I groan opening my eyes. Squinting at the blinding light filling my vision. Putting one hand in front of my eyes I put a shield in between. A wave of sharp pain flows into the corner of my head and I wince. Pulling myself up I realize I was laying on the couch of the office.
I fell asleep? Dante let me?...
And then everything came flooding back. I had fainted. My days at work just seemed to get more and more out of hand. An upbeat music flowed into my ears and I looked around. The view in front of me almost made me burst out laughing.
Dante was wearing a pink apron and was moving along with the beat of tone. I stayed very still and quiet hoping to not give away that I was awake. Smirking I picked up my phone from the coffee table in front of me. Making sure to turn off the sound and flash I focused on Dante. Once I got a good view of his face, I clicked. I saved the photo and texted to mom that I would reach home late then put the phone back down.
I'll blackmail him with this later
Slowly I make my over to the kitchen. I stand right behind Dante who had his back to me. He was mixing something in a bowl. Eggs?
I cough to catch his attention. He jumped at the sudden noise and the bowl from his hands flew up in the air. I watched in slow motion as the bowl tipped in the air and the mixture dumped onto his head. This time my laugh couldn't be contained. I burst out laughing. My sides starting hurting and I had to bend over and clutch my stomach to stop myself from falling to the ground.
After calming myself I looked up at Dante through my lashes. There he stood, no sign of laughter showed on his face. He had an annoyed expression set on and had his hands were crossed across his chest. But the egg dripping from the side of his head made another set of giggles to erupt from me.
"Okay, enough." He finally spoke turning back around.
"Aw, don't get mad Dante. I was messing with you." I said through a giant smile on my face in an attempt to stop myself from laughing. He turns back around while rolling his eyes.
His infamous smirk came back on." I see you're feeling better." I nod.
"I guess it was all the stress from the last couple of days..." Dante raised an eyebrow at his.
"Stress?" He asks.
"Yes, stress. I did just find out about demons and 'rouges' walking the earth. Not an everyday conversation to add to your daily life." I state. Dante smiles at this. Lately I had been getting him to smile more and it felt good. He was finally letting me in, even if it was one baby step at a time.
"I see your point." He dumps his head into the sink and turned the tap on. He picked up the dish liquid and pours it on to his head. I make a face at this.
After thoroughly washing his head in the sink he closes the tap and shakes his head to get rid of the water. The water splashes onto my face.
"Dante!" I glare at him as he smirks.
He shrugs, "It was because of you I got egg dumped onto me." He said calmly. I shake my head.
"What are you doing anyways?" I ask.
"Baking cupcakes." Was his simple answer. My eyebrows shot up.
"Dante Dimitri baking cupcakes? What has the world come to!?" Once again he rolls his eyes. A gentle smile appears on his face and when he spoke his voice and soft and kind.
"I promised to bake them for the kids at the shelter that I sometimes visit." My heart swells at this. Without giving it a second thought I walk on over, snatch the half empty bowl from out of his hands.
"I'll help. It'll be done faster with two set of hands anyways." I open the fridge and take out a carton of eggs.
"Do you even know how to bake?" He asks me.
"I should be asking you that?" I counter. He smiles and lifts up the whisk in his hands which was still dripping from access egg mix.
"I'm a professional." He smirks proudly. I giggle at this.
"Let's get started then," I beat the eggs which Dante was doing before. We worked in a comfortable silence before I decide to break it.
"Dante, can I ask you something personal?" I ask unsure.
He thinks for a second before nodding at me. "Shoot."
I smile. "About your family? Are they demons as well?"
His posture strickens and his eyes turn dark for a moment before he sigh and starts. "Yes, they are." I don't know whether to feel surprised or scared. Or both. I nod and kept silent hoping for him to go on.
"My dad as many of you know, died a little while ago." I nod. "He hated that he was a demon. Hell, he hated demons in general. According to my mom he wasn't like that before they got married. Even in his last days I never saw him around. Honestly, the last time I saw him was probably more than year ago, and that was because the school had summoned him due to the fact that I was acting out."
My heart tightened at his words and I couldn't help reaching out and holding his hand. I squeezed it for comfort hoping it would help. Sure enough he relaxed and gave me a grateful nod.
"To top it all of I have two other brothers who hate my guts."
My eyebrows furrow at this. "Why?"
A sad look crossed across his features. "They blame me for killing our mother." I barely stopped the gasp that was about to slip out.
"She died shortly after giving birth to me." His voice cracked at this.
I shifted a bit while moving my body to fully face him. He wore a saddened look and it almost broke my heart. Due to the height difference I tip toed and pulled him in by the shoulders. I wrapped my arms around him and just stayed there. At first he went rigid but then I felt him slowly, but surely wrap his arms around me. He held on tightly as if he was afraid I'd disappear from right in front of him.
I don't know how long we stayed like that. Seconds? Minutes? Taking a leap I broke the silence and said something that had been on the tip of my tongue.
"From what I've heard I don't think anybody's ever told you and I might not have the right to say this, but," I pulled away and held his face in between my hands. I looked straight into his eyes and spoke. "Your mothers death was in no way your fault. There was nothing you could have done about it. My dad always said, 'actions speak louder than words', but right now I'm telling you that words are all you need at the moment. And if you ever need someone to talk I'm always here."
I finish off hoping it would somehow ease his guilt. I was never good at this kind of stuff. Even when our dad died I barely found a way to comfort my own mother. But now seeing Dante vulnerable in front of me I couldn't just leave him. Especially after he shared his story with me.
At first he did nothing and I was afraid I'd stepped over a line I shouldn't have crossed. He then pulled me back into a hug. I stood frozen for a moment before wrapping my hands across his back. I heard him whisper, barely audible.
"Thank you, Laura." His voice cracked and I thought he was going to cry. After a moment he pulled away and smiled.
"Now, shall we finish these cupcakes?" I nod and smile back.
After finishing the batter we let it bake. For the meantime we sat down in the living room. After much protest, I made him watch Vampire Diaries with me. The beep of the oven startled me and I looked over at Dante and he nodded.
"Time to decorate." He said. I squealed and stood up. Walking over to the oven I pulled out the tray and let it cool. Dante on the other hand took out all the things to decorate the cupcakes with.
Finally I finished putting sprinkles on the last cupcake. I looked over at Dante and saw him in complete concentration. He had a cherry in his hand while he was hovering over the last cupcake he had left to decorate. He gazed at the cherry in an attempt to put in directly in the middle. I snicker at this. An idea formed in my hand. Going over to the counter I took a handful of flour and walked over to Dante. After finishing putting the cherry on top Dante turned around, just in time for me to throw the flour in his face. I giggle at his flour covered face.
"You want to play dirty?" His eyes sparked dangerously and I suddenly regretted throwing flour in his face. He put his hands in the sink and scooped up the last of the egg mixture. My eyes widened in panic and I tried to negotiate with him at the last minute.
"Dante don't do this. I'm sorry. But this is hardly fair. I threw flour on you and you want to throw eggs!" I said slowly, hoping for him to reconsider while backing away. He smirked evilly and my hope of negotiating shattered.
"You brought this on yourself Laura."
After that he was upon me. I turned around and ran to the living hopping on to the other side of the couch. I could hear him chuckling behind me. I on the other hand was scared out of my wits. Let's just say a demon chasing after you with dripping egg batter in his hands isn't something to be laughing about.
We circled around several times before he jump over the couch with ease. I screamed and was about to run the other way but was held in place as I felt a hand wrap me around my waist. He lifted me up in the air and smeared whatever of the batter that was left in his hand. I squealed and wretched in his arms.
I pushed my weight forward while he pushed back. His weight overpowering mine made us both topple backwards. I landed on top of him still laughing. I could feel his chest rumbling underneath me but then suddenly stopped. I looked up and saw him looking at me. Realizing the position we were in and how close our faces were, a blush started to creep upon my neck.
If I moved just an inch forward our lips would meet. The tension in the air crackled and I could feel the heat radiating from our bodies. Our momentary spell was broken from a sudden crash that came from the windows. We both pulled apart and faced towards whatever made the sound.
Dante's posture was now rigid and usual guard was back up. The window had been shattered. How they managed to do that to the 99th floor I had no idea. I gasp as I saw three figures fly in from the shattered glass of the window. They're eyes were black and I realized they were 'rouges'. Behind them a figure in a black robe entered alongside another hooded person. The person who was standing beside the black robe figure shot familiarity in me but I couldn't put my finger on where I knew him from.
Dante put his body in front of mine, shielding me from them, as well as blocking the view. To say he looked angry would be an understatement.
Then the person in the middle with the black robe who I assumed to be the leader turned towards Dante and spoke words that sent chills down my spine.
"Hello brother."