control • theo raeken [1]

thirteen. ouroboros

Luna

"I'M SORRY," I ADD and his face drops.  Theo's arms remove themselves from my waist and he steps back.  The hurt on his face makes my throat tighten with guilt.

"No?  Why no?  Did I do something wrong?"  I shake my head and step toward him.  He takes a step back just as I do and he continues, "Was it because of what happened at the hospital?  If it is, that's pretty damn hypocritical don't you think?"

I ignore the jab as the timer on the microwave goes off again, interrupting whatever he was going to say.  I take the chance to step towards him again and he let's me stand close to him.

"No, it's not anything like that.  I'm saying no because I'm not sure about my feelings for you."  He's ready to defend himself, but I hold my hand up.  "I can't tell if I like you because of you or our history.  I want to be sure I'm not jumping into a relationship with you because you're the only thing left from my old life."

"So, you were just kissing me because you miss your family?  Because you don't have any feelings for this Theo?  Yeah, that makes a lot of sense, Luna."  He rolls his eyes.

The timer goes off again and I open the microwave door in frustration.  I check to see how hot the chocolate is by pressing my fingers to the side of the cup and set the timer back to a minute.  Slamming the door shut and starting the timer, I turn back to Theo.

"Of course it doesn't make sense!" I can't stop the shrill in my voice.  "When has anything in my life made sense?  I just want to be sure about how I feel about you!"

Theo pulls me into his chest where our breaths mingle from the shared frustration.  Keeping a strong arm around my waist, he lifts me up so my toes are barely skimming the floor.  His lips brush against mine, but he makes sure they don't make contact to tease me.  The pounding of my heart is in my ears, and I can hardly hear his voice over it.

"If you're not sure how you feel about me, listen to your heart.  You hear how it's pounding and how it does that every time I put my hands on you?  And when I kiss you?  That's how you feel.  Stop using your head so much."

My feet are flat on the ground as he sets me back down.  Then, he removes himself completely from me, taking the warmth with him.  The timer goes off and I'm forced to pay attention to it this time as he walks out of the room.  I groan and finish making the hot chocolate that should've been done ten minutes ago.

I carefully carry the coffee cup filled with a mountain of little marshmallows, whipped cream, and chocolate chips into the living room.  As I hand it to Corey, he looks very thankful for the interruption from whatever was going on in here.  By the awkward way Lydia is standing behind the chair and Theo with his muscular arms crossed over his chest, the silence must've been horrible.

"I really hope you like it," I say as I watch him take a sip.  His brows shoot up in surprise.  "It's bad, isn't it?  I'm sorry."

'No, no," he disagrees when I go to take back the cup.  "It's really, really good.  The chocolate chips are a great touch."  He smiles appreciatively up at me to ease my worries.  The smile doesn't last long, but I'm thankful for it.

"Let's take a look at your neck," Lydia suggests.  Corey places the cup on the table and sits straight up.  She peels back the cloth and finds his neck completely healed.

"It healed, didn't it?" Corey asks.

"Yeah.  Completely," Lydia agrees meeting my gaze.  Corey gets up from his seat and turns to face us all.