"When I'm around slow dancing in the dark, don't follow me you'll end up in my arms." —Joji.

••

"Do you have another class for the day?" Blaze reaches over to raise the volume on his radio, and Joji's 'Slow Dancing in the Dark' drifts through the car, setting a mood of pure relaxation.

"Nope." I lay my head against his headrest, quietly humming along to the music. The sky is clearing up and the rain has now lessened to light sprinkles. I idly watch the windshield wiper as it scrubs away the wet pathways, my thoughts running wild with what just happened between us.

Once again, I have given Blaze Xander another experience that I will never be able to get back. That scares me a little. Especially since I don't know what he thinks of me.

The sun is peeking out from the dark, musty clouds, spreading its orange rays onto the glass and reflecting its light into the beads of raindrops. The juxtaposing weather is beautiful and reminds me of Blaze and me. We are complete opposites, yet we fit so perfectly together. I wonder if he feels the same way.

I glance over at him, admiring how his curly lap of dark hair lies into his eyes. His fingers are tapping gently on the steering wheel while he bobs his head to the music, humming along to the tune beneath his breath. I smile softly in admiration. The more time I spend with him is the more my heart swells with affection for him. I can't decide whether it's good or bad to feel this way.

"Well," he starts, and I fix my gaze ahead. "Do you want us to watch a movie?"

I return my eyes to him, feeling a spark of happiness spiraling within me.

"Yeah, I would love to." I can't hide my smile. "Although the music club's meeting is today, and I was planning on joining it for good."

Blaze looks at me with an impressed smile, clearly liking the sound of that. "Oh nice; I like that you have decided that. Well don't worry, I can get you back to school by 4:30 after we watch the movie."

Without a doubt, April will be suspicious of our prolonged absence, but my need to spend time with this complex human sitting next to me outweighs any fear that I may have.

I smile wider and shift in my seat so that my torso is facing his direction. "Okay...so um, which theatre do you have in mind?"

He smiles. "Oh no, no theatre. We are going to my place." He runs a hand through his hair while the other lazily grips his steering wheel, and my cheeks flame up at his choice of setting.

"Really?"

"Yeah really. My dad isn't at home."

The thought of us being the only one in his house is relatively too dangerous. However, I do like it when it is just us two. He shows me sides of him that he doesn't show to anyone else, and I feel like spending alone time with him will aid in him letting his guard down around me.

He reaches over and grips my hand in his then brings it up to his lips for a kiss.

"Your hand is so small," he mumbles against my knuckle while his eyes are still watching the road, and my lips drag in a little smile.

"Yours is warm."

His dimples pop out of his cheeks as he smiles from ear to ear, and it is such a beautiful sight as he sits up in his seat.

A thought comes to mind and I look at him curiously. "If you live so close to Homewood, why are you boarding there?"

I notice his expression immediately hardens, his relaxed countenance fading away as quickly as his frown came. I guess I should not have asked that question.

"I'm sorry," I say softly. "I shouldn't have asked that, right?"

He shakes his head, releasing my hand to rub his lips. "No, it's not that. It's just that I really don't want to talk about that right now."

I should have known. Blaze would never open up to me.

I nod. "I get it." I stare at my fingers, suddenly feeling cold and empty without the warmth of his palm. We'd still be holding hands if I hadn't brought up something I wasn't supposed to. It's like walking on thin ice when it comes to him. You never know what may tick him off.

His phone vibrates from his dashboard and my eyes lift to it, immediately noticing April's face on the caller ID. My stomach leaps as if it's actually my mother who's calling. April has that motherly-disciplinary-aura to her, giving me the same apprehension my mom would.

Blaze picks the call up, glancing in his side mirror as he overtakes a slow driver in front of us. "Hello?"

I can't hear what she's saying on the opposite end, but I see when Blaze's lips form a mischievous smile. "Yeah, she's with me..."

I narrow my eyes.

"Yeah, we are in the process of having sex."

I gasp. "Blaze!"

I gesture to grab the cell from him, but he shifts away, biting back a grin as he throws his head back in amusement. "Talk to you later, April."

He hangs up with a laugh, and I frown at him. "Why did you tell her that?"

He shrugs flippantly, still wearing his amused smirk. "Well, it's not entirely a lie. We were being naughty earlier, weren't we?"

He bites his lip and peers over at me, and my face blooms as I look away from him.

"We didn't have sex though."

He laughs. "Yeah, but we came close."

"No, we didn't."

"Yes, we did." His eyes cloud with lust as he slants his head to look at me, and butterflies gather in my abdomen at the smoky gleam in his eyes.

When he looks at me like that, it's hard not to become a pile of mush.

I point my gaze elsewhere, and he grabs my hand back and places it to his cheek as he points his focus back to the road, pressing his horn repeatedly at the sluggish driver in front of us. "Move the fuck up," he mutters, and the car immediately increases its velocity.

He glances over at me, then looks away, and a small smile tugs at his lips. "Don't worry. April knows she can't trust my words. I don't always tell the truth."

I gaze over at him, his remarks perplexing my mental state. He doesn't always tell the truth?

My thoughts are cut short when I notice that we have arrived at his house. He turns into the driveway, and I am instantly swamped by memories of that night of the party; particularly the moment we got locked in his room.

He parks his car and I climb out of it, my heart beating oddly when he extends his hand toward me. I can't get used to our skins making contact; it still gets my heart racing out of control. I slide my palm against his and he gently squeezes it as we move toward the mahogany doors of his house.

While he dips into his pocket for his key, I glance around the surroundings, taking immediate account of a lady sitting on her porch just next door to us. Her face is etched in a deep scowl while she leers at Blaze, and when she sights my curious eyes, she gathers the hem of her dress and gets up, disappearing inside her house.

Blaze looks at me while he spins his key in his door. "What you looking at?"

"Um, there was a lady there..." I point in the direction, and he shakes his head with a smile.

"Oh, she's my neighbor. She doesn't like me much."

My nosiness rises to its ultimate peak and I raise a brow as I follow him inside.

"Why doesn't she?" I query, but immediately wonder if asking that question is also off-limits. Wishing I could take it back, Blaze surprises me by simply shrugging his shoulders while closing the door after us.

"Well," he moves toward me. "Would you like me if I fucked your daughter, stabbed your son in the neck with a pencil, and stole your cat and sold it to the animal store downtown?"

My mouth falls open, and he laughs at my reaction, leaning over so we are on the same height. "Exactly, so do you see why she hates me?" He purses his lips in a tight-lipped smile then walks ahead, leaving my thoughts running wild.

What exactly had Blaze been doing? I blink twice and decide to rest the case. It's not something I can mentally tackle at this moment. My stomach is rumbling, being that I haven't eaten all day. My tuna sandwich and boxed milk got thrown away somehow during the dispute between Blaze and Leo.

However, the beauty of the house captures my attention a lot more than the roar in my tummy. On the night of the party, I didn't get a chance to admire how aesthetically pleasing it actually is since sweaty college kids were at every corner. But now that the house is peaceful and vacant, I am now seeing how visually alluring this place is.

The theme of the living room is the same as Blaze's room. Moonlight grey and blue. Each piece of furniture is sprayed in either of the colors, and there are numerous art pieces pinned on the walls, arousing my interest, being that I am insanely into art and craft.

I find that the most peculiar thing about art is that sometimes it doesn't make much sense but is still sought-after by the wealthy. It could just be a canvas of randomly splattered paint and it'd worth millions, and people would pay these millions just so they can attain a copy of their own. Maybe this is why I love the skill so much; it is free and self-expressive, not needing much thought and requiring you to just be yourself.

And then, I can't help linking the prospect to Blaze. He's an art in himself, not playing by the rules and being carefree. I want to bask in his ingenuity without worrying about it being wrong. After all, isn't that what art is all about?

I continue my visual inspection of the house, wondering what his father does for a living, but I know better than to ask, seeing that Blaze is relatively touchy when it comes to his personal life.

However, my speculations are untangled when I see a photo-frame of his dad on the coffee table. Wearing a crisp, brown police uniform.

Oh.

I take it up to have a better look, and it is in fact the man I saw him talking with that day in the hallway. Quite frankly, he's a handsome man, but it doesn't strike me as a surprise seeing how good-looking Blaze is.

"You hungry?!" His voice comes from somewhere, and I quickly place the photo back into its spot, moving in the direction it derived from.

"Um yeah, kind of."

"What would you like to eat?! I have noodles, eggs, and bacon...yuck I have no idea what this is!"

I chuckle as I walk into the kitchen to see him sifting through his cabinet.

"Eggs and Bacon?" I smile, crossing my arms and watching as he flips over cans of food to read the back label. "That's more of a breakfast sort of thing."

"Yeah, but my old man doesn't buy anything much because I am not here anymore," he answers.

Well, at least I know that much. It is probably the only thing I will ever know about Blaze.

"Oh. I am fine with noodles." I tell him, and he smiles.

"Okay, I can make you some cheesy pasta, I hope that's fine?"

"Yeah. I don't mind, thanks."

"Good, too bad we don't have any chicken in here." He opens his fridge, glancing around the space, and I can't stop my grin from getting wider.

"Can you cook?"

He looks at me like I just asked if birds could fly, and a giggle passes through my lips. "Well, yeah."

I smile, raising a brow. "Really?"

I am not being stereotypical or 'reading the book by the cover' but Blaze definitely does not seem like the cooking type. But then again, I know nothing about him.

"Yeah. When my dad and mom weren't home, I used to cook a lot for myself."

Wow. Now that's another piece of information about him that he has finally shared. It's not enough but I am grateful.

"I bet you're awesome at it then." I beam.

"Well, you're the first girl that I will ever cook for. I normally fuck them then ask them to leave."

My mouth falls open and he just laughs. That's harsh and blunt, but it is something that I already know.

I should help him prepare the food, but I realize that I am in need of an urgent shower considering what happened at the beach. I was planning on getting one at the dorm but since we are here now; I would have to head straight to the Music Club when we arrive.

"Hey, can I borrow your bathroom?" I ask as he pulls out a pot from the cabinets.

He looks over at me.

"I kind of...need a quick shower." I shift from one foot onto the next. Lucky for me he gets the message and chuckles.

"Sure, go ahead. It's the second door upstairs."

"Thanks." And I turn away and head in the instructed direction.

~

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