A Rose as Black as your Heart

(42) Rain

Chapter 42

I woke up early the next morning, probably due to the fact that I was curled up tightly and squished uncomfortably into the side of an armchair. Daniel’s dark hair tickled my face, and every time he drew in a deep, slow breath, his shoulder would rise and fall against mine.

I shifted a little, and gave Daniel a prod. “Daniel,” I hissed. When he didn’t respond, I poked him again, harder. “Daniel.”

The guy was completely dead to the world – but a glass of water to the face was surprisingly efficient at waking him up.

“Bloody hell,” he mumbled, blearily jolting up right. The sudden extra space allowed me to move my shoulders and get the blood flowing in them again.

“Good morning to you, too,” I said fondly.

Daniel turned to face me, blinking as water dripped from his hair. “Did you just throw water in my face?”

“You weren’t waking up,” I said defensively. I stretched my arms like a cat and yawned. “And you were kind of squishing me.”

“You could’ve poked me.”

“I tried,” I said, face deadpan. “But you’re like a stone. Immovable and really heavy.”

Daniel snorted and pushed me lightly before leaning back into the armchair. “What time is it?”

I glanced at my clock. “About seven. Matt will be up in ten.”

“Hmm. Guess I should get going, then.” He looked kind of depressed about it, which was a nice ego booster.

“You’re definitely not coming into school today?”

“Not a chance.” Daniel smirked at me. “What if I accidently off the headmaster? It would be a tragedy.”

I grinned and pushed his shoulder playfully before leaning back against him. He picked up my hand and tangled our fingers together. “I wish I could stay with you.”

“Yeah, well, you should probably get an education instead of slacking off with your waster boyfriend. Unless you really are considering Burger King as on option, obviously,” he added blandly. I snorted a laugh.

“Can I see you after?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “I’ll be in my garage, probably.”

I frowned slightly. “Don’t your family... I don’t know, try and help you?”

“No. Because there’s nothing worth helping.” He shifted slightly, and I could feel how uncomfortable he was on the subject. “I don’t want to talk about my family.”

I curled my legs up against his. “Yeah? What do you want to talk about, then?”

He smirked, a cocky tilt of his mouth that made my heart flounder for a second. “Talking wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“Cocky Brit,” I mumbled, but I didn’t exactly complain when he pressed his mouth to mine.

Kissing Daniel always reminded me of that feeling you get when you drink a hot drink too fast; scalding heat, burning warmth so intense it’s almost painful coursing past your lungs and heart until it reaches your stomach, and then that deep, golden comfort as its warmth fills every cell of your body. His hands moved to my waist, brushing the strip of skin between my shirt and PJ bottoms ever so lightly, and I shivered slightly, moving closer to him.

“Alexis! It’s quarter past! Time to get up!”

I pulled back hastily at the sound of Matt’s voice, my lips tingling. “Okay, okay!” I called back, and then slid off Daniel’s lap with a sigh, pulling my hand away.