'I must admit I thought I'd like to make you mine

As I went about my business through the warning signs

End up meeting in the hallway every single time

And there's nothing we can do about it'

"Are you trying to kill us?!"

I averted my gaze from the fidget toy I was carefully holding – and not spinning, so the tick-tocking wasn't coming from it, and it was just inside my chest – and I focused on the strange shape of bread in my sister's hand.

For my defense, she had willingly grabbed what was supposed to be a scone in the plate, and it was my mom who had dragged me into the kitchen to bake them. So I was innocent.

"Sorry..."

"Sorry?!" Daisy choked on my word, or maybe it was on a cranberry. It was hard to tell, but she took the opportunity to spit it all out in her napkin, elegantly of course. "When will you learn how to cook?"

"Here, take the ones I made." My mom handed her another plate of perfectly round pastries, which could immediately be recognized as scones, just like the ones in the other plate Diane had brought.

There were a lot of choices, and too many scones, or not-scones. I didn't know why my mom had forced me to bake some. Oh yes, I knew: to compare all our scones and find another occasion to remind me how untalented I was in the kitchen.

"It isn't hard. There's a recipe to follow," Daisy noted, while my mom shook her head with a disapproving look I was too familiar with, and I just took a scone, one of Daisy's.

I wasn't crazy, and they were indeed delicious, perfectly fluffy and sweet enough to make you want more like my mom would surely praise once she would be finished with my sermon in about five or ten minutes.

On that thought, my gaze instinctively found the large round clock on the opposite wall, whose needles were ticking too slowly, or maybe too quickly when I took in the six both were nearing, and my gaze came back to the half-filled cups of tea on the coffee table – the finest china, perfectly matching the rest of the crockery with all the little painted daisy flowers on top.

Of course, when Daisy had called to announce her visit a few hours ago, the most beautiful crockery had been taken out of the cupboards, along with our newest dresses and fresh bouquets of flowers – thanks to Spencer and his everyday apologies, this point had been easy. The whole house had also been cleaned. My mom had canceled her plans of going out for the day, and I had been dragged to the kitchen. 

Nothing was too good when the perfect daughter was coming, and especially since she had done a one-hour trip to wish me my birthday... almost two weeks late. But it was the thought that counted, and apparently, she had got the memo that my birthday had to be ruined this year.

"What will you do with your life? How do you expect to find a husband?"

I wasn't sure who had asked this as my mom's and my sister's voices sounded very much alike, especially when they sermoned me.

"Um, I could do my life by myself, find a job and make my own money."

Actually, their features were very similar too as their pale jade eyes widened the same way, and although I had the same attributes, in theory, I felt like my poor scones. It was the same ingredients: green eyes, red hair, freckles, and elegant dresses, but the result wasn't the same in the plate, and I shriveled like my scones on my seat as they both ignored me completely.

"Oh! Maybe she could take cooking lessons." Daisy clapped her hands, and I didn't understand how the cheery and snapping sounds didn't disturb my little nephew's sleep in his baby carriage on the other side of the room because it echoed like a cheerleading finale in a stadium for me. "It's really popular these days. My new neighbor Taylor has just started, and apparently, she's doing great progress. Her cream pie was really good."

"I don't know... I thought I could teach her, but maybe a professional could be more qualified."

Once again, people were talking about me and deciding my life as if I wasn't right beside them. Although today, I wasn't paralyzed in shivers of helplessness, I was slowly being steamed, and I didn't have to look at the time to guess I would be a perfectly cooked mess just in time.

"Maybe it could help you win Spencer back."

I would be overcooked actually, and I already felt the bitter taste in the back of my throat.

News traveled faster than bullets, and they felt the same inside my chest. I was tempted to shoot them back with the truth, yet I only tightened my fists.

It would only lose time, or I would be ignored. I told myself it was the only two reasons why I kept my lips locked between my teeth while my gaze trailed to the fresh bouquet of flowers right next to my abandoned scones.

"Or find someone else." Daisy continued her cheerful performance, offering me a sweet smile like a perfect sister, and I had to bite harder on my lip to not tell her I didn't need a boyfriend when I had an evil genie, who didn't care about my scones.

Well, maybe I wouldn't have been able to hold it, but anyway, the truth and my voice got lost when my mom joined in.

"Oh, talking about this! There might be another boy interested in you. Mrs. Thornton invited us next Sunday, and apparently, Douglas insisted that you come too."

My lips parted, my jaw almost falling into my empty cup, yet there was no sound coming out, not even a breath.

I'd expected a lot of things, but this... never.

Even Daisy looked shocked, coughing hardly again, except that there was no scone in her hand.

"Douglas Thornton? Um, no, I think Spencer is better for Dorothy."

For once, I agreed with my sister, well, not really because I wasn't thinking about getting back with him. But still, my wounded heart only restarted with the sound of Spencer's name.

"A future mayor is even better than a sheriff." My mom didn't seem to have any trouble swallowing as she sipped her tea calmly, and my wide gaze ping-ponged between the two women as they started throwing arguments in favor of my possible suitors.

There was the team mauve in favor of Douglas, and floral light blue for Spencer, while in the middle, I played with the hem of my green sheath dress above my knees, which I had chosen carefully.

"But Spencer knows how she is."

I could almost hear the snapping sounds of backhands, although it was just my heart still ticking the seconds like a bomb ready to explode.

"Douglas is a good man."

"And you, Dorothy, what do you think?"

Was Daisy asking me? If I hadn't been paralyzed I would have surely turned back to be sure she was asking my opinion.

"I'm sure she agrees with me. She doesn't want to talk to Spencer, and any young woman her age would be honored to have Douglas's attention."

'Honored', if there was one thing I hadn't felt under his dark gaze was honor, and I didn't know if girls my age tried to get his attention for his looks or his money, but I had barely noticed his appearance. From my memories, he was average, and the only thing that had caught my attention was his spine-chilling gaze.

I could still feel one shiver running through my back at the too fresh image, and I wasn't sure if it was this reminiscence of powerlessness, all the held-back boiling emotions, or just the ticking of the clock nearing 5.30 p.m., but before I could control it, the words burst out of my lips.

"You want to know what I think? I was wondering where are your husbands? Maybe you should search for yours first?" My gaze was focused on my sister's tensing features, though the bitterness in my voice was directed to my mom.

"They are working, providing for their family," Daisy retorted instantly as if her answer had been prepared.

She wasn't easy to take aback, and she even smoothed her dress to illustrate subtly her point.

Of course, their husbands provided them with new dresses for them to wear in the kitchen while baking scones.

But what if I wanted ruined dresses and bad pastries?

The bigger needle reached the six on the clock, and it was like it released an invisible power, magic. I didn't hear the ticking of seconds inside anymore; instead, it was turning into a faraway rumbling, and my skin was tickling as I gripped the wooden item in my hand tighter.

"What if I provide to my own needs, and I choose boys just for fun?"

"Fun?!" My mom gasped, and as if called by the loud word or my silent wish, a roar echoed, and not only inside my chest.

"Sorry, but I gotta go have fun." I got up on those words, and both my sister and my mom had never resembled me so much as in this instant with their wide eyes and open mouth.

Though it didn't last.

"Dorothea, where are you going?"

"I already told you there's a meteor shower, and you allowed me to go out tonight." I put the bag I had carefully prepared over my shoulder, not waiting for their protest because I knew there would be one, and not even the growing roar of the engine calling me outside could muffle it.

However, it was enough to wake my nephew.

"Dorothea, your sister and the kids have made a long way just for you."

"I'm sorry, and I love them, but the shooting stars also made a long way, and they won't come back."

My nephew's cries surely covered my words, but I didn't stay one more second, using the distraction that caught both my sister's and my mom's attention to the baby carriage, and I escaped the room, just when my mom started fulminating against the bikers and 'delinquents'.

She hadn't realized yet that the motorcycle was stopping before her front gate, and I didn't have a lot of time before she became aware of that fact.

When I had given Blade my address to pick me up, I hadn't imagined there would be someone else than me at home, and I'd got no way to warn him.

Yet as I rushed to the white fence, it added a thrill to each beat of my heart, which picked up its pace when I glimpsed the tall silhouette waiting for me.

"You're leaving?"

My heart crashed against my ribcage with more momentum than just 'thrill' at the call, and with my hand on the latch of the gate, I saw all my dreams of stars vanish in one second.

"Aun'D!"

But it wasn't the two shining brown eyes that would stop me, at least, not against my will, as I still halted my steps to smile down at my older nephew, Dennis.

"Did you hear the motocy-cole?" He pulled his lower lip between his small front teeth, and I couldn't resist.

After one glance behind to be sure no one except Dennis had caught my sneaky attempt, I kneeled in front of him.

"Yes, you wanna see it?" I opened my arms, knowing I was testing my luck and playing with fire, yet I couldn't leave without a hug to my nephew, whom I didn't see often, and even less when he'd been playing alone so calmly in the small area between the fence and the bush on the side to not damage my mom's flowers. Everyone knew I hadn't had this self-control at his age.

"Yes, pwease!"

He was a little angel, well, a little angel growing up too fast because I didn't remember it had been so hard to lift him up in my arms the last time I'd seen him, and it became more complicated as he started wriggling at the sight of the motorbike.

I couldn't blame him though; my heart did the same thing when I met Blade's gaze, which was already fixed on us with this intensity I would never fully get used to and even less understand.

"Hi." I smiled, remembering the reason why he was here as his eyes were piercing through me more and more with each step I took closer, and when I stopped in front of him, he was once again running his gaze all over my freckles and Dennis's freckles too.

"Oh, um, Blade, this is Dennis, my nephew, and Dennis, this is Blade," I introduced, and even if the only things formal in my introduction were my words, there were still flutters of nervousness in my stomach as I glanced between the two boys.

I'd never thought about presenting Blade to my family, and it would surely never happen. Yet there was something important in this moment, and I was hung on their reactions, or should I say lack of reaction because Blade hadn't uttered a word yet, and it was hard to decipher his sharp features.

His jaw wasn't clenched, but he wasn't wearing his lopsided smile either.

"It's your motocy-cole?" Dennis asked, and I had no reason to be nervous about his reaction.

He didn't care about appearances and prejudices, and the fact that Blade had a 'motocy-cole' made him a superhero for him. I wished everyone could keep this innocent way of seeing the world. Though for me, Blade definitely had some superpowers too.

"Yes." Blade's smug grin was slowly coming back, spurred by the awe sounds of my nephew. "You have a nice car too!" He nodded to the plastic toy in Dennis's hand, and I wasn't sure if it was only my nephew who jumped at this simple yet meaningful exchange.

"We can swich if you want," Dennis replied with as much seriousness and aplomb as his parents, making Blade burst out laughing.

"You got the business sense! I like it!"

This instant deserved to be caught on video camera, though I doubted it could catch the genuine inflection in his laugh, nor the twinkles in their gazes, or the way it tickled my chest. I would just have to enjoy it fully and commit it to memory.

Yet the bubbling laugh rising in me didn't get to go past my large smile as my name was called again, and this time, I recognized my mom's voice instantly. Not even Daisy could reach that tone that awakened all my instincts to run.

"Sorry, Denny, but we gotta go." I dropped my nephew in the driveway again, closing quickly the gate. "Can you distract Grandma for us?"

Was I a bad influence? Surely, but this little angel would easily divert my mom's attention. 

"And the motorcycle is our secret, right?"

He locked his lips like I'd taught him to before lifting his small arms in the air and waving his car, which barely peeked above the fence.

"Bye, Blade!"

"Bye, Dennis!" Blade called back, followed by the roar of his motorbike, and I run to climb behind him, not caring about my dress.

"Drive, quick!"

This time, the 'Dorothea' that echoed around wasn't coming from Blade's smirk, and I was sure where we were heading, not looking back.

I prayed that Dennis distracted my mom enough and that she didn't see me on that motorcycle, but anyway, it would be a problem for later.

For now, my only focus was the road ahead, and those two blue eyes as Blade turned to me over his shoulder, stopping at the next crossroad.

"You didn't tell me you had a sister or brother?"

"A sister," I noted, glancing down at my dress, which was already sporting a stain, maybe tea, dirt, or engine oil. "I guess it felt nice to not be compared to the great Daisy for once." I lifted my gaze to his, and my unaffected shrug surely didn't look as convincing as his, since it made him cock an eyebrow.

Though it wasn't for the question I'd expected.

"Wait, all your names are starting with D?"

"Yeah, it's a tradition in the Duncan family." I realized I hadn't moved an inch from my koala position around his waist as I could feel his chuckle vibrate under my fingers before it even echoed around and tickled my lips.

Our closeness was even more evident when his gaze focused there, and it was still sparkling as much as before, yet the innocence was falling like the sun lowering in the horizon.

"And now... where are we going?"

"Do you know Carrion, the South hill?"

"What?!" Something definitely fell over his features with my words, but it was darker than bad intentions or desire, and it crashed all at once from his gaze that turned faraway to the movement of his Adam apple as he swallowed.

"Carrion, it's a town half an hour away from here."

"I know. But what do you want to do there, in the South side? It's shadier than Subrose's East side." Although faintly, he was tensing with each word, and I could sense the tensions travel through me with my arms still around him, at least until his next words.

"There's nothing to see there." It sounded awfully familiar in my ears, and even if his tone wasn't as cold and distant as a few days before, I could guess there was more to see than he let appear.

My curiosity was itching my guts, while the doubts were prickling my stomach, and my assurance and excitement for this date were hard to find in all this bustle.

Yet when my hand found the fidget toy in my pocket, the engraving there rekindled my determination.

"I know. But my secret place is there, and I promise there's a lot to see."

Tonight was about my secret place, not his. I wanted to share a part of me, maybe show him that it was okay to open up, and just share something meaningful for me.

"You gotta trust me," I repeated his words from our previous ride, offering him my small hand, and when he took it to place it back on his firm stomach, I knew he would find a way to surprise me.

He was the one clueless, and I was the one to guide him, yet my heart was still colliding against my ribcage as he started the motorbike again.

"Let's go, Shooting star."

***

"Close your eyes," I said as soon as the engine stopped right by the exit sign of Carrion, my hands flying above Blade's eyes when I still glimpsed too much blue and bad intentions.

"I already saw where we are," he replied flatly, and I could feel the rise of his eyebrow tickling one of my index fingers.

"Yes, but we aren't exactly arrived. We have to walk a little."

Just a few steps behind this row of trees if I remembered correctly.

"You promise you won't peek? I mean, you keep your eyes closed?"

He chuckled before I was even finished, and I wondered if he saw or just guessed my struggle to find a way to climb off the motorcycle with my hands still on his eyes.

"Should've blindfolded me..."

I narrowed my eyes at him, since apparently, he saw through me so easily with his devious powers, making me burn and forget, and this thought lit an idea better than a blindfold.

"You're my evil genie, so I wish for you to keep your eyes closed."

I swore it really worked because the laugh it brought him was magical. It was like the more I got to know him, the clearer his laugh was, and I liked this contrast with all his tenebrous self.

"Okay, as you wish."

I risked to take off my hands, peering carefully from his shoulder to make sure there was no bad intention, at least, not farther than his dimple, and only then, I got off the bike, his tall body following instantly.

I didn't understand how he found my hand so easily – well, after feeling around some flesh, which was clearly intentional, bad-intentional – but his eyelids were still pinched close as his fingers threaded with mine.

His left hand in my right one, and I couldn't help toying a little with his long, rugged fingers as I threw one last glance behind to the dark buildings in the faraway.

Carrion, the South side, was indeed shadier than the East side of Subrose, shadier than in my memories, and quite literally.

"So I let you guide me?" Blade probably noticed my hesitation as my gaze was running around in search of the memories, and I almost forgot he had his eyes closed as I nodded.

"Yes." I pulled on his hand, starting to walk.

It wasn't complicated; there was only one path, yet my thoughts were taking many more sinuous routes as I imagined what would be waiting behind those few trees. With their verdant foliages and fresh blossoms, they could hide a lot, and I hadn't remembered they had been this tall.

It had been years since I'd been there, and even the ground under my shoes appeared different, the whispers of gravel now muffled by moss.

My eyes rapidly came back to Blade as I didn't dare to glimpse the surroundings. What if it had changed?

I had planned this to be beautiful, and I'd known there had been this possibility, of course, in the back of my mind. But now, with Blade's large inked hand in mine, the what-if was growing until taking up the space in my lungs.

This big bad boy with his leather jacket, tattoos, and dangerous aura was letting me lead him in an area he hadn't wanted to go, and no matter what was the reason behind his dislike, I really wanted to show him a beautiful side of this town.

"Be careful, it's a little hilly." I grabbed his other hand to lead him, and too quickly, we reached the top of that small hill.

I wanted to close my eyes too.

"You know I could get used to this," he rasped in my ears when I stopped a little too abruptly, and his chest collided against my small body.

For a second, I may have really pinched my eyes close, but I was quick to jump away, and face the landscape.

It hadn't changed, and if Blade's fingers hadn't been tightly linked to mine, I would have undoubtedly run down the rolling hill. The same simple carefreeness was surging through my veins, and I was almost taken back to those times.

Of course, there were a few differences: a dull emptiness and new sparks, just like some things had changed in the landscape. The fence at the bottom of the hill had been broken down. I could spot a few houses on the horizon, which I didn't remember, and the wood farther on the left had gained ground.

Yet it was still one of my secret places.

"You can open your eyes." I hadn't run, but I still sounded breathless as I turned to Blade, my gaze caught on his features as he slowly opened his eyes.

My heart was also caught and following the rhythm of his eyelids' movements when he blinked several times and then widened his eyes, letting them run everywhere. When they landed back on me, my heart fell back in place into my chest.

"It... looks like it could be anywhere." He threw one more glance around as if to make sure he hadn't imagined it.

But yes, the field of wild grass all around could have been anywhere. The few buildings were indistinguishable from our viewpoint, and the road between them had no landmark. The trees were beautiful and blossoming, yet ordinary. Everything was ordinary, and once he really took it in, a wide smile broke through his features.

"I didn't know about this place." His thoughtful tone and the landscape were ordinary, but none of it was usual in this area, and it made my secret place even more special.

"How did you find it?" He was back to stare at my freckles, and although it was one of his most innocent questions, he didn't know it recalled so much our first encounter when he took a step closer.

"It's my grandpa."

"The one who taught you to shoot?"

"Yes." I smiled, the corners of my mouth lifting from one side to the other like hesitating between happy memories and painful emptiness to finally form a nostalgic smile. "He was an investigative journalist, and when he worked on an article, he often moved to the place he was investigating. His last investigation before his death was here, so he stayed here for a few years, and since I visited him a lot, we found this place together."

He lifted his finger to one of my freckles, and that was only as his rough skin grazed softly my cheek that I realized a tear had rolled there. It hadn't slipped out when I'd been a mess of overflowing emotions and tears, but it did today, when I wasn't, at least, not as much. It wasn't out of pain, though; it was a unique mix of emotions I couldn't distinguish.

This place was making them resurface, along with those piercing blue eyes.

"I like your secret place." He trailed the tip of that same finger along my cheeks, surely tracing the freckles he was making appear like some path that would lead to secret places, and it unlocked my smile as I chased away the tears.

"And you haven't seen everything. But you have to wait a little bit more for that." I glanced to the vivid colors of the sky slowly falling on the small valley, my heart skipping an excited beat, or maybe two as his finger ended its journey on my lips, and the bad intention in his eyes was telling me it was just starting.

"I can be patient..."

Sorry, but you too gotta be patient for the rest of this date 😏 I promise it will be worth it! Next chapter will be long and full of many different emotions 🤭🤫

In the meantime, I hope you liked this chapter! If so, don't forget to vote ⭐ and tell me all your thoughts! 

What do you think about this secret place? 🤩 And the encounter between Dennis and Blade, wasn't it too cute? 🥺😍

Also, we gotta talk about Daisy and her mom playing the matchmakers! My feminist side was boiling as much as Dorothy 😤 And which team are you? Spencer or Douglas? Or Blade? 😏

Love you, my little shooting stars 😘🌠💕