Hosie Fanfic)

[26] Liar

Penelope POV

    "Penelope!" I turn as I hear someone call my name. My face instantly stretches into a smile and all the tension in my body leaves. My mind relaxes and I forget all of my worries. I walk over to the person who called my name and I wrap my arms around their torso. I bury my face in their neck and I feel their long hair tickle my face and the edges of my ears. 

   "I missed you." My voice is muffled in her neck. Her arms come down from when she waved at me and they rest on my arms. "I've only been gone for 3 days." She chuckles brightly and her voice is light. Innocent. Free.

   "Yeah, 3 days too long." She shakes her head and I detach myself from her to see how she's holding up. I walk in front of her and our eyes meet. Grey eyes meet green and for a second I wonder if I'm a werewolf. The feeling and tension between us is what I imagine a soulmate bond feels like. Everything is right when I'm with her and nothing can hurt us.

   "How are you?" I look at her tired eyes and the bags under her eyes. But even in her tired state, she's still somehow able to smile. She's able to smile bright enough to light the world on fire. "Come, sit." I lead her to a nearby bench and we sit down. I put an arm around her and pull her closer. I feel her head rest on my shoulder and her hand finds mine.

   "I'm fine. Just a little tired. Dad's been traveling a lot and dragging me with him. His meetings are so boring. Talking about how to run the campaign better as if he's actually going to win. And don't even get me started on all the sleazy men on his team that eye me like I'm a prize. I mean, they make so many comments and Dad doesn't even say anything. He even talks about me like he's about to auction me off. It's so frustrating."

   "Like, those men are double my age, hell maybe even triple and they're all looking at me like... like they want to devour me. It's creepy and no one does anything to stop it. Even the younger men on his team, they all give me this look of pity but they don't do anything. Sometimes they even join in on the comments but then look at me like they want to say sorry. It's just... ugh."

   I let her vent as I rub her arm soothingly as anger forms as she talks about those men. I start imagining what I'd do to those men if I ever found them. Hmm, lock them in a safe and teleport them to the bottom of the ocean. Not bad. Put them in a glass case and let them watch as I slowly cut each one of them up as their friends watch? Much better.

   "Hey." She nudges me and when I look down, I see her looking up at me. "Don't be mad. I'm just ranting. Stop clenching your hand. It's scaring me." She gives me a lopsided smile and her hand wraps around my fist. 

  My anger vanishes but it still lingers in the back of my mind. "Okay, I'll stop. But only if you stop calling me scary. I'm not scary." My protest is overridden by her laughter. "Yeah right. Tell that to that high school student that tried to approach me and you glared at him. I don't think I've seen a look of pure terror on anyone. Ever."

  She laughs again and a warm feeling erupts and spreads throughout my body like a wildfire. "Fine, fine, fine. You win. I'm scary." She laughs even harder and it's unrestrained. She laughs and snorts not minding that we're in public and her father is running for mayor. That's what I love about her. She's sweet and kind but she doesn't care about her reputation.

   I stare at her as she laughs and when she notices she stops. "What? Is there something on my face?" I smirk. "Yeah, it's right... here." She stops moving as I lean down and press my lips softly on hers. She melts into the kiss and our bodies fall closer if that's even possible. She makes a satisfied sound before I pull away.

  I can feel my goofy smile and I giggle at her pout. "Liar." I laugh harder and she can't hold up her act for too long before she joins me.