Fallen

Chapter Twenty Six

As the darkness of the night rolled in, I crept into the house and up the stairs with Jackson leaning heavily into me. When I laid him down on my bed, he grabbed my arm and tried to pull me down with him. I wanted to resist, but I knew it was easier just to let him. So I laid in his arms to give him the comfort he needed to fall into a deep sleep.

As the long minutes dragged past, all I could do was stare at Blaine's Dracula book on my bedroom floor. It felt wrong to still have it with me with my copy of The Book Thief safely back on my bookcase. I wondered if Blaine was missing his book at all.

When I eventually heard Jackson snoring beside me, I carefully slipped out of the bed and crept down the stairs. As soon as I got to the bottom, Nick must have heard me as the living room door swung open and suddenly I was face-to-face with him.

"The mysterious woman returns." His sarcasm was nowhere near subtle. "I haven't seen you in ages."

"I've been busy," I said with a shrug.

"With anyone in particular?"

I sighed. "You're so nosey."

He ignored me and beckoned me into the living room. We sat on the sofa together and I quickly sensed that there would be a lot more questioning coming from Nick.

"Is that your new man-friend upstairs then?" he asked with a cocky smirk.

I narrowed my eyes at him. "It might be."

"So when do we get to meet him?"

I sighed. "Soon probably. He's...tired at the moment."

Nick's grin fell. He looked concerned. "Is everything okay? You don't seem like yourself."

I panicked. "Yeah, of course. Everything's great actually."

I knew he could see straight through me.

"I don't believe you."

"Well it is. Anyway, enough about me. What happened to that girl you met at the bar the other night, the one from that hen do? Do we get to meet her?"

Nick's smile disappeared. "She's got a boyfriend."

"Oh. I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "She got with me to piss him off. I ended up in the middle of a messy argument in her flat so I just left in the end."

"That's horrible. You didn't deserve that."

"Whatever. I'm gonna get drunk as hell with your sister tonight. Wanna join?"

"I'm not really in the mood. Maybe next time."

"Sure thing. Do you want a cup of tea and then we can talk about this new guy?"

"I'm fine. There's something I need to go and do. I'll be back soon."

"Alright, sweet. You need me to drive you anywhere?"

"I'm okay. I need the walk."

He nodded and watched me head out when he spoke up again. "I'm here if you need to talk, yeah?"

Despite the teasing, I knew he had a very good heart. "Thanks, Nick."

He smiled and returned back to his crappy evening show. I quietly crept back into my bedroom and grabbed what I needed before slipping out of the house.

*****

Approaching Blaine's house filled me with nothing but dread and sadness. There were no police tape or people in suits walking in and out. It was as if nothing had ever happened. I gripped the book tight in my hand and with my breath held in my lungs, I quietly walked up to the door. The last thing I wanted was to be noticed. All I had to do was leave it by the front door and ring the bell before making a quick exit. As I bent down to do so, the door swung open. My heart stopped. I looked up to see Blaine. He stared at me with as much surprise as I did. I noticed he was wearing his running clothes, clutching both his phone and a packet of cigarettes in one hand.