affectionate

16

FALLON

When I was done in the bath, I put my clothes back on but made a mental note to buy an entirely new outfit before going home because my clothes were dowsed in Lucius's scent. He offered to wash them but secretly I loved that they smelled like him and denied his offer. I'd leave them in my car so they wouldn't be found and feed my parents another lie about what happened to them. If they even asked, I doubted either of them cared enough about me to remember what I was wearing this morning when I left.

Lucius made sure not to leave any visible marks on my body. My hips were bruised and he apologized profusely for hurting me but I shut that down before it could spiral into something else. They didn't hurt and if I was being honest them being there only reminded me of how good my first time was. Other than a slight limp and feeling a little hungry, I was fine. Lucius didn't have any food in his house and I promised him I would eat before going home to replenish myself. My heart sang in joy hearing Lucius be so worried about my wellbeing, it could've been because of the bond but I chose to believe that it was because he really cared about me now, more than he had before.

Leaving Lucius, it seemed, became harder and harder to do the more I did it. This time in particular was the worst. Stepping off his porch, my body felt as if passing through the threshold had transformed it into a hollow shell of myself and the real Fallon was still laying in Lucius' warm bed with his head pinned into the curve of my neck where skin met ear and his lips met my freshly bathed skin. I didn't know if it was because we finally...physically bonded. Albeit not in the ways our souls wanted but enough that the bond between us would stop punishing me for something that wasn't my fault. Longing ebbed out of my body like the branches of a tree reaching out into the sky, it called for Lucius and in its wake left an empty feeling inside of me. It never lasted long, but the feeling had, without a doubt, grown stronger. It was definitely due to all the time I'd been spending with Lucius. All the touches, fleeting kisses, gentle nuzzles, and now the sweet aftertaste of sex, egged it on even more and the pit inside of me grew with each step I took towards town and eventually towards my house.

I was turning onto the street where my home sat, new clothes from department store sticking to my body like a second skin. A skin that smelled nothing like crisp, woodsy air, and clean linen. I looked at the clothes in the backseat, haphazardly stuffed in a plastic bag and shoved under the passenger seat. The urge to put them on was strong but I knew, deep down, that the fear I unknowingly harbored for my father was stronger.

I pulled into my driveway and hastily tumbled out of my car. My father wasn't home, his car wasn't in the driveway and I wasn't late but I was later than I should've been since I drove and I know my mother is loose lipped with him when it comes to my whereabouts. I took the steps onto my porch two at a time and plunged my keys into the lock. Nudging the door open, my nose was hit with the familiar scent of spaghetti and I frowned softly because that meant I'd be eating it for the next three days. I put my belongings in their usual places, bag on the hook and keys in the dish before padding into the kitchen.

My mother, who should've been hunched over the stove finishing up her homemade sauce, stood at the entrance of the kitchen, her body blocking my way to the bar stools. Just by looking at her I could tell she was upset. Her arms were plastered to her sides and her hands were balled into tight fists. Her jaw was set, meaning her teeth were clenched together, almost as if whatever nasty lecture I was about to get turned into bile and she was trying her hardest to keep it down.

"Sit down, Fallon." She titled her head toward the dining room table, a command, not a gesture. I took slow steps to my unofficial assigned seat and she took hers across from me.

"What's wrong? Where's dad?" She took a deep breath and closed her eyes all but for a second before her eyes, the ones I knew to be the color of honey and melted chocolate, turned into a biting yellow.