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Chapter 12 - The Adventures of Cassandra and Louie

By the pond, our laughs trickled off and I sighed. "Seriously though, you are a git. You need to think words over in your head before you say them."

L kicked off his tennis shoes and stretched out on the warm grass. "I've done that my entire life. I knew what I would claim about B was appalling, but I also knew you weren't going to burst into tears or faint dead away because of it. There would be no lasting emotional trauma. The pros outweighed the cons, you see."

I shot him a look as he placed his hands behind his head and directed his gaze upwards to the clear sky. "Let me rephrase. You shouldn't speak at all. Every word you say makes me want to punch you."

His lips curled up into a smile as a slight breeze ruffled his sable hair. "Go on, then. I won't stop you."

"Don't tempt me." I drew my knees up to my chest and looked out on to the still gray water. "Masochist."

He chuckled softly. "If you'd like, you can tell me why you came home a mess earlier on. Did you have a physical altercation with Andrew as well?"

I stewed instead of answering and L laughed. "Apparently so! Do tell me you won."

"When does a Wammy's kid not win? But no, I didn't hit him, although I should have." Thinking again about the reason for the drive made my blood boil. I still couldn't believe him.

L turned his head and lazily peered up at me, "Are you going to elaborate or am I going to just watch your face darken by the moment and make my own deductions?"

I didn't want to be reminded of how he probably wouldn't mind watching me and made an effort to explain. "The drive, I thought it was just a trip around the countryside. Not too far from home, I just needed to get out of here for a bit. I didn't know he had an ulterior motive. If I had known, I'd never have went-" I cut myself off with a shriek when L sprung up to his feet and crouched in front of me with a face like thunder.

"Tell me that cur didn't touch you, Grace," His voice was terrifying. Every syllable was extended to allow the seriousness of his words to penetrate. "Or so help me, I'll tear him apart."

I was speechless as I believed him capable of every threat he had made. "No! He didn't do any such thing and neither will you! It was a different sort of ulterior motive. He was taking me to visit his parents. I refused, got out of the car and walked home. Calm down!"

L's fury slowly disappeared and he sat back on his haunches, taking a moment to breathe deeply. "My apologies, I just, I don't know why I thought that. You walked home? How far did you have to travel?"

"A kilometer and a half, believe me it was worth it. I wasn't lasting another minute in that car with his claims of love and talk of marriage..." My sentence died as I realized what I myself should have thought about before speaking. "Er, romantic nonsense he kept spouting. Why he felt I would be suitable to see Lord and Lady Hargrove today I'll never know. Why he didn't ask me first I would pay money to find out."

L had become quiet and every second of silence was painful. Andrew's sneer came back to me. "I hate the way he looks at you." and "I thought he would gone soon." The way he had looked as he spat out the words mirrored the way L looked now. And still he wouldn't speak.

I unstuck my tongue to press on. "Plus, the sheep didn't help matters."

Finally, a reaction was produced across L's still features. "Sheep?" he repeated, his curiosity getting the best of him. "Was that another of his grand gestures of love? Is that part of the Hargrove mating ritual, gifting the intended with livestock?'

"No, it was in the middle of the road, not allowing the car to pass. That's when I got out, and he thought I was going to move it out of the way." I lamely explained. "It saved me from having to jump out of a moving car at least; although that's a danger I would have gladly embraced."