Beautiful Things

Chapter 15-Questions

"WHERE'S OSCAR'S BEDROOM?" I asked the brown haired boy. He looked up at me, not with a rude glare, but an accusatory one.

"Up the stairs, three doors down on the left."

"Thanks," I gave him an awkward sideways smile and a thumbs up  before jogging up the stairs. I came to Oscar's door, my eyes focused on the ground as I knocked.

"Come in."

I twisted the door handle, and walked in. I raised my eyes to meet Oscar's, and a gasp formed at my lips. He was beautiful in his own right-and everyone else's-with water streaming from his chin to the hollow of his neck and down his bare chest. He was dripping like a saturated sunrise arising from the ocean, and he certainly was equally as magnificent-maybe even more so.

I abruptly turned my eyes away, not wanting to be caught staring. I'm sure he had already noticed though, and my cheeks reddened as he walked towards me.

"Sorry," he said, his voice a low whisper that sounded vaguely like a  growl. "I had to take a shower. Despite what some werewolf TV shows make you think, it turns out walking around the forest on all fours can make someone pretty dirty."

"I'd have thought so," I laughed, subconsciously twirling my hair in between my fingers as I always did when I was nervous. Oscar took a reluctant step towards me, then inhaled. His whole demeanor seemed altered at this point, and he raised his chin, a seductive smile playing over his lips and an animalistic glint in his dark eyes.

Before I could think, my back was pressed up against the wall behind me, and I felt Oscar's face pressed into my neck. My gasp was delayed, and my eyes slowly widened as I felt his teeth graze over my skin. My heart thumped, and I suppressed the moan that was building up inside of me. He smelled so god damn good...

When he leaned back, his face was inches from mine, hands on the wall either side of my head.

"I'm so sorry," he whispered, closing his eyes as he took ragged breaths. As if being this close to me drained away every bit of energy he had.

"Wh-what do you mean?" I stammered, unsure what he would do next or what he was talking about.

"Nothing," he whispered, "I don't know. Never mind."

"It has to be something," I pulled away-even if I didn't want to-and gazed at him levelly. He looked anxious, and pain shone behind the primal guard of his eyes. Something was hurting him. "Seriously. What's wrong?"

"Nothing." He was determined not to tell me, so I was equally determined to get an answer.

"Is it me?" I asked. "If it's something I'm doing..."

"I swear it's not you, Bailey. You could hardly hurt me-well, maybe emotionally, because being rejected by someone gorgeous as you has got to hurt," he smirked at me. Trying to avoid the question, is he?

"So you admit something's hurting you?" I crossed my arms over my chest. His smirk fell away.

"Bailey, I don't think we should talk about this right now..."

"No, Oscar, right now is the perfect time." Was I being too pushy? I didn't care. "You've done so much for me, and I want to be here for you. Is it something to do with the wolf thing?"

"No. Well, kind of-" he looked exasperated.

Someone opened the door to his bedroom, interrupting Oscar-of course-and causing us both to turn our heads in that direction.

"Bailey, I think it's about time we get to know one another," a girl, around twenty, leaned into the room, smiling at me sweetly. For some reason Oscar shot her a grateful smile, and I grimaced. I was clearly missing out on the big picture here. What the hell was actually going on?

"When you two are… done," she said suggestively, "I want you both to meet me downstairs. We have a lot of go over."

"Yeah, when we're 'done'," Oscar rolled his eyes, a ghost of a smile playing over his lips. The girl grinned and left, shutting the door behind her.

"What was all of that about?" I hissed, to only be cut off by Oscar's lips pressing against mine. I won't complain, I mean, it was a good way to shut me up, but still…

Oscar pulled back, his lips moving to instead kiss the area where my jaw meets my ear. "Don't worry, Bailey," he whispered, his breath a feather against my skin. He continued as if he could read my mind, "I swear you'll understand everything soon." His voice seemed… lighter, if that makes sense. As if he didn't have so many things weighting down on his shoulders.

"Hopefully sooner rather than later," I mumbled, pressing my palms on his chest to push Oscar away. I refused to be won over that easily, even if it was difficult not to be. If his touch sent pinpricks of electricity in my body, only God knows how to explain it when he kisses me.

"You want to go now? My sister-the girl was just in here-is going to help clear everything up." Oscar said, a low timbre of desire to his voice.

"Yup. Let's go," I said, taking his hand and tugging him out of his room, trying not to notice the look of disappointment that crossed his face.

Authors note: did anyone else get the song reference in this chapter?