28.

My lips stretched into a small smile as I sat on a plushy chair, resting my chin against its backrest as I silently watched her trace her hairbrush through her soft pink curls.

"At least your hair matches your eyes now," I commented with a giggle, drawing her attention from the small vanity mirror to me.

"Yeah, I guess so," She quietly said with a tiny smile of her own, those ruby red eyes twinkling like priceless gems in the light provided by a tall lamp sitting on the floor.

I have to admit that she kinda scared me at first, but now I was starting to get used to this new appearance of hers. She looked kinda cool actually, with those red eyes of hers and that lighter skin. It made her seem a little bit more edgy, and sexier.

"So guess who was at our door today," I said after a moment, making her look back at me again.

"Who?"

"Jake," I quickly told her with a grin, watching those red eyes of hers widen in surprise.

"Jake as in "the one that got away" Jake?"

"Yup," I nodded. We used to call him like that simply because he was the only guy in my life who had never had the "pleasure" of meeting my brother.

"Oh my gosh! Oh my god I miss him so much! So how is he? Is he still as cute as he used to be?" I watched her squeal so excitedly, mildly bouncing on the bed as she gazed at me with obvious interest.

It honestly warmed me to see that at least she was still herself, most of the time.

"Yeah, he totally is. Even more now," I answered with a smirk, right before noticing Raz casually entering the room since the door had been left wide open.

Apparently, he still didn't trust Leila enough to leave her alone with me and behind closed doors.

"But what was he doing at our door?" She questioned with a tilt of her head, not even minding Azrael's presence.

"Well, turns out he's our neighbour and he..." I abruptly paused as I lastly realized that I couldn't tell her the real reason he showed up at our door. Not without making her feel like shit anyway. And I really didn't want that.

"He..."

"He what?"

"Nothing. H-he just stopped at the wrong floor," I quickly lied with a smile, feeling Azrael's gaze on me.

"Oh..." She simply nodded, my breath hitching within my throat as I watched her features suddenly contort into a downright terrifying look, mere seconds before Ricky entered the room half-caked with blood and with Lucifer hot on his tail.

My gaze darted between Leila and Ricky, scared to see that vicious look on her face as she stared at him for way too long and in such a creepy manner.

I didn't even dare ask Ricky where he'd been and why he was covered in blood as I really didn't want to hear the gory details, my eyes widening as soon as I saw Lucifer throw an I.V bag filled with dark red liquid straight in Leila's lap.

"Where did you get that from?" I quickly asked, cringing in shock and disgust as I immediately heard the sound of the bag being ripped open, followed by few gulps.

"It's better if you don't ask," Lucifer answered with a serious look on his face as I purposefully kept my gaze trained on him, barely holding myself back from hurling my stomach's contents right then and there as I could still hear Leila's audible and very thirsty gulps.

"I'll be right back," I weakly said then got up from my seat and ran straight back into my room, shutting the door behind me.

"Holy shit," I threw myself at the foot of the bed, resting my forehead and arms against its leathered edge as I kept taking long and deep breaths, even dry-heaving for a few times as I struggled to hold myself in check and calm down.

This was the second time I was witnessing her drink blood. And as much as it pained me to admit, it disgusted the fuck out of me. I didn't want to feel like that because she was my most cherished friend and I truly wanted to be supportive and help her get through this, but I just couldn't help myself. Every time I saw -or heard her- that sickening nausea kept coming back to me full force. And I couldn't even fathom why.

"It's okay, you're okay. Just breathe," I mildly shuddered as I suddenly felt Azrael's gentle touch on my back, failing to even realize when he had entered the room and sat right next to me.

"Clear your mind and focus on me," He coaxed with such a soothing tone, my gaze finding his as I slowly rose my head and sat up straighter, finding myself giving in so easily as his hands moved to hold onto my bare shoulders, his touch on my skin actually making wonders as I could actually feel myself becoming so calm and refreshed. Just like that.

"Better?" He asked with that pearly white and absolutely innocent smile on that angelic face of his as he gazed into my eyes.

Wow...

I simply blinked a few times in astonishment, rendered speechless by the strong effect he clearly had on me...

His comforting heat seeping into my skin, that amazing and all-too-familiar fresh scent of his...and his eyes...

Those two dark oceans always drawing me in, making me yearn for nothing more than to just lose myself in his arms, over and over again, until the very end of time...

My heart gradually quickened up its pace as I found myself still trapped under his spell, my gaze lowering to those luscious and soft pink lips, wishing that I could just kiss them one more time.

Delicious...

I unconsciously licked my lips as I could recall the way they tasted...so sweet and heavenly, my breath hitching within my throat as I could feel his palms on my waist, mere seconds before I suddenly found myself straddling his lap.

My cheeks heated up as I bashfully peered into his midnight eyes, lips mildly parted in surprise...Before he slowly closed the gap between us, one hand trailing to the small of my back to pull me close and press my already heaving chest against his while the other found its way to the side of my neck just as his lips finally touched mine, moving into a slow and tender kiss.

I could feel myself melt in his embrace, set ablaze by his body against mine and the exhilarating touch of his lips, my arms wrapping around his neck as I wanted to pull him as close as possible and relish into the feeling only his touch could give, after so many months of pure torture...

“I’m so sorry...For making you suffer, all this time,” He whispered as he broke the kiss and rested his forehead against my own, closing his beautiful eyes.

“I do love you, more than anyone ever could...” My breath stopped within my throat as he slowly rose his gaze to look into my eyes, stunned by his words.

“And it scares me so much...What if I screw up? What if I end up hurting someone? Someone you love, or worse like the entire human world?” He sincerely said, worry glinting into his entrancing eyes as he looked at me with a hint of hopelessness etched onto his features, feeling a stray tear making its way down my cheek as after all this time, I could finally see a reason behind his cold behaviour in these last several months.

“You won’t. Because I’ll always be there to stop you,” I promised with a smile, wiping away that stray tear, after all this time finally allowing myself to breathe in relief, even letting out an audible sigh as I could practically feel my soul becoming lighter than a feather.

And without another word I crushed my lips against his once again, letting my tears run free as he held me and kissed all that pain away.