The fire inside

Chapter 15

I woke up to the bright sunlight streaming through my bedroom window and an absolutely wonderful smell. It took me a moment to realize Trent wasn't in bed with me. Nor was he in my room. I got out of bed and checked my bathroom, but he wasn't in there either. I figured he was down stairs having breakfast so that's where I went. The closer I got to the smell the hungrier I got. I walked into the kitchen and to my surprise, Trent was making breakfast.

"Good morning, Ellie," he said cheerfully. He had a huge smile on his face and he was humming a cheerful tune.

"Good morning, Trent," I said happily. "So you got breakfast duty for today?"

"No I took breakfast duty for today." He looked proud of himself. "I wanted to make you breakfast in bed but it looks like a candle lit breakfast for two will just have work."

"What about my mom and grandmother?"

"They went 'witch shopping' is how they put it," he chuckled. "They just don't want anything to happen like the other da-"

I looked down at my hands. "Yeah," I mumbled.

I heard him shuffling around then I felt his arms around me. "I am so sorry, Ellie." He squeezed me tightly. "I didn't mean to bring that up. I can tell he really hurt you."

"I'm fine."

"I don't mean physically, Ellie. I saw in your eyes how hurt you were and still are. I promise you I will never let that man, or anyone else for that matter, ever hurt you."

I hugged him back and smiled a little. "Thank you, Trent."

"Oh no!" he shouted and let me go. He ran over to the stove as the smell hit me. "I burned the pancakes."

I giggled a little. "It's okay. I think you made plenty of food already."

He chuckled and gave me a half smile. "I guess I did, huh?" He put a little of everything on both of our plates and brought them over to the table. Then he grabbed two candles and placed them on the table as well.

"Are you sure we should light candles in the house?" I looked at him skeptically.

He just pulled out a lighter and lit the candles. "I trust you, Ellie."

The truth in his eyes, in his words made my heart skip a beat. Before I knew it the flames changed from a little flicker into identical hearts. I gasped and looked at Trent. He smiled at me and kissed my cheek.

"It's beautiful," he whispered.

I couldn't even speak. All I could do was blush and smile.

We ate and chatted idoly. He kept one arm over my shoulders the entire time. He occasionally brushed my cheek or ran his fingers through my hair. They were innocent sweet little gestures that made my heart race. I tried to pay attention to our conversation but his little touches were very distracting.

Just as we were finishing up our breakfast my mom and grandmother walked in.

"You two look happy," my mom said smiling at us.

"And full," my grandmother chimed in.

"We are," I said smiling.

"Ellie, you shouldn't be practicing your powers inside," my mom said sternly.

"It wasn't her fault ma'am," Trent said rubbing the back of his neck. "I insisted on having the candles lit. The hearts just kind of happened."

"Well, for safety proposes let's keep the fire outside. Okay?" My mom said.

"Yes mom."

Trent blew out the candles and put them away. He held out his hand to me and I took it. He quietly led me up to my room and had me sit on my bed. He left the door open, for my moms peace of mind, I guessed. He walked to the bathroom and came back with my brush. He sat behind me and started brushing my hair.

"So what do you want to do today?" Trent asked.

"I should keep working on controlling my powers but it exhausts me," I said.

"I know." He kissed the back of my head. "Why don't you go take a shower and we can go to the mall or something. We both need a break from the woods I think."

I turned around and smiled at him. "Great idea, Trent!" I kissed him and grabbed some clothes and headed toward the bathroom. "Do you want to use the shower after me?"

"No that's fine. I don't want to rush you." He smiled half heartedly. "I'll use the one down the hall." He walked over to me and kisses me passionately. He kissed me as if it were the last one we would ever have. It made me weak in the knees. If he hadn't been holding me so close I would have fallen to the floor. When he pulled away, he looked me in the eyes and said "I love you and there's nothing that will ever change that."

I blushed and smiled. "I love you too."

He let me go and left my room. I couldn't stop smiling. It took me a few minutes to figure out how to get my body to respond to me. But I finally got into the shower.

When I was done with my shower I blow dried my hair, brushed my teeth and slipped into a red and blue sundress. I left my hair down and went into my room to grab a pair of black wedges to go with my dress. I noticed Trent wasn't in my room so I figured he went down stairs to wait for me. I looked everywhere for him but couldn't find him. I went outside to see if he was out there and saw my mother sitting at the picnic table.

"Mom, have you seen Trent?" I asked a little worried.

She looked at me with sadness in her eyes. "He left a while ago."

My heart dropped. I knew something bad had happened. "Where did he go?" I asked, but I had a feeling I already knew.

"His fathers."