Consuming Fire

Chapter 66

It was late the next evening when Will felt he couldn't sleep. It had been happening rather a lot lately. He would finally relax with Hunter curled up against his body, her breathing even, when an overwhelming sadness and the need to get his mind off things would take over. The Lair was often a place he could find distractions, but tonight he wanted something different.

He found himself walking to the kitchen to perhaps make a cup of tea. The SSS was quiet, the emergency lighting on, and it was eerily freeing, as though he was walking through a dream.

When he came to the cafeteria and passed through the door to the communal kitchen that everyone has access too, he was surprised to hear a shuffling sound in one of the back aisles where the food was kept. He crept along the linoleum floors, his heart starting to pick up pace, until he recognized the sounds.

Someone was making out behind the fridge. He could see golden-blond hair and hear disturbing noises. Praying it wasn't one of the SSS members he'd only just been introduced to, Will decided he'd better not interrupt and turned to leave.

That was conveniently when his clumsy left foot caught on one of the wheelie tables and a metal bowl skidded across the floor, spilling cooking utensils with a noise loud enough to wake the dead. When he looked up, he saw Chantal, hair in disarray, her arms wrapped around a body he didn't recognize. But whoever he was, he was quite handsome, with a strong physique, structured jaw and rippling muscles through his half-open plaid shirt. They both gaped at Will.

"Spying, are we Willy?" asked the boy and he transformed back into Zac.

Will was so embarrassed, his cheeks were flaming. "I – I'm sorry, I didn't know who you –"

"Yeah," snapped Chantal, "that's because he's not himself."

"Hey," said Zac defensively. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means," she growled as she zipped up her sweater. "That I shouldn't have to make out with a stranger when I know that's not who you are!"

"I am my true self, I just have lots of faces."

Chantal ran a hand through her hair and Will sensed some tension in the air. He had no idea this was going on, let alone that they were already fighting. I really need to pull my head out of my ass and focus on my friends a little more.

"I'm uh ... I'm really happy for you guys," he said, "but I'm just gonna go back to –"

"I want to know what you think, Will," said Chantal as she crossed her arms. "Should Zac change bodies whenever he feels like it, or for the sake of sex?"

"Look at me, Chantal," Zac said, and for the first time Will heard real sadness in his voice. "Why would someone like you be with a chubby, oily-haired loser like me?"

Chantal rolled her eyes. It took her a long time to answer. Then she said, "because you have a good heart. I know you use humor as a disguise more than your many faces. And I know that you don't tell the truth about what your true self looks like because you're afraid for people to see the real you." She turned to him and looked at him lovingly. "But I see the real you. I always have. And I want you to be happy in your own skin, not someone else's."

Zac twisted his ankle awkwardly. Will felt trapped in the moment, as though he were watching another movie with the SSS members. This was a bloody good distraction.

Zac opened his mouth to retort with something sarcastic, but Chantal knew it was coming and silenced him with a kiss. She leapt like a lioness onto his body, pressed against the side of the fridge. They became, yet again, entwined with each other. Will couldn't help but smile as he awkwardly excused himself, no longer hungry, and went back to Hunter's room to find her twisted in their sheets with one knee bent up and her hair flowing out around the pillow. It didn't take much for Will to tip over the edge with her anymore, but he knew he couldn't wake her for sex – they'd both been sleeping periodically these days, and it was too selfish to deprive one another of it. As soon as he had slipped in beside her, she mumbled something sleepily and then snuggled up against him, one hand splayed over his chest and her eyelashes fluttering on his shoulder. He kept thinking of Zac and Chantal and how they had to fight, just like everyone else, to find love and sustain it.

Will watched Hunter sleep for a while longer. Despite all the horrible things he'd endured and the loss he'd suffered, Will thanked God for the blessing he'd sent in the beautiful girl he held in his arms.