Anti-Hero || Leah Clearwater

17 - Running out of time

"I said, ooh, I'm blinded by the lights
No, I can't sleep until I feel your touch
I said, ooh, I'm drowning in the night
Oh, when I'm like this, you're the one I trust"

Blinding Lights - The Weeknd

"Put that down."

"Why?"

"Because you are not allowed to see what's inside that folder."

"Well, now I want to open it even more."

"No."

"Just a really quick peek!"

"I said 'no'."

"I'll be fast!"

"I swear to God, Leah, if you don't put down that folder..."

"What?" she turned to him, one of the folders from the cabinet in her hand, "You'll do what?"

Felix raised his gaze from the computer screen and commented: "You're worse than usual, today."

"Gee, thanks," she said, sitting on the chair in front of his desk. The office was quiet, for once. "I'm bored."

A week had passed since their conversation on the couch. A week had passed since Leah had agreed to stay. Their relationship had changed in some ways, while in others, it had remained the same. They talked a lot, although it was Leah who asked most of the questions. Felix always answered her with what, at least on the surface, seemed like sincerity.

Leah had thus discovered that Felix was one hundred and twenty-nine years old and that when the Volturi had found him, at just twenty-eight, he had supported himself through the proceeds of the underground fights he took part in. He had never known his father and his mother had died when he came of age. When Leah heard those words, she couldn't help but think how difficult it must have been for him to find himself completely alone at the age of eighteen. She would have liked to ask him more, but Felix must have noticed her expression, because he immediately changed the subject.

Leah had also discovered that the Volturi did not meet on a daily basis as she had initially thought. When Aro or someone else needed something, the coven would gather, but this happened rarely, both because from the office Felix was able to control and coordinate situations before they became critical and because there were so many of them in the guard that it was rare that more than two of them were needed to handle a situation.

As much as she might be interested in learning more about him and his life, Leah couldn't shake one thought from her mind: Felix hadn't touched her since that night in the bathroom. He often brushed against her, when he spoke to her and when they were walking down the hallway of the apartment or sharing the space of his desk in the office. Yet, there had been nothing more for seven days. Leah had thought about initiating deeper contact herself more than once, but the fear of rejection had stopped her.

So, now, despite her less strained relationship with him, Leah felt a low-voltage current coursing through her veins constantly. She was increasingly agitated and anxious. Had she made the right choice to stay? After all, for a week, apart from spending whole days in the office, they had done nothing else. She was putting off the inevitable, she was aware of it, but she still felt like something had to happen sooner or later.

She also needed to shift as soon as possible.

"I need to shift," she said to him.

He was typing on the keyboard. "All right, we'll try to see if it's safe enough tonight."