by J B Heller
Kade was standing close to him, ready to make him leave if I said so. He was watching me, waiting for me to give the word. “Pix, if you want him gone, it’s done.”
I swallowed past the lump of emotion in my throat and shook my head. “No, it’s okay. He can stay.” My words were a mere whisper, but it was enough for Kade to relax his tense stance.
Kade gestured to the single couch against the opposite wall with his head. “You can take a seat over there.” Then he turned back to me again. “Do you want Piper and me in here with you, or in the next room?”
My eyes still hadn’t left Jake’s. He hadn’t changed. He was still my Jake. My eyes began to water, but Kade took it as a bad sign. He tensed again, ready to show Jake out. That’s when I spoke up. “I’ll be all right. You two can go. I’ll let you know if I need you.” I finally looked away from Jake and made eye contact with Piper. “Thank you,” I whispered to her, and wrapped her in a grateful hug. She returned it, then kissed my head and walked out of the lounge area with Kade close behind her, leaving Jake and I alone.
My hands were shaking so hard I had to shove them in my pockets to hide them. I sat on a couch opposite Tia, waiting for her to say something, anything. I was dying to hear her beautiful voice again. When she had told her friends I could stay it was a quiet whisper, but it was Tia’s, my Tia’s, voice. I sagged, relieved that she wasn’t throwing me out.
We sat silently for a few more moments, just looking at each other. Today she had all of her hair pulled back in a braid that fell down her back. She wore long black yoga pants and what looked like a band t-shirt called Power Station. I wondered if they were her clothes; they didn’t look anything like the other clothes I’d seen her wearing.
Her eyes flicked over my body, taking me in. It was like she was checking if it was really me. I let her look. It felt so good to have her eyes on me again.
“What do you want?” she finally spoke.
I took a deep breath to steady my nerves before I replied. “Answers.”
“Does my family know where I am?” she asked.
I reared back, I couldn’t believe she thought I would betray her like that. “No. No one but me. I left about a year after you disappeared. I went looking for you. I looked for a long time, Tia-”
She cut me off before I could finish talking. “Don’t call me that. Tia is dead and gone. My name is Pixie.”
I nodded my understanding. The wings, the ears, the hair and clothes, it all made sense. “Okay.”
“And now that you’ve found me, what do you want with me, if not to take me back?” She was so guarded. I guess I understood that.
“I had actually stopped looking. I’m a bit of a drifter now, floating from one place to the next. I found you by chance. I stopped at a little grocer to get some supplies last week and I saw you. I didn’t want to frighten you so I kept my distance. But I couldn’t stay away, Ti— I mean Pixie. Sorry, that’ll take a bit of getting used to,” I explained the best I could.
A small smile touched her lips for the first time since I entered the room, but it vanished quickly. “Do you still have contact with the family?”
“No, none. I haven’t seen or heard from any of them in years. I severed all ties, I’ve been on my own going on ten years now.” I didn’t want her to think there was any chance they would find her. It was a valid fear, one I lived with myself.
“How do you know they’re not watching you?” she pushed.
“I’m a third son, I’m not needed. They have two others to take over the family business. I wasn’t even a spare. I was an unnecessary third wheel. You know that, T— ah, Pixie.” Maybe she’d forgotten? Maybe she blocked out everything we had lived through.
I watched her silently, waiting for her next question. “What do you want to know?” she asked. Her voice was soft and she her arms were wrapped around her legs.
“Anything, everything. I—” swallowing past the lump of emotion in my throat, I squeezed my eyes closed and took a deep calming breath, “I want to know you.” When I opened my eyes again, hers were watering; it was easy to see she was holding back her tears.
“What do you want to know about me? You already know me like no other,” she answered.
“No, I knew you. I don’t know you now. Who is Pixie? I want to know her. Is she as spirited as Tia was? Does she care for me the way Tia did?”
Tears slid down her cheeks as I spoke, but I couldn’t stop that last question from coming. I had to know, did she still care for me at all? Or was I another part of her past she wanted to forget?
She slowly got to her feet, walked over to the couch I was sitting on, and knelt before me. Her delicate hands rested on my knees as she took a steadying breath, then looked up into my eyes. “Tia Malone died twelve years ago, but from her death Pixie Cole was born. I am strong, independent, guarded, and right now, I’m afraid. I’m afraid of everything I feel when I look at you. I haven’t allowed myself to feel for another person since I ran away and left you behind. You were the only good thing in my life, and it tore me apart having to leave you behind.”
My heart was in my throat. I slid from the couch to the floor where she knelt. I had to touch her. My hands gently caressed her cheeks as I held her face and pulled her lips up to mine. I kissed her with everything that was burning up inside of me. And just like that, I had my Tia back in my arms, where she belonged.
Jake held me to his chest, his arms wrapped around me like a vice. I was safe, I was where I was always meant to be. Jake had been the love of my life, the only way I could survive without him was to block him out completely. But now, it all came rushing back. Every time he touched me, my skin tingled. Every time his eyes were on me, I could feel it. Jake made me feel alive.
I snuggled into his broad chest. “I missed you, Jake.”
“I missed you too, sweetness,” he murmured against my hair.
I had forgotten his pet name for me. I preferred it over my old name. I had been named after my grandmother; she was every bit as sick and twisted as my parents were. When he called me Tia earlier, my skin crawled with repulsion.
Jake rearranged me in his lap and leaned back against the couch for support, his arms still tightly wrapped around me as if he thought I would disappear again. “Let’s start small. Why the name Pixie?” he asked.
“You know I always wished I could just fly away. Pixie was a better choice than Fairy, Butterfly or Bird.” I shrugged as I gave him my explanation.
He nodded. “I remember.” His long fingers played with the end of my braid. “I like your hair long like this,” he said.
“Yeah, me too. I always liked long hair, but so did my parents. That’s why I cut it all off.”
His big, beautiful smile stretched across his face. “I know that too. Tell me something I don’t know.” His hand came up to touch my ears. “What about these ears?”
I pulled away from his touch and swallowed down yet another lump in my throat. Now was as good a time as any to tell him. It would be hard, but I knew he was here because he wanted to be, because he still cared for me. I could feel it in my gut. I owed him the truth.
“You remember the day I disappeared, I had a date the night before—I didn’t stop to look at him, I knew he remembered by the way his body tensed around mine. I continued on, I had to get it all out at once or it wasn’t going to happen. My body broke out in a cold sweat as the memory assaulted me—“with Vince. He liked to hurt me. It was never anything obvious, but that night things changed. He didn’t like my new earring, the one at the top outside edge of my ear. So he—” squeezing my eyes to stop more tears from falling, I breathed in and out through my nose, “—he cut if off.”
“Are you frigin’ kidding me!” Jake’s voice boomed through the lounge room, causing Piper and Kade to come rushing back in.
Their eyes widened seeing us sitting together on the floor. “Are you all right, Pix?” Piper asked.
I nodded. “I’m fine.” Jake, however, was not. I cou
ld feel his body shaking beneath me from pent-up rage.
Piper eyed us suspiciously, particularly the way Jake’s arms were holding me so tightly. “You’re sure?”
“Yeah, Piper, I just told him something upsetting. I’m okay.” Kade still glared at Jake, I’m not sure why. But after Piper whacked him in the chest he followed her out of the room.
Turning back to face Jake, I placed my hands on his heaving chest. “I’m okay now, Jake, I promise.”
His eyes were glazed over. He cupped my cheeks in his large palms. “I’m sorry. I should have protected you. I’m so, so sorry, sweetness.” His forehead pressed to mine as a single tear slipped down his cheek. I wiped it away with my finger, then snuggled back into his chest. Holding me had always soothed him, and it soothed me too.
“That night, for the first time ever, I fought back. He had put the knife down on the table beside me, along with the piece of my ear he had just severed off. He turned his back to me, he wasn’t expecting me to fight back. I wrapped my shaking fingers around the hilt of the knife. I moved fast, I had to. He turned around when he heard the blade scrape across the timber as I picked it up. His smile was sick and sadistic. He was excited. I lunged for him, he hit the ground, and I watched the blood pool around his still body. I didn’t stop to check if he was still alive. I just ran. I wanted to go back for you, Jake, but I knew when they realised I was gone they would be watching you.”
When he spoke his voice was soft but deadly. “You didn’t kill him. Your father did. By letting you escape, Vince cost your father more money than he ever made him. I wish he were still alive so I could kill him myself.”
I shook my head, “No, Jake, you don’t want his filthy blood on your hands.”
He didn’t speak for a while after that. We just sat there, wrapped up in each other.
Jake broke the silence some time later. “So what about your other ear? It’s the same.”
“I waited about a year then found a plastic surgeon, and had him match them up. I figured I would take the scars my twisted life had given me and turn them into something of my choosing.”
“They actually suit you.” One side of his mouth lifted in a half-attempt at a smile. “But I really did like that piercing.”
“I know. But Jake, I should have come back for you. I’m so sorry. Leaving you behind was the hardest thing I have ever done. You were the only person in the world who gave a crap about me, and I left you behind. I will never forgive myself.” A sob broke free from my lips.
“Shh, sweetness, you couldn’t have come back for me. You know that. If there had been a way for us to stay together, I know you would have found it. I don’t blame you for taking your chance to run.” He pulled my face up to his again, so his blue depths met with my green ones. “You did the right thing,” he said with conviction.
I knew I had, but hearing him say it made it easier to accept. I nodded, then moved closer to him; I had to feel his lips on mine again. When our lips met it was soft and gentle. His tongue slid against my bottom lip, sending a shiver down my spine. Only Jake had ever affected me like that.
When we came up for air, his love for me was written all over his face. I stroked his cheek. “We’re going to have to start all over, Jake. I’m not the girl you knew. And you’re definitely not the boy I left behind. I want to go slow. I want to know every part of you.”
“Anything you want, sweetness, anything. I’m just happy to have you in my arms again,” he said before his lips glided over mine again.
Kade cleared his throat behind us. We turned to face him; I was expecting another glare, but he was smiling. “I assume you two have sorted some shit out, yeah?”
Happy laughter bubbled from my chest. “You could say that.”
“Good, now you want a coffee or vodka? Piper wants some answers too,” he said, rolling his eyes.
“Coffee for me.” I turned back and looked at Jake. “Coffee for me too, thanks,” he said.
“Your friend Piper, I think I like her, but she kinda scares me,” Jake said after Kade left the room.
I burst out laughing. “Just don’t piss her off and you’ll be fine,” I told him.
“You know she threatened me, and told me her fiancé was only here to stop her from killing me,” he continued.
I shrugged. “Sounds like something Piper would say.”
We got up and met Piper and Kade in the kitchen, where Kade had just set down a row of hot drinks. He had pulled two of the bar stools around the other side of the bench where he and Piper sat, so Jake and I took the two remaining.
Piper didn’t waste any time getting down to business. She pointed her finger at Jake and looked him dead in the eye. “Don’t mess this up. She comes in to work with so much as a smear in her makeup, I’ll be all over your arse. This girl is my family. And no one messes with my family. Understand?”
Jake didn’t miss a beat. “Yes ma’am.”
After that I explained that Jake was my first love and I was ecstatic to have him back in my life. I left out the gory details as to how we had been forced apart all those years ago and, thankfully, Piper didn’t push.
After Jake left that night, Piper took me home. I was ready to stay at my own place again now that I knew Jake had cut ties with the family. I slept like the dead that night, and woke refreshed and ready for the next stage of my life to begin. I was excited for what my future with Jake would hold.
He had agreed to take it slow, which I was grateful for. While I knew inside he was still the sweet boy I once knew, he had grown into an incredible specimen of a man. We had over a decade to catch up on, and I wanted to know about everything I’d missed with him.
I picked up my normal hours back at the Den and apologised profusely to all my regular clients for leaving them in the lurch. They were all great about it. I really did love working at the Den. The clients were fun, no sticks up their arses. And I fit in perfectly. Nobody looked twice at the girl with pointy ears who dressed like she’d stepped out of a children’s fairy tale book.
Jake and I had exchanged numbers and had been texting like teenagers for the past few days. He had given me the weekend to process things, just like I’d asked him to. We had decided to start with lunch dates, but Jake had been adamant that we would be going on these dates every single day. We had a lot of time to catch up on, he said, so he wasn’t missing a day.
Today being Monday, it would be our first date. I was giddy with excitement. I felt like a fool; I had known Jake forever, but that didn’t stop the butterflies from swarming in my stomach. Two o’clock was my lunch break, and I felt every second as it ticked by.
When Jake walked in, I felt his presence before I saw him. I looked up from the station I was tidying and gasped. He was wearing tight black jeans, not those pretty boy skinny jeans, no, these were oh-my-God-so-sexy-I-want-to-rip-them-from-his-body-and-climb-him-like-a-tree jeans. He cleared his throat, snapping me out of my perusal of his impressive package. That’s when I noticed his top half, clad in a fitted white V-neck t-shirt that showed off his defined six-pack. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, just in case I’d started drooling.
“You ready to go, sweetness?” he asked me.
“Umm, yeah…just, umm…I…my bag. I gotta get my bag,” I stuttered.
Jake was chatting with Reagan when I came back out with my bag. I took my place beside him, and Reags turned her attention to me. “So glad he’s not a creeper. He’s too sexy to be a psycho.”
“Yeah, me too, Reags. I’ll be back by three.” I sent her a wink as we walked out the door.
We walked hand-in-hand down the block. I motioned to the deli as we approached the entryway. “You wanna eat here? They make wicked good sandwiches and iced coffee that’s totally worth the brain freeze you get from smashing the first few gulps.”
“Sounds good to me,” Jake replied, then opened the door for me.
We took a booth towards the back and placed our order with the owner’s wife. A cute little Ital
ian couple owned the deli, and everything they made was delicious. I loved coming here; in fact, I came in so often I was on first-name basis with them. I thanked Maria when she brought out our orders and then introduced Jake to her.
“Ciao il mio nome è Maria,” she introduced herself to Jake in Italian, then turned to me and sent me a wink. “Malto bello,” she said quietly as she made her way back to the counter.
“What was that about?” Jake asked when she was out of earshot.
“She thinks you’re good-looking.” I smiled over at her, and the blush on her cheeks told me she knew I had just told him.
Jake nodded. “She’s got good taste.” One side of his mouth lifted in a smirk.
“That she does. So moving on from your obvious good looks, what have you been doing the last ten years?” I asked.
“For the most part, just drifting from one place to the next. At first I moved around a lot, in case anyone did happen to look for me. As time went by, I gradually started staying in places I liked for a little longer. The longest I’ve stayed in one place is probably two years. Since I only had myself to worry about, I could just pack up and move on whenever I wanted.”
I knew what that was like. My life had been pretty much the same until I moved here and met Piper. I watched Jake take a massive bite from his fresh focaccia roll. His eyes closed and he moaned. “Uh, so good. That’s it, this is our lunch spot from now on. I refuse to eat anywhere else,” he declared.
“Told you it was amazing. I come here nearly every day anyway, so I don’t mind.”
We ate in comfortable silence until Jake had finished his lunch, which wasn’t very long at all. I was still only halfway through mine when he cleared his throat, gaining my attention. “I imagine you spent the last decade doing much the same as I did. So how long have you been settled here?”