Bleeding Hearts (Bloodhearts prequel)

Chapter Two

I'm tapping my foot impatiently. Cory's been with the nurse for like fifteen minutes and I'm going out of my mind. Why is he taking so long? Did I hurt him more than I thought? The idea of it is practically nerve-wrecking. What if he blabs about what happened? I'm going nuts just thinking about it, pacing back and forth, until the door finally opens to reveal a tired-looking Cory. His eyebrows shoot up at the sight of me and I try to keep a straight face as he walks over to me.

"Were you waiting for me?" he asks suspiciously, but the look on his face tells me this pleases him.

"No, I was just checking you weren't actually dead," I argue. He just stares at me. It irks me that I can see this smile in his eyes, but I have no idea what it's all about. If I didn't know better, I'd say he's the one with a plan here.

"Hey, wait!" I call when I realize he's running off on me. "Wait, you idiot!"

He doesn't, though, and keeps on walking. "I have class," he says.

I stop him. "Class?" I repeat. "I practically just smashed your head in and you wanna go to class?" I sigh. "No way. You're coming with me. No more school today."

Now he looks at me like I really am some kind of serial killer about to kidnap him. Groaning, I grab his arm and drag him with me and he protests against me. "What the hell?!" he yells.

"Don't be stupid and just get in," I growl as I stuff him in my car. Praying no one will see, I get in myself and start the engine. I can feel Cory's eyes on me the entire time, but I don't say anything before we hit the main road.

"Where's your house?" I ask and see him fumble nervously with the ends of his sweatshirt.

"Why, so you can come strangle me at night?"

I send him an irritated glare. "Where's. Your. House?" I repeat, trying not to sneer too much at him. This time he gives me the directions and otherwise keeps quiet, holding a hand to his forehead. There's a point where I almost feel like apologizing to him a second time. I catch myself before I get that far out of control and speed up to get this miniature edition of a boy home.

We pull up to his house in tense silence. I get out as Cory is already about to unlock his front door. All I do is stand there and stare at him, until he turns around, looking at me expectantly. "Are you coming?" he says.

"Uhh..." I begin, not knowing what to say. I don't get to make a decision, though, because Cory pulls me inside his house and closes the door after me. I am told to go to the living room and I just do so. I sit down on the couch in the home of a seemingly happy family. There are loads of family photos taken on holidays and loads of things that have personal value to them. That's different from my home.

"Don't look at those," Cory says as he enters the living room with two glasses of water in his hands. He knows I'm looking at the pictures of his younger self, the ones where he's smiling like a dork and like nothing in the world could ever get to him. He's still like that. Maybe that's what bothers me - and intrigues me.

"Are you getting embarrassed now?" I tease, picking up a picture just to see how he'll react. He lunges for me, trying to get the picture out of my hands. He's awfully close. Stares into my eyes.

"Give me that," he says and his chest repeatedly rubs against mine since he's trying to reach up high. Problem is I'm much taller than him. I chuckle and he chuckles too as I watch him fight to get it back until he gets hold of the damn thing - and my hand. It's like a thousand volts go through us. I stare at him wide-eyed. He does the same. The picture is in his hand now, but he doesn't move. His blue eyes shine. I can't look away. This is bad and I know it. My eyes land on his lips and he breathes in deeply. My brain doesn't register anything but him. I don't know why, but I'm leaning towards him and my lips land on his and we kiss. It's just a simple kiss. My hands are at his waist and his are at my neck, caressing it slowly and it is driving me completely mad. I can't stop kissing him in that moment. I never imagined this could happen...