193I got a bunch of reviews and new followers and even favorites for this story after that last chapter! It's always so great to hear from you guys. And I typically like to respond when there's a particularly meaningful review but some of you guys were Guests so I couldn't do that. So I'm thanking you here.
Thanks everyone who reviewed! You have no idea how much I appreciate it! ^^
And a special shout out to Moongrave who reread my whole story and Pm'd me with some encouragement.
A few lyrics included from Never Wanted To Dance by Mindless Self Indulgence (suggested by Moongrave as well)
"Hey, Victoria?" Music faded out behind him as the door he'd abandoned in favor of the girl in front of him swung shut. A few lyrics slipping through before it closed completely, cutting off the last lines of a song that must have been snuck into the dance's playlist.
Never wanted to dance with nobody but you-
wouldn't take "no" for an answer-
She turned around as soon as she heard his voice. She'd be lying if she said he hadn't startled her but she played it cool, or as cool as she could given the cliché butterflies having a dance of their own in her stomach. The stood there for a solid minute just staring into each others eyes before things started to feel awkward and they had to look away.
Warren ran his hand through his hair as he redirected his gaze to the ground, it was suddenly very interesting. Why did this have to be so hard!? Maybe he should just get it over with and tell her he was sorry. But he didn't want to seem like he was just saying it because he had to or because Layla made him or anything. He wanted her to know he was being genuine. Besides that he still had to confess that he liked her. That last thought brought a queazy feeling to his stomach. He'd never had this problem with Sarah... though Sarah hadn't exactly been the shy one.
Victoria looked in every direction but back at the pyro. She really wished he would just say something the silence was seriously starting to get to her, at the very least it had been ignorable when she was alone and recovering from the "music" in the gym. But now that she was standing next to Warren the silence had become very noticeable with their lack of speech. She was right about to cave and speak first before he finally blurted something out.
"I'm sorry." it came out a little rushed but it brought her attention back to the other super powered teen. It took a moment to register though and before her brain had a chance to catch up she found herself uttering a very intelligent, "Huh?" A blush immediately began to spread across her cheeks, how embarrassing.
"I said... I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking and I let my temper get the best of me. I shouldn't have said the things I did, any of it. I just kinda lose it when anyone brings up my dad. But that's no excuse and I'm not trying to make excuses… I just wanted to explain… but that doesn't explain why I just blew up on you in the first place."
He took a pause in his rambling to reorganize his thoughts, only taking short glances up at Victoria before turning his eyes away again, "I know this'll sound kinda pathetic but… I was just worried about what my mom would think. And how disappointed she'd be with me after she found out what happened."
Looking up at her again he force himself to hold eye contact, "I've been trying to find some way to apologize to you since the fight but I just kept… I kept backing out at the last minute. I'm still not all that used to having friends like this and I'm sure as hell not use to actually apologizing but I wanted to fix this. Cuz, truth is I…" he swallowed thickly preparing himself for what he was finally about to say.
"I like you." It came out in a lowered tone as if he was trying to keep other people from overhearing but Victoria heard him loud and clear. And if she was red before then now her cheeks resembled tomatoes.
"You …like me?" it was almost a little hard to believe, but he'd said it. Warren Peace had admitted that he liked her.
"Well, yeah." running a hand through his hair nervously he felt the sudden urge to run back to the dance even if it meant facing Layla without having been forgiven. "I guess I have for a while but it took me awhile to figure it out. Will of all people had to tell me, so of course I felt like even more of an idiot on top of everything else. But yeah, I do."
And now she had confirmation. But Victoria found herself having trouble deciding how she should respond. Forgiving him felt almost natural at this point, after all he did seem genuine and Layla had said that the drinking had only been a onetime thing. Plus Warren wasn't really the apologizing type and not only had he apologized but he'd been try to nearly the entire time between the fight and this moment.
Man, what Victoria wouldn't give to have her mp3 player right about now. Even if it blared some horribly obscene lyrics at her that still managed to fit the moment. She was almost tempted to step back inside so she could at least have some type of 'music' to help her focus/relax. Either way she didn't have it and Warren was waiting for a response.
"I guess I'm mostly over the whole fight by now. And it's a little hard to stay mad at you when… I like you too."
That settled it, they were all evil, the girls, her mother. No mp3 and no way to subtly hide her face! Moments like these were hard enough to handle regularly. But had had to persevere!
"I mean, I guess I'm trying to say that I forgive you… and I like you too." Victoria was pretty sure the amount of heat her blush was giving off was probably enough to reach him but seeing as he was a pyro he wasn't able to feel it with his elevated body temperature. Thank God for small miracles.
All having been said and done the two super teens stood together in silence that was becoming progressively less and less awkward. Go figure that a little ol' apology would fix things so quickly. They were already way more comfortable around each other. Her blush was even dissipating.
Glancing down she caught a glimpse of his wrist. "Whoa, I didn't know you had a tattoo."
Looking down at her as she grabbed his wrist to get a better look, he watched as she traced her fingers over the inked flames there. Feeling a shiver run up his spine at the feeling, he did his best to hide it.
"Oh. Yeah, I actually have two."
"What, where's the other one?"
Pulling his wrist from her grasp he lifted his other hand and pulled back the sleeve. "Right here. I got a matching pair."
"Oh wow. Wait how come I've never noticed them before?" she had only half paid attention to her own question a she took a wrist in each hand and lifted them closer to her face to get a closer look turning them this way and that.
"I'm usually wearing gloves and either long sleeves or a leather jacket."
"Oh yeah…"
They were quiet for a bit before Victoria decided to ask another question. "What'd your mom think about this?"
Laughing he pulled a hand free and ran it through his hair. "Actually she wasn't all that thrilled."
"Really now. Huh, go figure." She smirked up at him as she let go of his other wrist.
Grinning back down at her he couldn't help continuing the story. "Yeah, my dad actually signed the permission waiver when I went to visit him once. My mom didn't even know about it until she saw the bandages. She freaked out pretty bad too, thinking the worst when she saw them so I had to come clean about the tattoos and dad's involvement. I actually got them the summer before my freshmen year."
"Wow." It had been hushed, almost a whisper out of her mouth in her surprise. He'd just talked about his dad with her; maybe this would work out if he was already willing to be this open about something like that.
"Have you ever thought of getting one?"
"One what?"
"A tattoo."
"Who's getting a tattoo?"
"No one, as far as I know. But would you get a tattoo?"
"Me? Get a tattoo? No. No. That would never happen. I am allergic to pain I'll have you know."
"A-allergic to pain?" he couldn't help but to laugh, "I've never heard of that before."
"Really? Cuz I'm pretty sure it's rather common." A huge grin was spread across her face. "But then again when you're constantly surrounded by super powered teens that are almost all indestructible it's understandable you probably haven't heard about it much."
As the two teens laughed and essentially enjoyed the homecoming they'd been forced to attend they were completely unaware of someone watching from the far off front doors. But who could blame them for actually having a good time now that things were copacetic.
So I've got a question for everyone that's still reading. It's unrelated to this story but... if I were to post an original story on FF or on another site would anyone be willing to read it?