XXVII. Foolish Ones

                                    

                                          
Slowly, little by little, I woke up, and immediately forgot what I'd dreamt about as I felt Anti's arm wrapped around me. His skin felt warm and comforting against my naked body, I couldn't dare to open my eyes, afraid it would all go away, disappear and disolve like the faint memory of my dream. I wanted to stay like this forever, I was starting to realize these peaceful moments are becoming a rarity. 
                          
I pulled away a bit to look at him, planting a gentle kiss on the back of his hand. His eyes were closed, the long eyelashes making him look somewhat angelic, as everything was calm and quiet, the sun was pouring in through the blinds, softly illuminating his pale skin. I couldn't look away, I couldn't believe a demon could ever seem like an angel. But he did. 
                          
"Stop," he whispered, his eyes still closed. 
                          
"What?" I blurted silently, a bit startled by getting caught. 
                          
"Stop staring," he chuckled, and before I could come up with an excuse, he was on top of me, and his lips pressed against mine. Suddenly the memories of last night flooded my mind and I felt blood rushing into my cheeks. I ran my hand through his hair and hoped he wouldn't notice. 
                          
"Are you blushing?" Anti asked, an entertained smirk on his face. Quickly, I pressed my hands on my face and shook my head. "No. Now you stop staring!" I urged. He laughed and grabbed my wrists, pinning them above my head, I felt his lips brush against my neck. I wrapped my leg around him, pushing his hips onto mine, as he gently bit my skin. 
                          
A loud knock tore me back into reality, but Anti didn't seem to mind. "Anti..." I whispered, trying to get him to stop teasing me, but in vain. I gasped for air as I felt his fingers sliding down my stomach. 
                          
The knock came again, this time louder and more impatient. I gently placed my hand on his cheek, forcing him to look me in the eyes. "Anti, please, I need to... open the door." I finished with great effort, because the last thing I wanted right now was to leave the bed. He gave me a cunning smile and let go of me. I quickly got out of bed before I could change my mind and looked around, searching for my clothes, but another knocking forced me to pick up Anti's shirt and pull it over my head. 
                          
"Good morning, Y/N! Did I wake you up?" Jack immediately blurted out, when I finally opened the door. He was just standing there, a big smile on his face, his hair a bright shade of green in the hallway's lightning. 
                          
"No! No, not at all. I just... woke up... a while ago" I looked over at Anti a closed the door a bit so Jack couldn't see him, or the sly grin on his face.
                          
Jack smiled at me and nodded enthusiastically, "I can see that. Well come meet us for breakfast, will you? I mean... if you're ready to talk to Mark, of course." 
                          
I flinched a bit at the mention of his name, but I could see it in Jack's eyes how much this meant to him, and I could feel his good energy getting under my skin. "You know what, I think I am. I can't wait to meet him. I promise not to faint this time." 
                          
I watched as he strolled down the hallway, before finally disappearing in the elevator, I shut the door and sharply turned around on my heel, only to find Anti already standing behind me. 
                          
He wrapped his arm around me, and slowly slid the other one under my shirt. I closed my eyes, melting under his fingertips. "Stop..." 
                          
"That's not what you said last night," he noted, entertained by my unsuccessful attempts to sound uninterested. 
                          
"Shhh!" I grunted, as I felt my cheeks turning red again. 
                          
"Now that I did say, but you didn't listen, did you?" he teased. 
                          
I gave him a disapproving look and gently pushed him away, waving my finger. "I'm not talking to you." 
                          
And I did keep my promise, as well as my distance, as we were walking to the restaurant. He knew way too well how to drive me insane, and the last thing I needed right now was to be out of my mind. I stopped in the restaurant's glass door as I caught a glimpse of Mark, sitting next to Jack, chatting happily. I knew what I was feeling was unjustified, I had no reason to be scared of Mark, but despite all that, I still was, and I couldn't seem to move. I felt Anti's fingers slide softly between mine. "It's okay, I'm here," he whispered into my ear and I gave him a grateful smile. He lifted my hand to his lips and kissed it, nodding towards the table to keep going. 
                          
They didn't notice us, until we finally sat down across the table. Anti put his hand on my thigh, his thumb gently rubbing my skin. I looked at Mark, who was smiling at us peacefully, although he occasionally glanced at Anti with slight aversion. I think he felt about him the same way I felt about Dark. So maybe I was being too dramatic? 
                          
"How did you two sleep? Was everything okay?" Jack asked, taking a big sip from his steaming hot coffee. I could tell he burned his tongue as he grinned. I looked over at Anti, who had the same cheeky smile as before on his face, but to my surprise, he stayed quiet. 
                          
"Y-yeah! It was amazing. I mean fine." I answered and immediately stuffed my mouth with a big piece of croissant to make myself shut up. I could see Mark lift his eyebrows in the table's reflection. 
                          
"So you took care of her like I asked you to?" Jack asked Anti, whose smile grew a bit wider. 
                          
"M-hm. Yeah. She was in good hands," he noted and I closed my eyes painfully. He will be the death of me. 
                          
"So!" I started, keen to put an end to this conversation, "did you guys figure out how to deal with our little problem?" I asked, picking out a jam from a little wicker basket on the table.
                          
Mark shrugged his shoulders, "It's not going to be easy." 
                          
"I mean... he has to have a weakness, right?" I sighed and reached towards the cutlery in front of Mark. 
                          
"Weakness..." he stated ominously, shaking his head. I looked up at him, his image splitting into red and blue. He grabbed a butter knife and painfully stabbed it into my hand, pinning it to the table. I couldn't even make a sound. He leaned towards me, baring his teeth as he spoke, "L o v e     i s   t h e   g r e a t e s t   w e a k n e s s   o f   t h e m   a l l ,   l o v e ,   a n d   y o u ' v e   j u s t   m a d e   y o u r  s e l v e s   t h e   e a s i e s t   t a r g e t s .   N o t h i n g   b u t   w e a k   l i n k s !" he screamed aggressively, slamming his fist against the table. "B u t   d o n ' t   y o u   w o r r y   y o u r   p r e t t y   l i t t l e   h e a d .   I   w i l l   b r e a k   a l l   o f   y o u . " 
                          
"Y/N!" Jack waved at me, and I looked at him in horror, but to my surprise, his face was still lit up with a kind smile. 
                          
"Are you okay?" Mark asked, holding the butter knife in his hand, offering it to me. I watched him smile at me patiently. There was no sign of Dark, the skin on my hand untouched. I swallowed and carefully took the cutlery from Mark with a shaky hand. I grabbed my glass as I observed them all, trying to catch a glimpse of something wrong. My eyes stopped on the table - a small crack in the surface, where Dark slammed his fist. 
                          
Suddenly, the glass broke in my hand, the shards sharply sinking into my skin. I hissed loudly in pain, and heard Jack gasp. Anti quickly grabbed my wrist and placed my hand on his thigh, carefully pulling the glass out. "What's wrong, Y/N?!" he urged, slight fear in his eyes. 
                          
I hesitated for a while. "Nothing... everything's fine, don't worry about it."