Gabriel’s POV
Nick and I drove back in silence. I was exhausted, but peaceful. I could still feel her in my arms, feel her warmth.
“Do you want to look under the floorboards tomorrow?” Nick broke the silence when we parked in his driveway. “When Aria said her grandma hid the safe under the floorboards it made me realize that is the only place we didn’t check in your house.”
“Yeah, I caught that too,” I said. “I was actually thinking about doing it right now.”
“Get some sleep, man. And get something to eat. We can look for it tomorrow,” he said, opening his car door.
He was right. I was too tired. And hungry. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.
I stepped out of the car and closed the door. Nick locked it and turned to go to his house.
“Nick,” I called after him.
“Yeah man?” he turned back.
“Are you alright?” I asked, walking closer to him, tugging my hands down my pockets.
I could see something was bugging him, but I never knew how to talk about feelings and stuff. It felt weird. I was a little bit uncomfortable.
Nick sighed and leaned on the garage door. “I’m fine. Nate is acting weird, though, and I am a little bit worried.”
He mentioned back at Annie’s that his wolf was acting weird, but he didn’t know what was happening.
“Did he say something? Did he figure out what’s wrong?”
“No,” he sighed. “He is confused but restless. Maybe it’s because I’m tired and hungry. I will probably feel better once I eat and sleep.”
He smiled at me, but his smile didn’t reach his eyes. I have a feeling he isn’t telling me something. I didn’t want to push; he will tell me when he is ready.
“Okay, man,” I smiled back. “I get it. I am hungry and tired as well. Go home, eat, sleep and come to my house tomorrow morning.”
He smiled and started walking back to his house. “Good night, Gabe.”
“Night, man.”
I turned and walked to my front door. I unlocked it and stepped inside.
I went straight to the kitchen and started making myself scrambled eggs and bacon. I was starving.
When I finished eating, I locked the front door and got upstairs.
I got in the shower and let the hot water relax my muscles. I quickly washed my hair and scrubbed my body.
When I finished, I put on my boxers and short sweatpants that I always wore to bed. I got under the covers and relaxed. Sleep didn’t consume me as quickly as I thought it would. Instead, I started thinking about Aria.
She was amazing. Beautiful, sweet and caring. I just wanted to be around her. Listen to her talk about anything and learn everything I could about her. I felt peaceful when I was around her.
I smiled and turned to my side, thinking about her. Soon, I was sleeping.
When I woke up it was 11:30 am. I groaned. I guess I was really tired. I checked my phone and saw a couple of text messages from Nick. I quickly tipped him a text saying I woke up and telling him to come over.
I went to my bathroom and did my morning business. I hopped under the shower and as I was getting out, I heard Nick come in the front door.
“Gabe?” he yelled.
“In the shower. Coming,” I yelled back and quickly put on my sweats, hoodie and sneakers.
I went downstairs. Nick was in the kitchen, making us some coffee.
“Did you sleep well?” I asked him, sitting at the table.
“Yeah. Woke up around 10 am,” he answered and poured coffee into mugs.
He handed me mine and sat opposite me.
“Thanks, man,” I said, sipping my coffee. “Is Nate feeling better today?”
He stiffened slightly but smiled. “Yes. He is better.”
I still didn’t quite believe him. I had a feeling he was hiding something, but I didn’t know how to confront him. I had to let it go for now. I just hoped it wasn’t anything big.
“I’m glad, man,” I smiled back.
“When are we going back to Annie’s?” he asked.
“Well, I thought we could check the floorboards first.”
“I don’t know man. It’s noon already. Maybe we should go there and do that later. It could take a while. Your house is big.”
He had a point. I sighed. “You are right. Let’s go to the girls.”
I ran to my grandma’s old study and picked up a few books that could have some clues about the prophecy Aria’s grandma mentioned.
I came back and grabbed my car keys. Nick was waiting for me by the front door.
We got in my car, and I felt excited to see her again.
“Hey, we should get their phone numbers,” Nick said. “We totally forgot about it yesterday.”
“Yeah, definitely,” I nodded.
I was so excited and confused last night that I totally forgot to ask for her number.
A couple of minutes later I parked my car in front of Annie’s house. We walked to the door and rang the doorbell.
Aria’s POV
Annie and I had quite an exciting morning. We went to the mall, and I bought myself more clothes. Annie did too, even though she didn’t need anything. She just loved shopping.
We had coffee and a brownie at her favorite coffee shop, and we laughed and talked about the guys and everything that happened yesterday. It helped me feel less anxious about the whole situation and I was so grateful to Annie. She really was an awesome friend. Actually, I thought of her as a sister. After all, she was all I had.
We ran into her friends, Mike and Jack. They were really friendly, and they invited us to come to Mike’s house tonight. They were having a small party. Just a couple of people because we needed to be careful and not draw too much attention to ourselves. They were vampires and vampires were also a target.
Mike lived near Annie’s. Just down the street. I was really excited to go. It had been a while since I went to a party.
I was in the living room, sorting the clothes that we bought when the doorbell rang.
“I’ll get it,” I yelled to Annie who was in the kitchen making us lunch.
I opened the door and saw Gabriel and Nick smiling at me.
“Hi,” I said, suddenly a bit nervous.
I let them in and closed the door behind them.
“We are not interrupting anything, right?” Nick asked. “We didn’t get your number yesterday and we couldn’t call to ask if it’s okay to come now.”
“No, it’s okay. We just got back from the mall. Annie is making us lunch,” I smiled. “Are you hungry?”
Just as I was asking them, Annie came from the kitchen, a big smile on her face.
“You boys eating with us? We can’t look through those books on an empty stomach,” she gestured towards the books Gabriel was holding.
“Yeah, sure, I could eat,” Gabriel said and Nick nodded.
“Put those books in the living room and come to the kitchen. I’m almost done,” Annie said and went back.
Nick and I went straight to the kitchen and Gabriel went to the living room to put the books down before joining us.
I set the table as Annie was finishing lunch and we all sat down to eat. She had made lasagna and it was delicious. She was a great cook.
Annie did most of the talking. I was too nervous to say anything. The guys were more relaxed, talking and joking with Annie. Gabriel kept looking at me and I saw Nick glancing in my direction anytime he could.
“Are you okay, Aria?” Nick asked when we finished eating. “You barely said anything.”
“I am fine,” I smiled. “Just anxious about those books. I hope we find something.”
“We will,” Gabriel said, taking my hand in his.
I felt calmer the moment his skin touched mine. It was weird and it was kind of freaking me out. But I couldn’t deny he had some sort of weird effect on me.
“You are not alone anymore Aria,” Annie said, smiling at me. “You have me. I am your family. And I am not going to let you go through this alone.”
I smiled brightly at her. She really is my family.
“And you have us,” Gabriel added. “I know we just met, and I know it’s weird. But I’m not leaving you.”
I looked at him confused, but happy. He was a stranger. But he didn’t feel like one. Neither did Nick. I felt like I knew them.
I smiled at both of them and let go of Gabriel’s hand.
“I don’t think I can explain what this means to me. I feel a lot stronger having you in my life. All of you,” I said, looking at Gabriel and Nick.
They both smiled brightly at me, and I couldn’t help thinking how handsome they both were.
“So, do you want coffee?” I changed the subject before I started crying.
I felt tears coming but I quickly blinked them away, gathering our plates from the table.
“Coffee is a great idea,” Annie said. “I will clean this up, Aria you make our coffee and you guys go to the living room and get started on those books.”
The guys nodded and got out of the kitchen.
I quickly made coffee while Annie cleaned, and we went to the living room carrying four cups.
“You went shopping?” Nick asked, gesturing towards the bags on the floor.
“Yeah. Aria needed some new clothes because she lost a lot in the fire, and I too wanted new clothes,” Annie said, sitting on a sofa.
I laughed. “I think you would be a little bit happy if you lost your clothes in a fire. It would give you an excuse to buy everything again.”
The guys laughed and she stuck her tongue at me.
“I am sad we didn’t get to buy anything for tonight, though,” she said.
“What’s tonight?” Nick asked, flipping through one of the books.
Gabriel handed me one and I looked at the title: “Brief history of witchcraft”.
“Oh, my friends Mike and Jack invited me and Aria over to hang out,” she smiled.
Nick and Gabriel both growled.
“Who are Mike and Jack?” Gabriel asked, annoyed.
“My friends. They are both vampires so don’t worry. It will be low-key. They know we can’t draw attention to ourselves,” she shrugged.
“I don’t want you to go,” Gabriel said, turning to me. He was angry.
“Yeah, I don’t think that is a good idea,” Nick added, clenching his fists, his muscles flexing.
I looked at both of them with a shocked expression on my face. Annie rolled her eyes, leaning back on her sofa, flipping through a book.
“I am sorry, but you don’t get a say in this,” I said quietly. “I am going.”
Gabriel took a deep breath trying to calm himself down. Why was he this upset?
“Aria, please. Stay home,” he said looking intensely at me.
“Why?”
“You don’t know these people. What if something happens?” Nick answered instead of Gabriel.
I looked at Annie, silently asking her to help me. She kept her gaze on the book with no intention of discussing this with them. I could see she was annoyed, though.
“Mike and Jack are Annie’s friends. I trust her. Besides, we are not going far. Mike lives just down the street,” I said calmly.
Nick and Gabriel kept quiet. But I could see they were both angry. Why did it bother them so much? They have only known me for less than 24 hours.
“Fine,” Gabriel grunted. “But you have to promise me something.”
I quickly nodded, eager to end this conversation.
“You will text me when you leave Annie’s house, when you arrive at Mike’s and then every half hour until you come home. Understood?” he said with a strict tone.
I gasped and Annie laughed out loud.
“Don’t you think that’s a little bit too much?” Annie asked.
“No, I don’t,” he said, turning to her. “She will do it, or she is not going. I will remain here as long as I need. Good luck getting past me.”
He glared between us waiting for an answer. Annie smirked and I tried to pull myself together.
“Fine, Gabriel. I will do it,” I said quietly, not understanding why.
Nick and Gabriel both smiled constantly.
We read those books in detail. We found nothing about any prophecy, nothing about any special witch or warlock, nothing about war with humans.
I was getting frustrated, and I could see annoyed looks on everyone’s faces. We were all hoping to find something.
“I think we can call it a day,” I said, closing my book.
“Yeah. It’s 6:20 pm and Aria and I have to get ready,” Annie said, getting up and stretching.
I heard a low growl coming from Nick. It was probably his wolf.
“I was hoping you would change your mind,” he said to me.
“Don’t start,” I sighed. “I already agreed to Gabriel’s crazy conditions, even though I don’t understand why he cares so much. Don’t make me regret it and go without telling you anything.”
“I care because you are fucking something to me,” he said, anger and pain in his voice.
I gasped and looked at him. I saw genuine concern for me. Behind anger and pain from my earlier comment.
I looked down at my hands, embarrassed.
“I am sorry, Gabriel,” I said quietly, not looking up at him. “I care about you as well.”
He grunted and got up. He took his books in his hands and went to stand by the front door waiting for Nick.
“Give me your phone,” Nick said. “You too, Annie.”
He typed his and Gabriel’s number on both of our phones and turned to Gabriel.
“Do you remember the conditions? If you break them, I will come to this fucker’s house and drag you home myself,” he said, glaring at me.
I quickly nodded, not wanting to anger him even more.
“Good. I will see you tomorrow. Bye, Annie,” he said, opening the front door and walking to his car.
“He is not mad at you, Aria,” Nick said quietly, placing his hands on my shoulder.
His touch sent pleasant shivers to my belly.
“He just isn’t good with handling his emotions. He really cares about you.”
I nodded. “Thank you, Nick. I will see you tomorrow,” I smiled slightly.
“Be careful. And call us if you need anything, okay? You too, Annie,” he said, letting go of my shoulders and walking to Gabriel’s car.
“Bye, guys,” Annie yelled after them and closed the doors.
I sighed and placed my head in my hands. What the hell was that?
