Emerald's POV
As I walked down the street I would flick my fingers on and off creating a small green flame to appear and then disappear again. I would be lying if I said I didn't take my time when walking home. I was nervous and jittery thinking about the fact that August was probably in my house right now.
I knew I would first have to apologize for running away when seeing him. Ugh. Thinking about how I reacted made me cringe. Maybe he didn't know it was me and thought I was just some weird waitress.
'Yeah, who just so happens to have the same colored eyes as the rogue he found? Keep dreaming.'
I rolled my eyes at Anala.
"He didn't find us. We found him, remember?" I said matter of factly.
'I remember just fine, thank you.'
I continued flicking my fingers on and off and a green glow would start and then die again.
When I came into my neighborhood I went the long way around and when I could see my house my heart started thumping. I stopped flicking my fingers and took in a deep breath as I went to the front door.
I opened it as slow as possible to try and be quiet. It was late, so I was hoping that if August was here that he'd be asleep. I tip toed in and slowly closed the door behind me and then locked it. My hands were vibrating and I tried to calm down so my heart beat wouldn't get too loud.
I couldn't smell anything besides Helen and that sick death odor she was giving off. If he was in here I wouldn't be able to smell him either way. I walked into the living room and looked around, but it was empty. I went into the kitchen and when the coast was clear there I let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't here.
A part of me was a little disappointed that he wasn't, but I knew deep down I wasn't ready to see him still. I went down the hallway and past the stairs to go check on Helen. The door was partially cracked and I pushed it open softly and snuck into the room. My eyes landed on her sleeping body and I watched her chest rise and fall a few times. I walked to my recliner, but froze when my eyes landed on the large man that was asleep in it.
He was still wearing his jeans and white shirt and it clung to his chest tightly. His eyes were closed and you could now see his scar fully. It was healed over and went all the way down from his eyebrow to the top of his cheek. His chest was rising and falling and I know I shouldn't have, but I took a step closer to take in his features more.
It was like he stepped right out of the past. He looked exactly how I remembered him and hadn't aged a bit. His hair was light and grey, it it was cut short and shaved down a little on the sides. His eyebrows were dark though and matched the stubble that was growing on his face. I tried to take in his scent, but just like every other guy, he smelt like nothing.
Suddenly his eyes snapped open and I jumped back away from him in shock. His bright white eye and dark blue one stared at me through the dark room and I could feel my heart about to beat out of my chest.
"I.. I'm sorry." I said and immediately turned away and fast walked out of the room and down the hallway. Well if he didn't think I was a freak before, he certainly does now.
I grabbed the rail to the stairs and was about to start walking up them when a large rough hand went over mine. I looked over and those mismatched eyes were back and I could feel my hand begin to heat up unwillingly. I quickly snatched my hand back worried that I would accidentally burn him.
I couldn't stop staring into his eyes and forced myself to take a step up the stairs to put some distance between us.
"Emerald wait. Look I know you hate me and I'm sorry if seeing me earlier upset you. I swear I didn't know you worked there... I should've called first.."
My eyes widened while listening to him ramble on and on with apologies, but my mind couldn't stop thinking about the first thing he said. I furrowed my brows at him and took a step back down and waved my hands up to get him to slow down.
"No..I'm sorry August. I'm sorry for so many things, but I'm mostly sorry for making you ever think that I hate you."
He stopped talking and closed his mouth shut and stayed staring back at me.
"I uh.." I looked away from him for a minute because his eyes were hard to look at for too long.
"I tried to hate you, but I couldn't. I was a dumb kid and just didn't understand. I know now why you did it though and I will always be grateful for you because of it. When I seen you at the diner.. I was just shocked I guess."
I mumbled my last sentence out and slowly looked back up to him. He was still staring and when I raised an eyebrow at him he blinked a few times and then ran his calloused hand through his silver hair.
"Can we talk and catch up some? Or are you too tired ?" He asked looking past me and up the stairs.
'We aren't tired in the least bit' Anala said almost purring.
"Shutup" I said back to her.
My mouth felt dry and I swallowed before shrugging my shoulders at him.
"Sure we can talk." I said and kept my eyes to the wooden floors and walked down from the steps and past him.
I went into the large living room and sat down on one of the couches where my helmet was. I sat it down on the floor and August went and sat on opposite end of the couch I was on and kept a good distance between us which I was thankful for.
I crossed my legs Indian style and faced him a little. My eyes went wide when I looked up to see him already staring at me. He quickly looked away and cleared his throat before moving his hand through his hair again. I smiled when seeing him do it. I still have memories of him doing that same nervous move often.
"So.. motorcycles huh?" He finally said in his deep voice and looked back up at me.
I let out a chuckle and nodded my head yes.
"Yup, Im a speed junkie." I replied with a cheeky smile.
I watched him smile back and look back down at his hands. His smile made him look more attractive and I felt my stomach get warm when seeing it.
"You always were the fastest." He said lowly almost as if he were talking to himself.
I bit my lip and started to slip my sneakers off and pop my toes. I figured a little nip of pain would help me swallow all these jitters I felt.
"I like what you've done to your hair. It suites you nicely."
He dropped his smile from my words and looked back up at me.
"Don't start. I look like an old man."
I laughed a little too hard and shook my head no.
"I mean it, you don't look like an old man at all. Besides I'd pick silver over gold any day."
I wanted to slap myself as soon as the words left my mouth. I was talking about jewelry, but realized it came out wrong.
Why did I just say that ?
He looked back up from his hands and a watched his lips turn up into a smirk at me. I flicked my eyes back down to my feet and tried to hide the embarrassment I felt.
"I'm sorry I didn't come sooner Emerald. I didn't know she was so sick or I swear I would've been here."
I looked back up at him and I could see in his face that he felt guilty. He was giving me those pity eyes that everyone else had been giving me lately.
"It's okay. Alpha Paul has been here to give me some breaks and Keith has been helping distract me. You should've seen me a few months ago.. I was a blubbering mess, but we have said our goodbyes already and I've come to terms with it."
It was true that I had already cried to Helen hysterically and told her how much I needed her still and that I wasn't ready to be without her. She said I was more then ready though and I made sure to tell her just how much she meant to me and how she I always saw her as my mother.
He didn't say anything for a minute and his face seemed to harden slightly.
"I'm glad you haven't been going through this alone." He said, but it didn't sound like he meant it.
I chocked it up to him just feeling guilty still and kept a soft smile on my face. I still couldn't believe he was here right now.
"It's good to see you again."
"It's good to see you too. You've changed.. some." He said and I saw his eyes linger down a minute and then look away to his hands.
Anala began to scratched and pace.
'He likes the way you look.' She said eagerly.
I ignored her comment and the feeling his look gave me.
"I haven't changed that much. I still don't brush my hair." I said while fluffing my frizzy curls up with my hands to show him.
He laughed and it was deep and rich. The kind of laugh that made it hard not to smile when hearing. It was when he looked his very best and I wished he would smile more.
"And still eating wild game." he added and my mouth dropped open in shock.
"How did you know that? I've been so careful!"
I leaned forward on the couch and pushed his large bicep playfully.
He chuckled again and left that smile on his face when looking at me. He shrugged his shoulders and crossed one leg over the other and when he didn't say anything back I realized he wasn't going to tell me.
I tried to think hard about how he could've known that with only being here today. My eyes roamed around the room and when they landed on the laundry room door it clicked.
"You've been snooping around haven't you?" I asked with a shocked expression when I remembered the clothes I hadn't washed yet.
His mouth went open slightly, but he quickly closed it and gave me a sly grin instead.
"Maybe." He said darkly and it made a chill run down my spine.
I laughed at him and leaned back against the couch. It was funny thinking about him looking around the house and finding my bloody clothes. Then I started thinking about where else he had looked around and I sat up straight and my eyes went wide at him.
"You didn't go in my room did you?"
His eyes went wider then mine and the smirk he had on was now gone. When he didn't reply my mouth dropped open again.
"You creep!" I yelled and jumped up and started slapping his arm hard.
He laughed and my hits obviously didn't do anything. He grabbed my wrist and pulled me back onto the couch to sit closer to him. I stopped trying to hit him immediately because his touch always seemed to make my body want to explode into a million fires.
He was still holding my wrist against his chest and looking straight into my eyes. I stared back as I was now stuck and completely immobilized by his stare.
"I missed you Emerald."
Why was his voice so.. enchanting? It just came out deep and raspy and I just wanted him to keep talking.
My heart began thumping hard in my ears and that weird warm feeling poured into my gut again. The only sound was our breathing and I realized I still hadn't said anything back.
"I missed you too August."