Heartthrob of Aclea

Chapter 20 - War

Something coarse rubbed against my chin. I tried to not take notice because my head was spinning and my energy didn't want to cooperate, making it harder for me to blink. Even breathing was quite impossible in the meantime.

'Erh...argh...' A painful groan could be heard in the distance. I wondered what had happened. Whose voice was that?

Eyes opening slightly, I let the sunlight suffusing through after escaping the blinds. It was raining heavily outside. The sky was darkening - despite the daylight - and the storm was brewing. Turning to my left, I caught a view of Annabelle leaning over my shoulder with her hands tightly gripping on her elbows in an opposite manner. Her knees were brought to her chest, crouching. And she was shivering. Maybe it was because of the hostile temperature of Aclea that was seeping in. Maybe she had a nightmare. The ferocious side of hers disappeared and it was replaced by heavy mediocrity when she continued groaning, sobbing, and back to groaning, and then flinching in her sleep. It was rare to see her like this - consumed by her greatest fear, albeit her core was framed with the strongest concrete of courage.

I didn't usually do cuddling and snuggling, but I couldn't help taking her into my embrace. Her closed eyes and low decibel of her snoring explained the wonderland she was still exploring. I brought my fingers to trail along her bare skin. Her arm was covered with scars that were impossible to get from just falling from the bicycle or scratchings of a cat. It looked similar to battle scars like she was involved in gun and knife fights. I touched them, visually pretending they would dissolve along with her endless grudges upon everything she abhorred. Her dislikeness outweighed what she liked, and it wasn't a piece of pleasant news to be shared with. I didn't want her to live in negative surroundings that surely would take massive bad effects on us The Royals. She worked for Mum. And Mum had enough of putting up with the negative effects that I brought in.

Talk about Mum...

Wait, don't tell me...

'I SLEPT WITH MUM'S ASSISTANT!' From snoring to hyperventilating, she abruptly stuffed my face with a pillow as a defensive reflex. I calmed her down, brushed her hands slowly, and kept chanting believable words that it was none other than Aaron The Prince in the room before she could push the pillow any further. Before I could suffocate to death. I feared a tad for a second, discovering that she didn't only do that to protect herself.

She was trying to kill me.

'Don't scare me like that.' Annabelle winced once we had weathered the storm. I shifted away from her, just in case my lungs couldn't handle the lack of oxygen she tried to deprive. 'We didn't bang, Aaron. We kissed and then, we went to your room, still kissing, clothes off. You pulled yourself and demanded a striptease from me.' She said while she shifted the blanket to face me properly. We were at the edge of the bed, avoiding each other's eyes. The air was tense and thick with unwelcome awkwardness.

'I didn't remember that.'

'You literally begged me to strip off and tease you. You almost cried when I wanted to call it a night. So, I undid my dress and stuff. The second I tried to unhook my necklace, you threw a fucking tantrum - because you said I was taking too long - before you ran off towards the bathroom and passing out a chorus after.' The line ended with a roll of her eyes in annoyance.

'A chorus? What chorus?'

'You sang Nine In The Afternoon.'

'No way.'

'Yes way.'

'Either way, I am sure that I didn't almost cry. You are exaggerating.'

'Yeah, keep talking to yourself that.'