Tess leaned against the counter in the kitchen, breathing hard and sipping her bottle of water. She was going over the sparring match in her head, trying to see where she could have reacted differently, what she could have done better. Tess hated fighting, she hated violence in general but something about fighting Dante made her feel sick every time. Him coming at her like that made the girl want to drop to the floor and curl up in a ball until he stopsped. She would never admit that to him, though, so she kept her thoughts to herself despite the ominous thunder that added background to her brooding scene in the kitchen.
Dante came through the entryway wiping at his hair with a towel and rubbing the mud off his arms before hooking the towel over his neck and letting his hands hold onto the ends so they rested over his chest. He leaned against the doorframe, watching his friend as she stared at the floor as if it were some window to another world. She was doing well, by whatever standard he knew to judge in a situation like theirs. Knowing his friend, however, Tess was holding up better than well. She looked up at him, taking in a breath as if he had startled her and he shoved off the wall with his shoulder and crossed the room to stand next to her as she smiled softly.
“So, did I give you at least one bruise this time?” She asked furrowing her brows at him.
He grinned and shook his head. “Nope, maybe next time.” He didn’t miss the bruises he had left, however and he cleared his throat before chugging a mouthful of water. “Why don’t you go get changed? I was thinking we’d head into town and pick up a few things and maybe catch a movie.” He tilted his head to one side, making sure he looked her in the eyes so he didn’t have to see any more of her bruises. Lilly’s eyes widened in surprise at the suggestion. He never suggested going out. They never did anything other than run and hide out. This whole trip. He was always saying how they had to stay out of site.
“Yeah, well, you’ve already got the town alerted to us being here. If you sweet-talked the diner, we might as well have one easy day before we have to take off again, right?” He grinned and winked as she smiled and threw her arms around his neck, hugging her with one arm. He patted her back and she released him, pulling back to look at him.
“I’m gonna get cleaned up and I’ll be right back.” She assured him as she ran for the bathroom and her duffle. Soon he heard water rushing in the shower and Tess’ off key, too loud singing and he winced. If only he could give her singing lessons too. Tess often sang when she was thinking or distracted as if it helped her thoughts sort themselves out, and if he caught her singing then she sounded nice but when she sang in the shower...he cringed and went to his room to change his own clothes.
Nearly two hours later, Tess emerged from the bathroom dressed in a nice pair of jeans, a long sleeved t-shirt and a long, thin cotton scarf draped loosely around her shoulders. Her hair was a combed to one side and hanging long around her face and neck. She looked around for Dante, listening for him to see if he was anywhere nearby as she walked through the house. She went through every room and with each one coming up empty, her smile faded. She looked out a window at the car sitting in the front of the house and seeing it empty, Tess felt her heart begin to race.
“Dante?” She called quickening her pace to look out back where they had practiced. Just as she came to the back door Dante was coming in and she nearly collided with him.
“Woah, easy. What’s wrong?” He asked in concern. She put a hand over her heart and leaned forward a little.
“Nothing, you just got even with me.” She mumbled. Dante laughed outwardly and put an arm around her shoulders, pulling her into a hug. Outwardly. But not inwardly. Inwardly he hated this. He hated that they were scared senseless anytime they were apart, unable to know if the other was alive or dead.
“Don’t worry, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” He joked as he gave the top of her head a quick kiss. Then, rubbing one of her arms roughly, “Come on, we need to buy me a pair of shades and I checked the paper for movie listings. There’s a showing in half an hour of that new action film you saw on a billboard one town over.” He released her and stepped passed her to head down the hall, walking backwards. “Oh, hey-you re-colored your hair!” He made his face light, but he secretly hated it. It wasn’t that the dark brown looked bad on Tess, he just preferred her natural color. They really had become entirely new people in just a few short weeks. He turned before she could see him frown and grabbed their jackets, handing Tess hers before opening the front door for her to pass through. She slipped her jacket on, slipping under his arm and between him and the door, embarrassed by how quickly she had let herself get flustered. |
