A Vampire's Charm

The Guest- Last Chapter

Claire's POV

"Claire." I hear a whisper as I feel a gentle caress on my hip.

"Mmmm?" I hum in response, my eyes felt like they were glued shut. A breeze that smells of pine and honey wafer up my nostrils, and I realize that the windows must be open. I hear a faint birds call, I crack one eye open.

          Atticus is leaning over me, his black hair fanning against his forehead as he smiles at my groggy state.

          "I- have business at the west border concerning the war." He grimaces. "I didn't want to leave you- or have you wake up without me-" He holds up a mug of tea for me. The cup says "fuck it" with a rainbow above the cursive letters. I let out a chuckle as I sit up and take the cup from him. I wince as I feel a full ache in my lady parts- evidence of what occurred last night. A faint blush fans over my cheeks and my heartbeat quickens as he kisses my forehead.

         "I want to come." I state, hoping that it came out as strong as I wanted it to. He falters a bit and sighs.

         "Aren't you sore, love?" He asks.

        "No." I reply a bit too quickly, I grin sheepishly at him.

        "Maybe. Look, I just want to know what's going on over there. The prophecy just keeps ringing in my mind- and I feel like I need to Nancy drew my way into war details because you aren't telling me anything." I take a deep breath after rambling- complaining about not being involved enough. I just felt so in the dark about a lot of things, and I definitely didn't want to keep 'yes mother'ing myself around in life like a lapdog.  He eyes me for a minute, licking his lips.

         "You'll be even more confused about everything if you come with me today- not to mention in pain. How about you take some Advil and-" he pauses to dig through his pocket in his joggers, and pulls out a key. "This is the key to my study- it holds all the information about the war in my fourth filing drawer. You can catch up about everything- and if you don't have too much of a headache by the time I come home, I'll have the scoop on what's going on over there. Is that okay?" He asks, holding the key out to me still.

          I eye him down to see if he's telling the truth. Why wouldn't he be? This is Atticus we're talking about. Slightly satisfied at the fact that I can have time to heal and still find information for the prophecy, I smile at him and take the key. He smiles back as I lean in to kiss him. I taste mint as I peck him on the lips, and frown.

         "Damn, I thought that we both had morning breath and that we could bond over it or something- but now I just feel disgusting." I say as he lets out a chuckle and kisses me again- this one a bit longer.

           "I don't mind, as long as that means that you'll give me morning breath kisses everyday?" He says. I wrinkle my nose in disgust and push him away as we both laugh.

"We'll see." I say, running my fingers across the long golden skeleton key. Intricate swirls and shiny material, I see my own reflection in it. I look up to see Atticus point at a plate on the nightstand.

"I brought you some breakfast too." He says, rummaging through the drawer. He finally finds some Advil and plops them right on the nightstand too. I smile and sip from the tea that he brought me.

"My knight in a shining v-neck." I hum. The tea tastes like chai tea, and it makes me feel even more jolly. My favorite.

"Don't forget to text me anything that you learn about the prophecy- that is if I find my phone." I frown, trying to remember where I last put that tiny thing.