The Arsonist (Warren Peace)

Chapter Eleven

I saw the yellow bus round the corner and make its way to a stop just in front of me and Will and Layla got off the bus waving to their other friends, “hey.” they froze and Layla squealed, “you can talk?!” I nodded, “I’m attempting to open myself up again and it’s all thanks to Warren.” she froze, “you mean Warren Peace the son of Barron Battle Blake you should stay away from him.” Will looked a little scared but I smiled, “I’ll say this nicely once because you seem like a nice girl but just because someone’s parent or parents are bad doesn’t make them a bad person if people actually got to know him instead of just judging him he turns out to be a really sweet guy.” she smiled, “you like him.” I blushed, shrugging and Will made a “blgh” noise causing Layla and I to giggle, “dude that’s my sister gross.” I noticed the look he looked at Layla and the way Layla looked at him, “so are you two like together?” they jumped apart, “n-no he’s like my brother.” I shot her a look that said ‘I don’t believe you’ but  I shrugged and we stopped and Layla waved, “so you weren’t in school after I saw you what happened?” I sighed, “my best friend died two days ago and I’m acting like it’s not affecting me but it is.”

He looked at me strangely, “Warren is helping you though isn’t he?” I nodded, “yeah he is, he noticed that his scent calms me and he gave me one of his shirts.” I blushed as he went, “aww that’s so sweet.” I shoved his arm, “your dad is gonna be there isn’t he?” he nodded, “is that a problem?” I shook my head, “I have to face him sooner or later.” we turned into a yard and he opened the door, “mom, dad I’m home and I brought a friend can you come and meet her please.” I kinda hid behind Will as I noticed Josie and Steve Stronghold come down the stairs Josie rushed forward bringing me into a hug, “I’m Will’s mom but you can call me Josie and this is Steve my husband.” I feebly hugged her back, “sorry for barging in unexpectedly.” she waved me off, “oh it’s perfectly fine please tell me you’ll be staying for dinner.” I looked over at Will and he nodded, “sure Josie I think I can stay for dinner.” she smiled, “that’s great well we’ll leave you two alone.” she wiggled her eyebrows and I turned bright red as I shook my head, “oh no it’s not like that I swear.” I saw a look of recognition in Steve’s eyes.

“Blake?” I swallowed thickly, nodding he leaned against the doorway looking down guilty, “god I’m so sorry I was a coward for abandoning you I should have taken you in after your mother died but Will was just a baby and I was scared that you’d hate me.” I gave him a small smile, “it hurt when you didn’t come to get me I’m still trying to get over it but if you give me time I’m sure I can forgive you.” he nodded and rubbed his arm, “can I hug you?” I smiled and opened my arms and he let out a small sigh of relief leaning down to hug me, “god you look just like your mother.” I smiled and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. He let out a nostalgic sigh and smiled at Josie, “c’mon let’s leave them alone and start making some dinner.” they both left the room and smiled at Will, “let’s go to your room and I’ll answer any questions you have.” we headed up the stairs and the first thing I spotted was a guitar in the far corner of the room and I crossed over picking it up, “you play?” he shook his head, “tried to learn but got frustrated pretty quickly since I didn’t have a face to face teacher.” I smiled, “I could teach you and then you can whoo Layla with it.” he flushed, “I don’t like Layla.” 

I smirked, “right and I think Warren is really annoying and I hate him.” he frowned at me, “she likes you back y’know I don’t know how you’re so blind to it.” he smiled, “does she really?” I nodded, “I saw how she deflated the other day when you said she was like a sister to you.” I grabbed it and strummed a couple chords grimacing when I heard how out of tune it was, “how about you ask me some questions while I get this thing in tune.” he nodded and tapped his chin, “what do you remember about your mom?” I fiddled with the knobs on the top of the guitar, “I remember how overprotective she was at the time I absolutely hated it but looking back now I realized she just wanted to keep me safe and I also remember how she used to get this little spark everytime she talked about dad.” I covered my mouth as I realized what I had said, “I think you should forgive him Blake. He honestly looked so pained I’ve never seen him like that.” I nodded, “I will but like I said it’s gonna take a bit of time he really hurt me Will.” he nodded, “okay next question is a wolf the only thing you can shift to?” I shook my head, “nope I can turn into anything pretty much I just feel most comfortable in wolf form.” he nodded and I continued to tune it, “can you actually play?” I nodded humming, “I’ll show you once I get it into tune god who did this?” he flushed, “oh my god where were you trying to learn?” he shrugged, “I don’t remember it was some random website that’s all I remember.” I laughed and strummed it, “there that’s a hell of a lot better than it was.” 

I played the opening chords of ‘Just A Kiss by Lady Antebellum’ I rocked a little as I played, “Lyin' here with you so close to me It's hard to fight these feelings When it feels so hard to breathe Caught up in this moment Caught up in your smile.” Will smiled and started to record me, “I've never opened up to anyone So hard to hold back When I'm holding you in my arms We don't need to rush this Let's just take it slow Just a kiss on your lips in the moonlight Just a touch of the fire burning so bright And I don't want to mess this thing up I don't want to push too far Just a shot in the dark that you just might Be the one I've been waiting for my whole life So baby I'm alright, with just a kiss goodnight.” there was clapping from the doorway and I blushed as I realized Josie had seen that, “that was wonderful sweetheart hey Will can you go help your father finish up dinner.” he nodded and patted my leg standing up. Josie closed the door and I fiddled with a loose strand on my pants, “what did you want to talk about Mrs- Josie?” she smiled at the slip up, “I wanted to let you know that Steve told me everything and I agree with you he should have been there for you yeah I would have been upset he didn’t tell me about you and your mother but I would have accepted it no child deserves what you’ve been through and I want you to know that I’m here for you whenever you need me.” I teared up and she pulled me into a hug, “thank you so much.” I cried into her shoulder a little glad I wasn’t wearing makeup because I would have stained her blouse. I pulled away wiping my face, “alright let’s go down and eat and let you guys get to know me a little better.” and with that we went downstairs.