My parents don’t know the floorboards but I do. In the past months, I’ve learned which nooks and corners creak and which don’t. With the stealth of a ninja, I get downstairs, and then outside. I make sure I have the key with me so I can let myself in the morning. Hopefully, they won’t notice my absence. No one comes to wake me up. My alarm does the job, so the only thing I need to worry about is sneaking inside without them knowing.
Cold wind brushes past me and makes my bones shake. It’s late October and winter is around the corner. I’m excited about the chilly mornings, warm drinks and bundling up in scarves while watching my breath curl into the frosty air like little clouds. Autumn is my favourite season, but so is winter.
I tread down the empty road and spot a black car. Heath is leaned against it and looking up at the sky with a grave expression on his face.
I’m a couple feet away from him, but I don’t have to be close to him to realize that something about him is different tonight.
The sound of my footsteps makes his head turns in my direction. He abandons his spot and eliminates the distance between us. In a matter of seconds, he’s right in front of me and my personal space fills with the scent of his cologne.
I open my mouth to greet him but his lips shut it. He kisses me with a desperation that makes my body weak. It’s a miracle how I’m standing and not on the floor in a puddle.
Heath frames my hands in his hands as he kisses me longer and harder, setting my whole body on fire. The chillness in the night no longer affecting me, because I’m burning.
Only when my lips go numb, he pulls back and leans his head against mine.
“You’re here,” he whispers. His hot breath fans over my skin.
“I’m here.” I press my hands against his chest. Through the black hoodie, I feel his heart picking up pace. “We should leave before anyone sees us.”
He hums in response, but makes no move.
I tug on his hoodie and he slips his hands off my face and strides towards his car.
Opening the door for me, he helps me inside and then joins me.
I keep looking back and only once we leave my neighborhood, I let out a breath of relief.
“I’ll get you home soon,” he adds and then gets quiet.
Leaning my head against the headrest, I study his side profile. His sharp jaw is set in a line as if he’s tightly pressed his molars together. His eyes are fixed on the road and tonight there’s an edge in them. They remind of icy waters in the North.So cold that they’d cut you in half. I’ve never seen this look on him before. Annoyance, fury and softness are a few emotions that I’ve seen and come to like, but this new look worries me.
His knuckles turn white around the steering wheel.
I fidget with my fingers in my lap as I let him drive me to his secret spot.
Ten minutes later, we’re parked on the cliff. The whole town sleeps below us with only a few lights on. A quiet hangs in the air as if the whole world is resting and we’re the only ones awake.
We both sit in the car in uncomfortable silence and it gnaws me. The silence before has never bothered me. Even without asking I know something is on his mind.
Because I need you.
Something isn’t right.
“What are we doing here?”
Heath keeps staring out the window. It’s so dark outside you can hardly make out anything.
A minutes passes and he doesn’t answer and I start growing anxious.
“Did something happen?”
Heath releases a long breath before facing me. His eyes hold a distant look and his face is stern, no emotion flickering over. “My parents are home. I don’t know how to deal with that.”
The topic doesn’t surprise me one bit. In all the time I’ve known him, he’s told me so little how these people brought him into this world. I don’t know how they look like or what they are like. And I suppose it’s the same with Heath. These people are literal strangers to him.
“What do you feel for them?” I ask.
“Anger. There’s so much anger inside of me for them that I don’t know what to do with it. Whenever I see them or talk to them all I can remember is that they are the reason for my sister’s death. Maybe if they were here and kept an eye on uswe would’ve been able to save her.” He quietly adds, “But they weren’t and she’s not here anymore.”
