Chapter 16: Confused Mischief

Dante held me closer, squeezing me so tight as if he could absorb my pain and grief. I knew my tears were staining his shirt, but, at that moment, I didn't care. As selfish as it sounds, I didn't care about anything except for the fact that my ex has hurt me. He's hurt me over and over and over. So much pain and so many secrets. How was I supposed to feel but hurt and lost?

Dante was rocking me back and forth, the way you did when you were comforting a crying child who has awakened from a terrible dream. "It's okay, Allegra. Please. Just stop crying. Ssh. Ssh. It's okay."

I looked up at him, gazing at the gorgeous, distant look in his eyes. For some, unknown reason, my face heated up, embarrassment settling in my bones. He was very attractive, but could he really be a demon? He acted nothing of the sort. Shouldn't demons be aggressive devils who want to kill anything and everything in their path? But he-

"What?" he said, finally spotting my gaze upon him. His hair kind of blew in the wind as he looked at me, kind of the way a man's would if they were trying to charm a woman (cuz the wind always seems to work with the man who's trying seduce the innocent woman).

My face heated up further, looking away from him. "Oh...uh, it's-it's nothing. Really."

He smiled light, barely recognizable. "Are you feeling alright? Your face is kind of pink." He lifted his hand and lightly caressed my rosy cheeks.

Which just made made me blush more. "I'm fine. Really. But...um..."

"What is it?" he asked, suddenly curious.

I looked down, watching my hands as I fidgeted. "Well...it's about earlier. After Aiden got punched."

He sighed. "Oh."

I looked up at him. "Why did you run off? I mean, all I wanted was for you to apologize to Aiden. He was the  victim."

He unraveled his arms from my embrace, standing up. He didn't say anything, just let his mind wander as he looked into the distance.

I just sat there, gazing at his dark silhouette. "Dante..."

He probably didn't hear me, because all he did was continue to stare. After a moment of silence, he sighed. "You would never understand." And, with that, he spread his wings and flew, further and further away.

I sat there, contemplating his strange words. What wouldn't I understand? Why he didn't apologize? Well that's just odd. I would so understand if he'd just tell me. Ugh!

I heard a door open, and I looked behind me. Micah was standing there, staring at me from the roof door. "Hey, are you okay?"

I nodded, standing up. "Yeah...I'm fine. Now, anyways."

Micah smiled slightly, walking over to me. He grabbed my hand  and faced me. "Good. It was hard to see you cry."

I smiled. "You're sweet."

He smiled a bit wider. "I try," he teased. Then his face turned serious. "But...about earlier...there had been something we wanted to talk to you about."

I nodded. "Oh! Yeah, Kain told me about that. What is it you wanted to talk to me about?" I leaned up towards him a little, earnest.

His face got slightly pink, but he continued on. "Well, we were going to give you the news about Jaun...but he ruined that."

"Yeah, don't remind me," I grumbled.

He ignored me. "But that wasn't the only reason. We also were going to talk to you about some new guest that are coming to stay with us for awhile."

"What about them?"

"Um, well...they're not exactly...normal."

I giggled. "Nothing about Rivara is exactly normal."

He smiled. "That's not what I meant."

I smiled. "Oh. So, what did you mean?"

"I meant that they can be real pains. They flirt with any girl they see and you have to be careful."

My eye brows scrunched. "Are they those flirts who touch girls like perverts?"

He shook his head. "Well, no..."

"Then, why do I need to be careful?"

He smiled patiently, caressing the cheek that Dante had just been touching. "It's because you're the prettiest girl ever in Rivara."

I blushed, looking away.

"Wait..." Micah said, moving my face back toward him.

His gaze bore into mine, making me blush even more. His gorgeous eyes had a twinkle that anyone could fall in love with. "What is it?"

He smiled, taking a deep breath. "I just want to try--"

He was cut off by a huge crash coming from down stairs. Our heads snapped toward the door, confused. Aiden was bounding up the stairs, and so Micah took a step back. I wonder why, though?

"Umm, Micah?" he said, hesitant.

Micah sighed. "What is it?" He looked very frazzled.

Aiden sighed. "Our honored guest have arrived...and have already made a mess."

Micah sighed again. "I'll go clean it up and give them a warning. Keep Allegra company until I tell you to come, okay?"

Aiden nodded. "No problem."

Micah smiled at me once more, then exited the roof.

I looked out over the horizon. More boys around...jeez. More testosterone-filled air to breathe. The only decent one around this place is Aiden really. He's such a sweet heart.

"Um...Allegra?" Aiden said, a bit shyly.

I smiled. "Yes, Aiden?" I turned to look at him and was cut off guard by how close he is.

The last thing I saw before it happened was how red his cute face was.

Aiden kissed me, his fingers wrapping around my wrist so that I was caught in the shocked embrace. My eyes were wide as found myself kissing him back. Is this really happening? It can't be...can it? His eyes were closed as he tried to deepen the kiss, and mine were beginning to close, too.

We stayed like that for a long moment, until finally he began to pull away. Pecking me a few times for a last taste. No words were said as we opened our eyes to gaze into one another's. We just stared for awhile.

"Okay, Aiden! You can bring Allegra down!"

Aiden smiled, squeezing our now-entwined hands. "I've been wanting to that for awhile."

"But...Aiden--"

He pressed his fingers to my lips. "Ssh, Allegra. We'll talk about it later. I know you probably didn't want to be kissed by me...but I just wanted to see." Then, without another word, he smiled and began to drag you to meet the new guest.


When we got to the living room, I noticed that Jaun was there, brooding. Brooding in the way that I used to find adorable, staring out the window. My shattered heart still skipped a beat in the memory.

When I entered the living room fully, Jaun looked at me. He smiled slightly to reassure me that he was okay now, but it didn't help my unease. He patted the empty seat next to him, and Aiden made his way over to lead me over there.

I didn't particularly want to sit next to Jaun, but now that I knew what was wrong with him, I had to give him just a bit of forgiveness...even if he had meant what he'd said. I gave him forgiveness...becaus a part of me still loved him.

Aiden was sitting on the other side of me, his thumb massaging my resting hand, while Jaun snaked his arm around my waist. I had thought that Aiden was going to say something, but he didn't. He's a sweet guy, after all.

"So, Allegra...these are our guests. Ash and Ari," Micah said in an introduction.

I looked away from Jaun and up to mysterious look-alike boys.

"Ah, you must be the wonderful Allegra we've heard so much about!" The one on the left said. Their arms were sort of hooked together, giving me the impression that they were very close.

"Say, you are much more beautiful than what was described to us." The one on the right said. He gave Micah a knowing look. "Did you tell us all that so that we would get bored and uninterested? That's not an angelic thing to do, ya know!"

Micah scratched his head nervously. "What did I tell ya, Allegra. Complete flirts."

I smiled. "They're not as bad as you described."

They walked over to Micah, each hooking an arm around his neck. "Aw, were you talking about us? You know how we feel when you do that." They said in unison.

Micah rolled his eyes.

They moved away from Micah and made their way over to me. They both offered their hands in greeting. "I'm Ari." The one on the right said.

"And I'm Ash." The one on the left said.

I smiled, shaking their hands. "It's nice to meet you."

"And you as well," they said, again, in unison.

I smiled wider at them, loving their care free attitude already. But, apparently, Jaun didn't. His hold on my waist tightened, and the twins noticed.

"Jeez, Jaun. What was that about?" Ari said.

He shrugged and played innocent. "What are you talking about?"

"What? Is she your mate or something?" Ash asked, seeing through his innocent game.

Jaun tightened his hold even more, smiling. "In fact, she--"

"He is my ex. Nothing more, nothing less," I said, removing his hand away from my hips.

"Ex, huh?" Ash said.

"Why ex? Jeez, Jaun. What did you do to get rid of her?" Ari continued.

Jaun didn't say anything. He simply looked away, sinking back into his depressed state.

The twins looked from Jaun to me for an explanation. But all I could say was, "It's in the past now. No need to worry about it any longer."

The twins both scratched their heads, causing the green hat they were wearing to fall to the ground, exposing the adorable little brown ears to be shown.

I started in surprise. "Wha--"

The twins looked from the hat to my shocked face. "Oh. They didn't tell you? We're Neko's."