Chapter Nine: Guardian of Sleep

Author’s Note: Thanks to everyone who is still reading. I appreciate the support. I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Thanks to greyladyrvnclw for betaing!

--corruption and innocence--

Chapter Nine: Guardian of Sleep

Nicholas was blinded by the light. He had been lying next to Arabella, holding her.

“Mm!” Arabella shot up, shocked to find herself gazing at Lex, who was standing by the light switch with the most indecipherable expression on his face.

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t take advantage of our guest, Nicholas,” Lex drawled.

Nicholas rose from the bed. “I—”

Arabella smiled brightly. “He was guarding me in my sleep.”

Lex snorted. “If that's true, I’m crazier than you.”

“I prefer the term insane. It sounds more impressive.”

Lex regarded her for a few moments. “Oh, on second thought, you might want to stay and baby-sit her. She might set fire to the place.”

Bella rolled her eyes as he shut the door behind him.

She smiled at Nicholas. “Stop looking so guilty and come over here and kiss me.”

“You’re kidding. You’re going to get me in trouble.”

“What are you so afraid of? Lex? His disapproval?”

“He’s my boss.”

Bella snorted. “We both know that isn’t true. It’s because he’s your friend.”

“We aren’t considered friends anymore.” Nicholas’s whole body was stiff. Tension radiated out of him.

“All right. Down, boy, down!” She touched his wrist.

He groaned as he tugged her close and contented himself with just holding her there.

She sighed and ran her fingers through his hair. She grinned as he made a tortured noise.

“You are hilarious,” she murmured, leaning into him.

“You are beautiful.”

“You must have really low standards if you think that,” she murmured.

He took hold of her face. “You are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. Inside and out.”

He leaned forward to kiss her eyelids. In between kissing her face, he whispered reassuring compliments in her ear. “I love you,” slipped out in the process.

She didn’t respond. She allowed him to put his lips against her neck. She didn’t dare move. She liked the way his arms felt around her.

“Bella?” He removed himself from her. He studied her intently.

Nervously, she flicked a hair behind her ear. “Ah,” she tried to talk. Then she wrapped her arms around her self.

“You don’t need to act like you’ve never been around me before,” Nicholas stated.

“I know. It’s just weird. I’m not used to relationships and the l-word being thrown around. Work has ruled most of my life. After the attack, dating didn’t appeal to me. The thought of going out with anyone but Kate, Cole, or Tori still scares the heck out of me. I can’t function normally. I only pretend I can.”

“Bella, everyone has problems. We all pretend to be normal. You went through a traumatic event. It’s understandable that you still are affected by it.”

She eyed him. Then she sighed and threw her arms around him. “You’re too sweet and you’re supposed to the bad guy.”

“We really can’t leave you two alone,” Kate remarked from the doorway. She tipped her glass of milk while grinning. “You two make a cute couple.”

“Cute? I would have thought we were a hot couple,” Arabella teased. She hadn’t let Nicholas go.

“Fine. Gorgeous. Bella, are you going to come with us? All of us are escaping. Want to come with, Nicholas?”

“You can’t escape!” he exclaimed.

“Like hell we can’t.”

“It was stupid to tell him,” Bella stated.

“He would have found out eventually,” Kate mumbled defensively.

“I’m coming with you idiots.”

“You can’t!” Bella exclaimed.

“Why?” Kate and Nicholas asked in unison.

“Ah, just because.”

“You know something!” Nicholas exclaimed.

Kate sniffed. “Of course she knows something! Everyone knows something.”

“What do you know, sweetheart?” he asked quietly.

She rolled her eyes at his interrogation tactics. “Like I’d tell you.”

“Aww, you not as much as in love as I thought,” Kate mused. She swayed a bit.

“Man, are you drunk?” her friend asked.

“I had a headache and took some of your Tylenol.”

“That wasn’t Tylenol. It was prescription strength painkillers.”

“Oh.”

“You’ll be fine. You only took two, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“You just need to sleep it off.”

“I love prescription painkillers,” Kate said dreamily. “Why hadn’t you taken any? That whole bottle was full.”

“They mess with my mind. They make everything foggy and dull.”

“I think it feels wonderful.”

“I told you that it messes with people’s heads.”

Nicholas laughed.

“Who cares? As long as I feel this good, I’ll keep taking them.”

“You can’t, genius. They are my pills.”

“Oh, darn.”

“Exactly.”

“How are we escaping?” Nicholas asked.

“Uh, just walking out. Bella can hotwire the van or steal the keys.”

“Oh, really?” he remarked while giving Arabella a look that made her look down in guilt.

“It was just one of those things I picked up!” she finally exclaimed.

“Yeah, yeah, and what else did you pick up?”

“That list would take all day!”

--corruption and innocence--

Author’s Note: Nothing really happened in this one. Action should take place in the next one. I’m going to go get some sleep. I hope you enjoyed and are going to review.

Thanks to greyladyrvnclw for betaing!