Some Wings Must Bleed

Chapter 35 - The Party

Kenta pushed open the door, revealing a familiar large staircase that led down into the beautiful ballroom. Heads turned as Kenta led me down the stairs, pleasant dancing music and chatter filling the usually quiet space. I smiled and waved to the people I knew, my smile halting when I laid eyes on Kurapika. His suit looked even better in this lighting, and he was staring at me with an entranced face that made me want to run and jump into his arms. I felt my eyes dodge his gaze, switching to look at Angela, who looked very excited to see Kenta and I together. "(Y/n)! My daughter! How lovely you look this evening!" My father boomed, hugging me before patting Kenta on the back in that aggressive way that men did.

He introduced Kenta to a lord while Angela ran up to me and grabbed both of my hands, spinning me in a circle. "(Y/n) you gorgeous little thing! Look at this dress! Oh my lord you and Kenta make such a pretty couple~"

I half heartedly laughed, my eyes trailing the crowd for Kurapika, although I didn't really know if I wanted to see him or not. "Hey, what's wrong?" My friend asked.

"Oh, nothing. I was just..." I trailed off, looking around again and seeing Trisha. "I was looking for Trisha! We got this dress shopping together, I wanted her to see it!" I said, waving to the woman.

Trisha's eyes lit up when she saw me, her curled hair pulled back into an elegant big bun. "You. Look. Ethereal. Gods look at your makeup! Your blonde is going to drop dead when he sees you!" She shrilled, her hands waving around in the air until she stuck them to the sides of her pantsuit.

"Will you keep your voice down? You do realize I'm engaged, dummy." I said, my eyes trying to tell Trisha that Angela was standing literally like three feet away.

Trisha's eyes widened a bit. "Of course! I was only joking~" She said, her voice even.

"Hi, I'm Angela, I think we've met before." Angela said, extending an arm out to Trisha.

"We have! I'm good friends with your brother, Kenta. It's nice to see you." Trisha replied warmly, shaking Angela's hand and turning back to me. "Let's dance!" She exclaimed, grabbing my wrists and dragging me towards the center of the room where many people were already dancing.

We began rocking from side to side, her eyes holding a seriousness that they didn't before. "There's something I need to tell you." We said at the exact same time, both of our eyes shooting to one another.

I giggled and Trisha snorted, her smile quickly fading. "You can go first."

"Okay. Well, last night? Kurapika and I almost kissed. But then we didn't. And he left me. There were tears. It was a mess. I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh shit, you're serious?"

"Yeah... to think that I actually thought he ever liked me..."

"Oh honey, trust me, he does."

"Trish, I'm not up for thi-"

"He's staring at you right now."

"... What?"

"Well don't look, but he's staring at you like you're the prettiest thing he's ever seen. It's nothing new, I mean, whenever you aren't looking he stares at you, but this time? It's like I'm feeling his heart from way over here."

"You're speaking nonsense."

"(Y/n) have you ever even thought about his side of things? In his eyes, you're the main household's daughter who he was hired to protect. I mean, you're engaged for heaven's sake, not to mention you didn't get along at first. (Y/n) I've been around. I know what's happening here-"

"Just drop it! I've been wracking my brain about this for the past ten hours and every time I think it over everything points the same way. Anyways, what did you have to tell me?"