The Devil In Disguise

CHAPTER 41: Stone Cold Heart

"This feels so..." Corina began, trying to conjure up the right word.

"Incomplete," Grace completed, Simon nodding.

"How long have we known her now?" Simon asked, laughing softly, fondly.

"Nearly half a year," Xander replied instantly, his face holding no trace of a smile.

"That's not even long. But she still managed to work her way into our hearts," Simon smiled lightly, but it was bitter. Hollow.

Corina, Simon and Grace all sat on Xander's bed and he had shuffled up with effort, leaning against his pillows. His room was big and luxurious; he even had his own candy-floss machine. But it had stood unused for a while.

"And now she's gone," Corina said in a deflated tone. Grace suddenly glared.

"No, she's not. She's just ... been taken. She'll come back like she always does!" Grace emphasised, looking into Corina's eyes with a fiery stare — but they all knew that she was trying more to convince herself than the others.

"What if she doesn't, though?"

Three pairs of eyes snapped to Xander's green ones. The life inside them looked wilted; they could all tell that though Xander tried not to, he blamed himself.

"Xander, don't go there," Simon warned protectively; not because he himself didn't want to hear it, but because he didn't want Xander to hear it from his own mouth and start to believe it.

Xander narrowed his eyes at Simon and for a moment, they shared a silent conversation. After a few seconds, Xander's hard gaze softened, and Simon's angry stare tamed. They did this often, it was obvious; they kept each other sane.

Corina and Grace were the same. Corina was the fire and Grace was the water; Corina was rude and Grace was kind.

Though their puzzle was seemingly complete, they all knew that it wasn't without Karissa. She kept them all sane and they all kept her sane — she made them all laugh and they all made her laugh. She was best friends with everyone equally — no bias, no partiality — everything was even and everything was complete. She was the fire and the water and the glue and everything in between. It was odd, how it all worked so well.

But now she was gone so their balance teetered, their happiness faltered. The five were a four who couldn't completely function without their fifth leg.

"What if they don't find her?" Grace whispered, her eyes tearing up at the thought, her words cutting through the thoughtful, thick silence in the room.

"They will!" Simon exclaimed, turning to Grace. "Don't worry, Grace. She'll be back within no time." Taking her hand in hers and squeezing it tightly, his brown eyes met her blue ones and he gathered up all the courage and positivity and reassurance he tried to feel, directing it through his eyes to make her feel at least slightly better. He wanted Grace to know that it would be okay; she was usually the most positive one in the group but now it seemed to be Simon. That was out of character and he knew that Grace knew it too.

Grace smiled lightly, squeezing Simon's hand back. The atmosphere suddenly changed and Xander and Corina exchanged a wide-eyed look —

Knock, knock, knock.

Grace and Simon jumped, their hands suddenly letting go of each other's. Grace blushed and Simon scratched the back of his head, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

Xander cleared his throat.

"Uhh... come in!" he yelled, and the door opened. Xander's mother walked in, oblivious to the confused tension in the air.

"Your father and I are going out. Clean any messes you make, I don't want our cleaner to demand a pay rise," she said, her eyes skimming over his friends. Corina glared and Simon tried not to; they all knew how much Xander's parents didn't care for their son.

Closing the door after Xander nodded tightly, the four of them expelled a big breath.

"God, I'd do well without her," Xander murmured, glaring daggers at the door.

"Remember that time in Year 8 when I came around for the fifth time and she still couldn't remember my name? And when I told her again, the cougar looked at me all flirty and described me as 'the handsome one'," Simon spat.

Corina gagged. "That's the last thing I'd use to describe you."

Grace giggled and Simon threw two cushions at both of them, trying and failing to insult them and consequently being taken down by Corina's sharp tongue.

But all of this had faded into background noise to Xander. As they threw pillows at each other playfully, trying desperately to fill the gaping hole in their hearts with temporary happiness, he stared into the distance, wondering what Karissa was doing. The last thing they did together was have a pillow fight... he could almost feel one hit his face ...

Spluttering, Xander yanked the blue pillow away, revealing a guilty looking Simon.

"Didn't mean to hit you with that," Simon grinned sheepishly, trying not to laugh.

"You're a bastard," Xander deadpanned, and with absolutely no effort, shoved Simon off the bed with a thud.

As Simon groaned and the other two wheezed in laughter, Xander could only think of who else could be laughing with them.

God, when the fuck did I get so sentimental? Xander thought angrily. What has she done to me?

But Xander realised with a surprised jolt that he didn't care that he felt this way. He liked it, actually. He loved her laugh, her touch, the way he felt when he was around her... but he wasn't around her anymore and he missed it all. The Branded Bad Boy didn't have a stone cold heart after all.

A/N

What do you think of the group's dynamic? Do you think that they function well without Lorelei or do you feel something missing too?

Remember to VOTE!!! Thanks for 11k reads guys, I'm so damn happy! :D

Some of yall rlly do be hella silent though. C'mon, live a little, give me a sign, a little comment that you're enjoying. It's never too much! I love reading every comment that comes through!

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Stay tuned for the next chapter .... shit's starting to get dark!

—deainlustris