An Angel's Wings.

Ch. 10 Talking Is Harder When You Have Secrets.

Angel trailed off, inspecting my face, as if waiting to see my reaction. My face must've, for once, given nothing away. "Are you alright?" He asked, I shook my head. No, I wasn't alright. He pulled me close, and despite the fact I didn't really know who or what Angel was, his touch was as comforting as warm blankets and cinnamon-scented candles on a cold winter evening. "I guess I owe you some answers, so what do you want to hear first?" He asked, inspecting me, I looked at him. Part of me didn't want to hear any of it. Part of me wanted him to go back to being the quiet goth. Of course that part was small and my curiosity won out. "If you aren't human, what are you?" I asked, he sighed.

"Do you want the shortened version or...?"

Clearly he was hoping I'd opt out for the short answer. Angel never really liked talking for extended amounts of time. He just wasn't much of a talker. "Of course not." I answered, he sighed. "Well, I guess I'll just start at the very beginning. There are angels and demons, of course. There are many variations of angels, and many versions of demons. Evil angels are fallen, and demons are always demons. Most demons are inherently greedy and bloodthirsty, but after centuries of being with humans, some developed humanity. Which of course caught the attention of the Angels," He sighed, running his fingers through his hair, and looking at me. It was obviously difficult for him to explain, "Basically in the end both races learned how to love, and fell in love with eachother." He stated, he paused, looking at me.

"If you don't want to talk about it..." I trailed off, and he shook his head. "No, I will. I'm sorry, it's just hard for me to talk about this because, well, it just is." He responded, I stared up at him. "Anyway, the product of angels and demons falling in love was Halflings. Of course Angels had no interest in the Halflings, they aren't capable of feeling greed, but demons, well they were certainly interested in the Halflings powers. Which developed into a form of slavery amongst demons, and Halflings have a unique scent which makes them easy to hunt." He finished, I stared at him. "My father is an angel, my mother is a demon." He explained, I nodded. "So I'm a Halfling, it's hard to disguise myself, and so I isolate myself." He finished.

Angel looked at me, he probably expected me to freak out. He probably expected me to tell him to leave me alone. And I have to admit, the thought fleetingly raced through my mind, but the majority of me was only slightly surprised. I wasn't frozen in shock. This was just another part of Angel. "So you're like 50 percent good and the other 50 percent is evil?" I asked, he rolled his eyes. "I think and feel like any human, do you consider yourself 50 percent good and 50 percent evil?" I shook my head. "Halflings have humanity because the mixed blood in them." Angel explained, I nodded. "Is there anything else I should know?" I asked. A small little smile danced on his lips and I was instantly suspicious. "Well maybe one thing." He muttered. I raised my brow, I also noticed his cheeks were slowly turning a rosy color. "What?" I asked, my tone held all my suspicion. He looked down at his hands.

"Well I can hear your heart beat." He muttered, he must've heard the fact my heart nearly stopped. Every time I was flushed or when he touched me and my heart sped up. He knew. My whole face flushed red, "Angel!" I hissed shoving him playfully, before cramming myself in the corner of my bed and the wall, and shoving my pillow in my face. Instead of doing what I wanted to, and evaporating into nothingness and never coming back, I just squirmed around. I heard Angel's slight breath of a chuckle, "Twelve, it's alright." He obviously didn't know how to manage my embarrassment. I timidly looked up from my pillow, he had a crooked smile. "It's not like you're the first one," he added, I rolled my eyes. "You're horrible at this." I commented, my voice smothered by my pillow as I once again retracted.

"Twelve, come on..." He treated me like a cat he was trying to coax out of a tree. "I literally hate you right now." I added, he laughed. "Twelve," He teased. Slowly I looked up from my pillow again. Part of me felt like a snail, retracting into my shell whenever I got spooked. He had a beautiful smile planted on his face. "It seems like you're enjoying my torment." I commented, he shrugged. "Maybe a little." I stuck my tongue out at him as I huddled into the corner. "Twelve," he complained.

Once again, I looked at him. This time he snatched my pillow out from my arms. I had to assume being a Halfling gave him some extra strength too as he had no trouble. He smiled coyly at me as he tossed the pillow away. With a barely audible thud it hit the wall behind us. Angel grinned at me. "You threw my only friend into a wall. Heartless." I stated, giving him a look. He arched a brow, "You're only friend? I see how it is." He responded, he was obviously feeling playful as he teasingly pretended to look the otherway. I scooted closer to him, only a little. Except he turned back around and his face was close to mine. I froze in surprise and Angel didn't smirk as my heart sped up. Instead his own face morphed into one of surprise. Like he didn't expect me to be attracted to him. But suddenly his smile quirked into a tiny smile as his cheeks flushed red. That made me smile.

Angel wasn't one of those arrogant guys who smirked at girls who felt attraction, he was sweet. Like a teddy bear, a slightly goth looking teddy bear.

Before anything could happen we both stiffened as we heard my mother call my name.

"Stay here." I said, getting up.

"You sure?" Angel asked, I nodded.

Opening the door, I closed it behind me, and followed my mother's call.

She held her hand in a cloth as I got in the kitchen, "Mom what's wrong?" I asked, she shrugged, "My hand," she hissed in pain. "What's wrong?" I asked, she moved her hand from the cloth, it was soaked in blood. I almost gagged. "What happened?" I demanded, turning on the sink water. "I dropped something," she said vaguely. I gave her a suspicious look, but didn't try to make her elaborate. Sometimes she just did things like there.

"Here." I grabbed her wrist, and thrust it under the water, removing the cloth. She hissed in pain. Despite the fact I felt nauseous, I inspected it to see if it was shallow. It was, so she wouldn't have to go to the hospital. Grabbing gauze we had left over from when I had a "bite mark" on me, I quickly wrapped her hand up, and she stared at me. "Thank you." She said, I gave her a small smile, having a feeling that cut on her hand wasn't on accident. Something bigger was happening here. "Be more careful." I cautioned, she nodded and pulled me into a hug.

"Love you." I said, she nodded, and I headed back upstairs.

I'd expected Angel to leave, but he was still there. As I got into the room, he turned to me. "What happened?" He asked, as I closed the door. I shook my head. My mom, something was weird about her. Sitting next to him, I kept thinking about how mom was looking at me in the kitchen. As if she was searching for something. "Twelve?" Angel asked, "It's just my mom." I stated, rubbing my face. I wasn't used to being woken up in the middle of the night. Sighing, I leaned against the wall. Angel looked at me, "What about your mom?" He asked, "She cut herself and I really hate blood." I answered, it was a half-truth, but he didn't need to know about my family life. He was dealing enough with the whole Halfling in hiding thing. It was obvious he wanted to know more but didn't ask.

We talked for a while, and before I knew it, I dozed off. My head rested on Angel's shoulder and I felt him stiffen in surprise, "Twelve?" He asked, I shushed him, and closed my eyes. I was too tired and his shoulder was oddly comfortable.

Soon I fell asleep, with him next to me.