Like A Flame {Warren Peace}

XIII

They had not spoken to one another in three weeks. It made it awkward for Layla and the others, Dorian was aware. Looking over at the clock, he saw it was 9:30 pm. For an hour has he been at Warren's. Ten o'clock being his curfew.

Homework had been finished long since. They were merely, watching TV at this point, the show Ava mentioned before. He could not help to notice how different Warren looked without his, typical black jacket, instead he wears a red short sleeved shirt and dark jeans. His gloves are still on either hand.

"Heard you and Stronghold had a fight." His deep voice cut through the silence.

"Yeah, could say that..." he muttered.

"And what good has avoiding him done?"

"It's not as easy as you think, this was our first, actual fight that we can't just make up on the spot. It turned physical." He closed his eyes, wishing the conversation could be dropped. "Can't we just watch the show without him on our minds?"

"Fine by me."

He did not want to admit Warren was right. That is just how Dorian is, stubborn to the core and proud. Perhaps a little too proud, as his grandmother once told him before she passed on. Wish you would've told me that, sooner gran...

"She reminds me a bit of you." He blinked, when he looked Warren's way.

"Vanessa Ives? Why?"

"You're both a mystery to others. People are drawn to you, naturally, once they see who you really are. You think there's something wrong. But, can't see that you're as normal as anyone else."

The faintest of smiles etches across. Dorian found a unique comfort, a warmth radiating from Warren's shoulder as he laid his head upon it. "Thank you. I can see, you are nothing like him...your heart's secret soft. Like Ethan Chandler's."

Warren turned his head, hoping he would not see a red hue cross over. "Hmph. Whatever...Talbot."

Mrs. Peace had in secret been at watch during their little moment. She hid from the shadows of the hallway. Nodding in approval. Well done, Warren

~******~

He was even kind enough to walk him back home, a little after ten. Amethyst Talbot stood in anxious waiting on the porch steps. She still had nightmares unbeknownst to Dorian or Ava, that he would never come home to her again.

"Thank God, I was starting to panic." she stated breathlessly. "Oh and Will called, he sounded like he wanted to talk."

Dorian shifted on his feet. "...I'll call him later. Thanks for walking me home and, with my homework." They made a rather awkward display of a hand shake, before he took to his bedroom.

Warren had not seen Amethyst Talbot since he was, but five years old. She looked as if she had not chaned in years since, that fateful encounter. He pursed his lips. Her eyes soften, as he turned to walk away.

"Warren. I'm sorry."

"And you expect me, to forgive you. Right?"

She heaved a sigh, arms folded across her chest. "It was not as if, we had much of a choice with him. But...I too had a son. And, I to feared the same could happen to me...after your father's arrest, that I would lose him in return. I can see you care about Dorian, at least, now. It does not take much to know. That's all I care about."

He couldn't forgive her. Not yet. But, something in the back of his thoughts had told him he would at one point ease the hatred within his heart.

his creature was created by none but I. A being of my own sorrow, my own anguish will not allow it