To Rescue a Villain

Chapter 13

I don't think Derek trusted me that much. He still ended up coming to the bar every day for five days straight, then I'd sneak out the back door and come in through the front so he could escort me home. And he still hadn't =mentioned the fact that he was moving away. Was he just planning to hightail out of here one day while I was working so I wouldn't know where he'd gone?

The only good thing that came out of this week was the amount of interesting, personal conversations I got to have with him in my 'Jacelyn the Waitress' disguise, though most of them didn't yield any useful information about him or the world of Manica.

It wasn't until our sixth walk home together that something important actually happened.

I was staring at the ground, trying to avoid the tiny puddles that would likely streak mud along the bottoms of my shoes, when Derek suddenly stopped walking and pulled me toward him, his eyes shooting back and forth between mine as though he was attempting to read my mind.

I suddenly felt nervous. "What's wrong?" Was he finally going to kick me out?

"Mary...Do you..." He cleared his throat, losing his nerve and stepping away so he could take a deep breath, his chest heaving up and down. "Do you know that I'm moving out?"

"No," I lied.

"Well, I am. Hikarius has small apartments built into their company building and I was invited to move there. It's not too far. Just on the other side of town." He pointed toward the more wealthy area where houses weren't made of rotting wood like ours was.

"I'm only allowed to bring family with me," he continued, growing more confident and lowering his voice as he spoke. "So you'll need to..."

I gripped my hands together so tightly that they started to hurt. He really was kicking me out and replacing me with someone else, someone who wouldn't be able to protect him from the future. What should I do? Should I beg him to let me come with him?

"...You'll need to sign a paper stating that we're married if you want to keep living with me," he finally stated, his nervousness vanishing once he got the words out.

My jaw dropped, my hands fell to my sides, and I laughed, annoyed at how naïve I had been. He'd been talking about me that one time! And I'd been stupid and assumed it was someone else! Wow. How great was that?!?

Derek didn't seem to understand why I was laughing, though. "Why? You don't want to?"

I shook my head. His brows were beginning to furrow, meaning he was insulted by my outburst, so I needed to hurry and extinguish his fears. "Of course I want to keep living with you."

"And you have no problems with a fake marriage?"

He made a good point.

My body started to shiver as I realized what this meant. I knew it was a fake marriage. I knew it was just a document to trick his boss. But...

"Um..." I felt the blood drain from my face. "It won't be official, right?" I asked, laughing nervously to hide how scared I had become in the last two seconds.

If I became his wife that meant that I could be the one to die. Granted, the wife in the story had already given birth to a daughter before dying but I'd already messed up the timeline once so it could easily happen again.

I will admit, I was starting to find myself attracted to Dark. Maybe it was because of my earlier obsession with him or how close we'd been lately but...there was no way I wanted to be his wife.

That daydream I'd had before coming here had been just that: a daydream! I never, in a million years, wanted to marry the guy! I didn't want to end up dead! I didn't like him that much.

"No, it won't be official," he answered, "But if you want we could secretly date officially if that would make it less awkward." I wasn't sure how his face looked right now because it was too dark. That might have helped me know if he was serious or not.

I knew that Derek could sense my nervousness. He probably knew me well enough to catch on to all the signs by now. So, in order to probably muddle my mind and make me confused enough to say yes, he gently gripped both of my shaking hands in his unmoving ones and pulled me closer.

I had barely managed to look up at his face before he leaned forward and kissed me, holding us together for three seconds with his eyes closed (I knew they were closed because I was too shocked to close mine), then I felt him smile and pull away, a self-confident smirk on his face.

"It's settled, then," he said with a light chuckle before entwining his fingers with mine and continuing toward our house, his steps now more graceful and relaxed. My legs, on the other hand, were barely keeping me up.

Was he that desperate to make me continue living with him and paying rent? Why was he messing with me like this?

Derek Hacket, I didn't care how cute you were, I did not want to marry you and die! If dying wasn't part of the equation I might have considered dating you...maybe...but since it was not I refused to marry you! There was no way!

If I hadn't made it my goal to save your life Idefinitely would have asked Odette to take me in instead, understood? 

A/N Sorry. I know this chapter was short but I feel that the mush made up for it (mush means lovey-dovey stuff). :D