DEVIATE X / / AN UNORDINARY FANFICTION

XXXVIII.

A/N: So I kept score and the majority of you guys chose John. I wanted you guys to pick because I thought you guys would be unhappy if I made the choice for you. In my opinion, I don't mind either decision, since I have an outline of the plot prepared for both characters. I apologize to everyone who voted for Arlo.....but just because Delta is still set on John doesn't mean things won't get spicy with Arlo (*wink, wink*).

Anyhow, if you guys didn't vote and you don't like the decision, that's on you for not speaking up (remember, I said your votes will determine the outcome of the story). But for those of you who did vote, thank you very much for speaking up!

Delta.

Despite the thickness of my sweatpants, the cold air manages to seep into the thick fabric, biting uncomfortably in my legs. The ambience of the park seems so much different in the dead of night, with no trace of the golden rays of sunlight filtering through the trees.

The sky above is painted in a deep midnight blue with speckles of stars scattered about. The silvery moonlight illuminates the luster of Arlo's blonde hair and shrouds his face. He leans casually against a tree trunk without providing any inclination of acknowledging my presence. I cross my arms pointedly. Why isn't he paying attention to me?

"How can you say that?" I blurted in an exasperated voice. "He....he told me he loves me."

After an exaggerated moment, he finally lifts his head. One wavy tuft of hair falls in front of his face, shading his piercing blue eyes.

"Loves you?" Arlo questions skeptically before lifting himself from the trunk, "And you believe him? In loving you, he holds a knife at your throat. In loving you, he's telling you exactly where to cut. In loving you, you bleed for him, yet you've never seen him once endure a cut for you; you've never seen a drop of blood shed for your own sake.

Arlo's face leans closer to mine. My heart erratically skips a beat as he leans down, his breath tickling my ear as he speaks.

"You two are inseparable and against the world, yet he does not trust the hand he clasps. Now tell me, do you think he loves you?"

"Hup!"

I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder as I stirred from my rude awakening, examining the area surrounding me. Despite the drawn blinds, the early sun still managed to creep through the crevices of the window, creating golden, stripe-like patterns on the floor.

A soft sigh escaped my lips as I rubbed my shoulder, glaring down at the wooden floor beneath me. I must've fell out of my bed whilst dreaming about......whatever that was.

It was such an incredulous scenario to dream about. Arlo, saying such an artistic prose? It was uncharacteristic. He speaks only of facts and logic, if he even has something to say at all.

I rubbed the lobe of my ear gently as I untangled myself from my blanket, shivering slightly as I thought about his breath against my ear. It was disturbingly uncomfortable of how close he was to me, close enough to hear every consonant that rolled off his tongue.

My eyes trailed down to my hand as I thought about yesterday.

"Why.....do you think he's hiding something from you?"

There was a conspicous difference in the size of our hands. The tenderness of his grip was foriegn, contrasting the aggressive approach in the way he was grasping the Agwin Queen's throat. It wasn't particularly discomforting, nor comfortable per say, but his lingering touch left me in surprise, leaving that sensation on replay in my mind.