"Nice place," I said as politely as I could.
Neala's lip quirked. "Thank you."
She said 'Thank you', but what I heard was fuck you, and it made me grin.
"I bet you're both crying on the inside right now for being nice to one another," Sean said as he looked between Neala and myself.
I snorted, but didn't deny the obvious truth.
It was easier to be horrible to Neala than to be nice to her.
Did that make me a dickhead?
Probably.
"Is that why you're both really here? You want us to... get along?"
Sean looked to me so I took the lead with the well-rehearsed lie I practiced in my head on the drive over here.
"Yep, I want us to get along, and God knows so does everyone else so I'm taking the first step here. Literally. I came here to try and come to some sort of truce between us."
Neala huffed and folded her arms across her ample chest.
"We aren't two countries at war, Darcy."
"No," Sean cut in, "but you are two people at war, and to be honest, when you both get together it's the equivalent of two counties fighting. Two highly weaponised and equipped countries."
I swallowed.
Were we really that bad?
Shite.
I knew we acted somewhat - okay, a lot - immature with our feud, but damn, I didn't think we were that far gone into fighting with one another. And the chances were when I took the doll back from Neala, and she realised I had it, it would spark a war like no one has ever seen before.
Why was I so excited about that?
I was sick in the head, that's why.
"What are you smiling at?" Neala's voice snapped.
I flicked my eyes to her and shrugged my shoulders. "Just thought of something funny."
Well, funny in a twisted and demented kind of way.
Neala obviously didn't believe me, I could tell by the look on her face, but I didn't give her the reaction she wanted because I didn't want to fuel her speculation of me, I wanted her to be at ease. Or at as much ease as she could be with me in her home.
"So... how are we supposed to do this? We hate each other, Darcy."
I stared at her for a long moment unblinking.
She was actually considering mending things between us?
I wasn't expecting that.
"Um... I'm not sure," I said then swallowed. "I know how we feel about one another, but I guess we could start by not attacking one another or cursing when the other person's name is mentioned... That could be a start to... tolerance?"
Neala was silent as she mulled things over in her constantly on-the-go mind. I knew her like the back of my hand so I knew she would over think this until she made up some flaw that I was out to get her. I wasn't giving her the chance to do that.
"Stop trying to think that I'm playing you," I said.
I inwardly winced as I said that.
I was playing her, not about the mending of our 'relationship' because that would actually be kind of cool, but with playing the peace card so I could get the doll back from her.
Damn, she was really going to hate me more than ever when she eventually found out what I was doing to her.
"I don't trust you, Darcy."
A wise decision.
"But I trust me brother, and me family, and if they think we can get to a point were we can tolerate one another then okay - I'll give it a shot. But know I'm doing this for our families, not for us."
Seemed fair.
"Noted." I nodded.
Neala nodded her head back to me then cleared her throat as she stood up.
"Can I get you both anything?"
I looked to her brother and waited to see what he would ask for because if I asked for anything, even though she asked, she would probably bite a chunk out of my face. I could feel the anger radiating from her hot - pun intended - little body. She was open to the idea of us getting along, but she wasn't happy about it.
Sean shook his head though so I smiled and said, "A water please."
After a curt nod she went into the kitchen, and Sean nudged me with his elbow.
"She is going to kill you when she finds out that-"
"I know."
"And me for helping you-"
"I know."
Sean sighed, and muttered lowly, "This better work or I'm gonna kill me ma."
What better work?
Finding and taking the doll?
At the thought of the doll I forgot about Sean and Neala, and looked around the room. If she had the doll in her bedroom I was fucked because there was no way I could come up with a viable excuse that would result in my having to go into her bedroom. I looked around the sitting room, and my eyes locked onto the well-decorated Christmas next to me. I looked down and spotted wrapped presents. I glanced up to the kitchen door and when I was sure Neala wasn't coming into the room I dropped to my knees and picked up each present up.
None of the presents had nametags on them so I went for the presents that were a similar size to the box I held earlier in the day. I dismissed the first two I held because they were heavier, a lot heavier than the box I was looking for. I reached for a pink box I spotted behind the other presents. I held the box in my hand, and I instantly knew it was the doll without even unwrapping it. It felt the right weight, and as I ran my fingers over the wrapping paper I could feel the dents in the box that were caused from mine and Neala's tug of war for it earlier in the day.