I'm a Lover, Not a Fighter

Chapter 32 of Banished for Love

I don’t pause inside the tree house; instead I head straight for the roof to watch the sunset while I wait for Devin. After meticulously checking and double-checking that the roof tiles surrounding me are secure, I sit myself down, wrapping my arms tightly around my knees. The multitude of clouds in the sky are painted a beautiful spectrum of pinks, purples, oranges, and yellows, only growing brighter as the sun sinks lower in the sky.

 

A creak sounds on the roof behind me and my head snaps to glance over my shoulder. Devin holds his hands out in front of himself, signaling innocence. I stand and walk up to meet him at the top of the roof.

 

“So,” Devin starts warily, shoving his hands deep inside his pockets. “What did you want to talk about?”

 

I level my stare at him, he meets my eyes unflinchingly. “Tell me about you and Brittney.”

 

He raises an eyebrow and stares at me for a moment, as if of all the topics of conversation he imagined I'd hit him with this wasn't one of them. The depth of his gaze makes me want to look away, but I stand my ground. “What is it you want to know?” His words drift out on a sigh.

 

“Did you ever even feel anything for her?” I throw at him mercilessly.

 

“Yes, I did. She was the first girl I ever dated. I thought I was in love with her. Turns out I didn’t know what love was back then,” he responds matter-of-factly, holding my gaze the entire time.

 

“Then why did you all of a sudden leave her? With no warning or explanation?” I nearly spit at him.

 

He breaks eye contact then and stares off into the distance. “It’s complicated.”

 

Rage boils up inside me at his evasiveness. That mixed with me still being infuriated over what he’d done to Jeremy. “What the hell do you mean it’s complicated? There’s nothing complicated about it. You left her for a reason, what was it? Got sick of her, she no longer amused your desires?” He shoots me a cold look and I stop, waiting for him to respond.

 

“Would it make you feel any better if I told you? Would it help her any? Because I don’t see how it would.” His words crack like sheets of ice.

 

“Yes, it would help her!” I yell at him, gesturing into the forest. “She’s out there still wondering and trying to guess at why you left her. She believes it’s her fault.”

 

“She wouldn’t believe me even if I told her,” he responds exasperatedly.

 

“You are so selfish! And childish! Can’t you see you’re hurting her?” I scream at him, getting in his face a bit.

 

His eyes darken. “And what about you? You don’t think pushing Jeremy away like you are is hurting him too?”

 

I take a stunned step back. I knew all too well the pain I was inflicting on Jeremy, and Devin knew that. He knew exactly what to say to hurt me.

 

His face softens when he sees the hurt on mine. “No, I’m not going to fight with you. I care too much about you.”

 

The hurt leaves my face as rage sets back in. “Oh, I’m so sure you were busy caring about me when you put Jeremy in the hospital.” Devin just looks at me. “Don’t you have anything to say?” I demand, shoving his shoulder. He staggers back half a step but remains silent. “Can’t you see what you did was wrong?” I shove his other shoulder but he still doesn’t respond. “Don’t. You. Feel. Anything?” I punctuate each word with a smack to his chest. I step back, breathing raggedly, to look at Devin. His hands are still in his pocket and he looks at me with that same level gaze. For some reason, his calm only provokes me further. My fists clench at my sides. “Fight back!” I scream at him, throwing out a punch toward his jaw.

 

His hand flashes out of his pocket and catches my fist. “I’m not going to fight you Kelsey.” He says calmly, dropping my hand.

 

I go back to swatting at his chest. “Why not?” Tears well up in my eyes and my smacks become less violent. “Don’t I deserve it?” My hands stop moving, resting on his chest. “After all the hurt I’ve caused.” The tears fall freely now, and as the first sob rocks through me Devin pulls me in tightly to his chest. I cling to him, enjoying the warmth and comfort his embrace provides.

 

“Kelsey, listen to me. None of this is your fault. What I did was unforgivable.” He chuckles sadly. “What can I say, I’m a bit of a hot head.”

 

I crack a smile in spite of myself. Although, I’m not entirely sure what he said that my subconscious found so amusing.

 

“If this is your way of trying to apologize, you’re doing a crap job of it,” I sniffle.

 

He lays his cheek on top of my head and sighs. “I know I am. I’m just not sure how to properly tell you just how sorry I am.”

 

I pull back to look at Devin. His deep blue eyes are swimming with his apology. I go up on my tiptoes to kiss his forehead. “Apology accepted.” I say with a small smile. He smiles warmly back at me. “You really should talk to Brittney though,” I say seriously. “Try to make her understand.” Distraught skitters across his face but he nods solemnly anyway. “And Jeremy,” I add. Devin opens his mouth to protest but I hold up my hand to stop him. “Hey, he’s the one you beat up, not me. I can't forgive you on his behalf." Devin hesitates for a moment before sighing and nodding again.

 

“Here,” he pulls out of our embrace but keeps a hold of my hand. “Let me walk you back home.” I nod and we begin making our way back down the tree. The walk home is silent, but not an unpleasant silence. We walk hand in hand until we make it to Jeremy’s front door.

 

“Thanks for walking me home,” I say softly, letting go of his hand. Though mine immediately feels the coldness from the absence of his warmth.

 

“Anytime,” he smiles at me and stoops to kiss my forehead. I close my eyes. He pulls back and begins to walk away.

 

“See you at school,” I call to him.

 

“Looking forward to it,” he throws that and a smirk over his shoulder before disappearing into the trees.

 

Devin’s Point of View

 

Once I’ve returned home, I pop down to the Underworld in fairly high spirits. It seems I’ve managed to smooth things over with Kelsey, now I just need to drive a rift between her and Jeremy. I walk into my father’s chamber where he is absentmindedly stirring at a pot of lava.

 

“Hey dad, I’ve got another favor to ask of you,” I say, strolling up to him.

 

“Anything son, just name it," he responds.

 

"I need a demon to possess a girl at school. One to attract Jeremy’s attention and make Kelsey jealous,” I say with a smirk.

 

My father barks out a laugh. “That’s a wonderfully awful idea.”

 

I smile half-heartedly. To be completely honest, my father’s wishes are not the main reason I want to drive a rift between Jeremy and Kelsey. If this plan does work, and this girl is able to waver Jeremy’s affections, I’m fairly sure I will be the shoulder Kelsey runs to to cry on.

 

My father dips one of his clawed hands into a pit of lava before him. A vision of the people at my school ripples into the pool.

 

I point out a girl that I recognize from our science class, who I happen to know shares a few other classes with Jeremy. “That one. She appears to be Jeremy’s type and I’ve caught her looking at him from time to time.”

 

My father plucks a demon out of another room and drops it into the pool over the girl’s image. I watch as the demon’s soul takes over the girl’s.

 

“One more, the science teacher.” I say, pointing out Ms. Karlton. “We’ll need her to assign the pairings.” My father drops another demon into the pool and Ms. Karlton is soon possessed as well. “Perfect, thank you.” I turn and head for the way out.

 

“Raise some hell, son!” My father calls out to me just before I turn out of sight.

 

That is exactly what I had planned to do.

Author's Note

Just a warning, from this point on, chapters go up as I write them. So please bear with me, it sometimes takes me a while to write a new chapter. I don't get a lot of free time, I get writers block pretty bad, and I run out of ideas often. This is why I greatly appreciate feedback and ideas from you lovely readers.
Thank you for reading this, it means the world to me.

Reviews

[Dawn Dreamer]

OMG PLEASE DON'T TELL ME YOU'VE STOPPED WRITING THIS BOOK! JUST WHEN STUFF IS GETTING EVEN MORE INTERESTING!! This book is incredible! Love, love, love it!

[Zoey Balderston]

I haven't stopped perse. I have just hit one hell of a fit of writer's block. I wrote myself into a hole that I'm not sure how to get out of. I'm not so good at, for lack of better phrasing, filler and fluff and side stories. So I'm having troubles. I do still want to finish this series though!

[Raquel]

AWESOME CHAPTER AHHHHHH I AM LOSING IT!!!!
One thing though you wrote:
“Anything son, just name it. I need a demon to possess a girl at school. One to attract Jeremy’s attention and make Kelsey jealous.”
I think you meant to separate this into two different quotes besides that YAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSS GAGA!!!!! hahaha

[Zoey Balderston]

Whoops yes i did. Thank you!