Vindicta

He Cares

Chapter Twenty Two - He Cares

Now smile.

That's better. Looking at my exhausted reflection in the mirror, I tried to pull myself together.

We had landed back in New York last evening and I was way too tired to go back to college already. I'd probably take a day off if I hadn't missed so many classes.

I carried my backpack out of my room lazily and went downstairs, hoping to not run into Alec.

I had been avoiding him ever since his usually weird behaviour at the ferris wheel, and wondered if he even realized it. I think not.

Sighing, I climbed down the stairs and while crossing the hall, I saw Alec at the dining table out of my peripheral vision. Without turning to him, I headed straight for the elevators.

"Good morning, Scarlet," A chirpy voice called from the kitchen.

Martha stepped out and placed a plate full of pancakes on the table.

"Good morning, Martha," I smiled at her, trying my best to not look at him, who seemed to be sitting right infront of me.

"I've made pancakes. Come on," She motioned for me to join Alec at the table while nearing the elevators to probably leave.

"Thanks but I'm not hungry. I'll just be leaving," I spoke, feeling Alec's eyes on me.

"Are you okay, Scarlet? You look a little pale," She said.

"Yeah I'm okay. It's probably the jet lag-" Before I could complete, she had her palm pressed against my forehead.

"You have a bit of a temperature. I think you should stay home today," She muttered and disappeared into the elevators while I stood there for a moment, debating if I should drag myself to college or slip back into my bed.

The latter sounded so good but I decided to leave anyway, I needed to get back to my classes.

My hand lifted up to press the call button again when a hand wrapped around my wrist, causing me to turn around.

"You do have a slight temperature," Alec muttered while touching my forehead.

I shifted back but he kept his grip on my hand firm.

"I-uh I should leave," I muttered, trying to get my hand free but it was to no avail, atleast his grip wasn't hurting me like before.

"Leave?" He frowned.

"Yeah. I've been missing college for almost two weeks now."

"So another day won't matter," He said.

I shook my head. "I'm going."

His lips lifted up into a scowl. "Why? Something important you wanna take care of?" He spoke through gritted teeth and I wondered what he meant.

"Yeah....education," I blurted out which earned me an eye twitch from him and a tug on my arm as he started dragging me to the dining table.

"I'm not hungry, Alec," I spoke dryly.

"Have your breakfast and I might consider letting you go," He spoke, making me sit down and placing pancakes on my plate.

Since when did he start taking care of my meals?

"But I'm not hung-"

"Eat," He used his authoritative tone, leaving no room for arguments.

Sulking, I started eating the pancakes and I was almost done when he placed the glass of juice infront of me. I frowned up at him and he motioned for me to drink it.