Breathe.

Chapter 12

The moment Zaiden walked away from the table, Vixen's defenses broke, she hid her face in the shadows caused by the sign that hung outside the window, she felt a tear slip, cascading down her cheek and dropping on her bruised wrist, she closed her eyes and willed the tears away, she wiped her cheek with the sleeve of her shrug, Vixen heard footsteps approach the table, she looked up and in to the eyes of the devil himself, Zaiden, she looked away as he got closer, he sat down with a look of anger, guilt and a bit of confusion in his eyes, he unconciously picked up his now lukewarm coffee, sipping it, still lost in thought. The tension in the air was thick, Vixen lifted her eyes and watched him sit there with a mixture of emotions, nothing spoken between the two,

Vixen looked up at the clock, it had been twenty minutes since they spoke, she felt guilty for the look on his face, his fingers tapped the table unconciously, vixen took a deep breath and reached over the table and clasped his hand, Zaiden's eyes shot up, a gentle smile on Vixen's face willed Zaiden to relax, they smiled at each other, Zaiden cautiously flipped his hand over and gently held Vixen's hand in his. Her heart skipped, his eyes filled with a warm look, almost loving.

"so... Zaiden, other than your obvious reputation, what do you like to do for fun?"

He smiled and sat back, letting go of her hand, Vixen oddly missed the comfort of his warm hand, she immediately pulled herself out of that thought,

"Well,, believe it or not, I actually enjoy reading novels,"

"No way! that's such a lie!"

Vixen giggled, her eyes crinkling at her wide smile,

"Oh? what's this? don't believe me? okay here's proof. what book written by Steven King was made in to a movie and has struck a standard amount of fame, it's old, a little hint,"

He smiled, challenging her, unfortunately for her she wasn't a Steven king fan, she didn't pay attention to any of his works, so she sighed in defeat and shrugged, and smiled urging him to continue,

"Oh come on! The Shining?! please don't tell me that you have no idea what i'm talking about."

" Oh wait that's his book? that's interesting, i'm not much of Steven King fan, i prefer reading books that are about paranormal things, the more true they are, the better they are,"

Zaiden's eyes widened, and a mischievous smile was etched on to his face,

"Well then i guess you know the hauntings of the Stanley Hotel right?"

Vixen's eyes widened in shock, that was her favourite haunted story, one of the freakishly unexplained, her smile widened, as she nodded in excitement, the pair dove in to the mysteries of The Stanley Hotel, the topic led from one mystery to another, the pair dove deep in to the topic and found themselves so engaged with each other and their different point of views on the matter, Damien had eventually joined the pair and contributed his side on the topic, the three spoke for hours on end, each having a new topic to rant on for hours, before they knew it, the time had rolled around to sharp noon, the trio were shocked that it had been an amazing four hours since the trio had started their unending topic. taking a break fom their paranormal discussions they decided to stop for lunch. Zaiden and Damien had walked over to the cashier and ordered three items from the lunch menu and once again requested Natasha to give them Vixen's favourite, which they were surprised to find was a pizzole, a red stew that had a variety of meats in it,

"Vixen taught the cook how to make this, even though it's not as good as the pizzole that she makes, it's still her favourite."

"That's what you say Nats,"

The sudden voice behind the boys made the trio jump, there stood Vixen a hand on her hip and a sarcastic look on her face,

"Nats the boys are over coming to my place, please come over, and we'll make my pizzole, to prove to you that it's not that great,"

Natasha was shocked that Vixen had said that statement so carefree, she agreed, smiled her way and walked to the kitchen to place the orders, the trio walked back to their table, Vixen was surprised how she and Zaiden had immediately clicked when they finally made an effort to speak to each other, the conversation picked up once again, the interest in the paranormal had brought the three together, the cafe was filled with the occasionally loud laughs from the boys and the argument between the boys on a certain topic,

Vixen smiled as the boys had their fun around her, she had missed this type of atmosphere, the light banter, joy and overall bouncy atomosphere, it left her heart clenching at the memories, her life had changed the moment she met Jeremiah, she lost most of her friends, they didn't agree with her dating him, but because she was so head over heels in love with him, she had just chosen him over her life long friends, Natasha was the only one who hid her hate for him in order for them to stay friends, Vixen smiled at how she appreciated Natasha for staying, after everything ended the way that it did, Natsha pulled her out of depression and suicide, and took her advice for starting therapy. and likewise the girls were there for eachother, till this very day,

"Vixen? are you okay love?"

She snapped her head up to see, Zaiden's and Damien's concerned faces,

"Yeah i am, why?"

"Vixen you're crying love,"

Vixen swipped her fingers under her eyes, wiping the tears away, she smiled back at them,

"Sorry to concern you boys, don't worry about me, i'm alright,"

Just then Natasha brought their orders, smiling politely, as Natasha walked away Damien spoke up,

"Wow Natasha, i'm not used to you smiling like that, its kind of attractive~"

Natasha whipped around, glaring at Damien, Vixen surpressed a laugh, her face growing red from strain, Zaiden was curious as to what was so funny about the statement, Vixen cleared her throat and calm herself down,

"I yearn for the nectar of her skin!"

Vixen burst out laughing, clutching her stomach with great force, Damien's face grew as red as a tomato, he glared at Vixen, Natasha and Zaiden were confused as to why Vixen was laughing after making a confusing statement and why Damien was getting ready to charge her to the ground, Vixen flicked a stray tear that had formed while she was laughing so hard,

"Context please?"

The genuine confusion of the two was funny all in it self, however she composed herself,

"Come over to my place and we'll get to the juicy details,"

Vixen winked at Damien who was fuming red, she smiled mischievously, challenging him, Damien sighed,

"Damn you woman,"

"I love you too~"