Fortune Favors the Bold

13

When Kalani woke again, she could barely move her body against the weight that sunk her deeper into the mattress. Her tired eyes parted into the room illuminated by the narrow-slit window at the ceiling's corner and the fluorescent lighting above her that was only controlled by the rise and fall of the sun. She groaned, remembering the events of the night before that had landed her in her current position.

As the feeling gradually returned to her comatose body, the girl became aware of the weight resting on the base of her abdomen. It took a considerable effort to lift her head off the pillow and the blanket on her body, granting her eyes a clear vision of a hand. She felt its warmth on the inch of skin exposed between her shirt and pants.

Slowly, as she tried to calm her racing heart, Kalani turned to peer at the face that rested beside her. When she caught sight of Not-Castiel's sleeping expression, she jumped.

"Ah!" The girl cried out, her panicked momentum beginning to swing her off the side of the bed. All she was truly trying to do was get away from him because this was her bed. Not-Castiel wasn't supposed to be in it!

Before she could roll off the edge to drop onto the floor, a force yanked her back and Kalani's back slammed onto the mattress with a power that made her bounce. When she turned to her right again, Not-Castiel's eyes were open and tiredly watching her.

"What are you doing in my bed?" She asked eagerly.

"I was sleeping."

She rolled her eyes at him, raising an impatient eyebrow while waiting for the answer she was searching for. He held her gaze for a moment longer like he was challenging her to see if Kalani would really await an answer. But she did.

He pulled in a deep breath through his nose, a yawn that he didn't want to make obvious. "Making sure you didn't confess to murder," he finally replied.

Kalani rolled her eyes. "I wasn't going to confess to murder." Not-Castiel watched her in silence then raised an eyebrow. The quiet of the room drew her attention to the grip he still retained on the waist of her pants. Then Kalani's eye widened and she gasped, flying up from her bed to look down at him. "You suffocated me!"

The convict shook his head. "I did not." He lifted himself up from the mattress too, matching her height easily so he did not have to look up at her.

She nodded quickly. "You did! You put your hands around my neck and suffocated me!" The more she said it, the more Kalani seemed to realize the words that were coming out of her mouth: the person sleeping next to her now had suffocated her. He was still so close to her now. She hurriedly climbed out of the bed, stepping away from him. "You...," her thoughts short-circuited.

Not-Castiel shook his head again, sliding the blanket off and standing up. "If I suffocated you, you'd be dead right now."

"What? How is that better?" She exclaimed.

"Because you're not." He stepped toward her.

Kalani threw her hand up between them. "I could've been!"

He moved again, faster than she could. A scream blared through her lips the moment their fingers grazed and Kalani dove beneath his arms, flying onto the bed. "Stay away from me!" She shouted, pulling her slippers off her feet, and throwing them at him.

Not-Castiel moved to the side to avoid them. "What are you-," he began before having to dodge another slipper that would've flown right into his forehead. "Stop it. Listen to me. I saved your life."

"No," she breathed, lifting a pillow above her head but not throwing it.

He nodded. "Do you think they would've cared what you meant if you'd gone out there and told them what you were saying last night? That you were responsible for Mason's death?" He asked. Kalani hesitated; maybe a few would have understood her, but Not-Castiel was right. There were far more people who would have jumped at the opportunity to blame her for the killings just to ease their minds.