Page 51 of Rejected Darkness

It takes everything in me to stay calm as she talks. I hate that she didn't tell me any of this before, but I'm not going to bring that up now. No, I'm just glad she is finally talking to me, and I don't want to ruin that. I fucked up earlier this week, and I will do whatever it takes to mend things between us. She doesn't know it, but I am absolutely, irrevocably in love with her.

"Do you want me to report him to the stay, or do you think he will stay away after tonight?" I want to leave the ball in her court and not overstep. If this is something she wants to continue to deal with on her own, then I'll let her, but if it's something that she wants my help with then I have no issues stepping in on her behalf.

"No," she shakes her head quickly. "I'll talk to Talia about it on Monday."

"Talia, huh?" I chuckle at her easy use of the councilwoman's name. "You're on a first-name basis now. Should I be worried?" I ask jokingly. Arabella isn't the type to get into trouble usually, the whole Dina issue aside.

"She's sort of taken me under her wing," she shrugs and resumes drinking her water.

"Huh, well that's good. I'm glad you have someone else helping you. Councilwoman Talia is a good ally to have while you're attending R.I.S.E." It's true she is. At first, I had been wary of her, but after she kicked Cassiel off campus and told him he was never welcome to step foot on it again she won my loyalty. Anyone who stands up for Arabella against her family earns my respect.

"Here's your food, Kids," the older waitress states as she sets our plates in front of us. Arabella wastes no time before grabbing the ketchup bottle to pour some on her plate for fries.

"Can I get some ranch as well?" she asks before our waitress can skate away.

"Sure thing, Sweetie. I'll be right back with that and more water for you."

"Shit, I'm sorry I forgot the ranch." I hit my palm against my forehead for being an idiot. I know how Arabella eats her chicken tenders, and I forgot the damn sauce for her, too distracted with my worry about her in the bathroom alone.

"No worries," she shrugs, digging into her fries as she waits for the ranch. I don't bother to touch my pie until after the waitress returns. I'm not super hungry. I just got it so I wasn't sitting across from her awkwardly watching her eat, which is exactly what I'm doing now.Shit.

"Here you go," the waitress states as she sets the small ramekin of ranch and the glass of water on the table. "Enjoy, you two."

"Could you stop staring at me and eat your food? It's weird, but I'm perfectly fine. I puked everything up already," she laughs as she picks up one of the chicken tenders and dunks it into the ranch.

"Sorry," I answer sheepishly as I dig into my pie. It really is a damn good piece of pie. The two of us sit here in silence, stuffing our faces for a few minutes until I manage to finish the slice ofpie. Arabella still has two of her five chicken tenders left when I push my plate away and sit it on the edge of the table so the waitress can easily grab it the next time she comes by.

I try not to spend the rest of the time staring at Arabella, but it's hard to do when she consumes my thoughts. She's so damn beautiful sitting across from me. Her bangs have slipped out of the pigtails she had her hair pulled back in and keep falling in her face as she eats. Her cheeks are tinged red from the alcohol, and her eyeliner is slightly smeared under her eyes, but she's still beautiful to me. I always preferred when she didn't wear any make-up at all, letting me see her in her natural glory but even with all the make-up, she is still gorgeous.

"How's your stomach?" I ask when I see her beginning to slow down in her eating. I don't want her to feel like she needs to eat it all and then make herself sick again.

"It's fine, but I'm getting full." She leans back against the booth and places both her hands over her stomach. "Those are some hella good chicken tenders. We need to get those on campus. I would devour them every damn day."

"Ha," I laugh. "That is exactly why we don't need them on campus. You need more food in your diet besides just chicken tenders."

"Ugh, you take all my fun away," she groans. "What's wrong with just eating chicken tenders? They give me protein, and they taste good. What more do I need?"

"How about some fruit and veggies? Or what about what all the grease and fried food will do to your body?" I retort, trying to hide my laugh. She always loves to argue when drinking, especially over silly things that, when she's sober, she would never think to debate. It was one of the cutest things about her. I could sit here all day and give her reasons that she should eat healthier, but right now, her mind is focused on one thing. Chicken tenders.

"Eh, do I really need all those things?" she asks around a mouthful of fries.

"Yes, yes, you do. However, tonight, you can eat all the chicken tenders and fries you want." I know she can only stomach about three more bites before she gives up and pushes her dish away from her. When she does that means I can get her in the car and head back to the dorm.

"Fine," she pouts, her lower lip curling out just enough to make me think about what it would be like to kiss her right now.

No. Damnit, Warrick. You can't be thinking about that with her.I need to earn her trust back before I can even ask to kiss her again. We shared that first one when I told her she was right about us being mates and why I denied it to protect her. Tonight isn't the right time to try anything again, either. I won't take advantage of her like this, even if I can tell she is starting to feel better and sobering up.

"If I eat one more bite, then I'm going to puke," she groans, finally pushing her plate away from her and to the edge of the table.

"Ready to go back to the dorms?" I ask, pulling out my wallet to place thirty dollars on the table. It's more than enough to cover our meal and a nice tip for the waitress before she's stuck dealing with all the drunk students who will find their way here shortly.

"If we have to," she answers, giving in.

Arabella watches me put the money on the table, and together we slide out of our sides of the booth. As we exit, I give a small wave to the waitress and point to the cash on the table, show she knows it's there while following Arabella out to the car. She doesn't wait for me to help her get in the car; instead, I close the door in my face when I try to help her.Ouch, well, okay then.Heading to my side, I get in and start the car to head back.

"I'm not dropping you off in the student lot this time. We are parking in the faculty lot, and I'll help you get back to your dorm." I watch as she opens her mouth to argue, shakes her head, and closes her mouth, accepting how this is going to go. I know for a fact her feet have to be killing her. The last thing she is going to want to do is hike through the woods to get to the dorm. Lucky for her, the faculty lot is a lot closer to the school, so I can drop her off closer to her dorm and make sure she gets inside safely.

Chapter 30

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