wings ↣ w. worthington iii

15. VOTE: lilliana smith for stupidest person ever, 1984. "what a dumbass." ✓

"I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it." (The Color Purple by Alice Walker)

Word Count: 1498

Lilli's POV:

TWO DAYS HAD PASSED since Peter was kidnapped. Warren and I didn't know if he was alive. We didn't know if he was dead. We didn't know where he was. We didn't know if he was safe. We didn't know if we were safe. We didn't know anything.

I'll admit it: Warren and I had sort of succumbed to the unknown. After the first twelve hours of constantly asking ourselves if Peter would be alright, we simply stopped asking. Stopped talking altogether, really. It was too painful. Everything felt so hollow without Peter, which probably sounds weird considering we had been on the run for only a few hours before... the Incident. But it's true.

And since the Incident, Warren and I had moved about seven miles west. We didn't know where to go, we had decided against following Peter and instead on moving west for absolutely no reason. Well, Warren said he had a "hunch" and I was so lost that I let him and his "hunch" guide me into the unknown.

But honestly? I knew, way deep in the back of my mind, that we would probably never find Peter ever again, and if we did, he most likely would not be in one piece. Kezing could be traumatizing him, torturing him, or something just as ugly, like a slow, painful death. Why wouldn't they? They'd already attacked us before. And I knew with just as much certainty that if Kezing were to offer killing Peter or anyone else, Peter would sacrifice himself. Damn his moral code and sense of righteousness and all that.

But... I knew I would sacrifice myself as well.

These were the thoughts that troubled me when I woke up two days after the Incident. It felt very humid for so early in the morning, and I rolled over to check my watch I had taken off the night before. It read 13:17. I had been supposed to wake up hours before.

"Fuck!" I exclaimed. I jumped up, searching for Warren. Had he been taken as well? Had he been tortured and killed slowly while I had slept peacefully?

"Lilli?" A voice asked behind me. I jumped a good foot in the air, whirled around, and punched the speaker square in the nose. I sucked in air between my teeth and held my throbbing hand, backing away from my attacker. My eyes widened in horror and shock as I realized who it was.

"Warren!" I yelped, rushing over to him. He lifted blood stained fingers from a crooked and extremely bloody nose. There was just blood everywhere, and the word wouldn't stop rushing through my head. Blood. Blood. Blood. Blood. Warren stared at me in shock as blood dripped out of his nose. Blood. So much of it. I knew soon enough there would be pain; there would be a big battle between Kezing and the X-Men. I knew there would be so much more blood than from one single person's nose. Blood.

I didn't even realize I was on the ground, shaking, until Warren sat next to me and enveloped me in a hug. He kept his face turned away to prevent getting his blood on me, but his whole body was pressed against me tightly, holding me between my silent sobs that racked my body.

"Lilli, it's alright, it's okay..." Warren said soothingly, rubbing my back. Fluffy white wings enveloped us, and slowly I calmed down.

"I'm so sorry," I blubbered, "it's just with us on the run and Peter either dead or being tortured to death and us not having any protection and—"

"Hey, Lilli, everything will be alright. Peter's fine, he will not be killed by Kezing, neither will you or I, I can promise you that," Warren said. He said it in that voice that reminded me of dripping chocolatey fondue and velvet and smooth jazz and tufted leather armchairs. It was the deep, caring voice that had once thanked me for helping kill a giant robot, that had once belonged to a man that sat on rooftops and listened to girls apologizing about stupid things they had said. It was the voice that had once belonged to the young man currently hugging me, and I realized that the voice might be returning with the departure of Cas.

I turned my head and looked up at Warren's face, expecting it to be bloody and bruised. Instead, I saw it looked almost perfectly new. "Are you alright? What happened to your nose?" I asked worriedly, turned my whole body to face Warren's. Our arms separated and Warren pulled back his wings, which made me feel a little cold.

"I can heal really fast," he said quietly, not quite meeting my gaze. I felt guilt rise up in me. I had literally just broke his nose, and then started crying, and he was comforting me even though he was probably in a lot of pain!

"Listen, I am so sorry, I can't believe myself, and I completely understand if you want to punch me back," I said, biting my lip. I really didn't want a broken nose, but I deserved it. It would be fair and square.

"What? No, no, I'm fine, I know I startled you," Warren said quickly. His gaze traveled to my lips and back, and that's the exact moment it clicked.

Memories from the past half of a year flooded through my mind like a dam had been broken. Memories of stolen glances and quiet compliments. Memories of small smiles and jokes from Peter. Memories of how his constant guard up around everyone else was seemingly not there whenever he was alone with me. Memories of him pulling me out of the X-Men lounge one of the days Cas had brought me flowers to tell me Cas couldn't be trusted and I had to believe him. The many realizations and memories hit me like a flood.

With a shock, I realized Warren did, for sure, one hundred and ten percent like me. And I had been so blind to not notice it in the many months I had known him. How could I be so stupid? I should run for stupidest person ever; my campaign slogan would be, "What a Dumbass." It fit, I thought bitterly.

"I'll just go," Warren said quietly, starting to stand up.

"No, don't leave." I said, taking his hand and pulling him back down. I stared into his wonderfully amazing light blue green eyes that held me in a trance. His tattooes that lined his forehead and cheekbones were delicate and intricate and beautiful. And even though he had bags under his eyes from being on guard watch duty for over twelve hours, he was still abso-fucking-lutely perfect.

With yet another shock I realized I, for sure, one hundred and ten percent liked Warren back. How had Cas controlled me so much that I forgot my feelings for Warren? How had I been so blindsided by my lust for Cas that I'd forgotten all about Warren?

I could honestly run for second term as the stupidest person ever.

"Lilli? Is something wrong?" Warren asked slowly, concern laced through his voice. I shook my head as his voice brought me back to reality.

"No, actually," I replied. My gaze flickered from his eyes to his lips, and Warren seemed to pick up on my thoughts.

"Lilli, is everything okay?" Warren asked as I slowly drew in closer to him. He didn't lean back, but rather copied me and leaned in too.

"Couldn't be better," I breathed out, looking back up to meet Warren's eyes. We were mere inches away from each other now, and I needed his approval before I closed the distance.

A ghost of a smile on Warren's lips gave me all the confirmation I needed before I closed the distance between up.

His lips fit against mine like putting in the last piece of a puzzle. The kiss wasn't long and it wasn't steamy. It was simple, yet intimate. It was short but sweet. It was, as ridiculously cliché as this seems, very extremely perfect.

I pulled away first, staring at Warren with newfound affection. Damn, he was an excellent kisser. Who had he been practicing on? I was suddenly aware of every point that our bodies touched; our fingers brushed together and a few feathers on his wings were tickling my inner thigh.

"Wow," I breathed out. "That was... wow."

Warren chuckled softly, his eyes locked on mine. His eyes were blessed by a happy, affectionate gaze that was so different from the cold one he had been giving everyone lately. "I know what you mean," he replied in a hushed tone. I laughed a little and leaned in again.