Six

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Caden's POV

A surprised reaction was expected.

A horrified one wasn't.

Perhaps that's why I was a bit taken aback when Skylar pulled open the front door of her house and stared at me with eyes so full of panic. Horror. Fear.

I suppose showing up here without announcing was a bit of a nasty move. But not nasty enough to make her look at me like that. I didn't even know why she looked so horrified. Before I could've asked her though, or said anything in particular, she pounced on me.

"Woah." I grabbed her waist, stumbling back a little. "Jesus, Sky--"

"Oh my God oh my God oh my God." She blurted out, sounding a whole lot relieved, pressing her face into my neck.

"Yes, I wasn't expecting such an enthusiastic reaction." I pulled her a little closer when I felt her trembling. Her heart was racing wildly. "What the hell is going on?"

"There was--Oh God, Caden." She pulled away just as hastily, grabbing my shoulders as if I wasn't already paying attention. The brown of her eyes looked just the same as the midnight sky above. "Someone was just here! They--he--was ringing the doorbell and banging on the door like crazy!"

I frowned a little. "I rang the doorbell, Sky."

"It wasn't you." She shook her head frantically, looking behind me and around the yard. "He had--He had a black hood on. You're not even wearing a hoodie. He was just here, right in front of the door, and God, I was terrified!"

I let her words sink in and all of a sudden, I wanted to punch something. Or someone. Instead, I just clenched my jaw and tried not to show it. This was getting out of hand, I thought. I hadn't expected--

"You didn't see anybody?" Her eyes darted behind my shoulder, and then to the left as if expecting someone to pop out of the bushes.

"No," I replied, steering her a little towards the door. Her grip on my shoulders didn't lessen a bit, but she let me pull her inside. "I just saw this on the grass. Must've fallen from the mailbox."

When I pulled out the small white envelope from my pocket, the one I'd seen lying just there on my way here, Skylar paled a little.

"What?" I asked.

She shook her head, her wide eyes still stuck to the envelope in my hand. "I'm not...I'm not opening that."

I frowned. "What's going on, Sky?"

It felt like ages until she finally pulled her gaze away from the envelope in my hand and looked back at me. Scared, she still looked scared.

I pulled her close when I couldn't help it. I couldn't ever help it when it came to her. Not when she'd been away for so long. I wrapped my arms around her and pressed a soft kiss on her hair.

"You're not telling me something."

Another beat of silence passed by before she vaguely nodded, making a tiny affirmative sound at the back of her throat.

I let a few silent seconds pass by before blowing out a sigh. Certainly not what I had expected from tonight.

"All right then." I closed the front door behind us. "Let's talk."

•••••

Skylar was the one who did most of the talking. I just listened. Or well, tried to.

"What happened to your hand?" I frowned and grabbed it, silencing her in between. There was a thin bandage around her palm, almost hidden by her atrociously red hoodie sleeve.

"Well--"

I snapped my gaze back to hers. "Did someone hurt you? Why the fuck didn't you tell me?"

Bloody hell, I thought. If only I could just punch something.

"It isn't--"

"Who did it?"

"Jesus Christ, Caden." She exclaimed out loud and flopped down on the couch, more so on me. I wasn't complaining. "If you cut me off one more time, I swear to God--"

"You'd what?" I raised a brow.

She muttered a series of obscenities under her breath, which I sort of had missed about her the most. That, and her fucking lips.

Since I really couldn't help it, I pushed her away a little to grab her face, angling it up to kiss her. She let me and I wanted to kiss every inch of her.

"Caden..." She breathed out, pulled away, and her brows furrowed a little. "Caden, you're distracting me."

I smirked at her, just because I could, and nudged her a little, sliding my hand under the hem of her hoodie and nearly groaning at the soft smoothness of her skin.

"Caden." She whispered, her eyes fluttering close when I kissed her jaw and her neck and every inch of her beautiful face.

"You're beautiful, Sky," I murmured and grazed my teeth right below her ear. She jerked a little, yanking me close in the process, and laughed as she pressed her lips on my own.

"I didn't know that." She pulled away and her eyes were smiling at me. So fucking better than the way she'd been looking at me a few minutes ago.

"That you're beautiful?"

"Well..." She trailed off.

"I wouldn't date you and love you if you weren't beautiful, Anderson," I told her, raising my brows for emphasis--if she needed one.

Her eyes widened a little, then she shook her head. "I still don't understand how you do that. Compliment someone and make them think it's an insult."

"It's a talent very few have."

She rolled her eyes and my gaze fell to her hand again. I held it between both of my own and raised a brow at her, waiting for her to start speaking.

"I ran into Mrs Marshall's dog. He kinda tripped me and there was this pot behind me, because you know, there are flower pots outside a flower shop. Mrs Marshall's a florist. Anyway, he tripped me, I tripped the pot, and I also got my hand cut from one of those pieces." She stopped for a moment, cheeks reddening a little. "Apparently, Mrs Marshall's dog loves anything red."

I blinked at her, then my eyes fell to her hoodie. She tried shoving me when I huffed a laugh.

"Yes, it was embarrassing, Caden. No need to throw it in my face."

"I thought that's what boyfriends do."

"Horrible boyfriends, you mean."

I pulled her closer by her hips. "I can assure you I'm not so much of a horrible boyfriend." And since I'd been yearning to do this the moment she left town, I pushed her down on the couch and crawled over her with a mischievous grin. "Or show you, for that matter."

Her eyes went a little wide and I watched her swallow. Fuck, I thought. Perhaps this night wouldn't be so boring after all.

"Wait." She blurted out before I could've done anything, then covered her face with her hands, groaning out loud. "Fuck, Caden. This isn't...why do you do this?"

"Do what?" I know I sounded smug since she glared at me.

"I can't...I thought we were going to talk, but now you're...you're..." She trailed off helplessly.

"I'm what?" I loomed over her, waiting.

"Making me..." She trailed off again. It would've been pathetic if it wasn't so bloody endearing.

"Yes?"

"I want you to kiss me." She breathed out.

I grinned and dipped my head to the side, tugging onto her hoodie and placing a soft kiss near her collarbone. I could've felt the shudder that left her lips.

"And...and I want you." She whispered. "But...we were talking about those letters."

"Mhm." I sucked right there and the quiet needy moan that escaped her made me want to do real bad things. To her.

"This wasn't--fuck." She swore, trembling and needy and so fucking hot. "This isn't the first...letter."

I stopped abruptly and pulled away, frowning. "What?"

She blinked opened her eyes and they slowly darted across my face. "Um, what what?"

I pulled her up, a bit disgruntled and a whole lot furious, as I asked her again. "Not the first letter. Why did you say that?"

"Oh." She whispered, licking her lips and looking over at the closed white envelope that I had placed on the coffee table in front of us. The one Sky had refused to open. "That's what I was telling you before. Weren't you listening?"

"Not really."

She rolled her eyes and huffed, pulling away a little and clearing her throat. "I got a letter back at my apartment in Pennsylvania. It wasn't a threat, per se, but...it kinda was."

Dragging a hand through my hair, I let out a frustrated sigh.

I should've seen this coming.

"There was also this thing that happened." She said and continued telling me about the supposed break-in in her apartment. When she finished, she stared at me and must've seen the scowl on my face. "You believe me, don't you?"

"Why wouldn't I?" I asked her.

Instead of replying, she sagged back against the couch--probably wondering how the hell had she ended up between this all over again.

I tried, I had tried every fucking thing to keep her out of it. Keep her out of all the messes I made. But I'd failed. What would've happened if I hadn't come here on time? That hooded guy on her front door might've broken in. She could've--

I slipped my arm around her waist and tugged her against me, trying to reassure myself more than her.

"I even called the police that day." She murmured against my chest. "They all thought I'd gone crazy. Nobody believed me. Except for Chicken."

I looked over and saw Chicken circling a cushion on the floor. It was bloody unbelievable that I kind of missed her cat too.

"Your cat is crazy," I told her, nuzzling my head in the crook of her neck. I felt her relaxing against me. "And I still think you could've named her a bit better, Anderson."

That got a laugh out of her, mostly muffled against my shirt, and I relaxed a little too.

"How did you know I was back, though?" She asked. "Did Mom tell you?"

A small shiver went through her when I brushed the tip of my nose along the soft skin of her neck. "No," I said.

Maybe I should tell her, I thought.

"How come you knew I was here then?"

Inhaling a deep breath, I pulled away and looked at her. "Kyle told me. He's--"

This must've been the thousandth time her eyes widened.

"Kyle?" The way she said his name told me there was a lot more to it than just that. She knew him.

Going to Pennsylvania to meet his sister, I recalled him saying. What the fuck was he even doing around Skylar?

"You know him?" She asked, her eyes still wide. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't think it was necessary." I tipped my head back against the couch, looking up at the ceiling.

"How do you know him? Is he your friend? I've never seen him here before? Is this some sort of a gang thing? Is he dangerous?"

I nearly grimaced at her line of questions.

"He's in the gang...for the moment," I said.

"Your gang?" She gasped out loud.

I looked at her with a frown. "Just stay away from him, okay? I'll make sure to remind him that too."

"But...why is he in your gang?" She asked, her eyes begging me for answers. I bristled a little and looked away. If I gave her answers, what was to say there won't be any consequences?

"I need him for stuff."

"Stuff?"

"He used to be in the East gang. With Blake. So...he's been useful." I tried explaining.

"This is about Blake's disappearance?"

Not exactly.

"Yes." I nodded in response.

She still didn't seem satisfied. "What if this is him, Caden? What if Blake is doing this? These letters? The break-in at my apartment?"

I opened my mouth then closed it shut when I didn't exactly know what to say. It wasn't Blake, I wanted to say. But I didn't know how.

"You shouldn't worry about that," I said, instead.

"But what if--"

"Sky," I repeated, cutting her off. "I said don't worry about it."

A look of annoyance passed over her eyes. "Oh, come on. You can't possibly expect me not to worry about this, Caden. You know when something nags me, I have to know more about it, and you clearly know more about it, and...who do you think I am?"

Despite the situation, a small smile tugged at my lips. So fucking crazy, I thought, and I love her so much.

"My girlfriend?" I suggested.

"Caden--"

"Sky--"

"No, shut up!" She exclaimed in frustration and shoved me away. I was quick to snake an arm around her and yank her with me, tumbling down the couch and landing on the floor with her on top of me. Nearly straddling me. Which really wasn't a problem.

"This is it, Caden. I swear to the fucking Lord, you irritate me so much and this is officially the endpoint of it all." She scowled down at me. I smirked in response and I knew it'd make her even more exasperated. The more the merrier.

"God, you are insufferable and annoying and--"

"Your boyfriend?" I asked before leaning up a little and placing a soft kiss on her cheek. She frowned, her lips parting and closing shut, before groaning out loud.

"Why can't you just give me a straight answer?" She asked.

"Because I'm saving it all for later." Which was kind of the truth.

Skylar frowned and looked away.

I grabbed both sides of her face and made her look back at me. "There's nothing wrong, okay? Everything's perfectly fine."

She blinked and I saw it in her eyes. The uncertainty. I would've told her, I would've told her everything, but I couldn't. I didn't want to ruin things when they were finally starting to go well.

"What if you're lying?" She asked me in a whisper.

I didn't answer her. Mainly because I'd be lying again if I answered that question.

So I just pulled her towards me and kissed her.

__________

caden and his lies istg
Xx.


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