Onbekend(26)

“Have I done something to offend you?” he asked as he looked down at himself. Devin buttoned his shirt and smiled. “Are you feeling okay?”

“My legs feel a little weak,” Arianna replied, grabbing a pillow to try to hide behind.

Devin moved to try to catch her gaze, but she still refused to look at him. “That’s because you aren’t completely transformed yet. You use up your blood too quickly.”

Arianna peeked up at him. “Will it always be like this?” she asked.

“No. It will get better as you learn to control things, such as your sensitive hearing. Doing things that are beyond human ability uses the blood you drink. So the more you do, the more blood you will need,” he explained.

“How did you make me go to sleep last night?” she asked. “I tried to sleep, but everything was too noisy.”

“I read in one of my books that you’d be drawn to the sound the heart makes. Just by touching my skin, you can hear it, can’t you?” He waited for her to understand. Arianna nodded. “It seems that’s enough to block out all other sounds.”

“Does that mean every time I want to sleep, you have to be there?” she asked, blushing again as she found herself wanting to add half naked.

“Are you afraid of me?” he replied with a question. Arianna shook her head no. There was nothing scary about Devin. He had been kind to her since the first moment she talked to him. He was very quiet, which made her always wonder what he was thinking, but he wasn’t scary. “You are doing your best to hide behind that pillow like I might jump over there and attack you.” Arianna looked down at the pillow she was still hugging. “Like you think I’m a monster. Let me reassure you, I’m human. You should be able to tell.”

“It’s just that this is all a little weird,” she replied. “I’ve never even dated a boy, and here I wake up in the same bed with a boy I’ve only known for two days. Aunt Lilly would kill me if she knew,” Arianna accidentally blurted out before turning bright red again.

“Oh that’s the problem?” he replied with a laugh. “Then don’t worry. You’ve known me much longer than two days. In fact, we met over ten years ago.” Arianna slightly dropped her defensive pillow. “You don’t remember? You told me that you would marry me when we got older.” Arianna began to blush.

“But I don’t remember that,” Arianna replied, trying to remember ever meeting Devin.

“I came here right after my family was killed. Your grandfather took me in. He felt bad for me because he was too late to stop my family from dying,” Devin explained. Arianna concentrated on Devin’s face as he spoke in the dimly-lit room. She could see the honesty in his crisp blue eyes. “I was only seven-years-old when I first met you. You were already asleep when we arrived back here, so your grandfather didn’t want to wake you to introduce you to me. Instead, he just tucked me into the bed next to you, and told me to sleep. After losing my family in the middle of the night, I found comfort in this strange place where everyone slept during the day. When I woke, it was already evening again, and I began to panic until I realized I wasn’t alone in the room. The girl who had been sleeping during the day was now awake, watching me. I was scared, so you offered to play with me.” Devin paused as he thought of a childhood that Arianna couldn’t remember. “You were only there a week because it was your last week living with us. Your grandfather had been picking up Lilly and Dean to bring them back to meet you when he saved me. At the end of the week, you told me that you were going on a long trip, but someday you would come back and marry me.”

Arianna giggled. “Did I really say that?” she asked, mortified at her bold younger self.

“Yes, but I suppose it doesn’t count if you don’t remember. Oh yeah, not to mention the fact you told two of the butlers, three maids, and your favorite cook you wanted to marry them also,” he added before breaking out into laughter. Arianna smiled as she watched him. Since she had first seen him in her math class, she had never heard him laugh. He was always so serious about everything. Even being with him almost constantly for two days, she had yet to see him honestly smile.

“You’re a lot cuter when you smile,” she added. It was Devin’s turn to blush.

“I’m not your type,” he replied, trying to cover up his embarrassment.

“And how would you know who is my type?” she asked.

“I know everything about you,” he replied, looking out the nearest window to avoid her gaze.