Burned

Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Ow, be careful." I snapped at Dara who bumped into me on her way to the cereal. She rolled her eyes, quick to dismiss my pain.

"When are you going to get that checked out?" She asked over her shoulder. 

"They'll just tell me what I already know: I have a broken rib -- or two." I cringed. Daniel had thrown me hard and when I hit the ground, the ground won. Last night, when I took a shower I saw the bruises already forming. I was partly glad Daniel hadn't joined me in the shower, so he hadn't seen the welts and purple-blue patterns up and down my side. 

"Yeah, sounds like dinner was really intense," she popped a Cocoa Puff into her mouth.

"You shouldn't have dipped out on us. It was a real scream," I laughed at my own joke. Dara didn't seem to approve of it. She hopped off the counter and handed me a bowl. I took it graciously and poured myself a bowl of Cheerio's. 

"That's what mom said. She also said you should have gone to the doctor." She replied, taking her time to make a point. "What really happened? I mean, you cut yourself and Daniel goes berzerk? Since when?" She narrowed her eyes as I took a deep breath.

"It's complicated, my blood is-- it affects him differently." I struggled with my words. "Plus, he hadn't been drinking blood for a little bit and that doesn't help his self-control." I hated making excuses for him. I knew Dara wouldn't understand. 

"You're not going to like what I have to say, but you sound like me when I was with Vayne." She shrugged. She was so off base, but I knew she was just protective over me. That and her and Daniel weren't on the best of terms since we broke up. "Lemme guess, he stopped drinking blood for the two weeks you guys were broken up?" I pursed my lips instead of responding. "Yeah, that's what I thought," she hmmed. 

"You don't get it, him not drinking blood for that long would be fine except that I was the one that cut myself. It was my blood that he smelled. I'm the reason he lost control. Anyone else could cut their finger and he would be able to get it together. Sure, his eyes might flash red or his teeth might have extended, but it wouldn't have been like what happened to me. My blood -- he'll be thinking about it for days." I felt so defeated. 

Dara looked at me for a long time, as if she was debating saying something else. Eventually, she broke eye contact. She turned to the sink, rinsed out her bowl and set it in the dishwasher. I waited for her to say something bad about Daniel -- again. She had successfully ruined the beginning of my weekend. It was barely ten o'clock on a Saturday and we had already got into a scuffle.

"Are you guys back together?" She asked, resting her hands on the sink behind her. 

Last night, Daniel and I had finally talked. We both decided it was best not to tell anyone we were back together. My mom and Dolls didn't even know we had broken up, so there wasn't a point in telling them. Of course, my friends knew, but they didn't need to know yet. The silver lining was that if anyone directly asked us about our relationship status, we would tell them we were trying to work it.

Basically, tell them it's complicated.

I was all set to relay this to Dara, but her dark eyes were staring at me -- all judgemental and I found myself unable to lie to her. She deserved the truth. It was Dara, so she most likely already knew. There wasn't a point in stretching the truth to her. She had this horrible habit of finding the truth out, I wonder where she gets that from. 

"Yes," I finally said. It was the first time I heard it out loud. "We're dating again, as of yesterday." My lips felt dry. 

Dara didn't look surprised, but she did look annoyed.