House of Goths

Chapter 12

When Dorian returned to the pub alone, Becky couldn't help but ask, "Where's Kelley?"

At her question, Crispin flinched but forced himself to bite back his unsavoury comment. Always Kelley... Why wasn't he ever enough?

"He went out for some air," Dorian said, sharing a knowing glance with Crispin before sliding into the seat across from them.

"Oh..." Becky said pensively. She couldn't help but feel slightly abandoned. Of course, she had no reason to feel that way since Crispin was being so unusually sweet to her. Now Dorian was with her too. Yet the truth was, who she really wanted to have close was Kelley.

"We'll be just fine on our own for a little while, won't we, Becky?" Crispin said, leaning into her, reminding her of his presence.

"Yes, of course, we will," she said with a brave smile.

Sure enough, Becky soon realized that she was in very good company. Oddly enough, it wasn't Dorian who comforted her the most, it was Crispin. The normally aloof Goth stuck to her like glue. It was as though he sensed her need to not be left alone.

When they went upstairs, and Dorian explained apologetically about the one room, Becky quickly put his mind at ease. "It's no problem," she said to the very relieved Steampunk. "We share a house already. I can't see why we can't share a hotel room." She really couldn't understand why they'd been so concerned. In fact, she much preferred to be all together, rather than have a room to herself. Given the circumstances, being alone was the last thing she wanted.

"This is all right, isn't it?" Crispin asked, concerned, raking his hand through his long wavy hair. "You'll have your very own bed and everything."

Becky looked from him to the two double beds. "All three of you won't fit on one bed, will you?" she said matter of factly. Although they were slim, they were quite tall and lanky, and in the hotel room, they seemed to take up a lot of space.

"We'll figure it out," Crispin said with an unpleasant expression on his otherwise handsome face. No, he was certainly not looking forward to sleeping shoulder to shoulder with Dorian and Kelley, but what other alternative was there?

"One of you could share my bed," Becky offered without hesitation.

Hearing her, Dorian nearly fell over himself, while Crispin simply stared blankly at her, turning an ungodly shade of pale. She frowned slightly at their odd reaction to her suggestion.

"Honestly, you two can be quite silly sometimes," she said, unzipping her suitcase, taking her pyjamas and toiletries into the bathroom.

"She can't be serious," Dorian whispered, looking from Crispin to the beds. "Can she really be that naive?"

"Oh, I think she is very serious and extremely naive," Crispin said with an indulgent smile.

"How is it possible that she is so trusting? Or are we the idiots here?" Dorian asked. "Perhaps she'd be into..."

Crispin instantly scowled at Dorian's suggestion. "Get that filthy idea out of your head, man. The girl is a complete innocent. She's obviously led a very sheltered life until now. I intend to keep it that way."

Dorian couldn't help but smile at Crispin's sudden protective attitude towards Becky. "Hmm, here I thought you didn't even like her."

Crispin sputtered in response. "How could I not like the little dormouse? I'd have to be a cold-blooded bastard. But that doesn't mean I wasn't right about not wanting to let her into our lives in the first place. Mark my words, she'll be the end of us yet."

"How incredibly cryptic," Dorian snickered. "Sometimes, Crisp, you make no sense at all."

"We'll see."